'Lime green! With her complexion! That woman is just too much!'

'I know! Last week I saw her taking out the trash in broad daylight wearing sweat pants!'

The group of women, all in their mid-thirties, cackled as if this was the most unbelievably hilarious thing they had ever heard. As Susan looked around her, she couldn't help but think that their perfectly made-up faces were straight out of Stepford, for which she mentally scolded herself: You promised him that you'd make the effort today.

'Oh, Susan, by the way, I think Tobias is a little fluey. Do you think Mark could take a look at him later?' the perma-smile never vanished from Jane Perkins' lips as she addressed this new neighbour, the doctor's wife. On the few occasions she had met the doctor - he worked far away in the city - he had seemed politely charming, and she was mistified as to what attracted him to the bolshy blonde he was married to. Sure, she was attractive, but she had none of the qualities a man should be looking for in a good wife.

'He won't get home til gone nine. I could take a look at him - I am a doctor too, y'know' Susan tried, with limited success, to conceal her annoyance. What is it with these women?

'That's ok. I'll take him to Dr Hurlock first thing. He gets a little anxious around strangers anyway. Does Mark know Dr Hurlock? HIs reputation is impeccable - I'm sure he'd be only too happy to help him get tenure'.

'Mark's not interested in tenure. He's happy doing what he's doing just now'. You can do this. Just keep smiling.

'Oh - I thought you said he was working in the ER of a county hospital?'.

'Yep - that's what he loves - what we both love'.

'So you're serious about going back to work?'. The four women stared at Susan as if she had just stepped off a spaceship that had landed in one of their immaculate flowerbeds.

'The sooner the better'. Susan smiled genuinely for the first time that afternoon.

'Honey, take my advice'. Amanda Ryan leaned closer to Susan, and the other women unthinkingly followed suit. 'You've bagged yourself a wealthy guy – well, a guy with the potential to become wealthy. You've married him, had his kid, now let him look after you. It's the twenty-first century - you don't need to drag your nose back to the grindstone in the name of all this feminism crap. You need to do what's right for you, what's right for Mark and what's right for Jake. Become a homemaker'.

Susan laughed out loud. She soon stopped, however, when she realised that none of the other women were laughing with her. Amanda was being serious.

'Homemaker? Me? Yeah right! Wait til I tell Mark - I can't wait to see the look on his face!'.

Susan's neighbours looked at her with their fixed expressions, cold but nevertheless polite. Her refusal to play ball made them uncomfortable and, to avoid the risk of 'a scene', they quickly changed the topic of conversation. What followed was a lengthy discussion of jam recipes, the woman at number 42's new car and other such inane topics that Susan knew nothing, and did not wish to know anything, about. After what seemed an eternity, it was time to leave Tina Merrick's impeccable home - which looked to Susan like a show home, cold and un-lived in - and return to her own chaos of still-unpacked boxes, baby stuff and medical journals. She had been trying to keep up with new research whilst on maternity leave, but she had found little time to read in between nappy changes and bottles. She loved her son fiercely, and Mark, when she saw him, was still the amazing man she had fallen in love with, but without medicine there was something missing in her life. And she hated it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Clear!' Mark hadn't lost a single patient today and he was not going to let the guy on the table ruin it for him.

'Hey Mark, what'd'ya got?' Kerry Weaver burst into Trauma One sounding almost gleeful at the prospect of getting stuck into a bloody trauma. Mark was pleased to see her though, although he thought she was a little early – was she checking up on him? It didn't matter – at least he would get home on time.

'Kerry - I thought you were joining us at seven - Clear!'

'I know, I know…but I'm hardly the only person round here who's ever been a little late'. Kerry's tone reflected her sense of mild annoyance; this was the first time she had been late in years, but everyone else seem to swan in and out of this place as they pleased and now she was the one being reprimanded in the middle of a trauma.

Mark looked confused. 'What do you mean, late?' as he said it he glanced over his shoulder at the clock. It was 7.35. 'Oh God!' he said, returning to the trauma. 'Clear!'

'I've got this one – go'. Mark looked unsure but wasted no time in accepting Kerry's offer, snapping off his blood splattered gloves as he ran.

And he really ran. He had been on nights for the past few weeks, barely seeing Susan and Jake, and he had been looking forwards to getting home at the end of the day rather than the beginning for the entire fortnight. If he missed this train, well – he didn't want to even think about it. He loved the job, but when it came down to it his family were the most important thing in his life. He had missed out on most of Rachael's childhood, and he wasn't about to make the same mistakes with Jake.

As he ran across the station, he spotted the train on the platform and began sprinting once more. Nothing else mattered as long as he got on that train. As he approached he could see that one by one the doors were being locked. 'Hey!' he called breathlessly.

'Oh – hey Andy, hold on a minute – it's Dr Greene!' both of the men were pleased to see Mark.

'Thanks guys!' he said as he used the last of his energy to dart onto the train.

'No problem, Dr Greene – hey Vince' he shouted to a man locking the doors further down the platform 'this is that guy I was telling you about, Mark Greene' the man smiled with pride as he introduced them. Mark, polite as always, gave an embarrassed smile and said 'hi'. 'He's the guy who got married here last year. He's a doctor over at County. It's a beautiful story – '

'Sorry to interrupt, guys, but we gotta get goin'. Andy, the conductor on the train, nudged Mark out of the way as he locked the train door.

'Oh well – same time tomorrow, Dr Greene?' the man was beaming at him expectantly.

'Sure, Mike. And you can call me Mark, y'know'. Mark found the nearest seat and collapsed in it. Even though he was exhausted, as the train pulled out of the station he couldn't help thinking how content he was; in fact, he had never been so happy in his life.