Mark Sloan M.D.

Plastics God.  Certified ENT.  Believes there's gotta be something more to life than this. 

[sloanmdmark]

askbiggrey-xx​:

sloanmdmark​:

Family Visits (Mark and Meredith and Co.)

The brightest smiles instantly drew up on the girls faces as they stood in the doorway with their respective presents for Mark, so delighted that they finally got to see him. They really had missed him. Even though over the years, Derek and her had made them understand that they had no idea when they would get to see their uncle Mark again, they had never stopped talking about him and the minute they had found out he was back in town, they had been so excited about it. Sitting down with them to tell them that he had a serious tumor had been tough, but the girls were convinced he would be alright. First because they had seen their dad come back from his coma, but also because they were believers. And because their dad would be the one operating, and so it would work for sure. And it was the kind of thinking they should all adopt so Meredith went with it, especially for them. With the recent loss of Clay and Chris, she had to believe that they would not lose another of their own. 

She waved up a hand at Mark’s greetings, her other resting behind her son’s head as he pressed himself against her hip, his arms wrapped around her leg, half hiding into her. The girls took the lead. “We’re good! How are you uncle Mark?” Zola said as she came in, Liv following behind. “Look! We brought you flowers!” She told him, and Zola extended the box she had in hands and added, “And chocolates. We got your favorites.” She smiled at him. Meredith smiled herself, then turned to Liam and held out her hand. “Come on,” she told her son and he grabbed her hand, following her inside but staying slightly behind her. 

“I’m okay for an old guy,” Mark chuckled, hoping his little joke would make the girls laugh.  He couldn’t help but smile as they came closer to him.  He had missed so much.  Why had he thought that was the best decision to make?  How had he gotten himself that point?  It was a question he asked himself more times than he cared to admit.  

“The flowers are beautiful.  Can you put them right there?” he asked pointing to a spot on the table.  “Thank you so much.  You know the way to my heart,” he teased.  It was sweet of them to bring gifts.  He hadn’t expected that at all.  

[sloanmdmark]

doctor-derekshepherd​:

sloanmdmark​:

How We Operate || Mark and Derek

“I think that’s the quickest I’ve ever seen you get up,” Derek remarks. “Well, besides that time I walked in on you sleeping with my wife. You were pretty quick to get up then.” 

Mark reminded himself that he had to take whatever Derek dished out.  He couldn’t snap back or say something just as rude.  Mark nodded and chewed at his bottom lip for a moment.  “What do I owe the pleasure for Dr. Shepherd?”

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

Thankful for Mark’s words, Lexie nods. She missed when they would just sit and talk about their cool surgeries of the day, or when Mark would invite her on to cases where she got to watch him do incredible things like give a kid ears or a man a new face. It’s part of why she fell for him in the first place.

Lexie scolded herself as soon as her mind went to that place. No, bad Lexie. Maybe it was more that she missed too, but she couldn’t let herself think on the subject anymore. “Do…” Lexie drops her salad fork and look up at Mark, wondering if she should ask the question for fear of making him feel bad or being too intrusive. “Do you miss it? Being a surgeon,” asks Lexie sincerely. 

The question hung between them for a long moment as Mark thought about his answer.  Though the question presented as a yes or no question, it wasn’t.  Not to him anymore.  “I do miss it,”’ he acknowledged quietly.  “I miss being able to make a difference.  Make someone’s life better.  Make them feel better about their selves,” he ticked off.  “Not a whole lot of people could do what I did, and I’m proud of that.  I’d like to think something is missing from the surgical world without me in it, but who knows?  Maybe not.  Maybe that is only wishful thinking on my part,” Mark confided.  

He took another breath and stared out at one of the plants in the courtyard.  “If given the chance would I ever go back to chasing every surgery?  No.  This whole tumor thing gives a perspective I never would have had otherwise.  What I used to think was so important really just isn’t anymore, and the things I didn’t realize where important are of the most value to me now,” he explained softly, hoping he was making sense, but this wasn’t what Lexie had asked him.  She had simply asked if he missed surgery.  

“So I guess, yeah I would come back, but I’d only want to do the work I feel a passion for.  That’s making a difference.”

[sloanmdmark]

askbiggrey-xx​:

sloanmdmark​:

Family Visits (Mark and Meredith and Co.)

“Hold them with both hands,” Meredith told Olivia, who was holding up a small bouquet of flowers she had picked out herself for Mark. “Here we go,” she said as she showed the kids the way out of the elevator, following behind the girls, Liam holding her hand. The girls had been asking about Mark a lot and she had figured it was about time they paid him a visit. Liam had been quite young when he had left so he did not remember him all that much except from the times they talked about him and the pictures he had seen. Zola was very excited to see him, and Liv as well, hence the flowers. 

Meredith had postponed doing this, in a way because it felt like bringing the kids to see him as soon as possible was giving in to the idea that he would not survive this, and she had to believe that he would survive this. He had to. Derek would never recover if Mark died, no matter their past and what had happened these last few years, he would not overcome this. And neither would Lexie. And she would be devastated as well to see him go. But the kids kept asking and she convinced herself that this was just a normal visit during the time he was at the hospital, until they would get together out of the hospital, once he would be fixed and in recovery. 

The staff smiled as they noticed Liv leading the way with her flowers, Zola tagging along with a box of chocolate in the shape of a heart that she had picked out at the store for Mark. As they reached Mark’s room, Liv turned around. The door was open and she had stopped a little before, wanting to get the cue to go in. Meredith nodded and said, “Go on.” Liv smiled brightly and Zola too, and they both went in. “Uncle Mark!!!” They exclaimed as they stopped in the doorway, and Meredith appeared behind them soon enough, Liam leaning against her side, a little shy. “Morning,” she greeted him.

Mark glanced up from his magazine when he heard the small voices in the doorway.  “Hey ladies!” he greeted and closed the magazine.  He moved it to the table beside him, no longer needing the prop.  “How are you two today?” he asked.  He waved to Meredith.  “Morning.  How are you?” he asked sincerely.  Mark wished he could get up and wrap his arms around his nieces, but he knew he couldn’t.  Not in this moment.  Staying put was his best option.  

He continued to smile as he waited for them to be comfortable enough to come closer.  They had grown so much, all three of them.  Mark knew they had grown up.  He had seen photos since returning to Seattle, but seeing it in the flesh was different/  It was another reminder of all he had missed and all this tumor was taking from him.  

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

Lexie was grateful that Mark seemed to pick up on the fact that she didn’t want to talk about Finn at the moment. Even though she desperately wanted to talk it over with someone, Mark was definitely not the right person to do it with. Mer would be a much better option for the topic since she didn’t have a stake in it. “Well before lunch it was fine, had a surgery and it went well. Did a consult on a peds case this morning too, kid was pretty cute, she’s going to be aright though, she’s just got a small pituitary adenoma,” said Lexie, as she took a few more bites out of the salad that she hadn’t quite finished before Finn left. 

 “Sorry,” she apologized. “You probably don’t want to talk about surgeries.”

At least, her morning had been productive and filled with two seemingly good outcomes.  Mark nodded his head as she spoke.  “Sounds like a good morning,” he agreed softly as he watched her stab the vegetables in the bowl in front of her.  He wondered if she was imaging they were little Finn heads or Mark heads or maybe both.  “Talking about surgery is a fact of life.  We are surgeons.  We have to keep moving forward, helping people where and when we can.  I know it isn’t personal,” he shrugged.  Although, sometimes when he got dark he couldn’t help but wonder if it was all personal.  Too personal.  

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

“No, no, don’t go. It’s fine.” On the inside, Lexie started to get angry. Not at Mark or herself, but a little bit at Finn. Even though he’s been more than accommodating to her and everything, Lexie can’t help but feel a bit of resentment bubbling up over the fight. “The little disagreement I just had shouldn’t get in the way of me even being able to talk to you normally. So yes, um, how was your day?” she asks a bit awkwardly, trying her best to make conversation like a normal person would. Though these days Lexie feels as if she’s getting farther and farther away from what a normal person is.

Mark nodded when Lexie said it was fine if he stayed.  Honestly?  He was hoping for a bit more than an it’s fine response, but if that’s what he had to work with today?  He would do it.  “My day has been alright.  Same old same old you know?” he asked softly looking across at her.  “Came out to get some sunshine and read this book,” Mark added motioning to the book in his lap.  “How was your morning?” he asked, not wanting to talk further about her disagreement with Finn.  

@lexipedia-rp​

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

The lack of a firm answer irks Lexie. She wants to know whether or not he heard everything. But she’s soon distracted by the hand on her shoulder. This is the exact thing her and Finn were just fighting about. Lexie shrugs a bit and moves a bit out of the way to allow Mark’s hand to fall off of her shoulder. “Mark, I appreciate your concern, but I think me talking to you about it will only make it worse.”

He hated that she moved away from him, but he couldn’t exactly chase her.  And Lexie knew that.  No matter how right their embrace had felt a few days ago.  “We can talk about something else then, if you’d like,” he told her.  Maybe he could work the angle of trying to distract her from the conversation between herself and Finn.  “Or I can go.  Either is fine.”

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

Upon hearing who the voice belongs to, Lexie wants to runaway, hide, and bury her head in the sand all at the same time. The universe must hate her if Mark just overheard the conversation; embarrassing would be an understatement.  Of course though, it would be just her luck to have her ex overhear her fight with her boyfriend, and one about him too. Lexie buries her hands into her face trying to see if she rubs her head enough she’ll wake up from the bad dream, “Oh god, Mark,” whines Lexie. “Please tell me you didn’t hear any of that.”

If he lied, he could spare her feelings on this one.  If he told her that he had heard everything, embarrassment would take over and she would likely rush back inside.  He wouldn’t be able to chase her.  “What I heard or didn’t hear doesn’t really matter,” he stated softly reaching a hand out and placing it on her shoulder.  “What matters is if you are okay.”  Glossing over the facts.   Perfect.  

[sloanmdmark]

doctor-derekshepherd​:

How We Operate || Mark and Derek

At first he’d been avoiding Mark as he tried to figure out a way to tackle this tumor. And then, as it does in life, shit hit the fan. Joy, Allie, Clay and Chris…things had happened one after the other. But now, with the reality of what had happened to Chris and Clay, he had a renewed sense of fight, a belief that they could do this. He couldn’t be mad at Mark for leaving if Mark was gone. Bright and early the Monday after the funeral, he heads into the hospital and then heads to Mark’s room. “Rise and shine,” He announces, knowing that the nurses had just left from a vitals check anyways. 

Mark groaned hearing Derek’s voice, the words taking him back to years before when he would spend the night at the Shepherd’s.  Mark had been trying to settle in for a bit more sleep as he hadn’t rested well the night before.  If Derek was here though, it meant there was some type of news.   “Morning,” he said moving to sit up.  

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

Fighting Feeling|| Mark & Lexie

Things have been a little bit tense since Finn had come and found Lexie in Mark’s room. She doesn’t know if she’s more embarrassed about being found hugging him, or the fact that Finn knew that’s where she would be. As much as the hug with Mark was just that, a hug, it doesn’t bode well because of the suspicion it’s drummed up.

Lexie looks down at her phone to see a text m from Finn. Lunch, courtyard, 12?

Lexie types back, sounds good!

Lunch time comes around and Lexie makes her way down to the courtyard, her leftovers from the night before in her bag. Waiting for her at one of the tables is Finn. He gives her a small waive and Lexie smiles back in response. She takes a deep breath, he seemed to be in a good mood. 

Their lunch goes on normally for a while, both of them sticking to light topics like how their day was and if anything interesting happened, but as Lexie’s lunch break creeps to an end, an awkward silence floods the conversation. Both have run out of pleasant topics and surface conversations, the events of the night Lexie visited Mark’s room hanging heavy in the air.

“So…do you want to explain what happened?” asks Finn.

Lexie sighs heavily. This is not a conversation she wants to have. “I took some residents around on a routine round and I may have pushed him a little too hard. So, I went back to apologize later that night. And…”

Finn tilts his head and then shakes it, “That’s all fine Lex, but you know that’s not what I meant. I walk in and you’re in the arms of a man who used to be your fiance.”

Sighing again, Lexie tries to explain herself once again. “Look, he’s got a good chance of dying Finn. I just can’t let him…I just…Even though he is completely in my past relationship wise, I still care about him. I don’t want him to die. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Lexie says, starting to get defensive.

“I want to hear that you’re not using me as some sort of jealousy tool because I’m not that kind of guy. I don’t do love triangles,” explains Finn, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “You need to decide if I’m what you really want, and if you don’t, it’s fine but you need to let me know before we go any further.”

The tensions and anger levels of both start to go over their boiling points. “What and you think I wanted him to come back here now?” says Lexie, trying but failing to keep her voice down. “I had no idea just like you. I got clobbered over the head with it just like you.”

“Like I said, that’s fine Lex, but like I said, you need to decide. That hug looked like a lot more,” The exasperation is clear in Finn’s voice, yet there is still a certain softness to his words. Lexie goes to interject but FInn does not let her, “Listen, I’ve got to get back, one of my patients is in labour, but you need to figure out what you want before we can keep going.”

Lexie is left in a state of utter shock, embarrassment, and confusion, still standing at the table. Realizing the amount of eyes looking her way, Lexie sits down and resumes eating her lunch. This time chewing on her carrot sticks as quick as a rabbit would while staring at the wall in front of her. 

Karen had kept suggesting a change of scenery, telling him, insisting it would change his mood.  So, this afternoon, Mark had the resident bring him down to the courtyard.  He was tucked behind some bushes near a bench, reading his book.  Sunlight was good for people.  Maybe it would give him a bit more color and people would stop worrying so much.  

Although Mark knew sunlight and fresh air weren’t going to solve the situation he was in now.  They could improve his mood though, and he knew that was needed.  It was hard to sit in a hospital room day after day waiting for your former best friend and ex to figure how how they might be able to address the tumor growing in your spine.  

He hadn’t meant to overhear the conversation between Lexie and Finn.  Mark didn’t mean to listen so hard, but when his name entered the conversation, he closed his book.  If they were talking about him, he had a right to know what Lexie was saying.  Finn thought there was still something between them.  At least, that was something he and Mark could agree on.  There absolutely was.  At least for him.  

Mark swallowed as he heard Finn tell Lexie that she had to figure out what she wanted before their relationship could go any further.  He waited a few moments.  Maybe it wouldn’t be so obvious that he heard the entire conversation.  He rolled his chair from next to the bench and to the open walkway.  “Hi Lexie.”

[sloanmdmark]

Family Visits (Mark and Meredith and Co.)

Mark made sure he was sitting up in the chair for this.  Meredith was coming with the kids today, and he didn’t want to scare them.  He had bribed the intern to bring snacks up for the kids along with a few toys that he assumed where ‘borrowed’ from the peds floor.  He wanted his nieces and nephew to be comfortable during the visit.  Mark rubbed a hand over his cleanly shaven face as he waited.  He wanted this to be a good visit.  Something positive for everyone.  Maybe he was being too hopeful, but he couldn’t help himself.  Mark reached for a magazine, opening it.  He wanted to appear casual and not like he was counting down the seconds until they arrived. 

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

Lexie didn’t say anything and only let out a small sniff, trying to stop the mist in her eyes from turning into waterfalls. This time, Lexie didn’t hesitate to go into his arms, with all the talk of finality and losing him, she had to. 

She stayed there for what felt like a long time, though she couldn’t be sure, thinking about everything and nothing at the same time. For the first time in a while, she simply existed in the moment.

That was until she heard someone clear their voice from behind her and she knew exactly whose voice it was: Finn. She jumped a little; she wasn’t sure if it was because of who it was or if it was due to her lack of awareness of her surroundings.

She quickly let go of Mark and turned to her boyfriend who was leaning against the frame of the door. “Uh, hey Lex, I was just looking for you so we could go home. I can come back later if you need a minute,” he said calmly yet a bit awkwardly as he motioned towards the door. 

Lexie shook her head and leaned down to grab the bag she had put down on the floor, “Ah, no, I’m good.” A few things like her water bottle had fallen out so as she took a few moments to gather her items, Finn gave a small smile through pursed lips and flashed a wave to Mark. 

Mark was shocked when Lexie closed the space between them and came into his arms.  For the first time since the night he had left.  He held her close and rubbed her back, trying to offer her whatever comfort he could.  Mark wasn’t exactly strong anymore, but he poured ever ounce of strength he had into this moment, knowing very well it could be the last of it’s kind.  He committed every detail to memory.  The way her body felt against his, the way her scrubs smelled, and the scent of her hair.  Mark want to memorize this because he was sure this was the moment he would want to remember when the end finally came.  

For Mark, the moment ended all too soon when a voice sounded at the door that caused Lexie to jump away from him.  From the way the other man spoke, Mark knew instantly that this was Lexie’s boyfriend.  He shifted and watched Finn lift an arm to wave at him as Lexie gathered her things.  Mark cleared his throat and offered a wave in return.  

“Have a good evening,” he said simply before turning his attention back to the window.  The same place his gaze had started.  There was no reason to make this harder on Lexie.  The fairy tale of a few moments before gone.  

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

Lexie didn’t know what to say. What do you say to a man who’s convinced he’s going to die? Especially when the odds are stacked against him. Dr. Derek Shepherd was known for taking cases thought to be impossible, and he had amazing success rates. Lexie believed in Derek’s skills without question, but that didn’t mean she still wasn’t aware of the risks.

But hearing Mark say that out loud stunned her. She wanted to yell at him for what he had said before, but her mind was too occupied with his last words. “Of course I’m scared of losing something, I’m scared of losing you! Again!” she said a little too forcefully; her words came out as a half yell.

Realizing how erratic she sounded she calmed and cooled her voice before speaking again. “You’re not going to die, okay?”

There it was.  Lexie was afraid.  And not just of the odds against her as a surgeon.  Deep down, she didn’t want to lose Mark again.  He nodded and sucked at his bottom lip.  Neither of them heard the footsteps approaching as the air hung heavy between them.  Karen had been right.  The3re was still feelings there.  

One last try.  Mark shifted a bit and moved to sit up straighter this time.  He opened his arms once more, “Come here Lex.”

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

Mark’s words frustrated her beyond belief. She was reaching out, extending an olive branch, and he has the nerve to press for more. Her hand left hanging in the air stings. The nostalgia she was feeling before, the missing, it all washed away and it was replaced with red hot anger. She lets out a small laugh of disbelief and then rubbed them over her face. “You are…unbelievable,” she said, anger peeking through the words between her laughs. “You know, I thought you weren’t acting like yourself since you came back but I was wrong, that’s the most ‘you’ thing that you could have done.”

“The options are friends or nothing Mark. And don’t forget, I still haven’t decided if I even want to see your face once you’re out of this hospital.” She knew it was harsh to say, but she felt scorned.The previous tugging feeling she was feeling towards Mark was taken over by the feeling of being left alone in her house, abandoned. She felt stupid for ever letting the nostalgia overcome that. “ I’m sorry, but you don’t get to come back in here and think that we would what? Get back together? You thought you’d just say a couple of words and I’d just come crawling back?”

Lexie scoffed in amazement of herself. “Oh my god,” she laughed again, though mostly to herself this time. “And I was going to offer you a truce. I can’t believe it.” Her laughter turns almost maniacal. “You are a funny guy Mark Sloan, I’ll give you that. But I promise you, that is never going to happen.”

He looked away as she spoke.  There was no reason on focusing on Lexie when she was saying everything he didn’t want to hear.  Everything she had already said before since he had returned.  It was almost like she enjoyed repeating herself to prove it was all true to herself.  

“You really think I’m that much of an idiot Lex?” he snapped finally.  “I heard you the first three times you explained it all to me.  I’ve told you the ball is in your court, but YOU keep coming back,” he stressed, gripping the blanket beside him.  

“You’re mad because I’m not myself and then you’re mad when I am.  So excuse me if it’s confusing to know exactly what you want and when you want it.  I’m not a mind reader!”  He rubbed his face, exhausted with this conversation.  This fight.  

“It’s almost like you want off this case, but don’t want to admit it yourself.  Like you’re scared of losing something.  I’m dying anyways.  In Derek’s OR or here in this hospital room.  That’s MY fate.  Maybe that’s what you’re having a hard time with?”

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

Lexie abruptly removed her hand from Mark’s grasp and took a step away. “I don’t want an out Mark, and if the roles were reversed you know damn well you wouldn’t want one either. I am choosing to be on your case. If I wasn’t and I had to ask someone else to look into your case file every time I got a little worried, the nurses would be holding a formal strike against me this time.” That was true, Lexie would go onto her computer or tablet multiple times a day to check for updates on Mark to double check that nothing had gone wrong in the fifteen minutes since the last time she checked.

“Now, if you want me out then that’s another story, and I will give it up, but that’s your choice not mine. So if you really want me to leave you alone I will, but don’t say that your doing it ‘for my sake’. Because I already made my choice,” she said sternly.

“On the other hand,” Lexie held out the hand that Mark had previously been holding onto and extended it for him to shake. “This truce is as far as we’re going to get. No more poking and prodding for arguments, just talking about stuff like normal people do.”

Mark sighed loudly when she pulled her hand back.  That was it then.  Lexie was proclaiming how things would have been different if their roles were reversed and although she was right in that sense.....she was wrong in another, but there was no point on dwelling on that.  That was no point in a lot of things anymore.  That was something he had learned sitting in this room and traveling around the world.  

“I have never once wanted you out, and this is no different,” Mark answered sharply.  How could she even think that after everything he had said? 

“We could never be just friends Lex,” he reminded, leaving her hand hanging in the air between them.  

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

Lexie didn’t realize she had been holding Mark’s hand until she felt his thumb run over the top of her hand. She froze instantly, she hadn’t meant to do that. She shouldn’t be doing that. She can’t let him come in and ruin everything for her. But the way he said her name…

it brought back so many memories. And when he opened his arms it all just felt too easy. But she can’t let herself fall into that again. She has Finn to worry about, a whole new life, apartment, hair colour, everything was different. “Look Mark…” She sighed, “I don’t think this is working. We need to try something different. I am going to worry about you every minute you’re in this hospital. So how about a temporary truce until you’re out of here?”

Too many dreams of a fairy tale.  At least, that was what his hope had been.  She clearly wasn’t going to come any closer.  He swallowed and dropped his arm, taking in her words.  How did they even approach making this different at this point?  It always felt like they had to be one extreme or the other.  

“Lex....we are grown ups....if you want off the case.  Just tell Derek, and that solves your problem, alright?” he told her, his words harsher than he meant, but if he was honest, he was hurt she hadn’t come to him.  Worrying about him clearly wasn’t going either of them any good.  

“I don’t want to make your life harder and that seems to be all I do.  So there’s your out.”  He was still holding her hand though.  And Mark didn’t plan on letting go until she did.  

[sloanmdmark]

lexipedia-rp​:

Lexie stared at Mark’s extended hand as if it were some sort of bomb about to go off. After a moment and when he spoke, her eyes flicked up to meet his when he questioned it all.

To Lexie, it wasn’t perfect. Perfect would have been her and Mark married two years ago when it should have happened, and it certainly wouldn’t include Mark with a tumour the size of Texas digging into his spinal cord. Wanting to avoid admitting that it wasn’t perfect, Lexie talked her way around answering the question directly, “It’s what I asked for, isn’t it?”

She considered her words for a moment before she shook her head and rubbed her hands over her face, feeling a headache coming on. “I’m sorry, I should-I should just go,” she continued to hold one of her hands to her temple while she began to talk with the other. “I am being confusing and no help whatsoever,” what Lexie’s brain hadn’t yet resigstered was that her loose hand had grabbed onto Mark’s extended one as she continued to talk. It was so natural for her to reach for Mark when she was on some sort of rant, that she didn’t even realize she did it.  “I should–yeah, I probably should just go.”

He desperately tried not to let his heart soar when Lexie took his hand.  Mark squeezed her hand in his.  Their hands had always fit perfectly together, now was no different.  Tumor or no tumor.  Finn or no Finn.  His thumb gently stroked the top of her hand.  Lexie’s skin had always been incredibly soft.  

Mark noticed that she didn’t answer the question, at all.  She avoided it.  This had been what she asked for.  She wasn’t wrong.  Lexie had made her position clear as soon as Mark had arrived back in Seattle, and he couldn’t blame her.  He didn’t blame her.  He blamed himself.  “Lex.....” he whispered.  

Mark moved to sit up a bit more and opened his arm.  This was probably incredibly stupid.  “Stay,” Mark said, tugging her closer.