Mark got home an hour later and collapsed, sobbing.
He'd been as strong as he could the whole time he was at the gym until the emergency responders showed up. Mark was half tempted to take the baby who had no parents at the moment, so he gave his number to the paramedics and told them to call him if they couldn't find the other parent.
It took Mark another half an hour to get up and call Matthew. He knew he probably wasn't around, but he figured he would check.
"Hey, Mark," a rough voice that only sounded vaguely like Matt's answered.
"Hey man, you doing alright over there?" Mark asked.
He heard a sigh, "Stephanie... Stephanie didn't make it. But Ollie did."
Mark's eyebrows flew up, "Is Ollie okay?"
"A couple months early, but other than that he's okay. He'll have to stay here in the NICU for a week or so just to make sure he's okay."
"What hospital are you at?" Mark asked, shifting so his back was on the front of the couch. He felt a dog come sniff him, and he looked to see Henry. He hadn't seen Chica... he had to assume she'd been dusted too.
Matthew listed off some random hospital, and Mark looked up the address. "That's just down the street from my place. Do you want to stay here while Ollie is in the hospital?"
Matthew was silent for a second, "Can I take you up on that offer in a week? I don't think I could step foot into the house for a while... Not without thinking of Stephanie."
Mark nodded, even though Matt couldn't see it, "Yeah, totally okay. We have a guest bed here, and enough room that if you want to bring a crib for Ollie you can do that as well."
"Thank you, Mark. Gotta go, the doctor just walked in," and with that Matthew hung up.
Mark sighed, laying his head back onto the couch. He didn't know how he was going to continue without the two girls of the household.
He lifted his phone, calling his mom.
"Oh, Mark! I'm so glad you called, is everything okay?" His mom was quick, and also sounded like she had been sobbing.
"Yeah, yeah I'm okay Mom... But..." He felt a lump in his throat and grit his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut.
"What happened?" It was barely more than a whisper, and with that Mark let out a sob, covering his mouth.
"Amy... I can't reach Amy. She hasn't called or texted since it happened," Mark sobbed, feeling the true weight of the situation hitting him like a battering ram.
"Oh Mark, I am so, so sorry. Should I come to your house? And then we'll fly to Korea together to visit family once they let us?" His mom asked.
Mark hiccuped, "No- No mom. You don't have to come here. My friend Matthew is going to come to stay for a while, his wife dusted and now he's got a kid to take care of. I offered to help."
His mom let out an approving sound Mark couldn't really describe, "Neol jeongmal salanghae." I love you so much.
"Nado dangsin-eul salanghabnida," I love you too.
"Stay safe for me, and call me tonight, okay?" His mom asked.
"Yes ma'am," Mark said, rubbing his hands over his eyes.
His phone began to ring immediately after hanging up with his mom. It was Bob.
"Hey, is it okay if Mandy and I come over? We just wanna make sure you're doing okay. We have food and board games," Bob rushed out.
"Yeah, but I'm a mess right now just so you know," Mark mumbled.
There was a knock on his door and he stood to get it, telling Bob he had to go. He opened it to see Ethan, absolutely covered in blood and dust.
Without a word the two hugged, the smaller man crying openly.
"What happened?" Mark whispered, pulling Ethan in.
"I was driving when it happened. My car got totaled, I flipped a few times. I was stuck there until half an hour ago. EMT's cleaned me up and gave me a ride here," Ethan realized he hadn't asked first and started breathing quicker, "Oh my god I'm so sorry if I'm intruding-"
"Hey man," Mark held Ethan by his shoulders and looked him in the eyes, "You're okay. Do you need to take a shower?"
Ethan shrugged, "I don't think I can... They gave me some stitches and asked me to go home, but I didn't want to."
"They didn't ask for any identification?" Mark questioned, moving Ethan to the kitchen.
Ethan shook his head, "No. They're trying to help as many people as they can, we're in a crisis is what they've been saying."
"Jeez," Mark mumbled, "Want new clothes?"
Ethan nodded quickly, and Mark went into his room to grab Ethan clothes. He didn't want to look at Amy's side of the bed, so he moved quickly, coming back out a moment later.
Within half an hour Ethan was on the couch, sleeping in new clothes. Mark helped him clean himself up, and as soon as they finished Ethan had fallen asleep. Mark couldn't help but feel horrible, as Ethan had a ton of cuts on his face and torso. He was fairly certain he had broken his ankle since it was wrapped. Mark didn't bother cleaning that up since he didn't want to mess it up.
Mark's doorbell rang, and after making sure Ethan hadn't waken up he went to the door. Bob and Mandy stood on his doorstep, holding a dish and a game he was fairly certain was Cards Against Humanity.
"Come on in. Ethan is asleep on the couch," Mark welcomed them, taking the dish from them. Smelled like bacon.
"Is he okay?" Mandy asked.
"His car got wrecked because of what happened. Flipped a few times, got stuck until an hour ago."
"Jesus," Bob whispered.
"I've got Matthew and his kid coming to stay in a week," Mark continued, leading the couple into the kitchen.
"Stephanie didn't make it?" Mandy asked sadly.
"No," Mark sighed, setting the meal down, "Do you guys want to eat now?"
"I'm okay if you are. Maybe we should wait until Ethan wakes up in order to do anything?" Bob suggested.
Mark nodded, and the trio went and sat at the dining room table. Mark was fairly certain that Ethan wouldn't hear them, but Mark could still see him and keep an eye on him.
The group ended up talking for another half an hour, just trying to get used to what's going on. At some point, they turned on the news, moving into the living room to watch it. The group was silent as the anchors continued to discuss damages. A cop on the way to another emergency (a collapsing building) had managed to get a dashcam of Ethan's accident. It angered Mark a little, seeing as the cop hadn't stopped to help his friend. But there were more people in danger ahead, so Mark figured that there was nothing the cop could have done.
As they watched, Ethan groaned on the couch. Mark looked over, holding his hand out for the younger one to grip.
It was going to take a while to recover, wasn't it?