Ok, firstly, I own no-one, I'm just borrowing them.
To enjoy this fic, accept that I have been liberal with the timeline! Elizabeth and Mark have been together for about 6 months, and then they broke up for about 2 months, then just recently got back together. Susan has just returned to County. Mark doesn't have a tumour - well not yet anyway. If he starts to annoy me, I might think about killing him off!
If you're a fan of Mark and Elizabeth, you almost certainly won't like this fic.
I think that's it. Please let me know what you think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"..and I would have thought you would know by now that this is not a surgical consult Dr Greene" the red haired English surgeon spat as she walked off.
She felt guilty when she saw the hurt in his eyes, and stopped to apologise. "Sorry, Mark, it's been a long day".
"It's ok, Elizabeth, you can make it up to me tonight" he said smiling.
"Oh, about tonight - I'm sorry, but I'm going to be held up here, and I'm already exhausted. Do you mind if we do it another night?" She could see the look of disappointment in his eyes, but she just wasn't in the mood to deal with it right now.
As she left, she didn't see Susan Lewis shake her head while watching her walk out.
Elizabeth got back to her office and sat down. She knew she needed to sort things out with Mark. Things hadn't been right in the weeks since they got back together. It seemed like a good idea when it happened, but in retrospect, Elizabeth realised she had just been lonely, and Mark wanted to get back with her, so she took the easy option. But she was now so stressed that she was exhausted all the time, and was actually waking up feeling physically sick some mornings.
She had to talk to Mark - it wasn't fair to keep treating him this way. She resolved to talk to him on the weekend to sort things out once and for all. Mark was a lovely man, and she knew he loved her and would treat her well, but she just didn't feel the same about him. She loved him, but there was no passion between them, no real spark. That seemed to be enough for Mark, but it just wasn't enough for her. She needed passion in her life.
No sooner had she started back in to her paperwork than she was paged downstairs to the ER again. She hoped it wasn't Mark, and she hoped it was a real consult this time! She got off the elevator and went to the desk, asking Jerry if he knew who had paged her. Jerry pointed her in the direction of Susan Lewis. Elizabeth cringed - that was her second least favourite option down here! Susan made her feel uncomfortable. The easy way Mark and Susan had renewed their friendship only served to make it more obvious to Elizabeth how strained her own relationship with him was.
She quickly evaluated the patient as needing to go upstairs for an urgent appendectomy and walked beside the bed as they moved to the elevator. Suddenly she felt a rush of dizziness. She grabbed on to the bed she was pushing and stopped for a moment. It passed quickly and she moved on. She glanced around- good, no-one seemed to have noticed.
As she travelled up in the lift, Elizabeth was forced to consider the thought she'd been trying to ignore the last couple of weeks. It was almost funny how she had been living in denial! She felt like one of those women on TV who gets sick and is dizzy, and the entire audience knows before she does that she's pregnant!
Much as she had wanted to believe it was just the stress of work and dealing with Mark, she had known deep down for a week now that it was a possibility. She resolved to take a test as soon as she could. For now, she had a surgery to perform!
~~~~~
Elizabeth sat in the cubicle in the bathroom, staring at the wand she held in her hand. Just a few more seconds and she would know. She forced herself not to panic - not to think about the consequences - until she knew for sure. She looked again, and there it was - positive! Oh God - what was she going to do? Her relationship with Mark was all but over. Should she tell him? Should she stay with him and have the baby? Should she have the baby on her own? Should she even have the baby?
There were too many questions to answer right now. She felt a strong feeling of panic overwhelm her, and she grabbed at the lock on the cubicle, forcing it open and ran out of the bathroom in to the hallway. She needed air. She couldn't breathe. She ran towards the elevator, practically gasping for breath. She didn't even notice Robert there until she pretty much ran right in to him.
"You're in a hurry today, Dr Corday?" he said, looking almost amused at her flight.
"I'm so sorry, Dr Romano. I - um - need to get to the ER" she said breathlessly, mirroring his formal address as she pushed past him.
She hated how things were so awkward between them these days. He was so formal and polite now - something she always thought she'd be happy to see, yet as it turned out, she missed their banter. She missed the caustic barbs they used to throw at each other, the game they had played all the time, never giving in, never letting the other get the upper hand. But that was all gone, ever since --- but enough thinking about that. She had much bigger things to worry about now than Dr. Robert Romano.
~~~
Two days later, and Elizabeth still hadn't told Mark about the baby. She had convinced herself that she would have a check-up first to make sure everything was ok. There was no point in getting ahead of herself. Of course, she knew that was just an excuse. He was the father - he deserved to know regardless of the health of the foetus growing inside of her. She just wasn't ready to tell him yet.
She had made an appointment at a private clinic rather than going to the one at County. The last thing she wanted was for Mark to hear it from someone else besides her.
"Well, Elizabeth" she heard the doctor tell her, "Everything looks fine. You're progressing well. I'd say you're about 8 weeks along."
She was very relieved to hear that everything was going ok. Despite the circumstances, she'd already gotten attached to this life growing inside of her. In theory, she was still considering the option of not having the baby at all, but she already knew in her heart she couldn't do that.
Then she suddenly opened her eyes wide in shock as the rest of the doctor's words sank in.
"8 weeks?" she said. "But that's impossible. Mark and I are only back together for 5 weeks. Are you sure?"
"You're certainly more than 5 weeks along. We'll know for certain when I get your test results".
Elizabeth's mind was whirling now. This couldn't be happening. It was bad enough when she thought she was having Mark's baby, but if she was 8 weeks gone, then it couldn't be his.
There was only one other option. That one night! That night when she'd gone out for a drink after work to drown her sorrows, and ended up back at his place, a tangled mass of arms and legs, grasping desperately for each other through the night. Had they been safe? She was sure they had been, although there were parts of the evening she was hazy about. Other parts of the evening were burnt in to her memory, jumping out at her when least expected, but she pushed them aside now. She needed to think clearly.
"You can get down now", she heard from her doctor and in a daze, Elizabeth got dressed, made a time for her next appointment and somehow found her way home.
When she got home, she made herself some tea, and sat on the couch, trying to figure out what she would do. It was all so much to deal with. She was in a relationship that she wanted out of. She was pregnant from a one- night-stand with someone else. She was now again considering again whether or not she wanted to keep the baby, given the circumstances. What was she supposed to do?
She knew she had to break up with Mark. How was she supposed to put it? *Um, Mark, I don't think we should see each other anymore, and by the way, I'm carrying another man's child*. Yeah, that was going to sound good.
God, how did she get herself in to this situation?
~~~~~~
The first thing she did was to call Mark and ask if she could come over. She felt so bad because he sounded genuinely pleased that she had called.
When she got to his house, he opened the door, and it was only then she realised how she must have looked, because his face fell on seeing her expression. He invited her in, wordlessly and indicated she sit on the couch. She didn't sit down. She took his hands in hers, and looking in to his eyes, she started to speak -
"Mark - I'm sorry, but I don't think things are working out" she said tentatively.
He looked away initially - seemingly collecting his emotions. Then he turned back to her, giving her a wry smile. "I guess I knew that was what you were going to say. And much as I haven't wanted to admit it, I know you're right - things haven't been right. I just wanted to try to work it out, but it's probably too late." He said, and then added "you do know I love you, right?"
She nodded. "I love you too Mark, but it's not enough to make this work out."
He nodded and for a while they both just stood there. Elizabeth was wondering if she should tell him about the pregnancy, but decided it wasn't the right time. She needed to tell the father first. She finally broke the silence between them. "I should probably go. I'm sorry Mark."
Despite everything, Mark had been good to her, and she was sad to be saying goodbye. But she was also sad that their relationship had become so passionless that he didn't even really seem to care that she was going out of his life. Or was it that he was being Mark, and trying to make her feel better, despite the fact she was breaking up with him? Why is it that she couldn't make it work with him? He was a good man - but she could never make it work with the good ones. She always chose the difficult ones instead!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next conversation was going to be a much tougher one. He wouldn't keep his feelings in to spare hers - that much she knew for sure.
She pulled up to the house, sitting in her car for a few moments trying to collect her thoughts. She got up and walked to the front door, ringing the bell, unable to stop the suddenly vivid memories of the last time she had entered this house.
That night, they had staggered to the front door, him fumbling - trying to get the key in the door without taking his lips from hers. She remembered how they had tumbled in the door when he finally got it open, falling to the ground just inside, already starting to tear each other's clothes off.
She shook her head to rid herself of the memories. She remembered why she was here, and suddenly, she felt like she could cry. This was such a mess. At that moment, the door opened to the surprised face of -
- Robert Romano!
TBC
~~~~~
A/N - ok, like you didn't know who it was going to be!!
Sorry if the ultrasound thing is not correct. I don't know if you could tell the age of the foetus that accurately, but call it creative licence! I needed it for the plot!
So what do you think so far? Should I write more?
To enjoy this fic, accept that I have been liberal with the timeline! Elizabeth and Mark have been together for about 6 months, and then they broke up for about 2 months, then just recently got back together. Susan has just returned to County. Mark doesn't have a tumour - well not yet anyway. If he starts to annoy me, I might think about killing him off!
If you're a fan of Mark and Elizabeth, you almost certainly won't like this fic.
I think that's it. Please let me know what you think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"..and I would have thought you would know by now that this is not a surgical consult Dr Greene" the red haired English surgeon spat as she walked off.
She felt guilty when she saw the hurt in his eyes, and stopped to apologise. "Sorry, Mark, it's been a long day".
"It's ok, Elizabeth, you can make it up to me tonight" he said smiling.
"Oh, about tonight - I'm sorry, but I'm going to be held up here, and I'm already exhausted. Do you mind if we do it another night?" She could see the look of disappointment in his eyes, but she just wasn't in the mood to deal with it right now.
As she left, she didn't see Susan Lewis shake her head while watching her walk out.
Elizabeth got back to her office and sat down. She knew she needed to sort things out with Mark. Things hadn't been right in the weeks since they got back together. It seemed like a good idea when it happened, but in retrospect, Elizabeth realised she had just been lonely, and Mark wanted to get back with her, so she took the easy option. But she was now so stressed that she was exhausted all the time, and was actually waking up feeling physically sick some mornings.
She had to talk to Mark - it wasn't fair to keep treating him this way. She resolved to talk to him on the weekend to sort things out once and for all. Mark was a lovely man, and she knew he loved her and would treat her well, but she just didn't feel the same about him. She loved him, but there was no passion between them, no real spark. That seemed to be enough for Mark, but it just wasn't enough for her. She needed passion in her life.
No sooner had she started back in to her paperwork than she was paged downstairs to the ER again. She hoped it wasn't Mark, and she hoped it was a real consult this time! She got off the elevator and went to the desk, asking Jerry if he knew who had paged her. Jerry pointed her in the direction of Susan Lewis. Elizabeth cringed - that was her second least favourite option down here! Susan made her feel uncomfortable. The easy way Mark and Susan had renewed their friendship only served to make it more obvious to Elizabeth how strained her own relationship with him was.
She quickly evaluated the patient as needing to go upstairs for an urgent appendectomy and walked beside the bed as they moved to the elevator. Suddenly she felt a rush of dizziness. She grabbed on to the bed she was pushing and stopped for a moment. It passed quickly and she moved on. She glanced around- good, no-one seemed to have noticed.
As she travelled up in the lift, Elizabeth was forced to consider the thought she'd been trying to ignore the last couple of weeks. It was almost funny how she had been living in denial! She felt like one of those women on TV who gets sick and is dizzy, and the entire audience knows before she does that she's pregnant!
Much as she had wanted to believe it was just the stress of work and dealing with Mark, she had known deep down for a week now that it was a possibility. She resolved to take a test as soon as she could. For now, she had a surgery to perform!
~~~~~
Elizabeth sat in the cubicle in the bathroom, staring at the wand she held in her hand. Just a few more seconds and she would know. She forced herself not to panic - not to think about the consequences - until she knew for sure. She looked again, and there it was - positive! Oh God - what was she going to do? Her relationship with Mark was all but over. Should she tell him? Should she stay with him and have the baby? Should she have the baby on her own? Should she even have the baby?
There were too many questions to answer right now. She felt a strong feeling of panic overwhelm her, and she grabbed at the lock on the cubicle, forcing it open and ran out of the bathroom in to the hallway. She needed air. She couldn't breathe. She ran towards the elevator, practically gasping for breath. She didn't even notice Robert there until she pretty much ran right in to him.
"You're in a hurry today, Dr Corday?" he said, looking almost amused at her flight.
"I'm so sorry, Dr Romano. I - um - need to get to the ER" she said breathlessly, mirroring his formal address as she pushed past him.
She hated how things were so awkward between them these days. He was so formal and polite now - something she always thought she'd be happy to see, yet as it turned out, she missed their banter. She missed the caustic barbs they used to throw at each other, the game they had played all the time, never giving in, never letting the other get the upper hand. But that was all gone, ever since --- but enough thinking about that. She had much bigger things to worry about now than Dr. Robert Romano.
~~~
Two days later, and Elizabeth still hadn't told Mark about the baby. She had convinced herself that she would have a check-up first to make sure everything was ok. There was no point in getting ahead of herself. Of course, she knew that was just an excuse. He was the father - he deserved to know regardless of the health of the foetus growing inside of her. She just wasn't ready to tell him yet.
She had made an appointment at a private clinic rather than going to the one at County. The last thing she wanted was for Mark to hear it from someone else besides her.
"Well, Elizabeth" she heard the doctor tell her, "Everything looks fine. You're progressing well. I'd say you're about 8 weeks along."
She was very relieved to hear that everything was going ok. Despite the circumstances, she'd already gotten attached to this life growing inside of her. In theory, she was still considering the option of not having the baby at all, but she already knew in her heart she couldn't do that.
Then she suddenly opened her eyes wide in shock as the rest of the doctor's words sank in.
"8 weeks?" she said. "But that's impossible. Mark and I are only back together for 5 weeks. Are you sure?"
"You're certainly more than 5 weeks along. We'll know for certain when I get your test results".
Elizabeth's mind was whirling now. This couldn't be happening. It was bad enough when she thought she was having Mark's baby, but if she was 8 weeks gone, then it couldn't be his.
There was only one other option. That one night! That night when she'd gone out for a drink after work to drown her sorrows, and ended up back at his place, a tangled mass of arms and legs, grasping desperately for each other through the night. Had they been safe? She was sure they had been, although there were parts of the evening she was hazy about. Other parts of the evening were burnt in to her memory, jumping out at her when least expected, but she pushed them aside now. She needed to think clearly.
"You can get down now", she heard from her doctor and in a daze, Elizabeth got dressed, made a time for her next appointment and somehow found her way home.
When she got home, she made herself some tea, and sat on the couch, trying to figure out what she would do. It was all so much to deal with. She was in a relationship that she wanted out of. She was pregnant from a one- night-stand with someone else. She was now again considering again whether or not she wanted to keep the baby, given the circumstances. What was she supposed to do?
She knew she had to break up with Mark. How was she supposed to put it? *Um, Mark, I don't think we should see each other anymore, and by the way, I'm carrying another man's child*. Yeah, that was going to sound good.
God, how did she get herself in to this situation?
~~~~~~
The first thing she did was to call Mark and ask if she could come over. She felt so bad because he sounded genuinely pleased that she had called.
When she got to his house, he opened the door, and it was only then she realised how she must have looked, because his face fell on seeing her expression. He invited her in, wordlessly and indicated she sit on the couch. She didn't sit down. She took his hands in hers, and looking in to his eyes, she started to speak -
"Mark - I'm sorry, but I don't think things are working out" she said tentatively.
He looked away initially - seemingly collecting his emotions. Then he turned back to her, giving her a wry smile. "I guess I knew that was what you were going to say. And much as I haven't wanted to admit it, I know you're right - things haven't been right. I just wanted to try to work it out, but it's probably too late." He said, and then added "you do know I love you, right?"
She nodded. "I love you too Mark, but it's not enough to make this work out."
He nodded and for a while they both just stood there. Elizabeth was wondering if she should tell him about the pregnancy, but decided it wasn't the right time. She needed to tell the father first. She finally broke the silence between them. "I should probably go. I'm sorry Mark."
Despite everything, Mark had been good to her, and she was sad to be saying goodbye. But she was also sad that their relationship had become so passionless that he didn't even really seem to care that she was going out of his life. Or was it that he was being Mark, and trying to make her feel better, despite the fact she was breaking up with him? Why is it that she couldn't make it work with him? He was a good man - but she could never make it work with the good ones. She always chose the difficult ones instead!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next conversation was going to be a much tougher one. He wouldn't keep his feelings in to spare hers - that much she knew for sure.
She pulled up to the house, sitting in her car for a few moments trying to collect her thoughts. She got up and walked to the front door, ringing the bell, unable to stop the suddenly vivid memories of the last time she had entered this house.
That night, they had staggered to the front door, him fumbling - trying to get the key in the door without taking his lips from hers. She remembered how they had tumbled in the door when he finally got it open, falling to the ground just inside, already starting to tear each other's clothes off.
She shook her head to rid herself of the memories. She remembered why she was here, and suddenly, she felt like she could cry. This was such a mess. At that moment, the door opened to the surprised face of -
- Robert Romano!
TBC
~~~~~
A/N - ok, like you didn't know who it was going to be!!
Sorry if the ultrasound thing is not correct. I don't know if you could tell the age of the foetus that accurately, but call it creative licence! I needed it for the plot!
So what do you think so far? Should I write more?