One Sad Evening
" To us," Mark said as he and Elizabeth clinked their champagne flutes together. "To us," she agreed, as they sipped their champagne together. Suddenly the phone rang interrupting their toast, Mark got up to get it, reluctant to tear his eyes away from his beautiful fiancé. As soon as he picked up the phone, he knew there was something wrong, he could sense it.
" Hel-" was all Mark got our before he was cut off by Carter, who was working he night shift at County. " Mark, you have to get to down here now, there's been a shooting and Jen and Rachel are on there way here by ambulance. I'll explain everything letter, just hurry." With that he heard the click of the receiver.
" Lord, no." He almost screamed as he grabbed his coat and hurried out the door, leaving Elizabeth quite confused. Hurriedly, she followed after him without a word and didn't ask him what was wrong until they were in the car and speeding towards County Hospital.
" Mark, what is it? What's wrong?" She asked him as she bit her lip, and tried to keep calm. She had never seen him this worried before.
" I don't know, Carter called and said there's been a shooting and Jen and Rachel are on the way there by ambulance. He said he would explain later. I didn't even now they were in the city." His voice was filled with anxiety and Elizabeth grabbed his hand, slowly stroking it with her thumb, as if that could make every thing all right. She just couldn't find the words to say, so she sat there quietly, and to Mark, her silence meant more than words ever would. She was there for him, and was what he needed right then.
They entered the ER together and almost ran in trying to find someone who could tell them if they had arrived yet. As he approached the exit to the ambulance bay he say Rachel lying on a gurney, a paramedic manning the bag at her mouth, and Carter kneeling on the gurney, pounding on her chest. An inhuman cry escaped Mark's lips as he started to take off running to try and help, but Elizabeth grabbed him and wouldn't let go, "let Carter do it, you are in no emotional state to do it yourself. Come on, we'll meet them in the trauma room."
As they burst into the trauma room Mark collapsed at the sight of his daughter laying on the gurney, with a gun shoot wound to her chest. " Get me six units of…" Carter was instructing a nurse but suddenly stopped and looked over at Mark. " Mark, what type is she?" Mark barley managed to get out O positive and control his emotions at the same time.
"Okay, you head the man, get me 6 units O positive and a CBC. No breath sounds, hypoersonant on the left side, get me 7 ½ chest tube and chest X-Ray now…"
Finally Mark could take it no longer, grabbing a pair of surgical gloves he pushed Carter aside and grabbed the chest tube. Elizabeth's protests fell on deaf ears as she realized that this was something Mark had to do.
***
Meanwhile in Curtain 5:
" Let me go, where is my daughter? Tell me where my daughter is you son of a bitch!" Jen screamed at the top of her lungs at Malik, as he finished applying gauze to her forearm. " Let me finish applying the gauze to this surface wound, and you can go see her." Malik calmly protested. Finally, Jen couldn't take it anymore, apparently this guy didn't understand. Jumping up and sprinting away before Malik could say anything, Jen was off franticly trying to find her daughter. After a minuet of searching someone finally showed her to Trauma 1, where Mark was shocking Rachel with the defibrillation paddles in a futile attempt to bring back his daughter. Jen ran to his side, gauze trailing off her arm.
Finally Carter placed his hand on Marks arm, and Mark understood fully. He turned and put his arm around Jen leaning on each other for support, he called the time of death at 19:37. Jen's cries of sorrow and grief could be heard in the next room, Mark just stood there in shock comforting his ex-wife. Elizabeth knew that Mark and Jen needed time to deal and retreated to the lounge for a strong cup of coffee, even though she desperately wanted something a lot stronger.
***
Time lapse to Next morning
Mark and Jen had been at the hospital till all hours of the night, dealing with the aftermath of their daughter's death. Elizabeth had gone home to let them have some time alone, and kindly took on the task of notifying friends and family. Jen stumbled down from the guest room at half past ten, Mark hadn't come home last night, and was now laying on the couch, although Elizabeth knew he wasn't going to sleep any time soon. She made French toast and bacon for Jen but she barely touched any of it, as she moved it around on her plate like a disgusted two year old. A few minuets later Mark stumbled into the kitchen looking like hell. But Elizabeth knew she should have expected that, she couldn't imagine the emotions he was sorting through right now. Elizabeth could tell be the look on Marks face he wanted to talk to Jen, so she quietly retreated upstairs to get dressed.
" I want to ask you Jen, how did Rachel die? I need to know how my daughter spent her last moments." He walked over beside her at the kitchen table and took her hand.
" We were at the mall shopping for an engagement gift for you and Elizabeth, it was going to be a surprise. We took a break for lunch. She wanted pizza, so I gave her some money and let her go to get her own while I got a table. About a minute or two after, the shoots rang out. She was hit, I only got my arm nicked. The shooter committed suicide after. Why Lord why? Why couldn't you have taken me and spared her life? WHY?"
Fade to black.