The first time Mark Sloan lied about his symptoms was during a breast reconstruction. His lower right leg fell asleep and wouldn't wake up. Jackson finished the procedure while Mark rushed to his office, where the feeling eventually went away. This happened several more times, each bringing a new symptom with it. People trusted Mark Sloan with their health every day but when it came to his own, he was unreliable. For weeks, the plastic surgeon lectured his patients on the importance of being honest with medical professionals about symptoms while personally lying to doctor after doctor. That plan worked until Kepner found Mark lying on the hard ground of the attendings' lounge waiting for his back to stop spasming, she tried to call for a gurney. The stubborn surgeon insisted that he'd be fine, which wasn't exactly a lie, because he'd had a similar episode that did go away on its own. April gave him an hour to get off the floor. She dropped the issue when he was able to walk to his office twenty minutes later but left her friend with a warning that he needed to see someone about the totally not normal incident.

Shortly after that, Derek, Meredith, Hunt, practically the entire medical staff began to notice smaller things like Mark rubbing his neck, subconsciously wincing when he had a spasm, and rubbing his leg when it fell asleep. Whenever someone brought one of those things up, the surgeon had an excuse at the ready, and in turn his colleagues were always armed with some line about paying a visit to one of the many doctors in the hospital where he happened to spend most of his waking hours. Mark would just nod and turn the conversation to another topic. And it worked up until now, when, as he tried to rub his upper right leg awake for the millionth time Mark realized his fellow doctors were right. They'd been right for over a month. He really needed to see a doctor. The monthly board meeting was in a few hours, so after that he'd talk to Shep or Callie. Right now, he needed to take a nap because he was only 13 hours into a 20-hour shift.

As had become the norm over the last decade and a bit, the surgeon retreated to an on-call room, shut off the lights, set his alarm for three hours later and then crawled under the covers. Within minutes he was asleep. Besides a resident and intern who accidently opened the door while looking for a space to make out, Mark slept undisturbed until the blaring alarm started to wipe away the fog of slumber. He hadn't opened his eyes and he wasn't fully alert to the world when he felt the indescribable pain for the first time. His eyes flew open and he found himself upright in the bed, completely awake within seconds. The pain was like a band of suffering that went from his belly button, around his waist and back to the belly button. He let out a deep breath, which only caused a whimper. If he'd been forced to describe it, he might have said it was a torture belt. He figured it was because he had to go the bathroom, so that's the first thing he did…or tried. Unexpectedly, nothing came out of his bladder.

Maybe he was just hungry, he thought, so he decided he'd eat something at the board meeting. The operation of the hospital depended on these meetings and he wasn't going to miss one because of an overblown stomach-ache, so he forced himself out of bed. He popped a few Extra Strength Tylenol and a couple Motrin on his way to the elevators and hoped the pain would subside. Dr. Quaid, another of the hospital's plastics attendings, exited the elevator as Mark got on; Quaid was blabbering on about how he'd stolen a big surgery from Sloan.

Truthfully, Mark had passed on the operation because it would mean he'd miss the board meeting and since those days in the woods of Oregon his priorities had changed. Stepping into the fourth-floor conference room, the King of Plastics beelined for the beverage cart. After pouring himself a cup of coffee, Mark found himself a seat next to Lexie. She happened to be one of his main concerns in life these days. Not only were they married, she was expecting their child. Mark hadn't seen her all day, so he asked Lexie how her day was panning out. He was met by a terse 'fine' in between bites of apple fritter being shoved into her mouth at a rapid speed.

"I love you…"

Lexie completely ignored Mark, choosing to enjoy the fritter instead. The signal clear, the rejected husband took out his phone and checked his e-mail. Pregnant Lexie was an interesting thing that Mark was still learning to live with. Thankfully, he'd only have to live with her for two more months. After that, they'd have a beautiful baby boy. God, he couldn't wait to have another kid. Sofia was amazing but to have a kid with Lexie. That was going to be Heaven. Mark couldn't help himself and looked up from his phone. Mistake number one. He looked over at her and smiled (mistake number two) thinking about how lucky they were to have survived the plane crash.

"You look beautiful." This was mistake number three.

Lexie gave Mark a stare he'd come to call the 'hairy eyeball' during his time living with the Shepherds. Liz and Nancy were the best at it. At least that's what he'd thought before his wife got pregnant. The look was so scathing that he instantly shut up when it happened. Even when she acted like this, Mark was happy to be with his wife because there were so many times in the months after the crash both could have died. The seven pins she had in her legs, his coma, the bone infection in her hip that was almost ignored...

"What are you staring at?"

Just as Mark was going to have to interact with his wife again, Derek and a waddling Meredith came in. Due two weeks before her sister, the elder Grey was also difficult to live with, so Derek strategically sat his wife next to Lexie. He sat next to Mark. It seemed to be working, because when Cristina and Arizona arrived, the sisters had smiles on their faces. Finally feeling some stress relief, Mark leaned forward in an effort to stretch his unusually stiff neck. Leaning forward felt better on his abdomen than leaning forward as he'd suspected, but he immediately recoiled when his hand and arm began spasming. It had happened several times before, so the surgeon grabbed the offending arm and as in the past tried to stop the spasms. Derek gave his friend a questioning look, then asked if Mark was okay.

Mark didn't hear his brother from another mother ask if he was okay, because he was preoccupied by a sudden searing jolt of pain. It started at his midline and flowed through his legs. He tried to hide just how much agony he was in, as the pain turned to pins and needles.

A second jolt caused Mark to grimace and stand up. Soon, Derek had his answer to whether Sloan was okay or not, because he looked over at Mark just in time to watch the plastic surgeon collapse to the ground. As he watched his best friend fall in what felt like slow motion, Shepherd noticed what looked like urine on Mark's pants. He logged this data point in the back of his mind as he rushed to his brother's side. The first question Derek asked was if Mark could get up. That's when Lexie realized something was wrong. Her scream as she saw her husband in a lump on the ground below her attracted the attention of everyone else who ran over. As soon as Mark tried to stand, it became evident that he was paralyzed from the waist down. Owen ran out of the room, seeking help.

Meanwhile, Jackson stabilized his mentor's neck, fearing a spinal injury. Lexie, who'd stood stunned over her husband until now, started crying. She knelt beside him, trying to be brave. Gratefully, Mark reached for Little Grey's hand and for the first time noticed a notable stiffness in the digits on his right hand. He flexed his other hand and found the same results but had no time to worry because Owen returned with medical supplies and the promise of more doctors and a gurney.

Meredith maneuvered her sister to the edge of the room so that she wasn't in the way. Bailey and Webber burst in; Owen prepared an IV. When the needle was inserted, Mark felt nothing. The paralysis was spreading. Dr. Webber, Dr. Bailey, medication, a backboard, neck brace and usual spinal protocol seconds later. Webber put Derek in charge of monitoring the paralysis; Mark could still feel pain, so it appeared to be some sort of partial paralysis. Puzzlingly, the paralysis was also moving quite quickly up Sloan's body; in ten minutes he was unable to move anything below his neck. By the time Mark was brought to the pit ten minutes later, a new symptom had developed: deep, searing pains like the initial, paralyzing jolt. Callie, who had been thinking about all of the causes of paralysis she could, held Sofia's dad's hand even though he couldn't feel it. She exchanged a look with Derek as their friend screamed from pain as he was poked and prodded. How cruel that he couldn't move but he still felt pain.

"Please...stop!" Mark begged as tears started to fall down his face.

Derek took a deep breath and suggested, "what if I do the exam? I'm neuro…"

"Shepherd…" Bailey warned, then stopped as she saw Mark's pleading face. She looked to Owen, placing the final decision with the chief. She'd spent far too many years playing the role of the heavy; it was time someone else lay down the law.

"I'm sorry, no. We're paging someone else from neuro." Owen made sure to give Miranda a very pointed look after delivering the definitive statement on the matter.

Blood tests and other scans were set up to rule out common culprits of paralysis, but Mark's medical team's biggest worry was that the paralysis would impact the surgeon's breathing, resulting in the need for life support. In an unfortunate development, until infectious disease was ruled out, Lexie would be unable to visit Mark due to her pregnancy. Because they couldn't treat Sloan, Callie and Derek went to the waiting room and informed Lexie and Meredith of Mark's status. It was going to be a long day.

The decision to transfer their patient to the ICU was made quite quickly and with as little bias as possible by Mark's medical team. Owen was holed up in his office looking through textbooks, imaging and blood test results. Bailey and Webber had called upon several experts that were not connected to the case early on, a decision that would probably be key in saving Mark's life (if it could be saved). Chief among them was Tom Koracick, who had come in on his day off and set up a makeshift office in an ICU conference room. Mark couldn't do anything but stare up at the ceiling of his ICU room. Lexie and Sofia couldn't visit. Callie and Derek had been by for visits a couple of times, but the pair was determined to engage in rogue diagnostics. Richard had been clear that the surgeons not hinder Mark's care by trying to be part of the medical team. He hadn't said anything about waiting room-based unofficial meddling on an individual basis that didn't interfere with Sloan's medical treatment, a fact Callie and Derek felt justified their actions.

When Arizona was finally finished the long operation that held her up, she rushed to the ICU waiting room only to find her wife and Derek sitting at a table filled with textbooks Owen had dropped off before heading home to Amelia, Leo and Charlotte. Lexie and Meredith were asleep in the corner of the room because it was after 10 pm now and Derek promised to wake them up if there was any news on Mark. She joined them, but suggested they close the books for the moment. She knew from past experience after the car accident to avoid small talk. It was pointless, took up airspace and only led to arguments. So, she got to the point.

"Have you guys had dinner yet?"

Derek and Callie looked up for the first time in a couple hours. They hadn't noticed the blonde doctor sit down. In fact, they hadn't had dinner. They'd worked right through it. Arizona suggested that the pair go grab some dinner while she went back and checked on Sloan. The litany of excuses offered by the Chiefs of Neurosurgery and Orthopedics would normally have her laughing but considering the circumstances, Dr. Robbins didn't feel it was appropriate. Instead, she did her best to make them feel more comfortable about leaving by promising to page if anything happened to Mark. Meredith and Lexie were still sawing logs, so Torres and Shepherd were on their way with a literal shove out the door.

"Let us know if anything changes!" Derek called as the ICU door shut behind him.

Mark had switched from staring at the ceiling to watching television by the time Arizona came to visit at 10:30 pm. Two nurses named Trevor and Kristoffer had repositioned him so that he wouldn't develop bed sores; during the process they'd thoughtfully moved the TV. Normally, visitors wouldn't have been allowed in Mark's ICU room, but Richard Webber had learned years ago it was better if he bent the rules before the rules were bent by others.

Mark was lying flat on the bed when Arizona came in. He had a lot of wires hooked up to him and was catheterized. He was a shell of his normal self, but Arizona was determined not to treat him that way.

"Hi Mark." Arizona approached the bed.

"How's Lexie?" Mark struggled to get the words out.

"Do you need me to call someone?" Arizona was worried.

"No…how's Lexie?"

Arizona smiled, and explained that Lexie was sleeping in the waiting room. Mark was still having trouble breathing. As she started asking if he needed help, his eyes went wide and his face went blue—he wasn't breathing.