I decided to update the three climax chapters tonight, because tomorrow will be kind of busy for me and I may not have Internet for most of the weekend. So here you guys go.
Pictures of Elise's photo shoot, as to clothing and such, are at the end of this chapter, in the author note, in case you're interested in seeing what they all look like. Just in case you guys were wondering, her original photo back in chapter 1 is from an ad in a magazine I saw several months ago. I can't remember what the magazine or modeling company was, but it was a female model lying on a horse. I loved it from the first moment I saw it, but unfortunately I don't have the page anymore. :(
The incident in this chapter is loosely based off a recent true life event from my own life. There are also some references to and borrowings from the House, M.D. episode, season 3, episode 22, "Resignation", which I don't own. Mark fans, these next two chapters will be rough for you. This is your only warning.
Chapter Seven – How Did We Get Here?
Elise sat in a chair and got her hair done by a professional hairstylist, Cameron, while Mark pulled out his camera and equipment, to get ready to photograph her for his next Ralph Lauren photo submission. He was going to be with Elise all day in Tompkins Square Park, photographing her in various outfits and with different hairstyles, for pictures for the collage for Roger, a wedding gift from him. He had to pick his locations carefully, so as not to disturb the other families who were spending time in the park, and vise versa.
They had set up a small tent quarters in the park to be Elise's dressing room. Ralph Lauren had also provided several props. There would be about ten minutes between each picture taking, for Elise to get her hair and make-up redone and change her outfit. While they were busy all day, Roger, Mimi, and Collins were spending the day with Dominic and Chris, whom they had officially met that morning, going to a movie and to the Brooklyn Zoo.
"OK, Elise, I want you to put your hands on your hips and one leg up on the bench there," Mark said, pointing to the bench, "and give me a serious look." He snapped the picture. "Great."
Elise quickly changed and had her hair redone. She was now dressed in a floor length, light maroon, form-fitting dress. It was so long her shoes could not be seen (but she wasn't wearing any anyway).
"All right, now swing your hips to the right, drape your right arm over your head, and rest your left hand with your arm curved against your left hip." Mark lifted the camera. "Relax your right hand, just let it hang, but keep a little tension, so it doesn't look limp."
Elise did as she was told and Mark snapped the picture. "Great. Now turn around and look at me, resting your chin lightly against your chest, but still facing me."
Elise did and Mark snapped that picture as well.
"OK, turn sideways, look to the right at me. Left arm at your side, I can't see it from this angle, but that's fine. Bend your right arm to about forty degrees." Elise, dressed this time in a bright red sports bra and short-shorts, bent her arm and faced Mark. He smiled encouragingly at her. "Good, now, slight pout of your lips, but relax the rest of your face."
Elise pouted her lips slightly and Mark snapped the picture.
"These are great pictures, Elise. You're doing wonderfully," Mark said to her, talking faster than normal.
But Elise didn't notice. "Thanks, Mark," she said. "What next?"
"We're going to do a close-up of your face and arms, so go put on that forest green halter top. You can wear whatever you want for pants and such, we won't be seeing anything past your shoulders," Mark said, talking even faster than before. Mark's head spun for a second, but he steadied himself.
Elise nodded. "Mark, you OK?" she asked, walking over to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine; it's just my— my head feels funny. OK, well, let's get started, shall we?" Mark spoke just as quickly as before.
"Are you sure?" Elise asked. "You never talk this fast."
"I— I don't know. I can't— I can't," Mark said. "I'm..." He put his hand on his chest. "I feel like my heart's gonna explode."
"Is something wrong?" Elise looked at him with concern.
Mark lifted up his chin and tried to get a read of his pulse, but had no luck. "Damn it."
"Here, let me," Elise said kindly. She placed two fingers on his carotid artery and watched the watch on his wrist for time while she counted his pulse. "Your heart's racing."
"I know," Mark said.
After fifteen seconds, Elise said, "Oh my... forty-six." She looked at him worriedly.
"Forty-six?" Mark asked her, aghast.
Elise nodded. "Forty-six times four is… one-eighty-five," she said, alarmed.
"One eighty-five," Mark echoed, shocked and confused, "one eighty-five... One eighty-five?" Elise still had not taken her eyes off him. He looked up at her. "I'm just going to sit for a second and review these pictures while you change."
"OK, if you're sure you're OK," Elise said. Mark nodded again and she went into the tent.
Mark leaned over and put his head between his legs and fanned himself with his hand, while he waited for Elise to change and come back out.
Elise quickly changed into the tank top and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and went back out to Mark. With the way he was acting, she hadn't wanted to leave him in the first place.
When she came back out of the tent, Mark was laying sprawled-out, face-down on the ground by his camera. He had fallen from the bench and collapsed.
"Oh, my God, Mark!" Elise exclaimed. She bolted over to him and turned him over. "Mark! Mark! Talk to me!" When she didn't get a response, she placed her ear on his chest to listen for a heartbeat and breathing sounds, but he had already stopped breathing. Elise looked around wildly for help. "Somebody help!" she yelled. "Somebody help, please!"
A man rushed over and knelt down next to Elise and Mark.
"What happened?" he asked quickly.
"I don't know," Elise cried. "I'm Elise. I'm a model and Mark's my photographer. I came out of my tent and he was lying on the ground. He collapsed. He isn't breathing." She began to cry and hyperventilate. "Please help him!"
"Elise, calm down," the man said. He put his hands together and started to do compressions. In between thrusts, he instructed, "Get a cell phone, if you have one, and call 911. We need to get him to the hospital."
Elise nodded and dialed 911 on her cell phone, scared. When the operator picked up, she said, "I'm in Tompkins Square Park and my friend collapsed. He isn't breathing. We're doing CPR. Please get here!" She stayed on the line with the operator until told she could hang up, then she looked back at the man. "Any change?"
"None," the man said, and he leaned over and gave Mark two rescue breaths after another round of compressions, after checking for a pulse and not finding one.
Elise never left Mark's side and the man continued to do compressions until the paramedics arrived.
"I have to go with him," Elise said. "Our family has to know."
"What relationship are you to him?" the paramedic asked.
"I'm his best friend's fiancé. They're practically like brothers, they've known each other since pre-school," Elise said.
The paramedic nodded. "You can ride up front with our driver," he said quickly, and he went back to working on Mark.
Elise, her throat choked up, nodded, and went to sit up front with the driver after thanking the man who had performed CPR on Mark until the paramedics had arrived. The entire ride to Bellevue Medical Center, Elise wondered how Mark was doing, if he was OK. She knew, when they got there, she had to call Roger and the others and let them know what was going on. But as of this point, not even she knew.
Fifteen minutes later...
Roger rushed into the waiting room to find Elise sitting in a chair, a blank look on her face. She didn't seem to be taking in what was going on around her.
"Elise," he said, taking her into his arms. She still said nothing. "Baby, I'm so sorry." He paused for a moment, then said, "Please say something."
Suddenly, Elise broke down and cried.
"Baby..." Roger said, holding her close. "Talk to me. Tell me what happened."
"We were doing the photo shoot in the park and he started acting weird; he said he felt like his heart was gonna explode," Elise sobbed. "His heart was beating really, really fast. Then I came back out from my tent quarters, my changing room, and he'd collapsed. I never should have left him in the first place." She broke down and cried, as Roger held her and waited for her to calm down. When she did, she went on, "Some random guy helped me with CPR while we waited for the paramedics. I don't know anything more at this point. I'm so sorry for not calling sooner, but I wanted to available to get any updates, especially if he didn't make it..."
Roger held Elise tightly. "Shh, easy, honey," he soothed. "The doctors will know more soon and can give us an update. Until then, let's just call Collins and try to stay calm and wait until we know more, OK? I told him I'd go and see that you were OK and I'd call him."
Elise nodded and pressed herself into his strong frame, tears still streaming down her cheeks.
It was not ten minutes after Roger made the call that Collins and Mimi showed up. He and Mimi immediately came over and hugged Elise and Roger.
"It'll be OK," Collins said, hugging Elise. "He's a fighter, he's a stubborn guy. We just have to be there for him."
Elise and Roger nodded. "We should call Mo and Jo," Roger said, "tell them what's up; they'll probably wanna fly in from San Francisco to see him once he wakes up."
Roger nodded. "I'll do it," he said.
"No, man, it's OK, I will," Collins offered, smiling bravely. "You two need to stay here and wait for the doctor."
Roger bit his lip, but nodded. Collins went to go make the call. He was back ten minutes later, still on the phone.
"Jo wants to talk to you," Collins said to Roger.
Roger nodded and took the phone. "Hey, Jo," he said.
"Hey," Joanne said. "How are you doing?"
"I'm all right; scared as hell, but Elise was the one who saw the whole thing go down. She's a mess," Roger said.
"I'm so sorry, Roger. We wish we could be there," Joanne said, sounding teary-eyed.
"I know. It's OK, it's a long way. You're on the other side of the country," Roger said. "Sometimes the only thing you can do is call."
"Yeah," Joanne said. "Have you talked to the doctor yet?"
"No, we haven't seen anyone," Roger said. "It shouldn't be too long; Elise said he's been admitted. They're probably still stabilizing him."
Joanne sighed. "Well, you can call us back when you know more," she said. "No use keeping the phone line tied up. You need to let Mark's parents and his sister know."
"I will," Roger said. "Thanks, Jo. Take care. See ya."
"You, too, bye," Joanne said.
Roger hung up the phone and gave it back to Collins and went back to holding Elise. In this moment, with all that was going on, even though she was fine, he was scared that if he let her go, he would lose her, too.
It was another two hours before they saw a doctor. Roger, Elise, Mimi, and Collins all stood up and went over to him when he called Mark's name.
"Come with me, please," the doctor said.
Elise looked up nervously at Roger; she didn't feel like this meant anything good. But they followed the doctor anyway, to his office down the hall. It was a standard-sized office, with off-white walls, tan carpeting, a desk and wheeled chair, two extra straight, hard-backed chairs, an examination table, and various posters on the walls, advertising pregnancy, STDs, cancer, and HIV/AIDS.
Roger, Elise, and Collins took seats in the chairs. The doctor spoke immediately.
"I'm sorry for making you wait so long," he apologized. "I'm Doctor Wyatt McMahon, the attending physician for Mark Cohen." The doctor shook each of their hands. Elise hadn't said a word since they arrived in the office.
"How is he?" Collins asked the doctor.
"He's stable," Doctor McMahon said. "Since you three are available, and I'm assuming know Mark the best, I need you to fill out this paperwork, since his next of kin are not here; it has medical history on it, next of kin, personal information, things like that on it. His next of kin has been notified and his parents and sister are making arrangements to come see him."
Great, Roger thought, trying hard not to roll his eyes. Now he would have to deal with Mr. and Mrs. Cohen and Cindy, whom, even though he felt bad for them right now, still annoyed him.
Roger finished filling out the paperwork with Collins, making sure they got everything filled out to the best of their ability, besides medical history, which they were going to leave for Mrs. Cohen to fill out, as she was Mark's mother and knew him best.
"Mark is alive, but unconscious. We've put him in a medically-induced coma," Doctor McMahon explained. "We did a heart catheter to check for blockage and found none. We think he has cardiomyopathy, a virus that attacks the heart muscle and weakens it, causing cardiac arrest. Sometimes this arrest is extremely sudden, like Mark's; sometimes it comes across as gradual heart failure. He's in the ICU. Would you like to see him?"
"Yes," they said together.
"Very well," Doctor McMahon said, nodding. "Follow me, then, please. Don't be alarmed, but he is attached to many wires and other equipment for medicinal purposes." They all nodded as Doctor McMahon pushed open double swinging doors. "In here."
Mark lay in one of the closest beds to the door, his eyes closed, his clothes removed, but covered with light white sheets. He was intubated with a ventilator, and had a heart and blood pressure monitor attached to his other arm. He had various needles with IV lines dripping into him.
"The next 24 hours are critical," Doctor McMahon said. "We will monitor him through the night and tomorrow, and if he remains stable, we will start bringing him out of his medically-induced coma, to determine the extent of the damage done to his vital organs." Roger, Elise, and Collins nodded. "So unfortunately, I'm sorry, but all you can do for now is wait. As soon as I know more, I will let you know directly."
"Thank you, Doctor," Roger said. Doctor McMahon nodded, then left the room. Roger looked at Mark worriedly and would not take his eyes off him. He was afraid he was losing his best friend, the one none of them thought they would see die before his time.
Doctor McMahon is after Julian McMahon, whom I loved for eight years in Charmed, in case you guys are wondering. Things are quickly going to get emotional, so be prepared. That's all I'm going to say. Reviews are encouraging, so please don't forget to do that. Thank you kindly for reading.
Elise's pictures:
Bench picture: http:// helenalpha. deviantart .com /art/ PICS2-86659356 (no spaces)
Light maroon dress picture: http:// zoemon. deviantart .com /art/ pink-103034042 (no spaces)
Sports bra picture: http:// darthangel2. deviantart .com /art/ model-46278544 (no spaces)
If any of the links do not work or are broken or anything, let me know and I will do my best to remedy this ASAP. Thank you.
