"Susan...after you left...a long time after you left...well, there's a surgeon here... Elizabeth Corday."
Susan nodded, indicating that he should go on. "Well, she and I sort of... started dating, and it got kinda serious and...wow, I really don't know how to put this... we're engaged."
Susan stared at him. She blinked a few times. Finally, she smiled at him. "Wow! Congratulations! I'm so happy for you both!"
"And I'm about to be a daddy...for the second time around."
"Oh! Congratulations again! What good news! Listen, Mark, I'm sorry...If I had known, I never would have kissed you...twice...I hope there are no hard feelings...I just missed you."
"Susan, it's OK! I understand, really. But I'm sure you went on with life in Phoenix...any more blind dates?"
"No way! After Tad, I was done with blind dates forever!"
"Hey, didn't you climb out the bathroom window on that one?"
"Yeah, well, if I had to take one more second of hearing about that ex-girlfriend of his, I think I would have stabbed him with my fork!!!"
"Now Susan, as I recall, that was NOT your last blind date...I remember a certain carnival where we had to abandon our dates...now what do you say to THAT!"
"Oh wow, I'd almost forgotten! That photo booth...I'll have to teach you how to use those things, you're hopeless! I still have those pictures...I think there's 1 of you actually looking at the little camera!"
They grinned at each other. "That was great...See, some blind dates don't turn out all bad!"
"I can't believe you still remember that, Mark! I mean, you even remember Tad!"
"How could I forget! That sounded horrible... you made the right choice escaping like that!"
"But you're right, I guess, that carnival date ended up pretty well, after all...geez, I don't know why I'm bringing this up. You're engaged. You don't want to talk about this now."
"Susan...come on. Don't do this...let's just have a fun lunch. Let's not start this now, I just want to enjoy this visit." She agreed, and told him all about the hospital in Phoenix. It sounded like a great opportunity for her, just the kind of place she would fit in.
"So, anything else new with you?"
"Rachel's flying in soon, come for a visit...whenever we have our wedding. I don't know, we had to push the date back because Elizabeth wasn't feeling well. With the baby and all. So who knows when it'll happen...if it'll happen." he added, rubbing the top of his head nervously.
"What does that mean? You think you'll have to cancel it?"
"Ummm..I REALLY don't know how to say this...Earlier in the year I was dignosed with cancer. I had surgery, and so far it hasn't come back, but the doctors said I only had 6-9 months with treatment...it's been about 4."
Susan's hand flew to her mouth. "What..."she collected herself slightly and continued. "what kind of cancer?"
"glioblastoma multiforme" he recited. He had memorized it, thinking every night about what those 2 words could do to him. She looked at him, and he pointed to his head.
"Mark...oh my god, Mark..." She burst out into tears and he put his arms around her.
"Susan, it's ok. I'm fine right now. And I got to see you again...I never thought I would."
That only made Susan cry harder. "Oh god, to think I wasn't planning to visit until next fall....Oh god, I almost didn't get to see you!" Mark continued to hold her and comfort her, not even noticing how odd it was for him to be reassuring her about his death. It was always like this before. Mark was the strong one, the one who could take care of it all. He could run an ER by himself, he could scare off a drunken sister, he could save the patient, then run over and comfort Susan when she was depressed. He could do it all, no sweat. This was no different, he told himself.
"Susan...I'm OK now, I have time. Don't...I mean, it's gonna be OK. and I'm glad you're here, but I want to try to have a nice lunch...I know it's bad news, but we're both here now. We should enjoy our time together. please?"
She nodded and sat up, wiping away a few tears. They poilshed off the sandwiches and sodas and sat back on their chairs, trying to find something to talk about.
"Chloe and Joe had a baby... a little boy. His name is Matt...he's almost 3 months old. You want to see a picture?"
"Yeah, of course!" Susan pulled out her wallet and showed him the smiling baby.
"That was when he was 2 months old. With Suzie...at my birthday party. Chloe and Joe won't let a year go by without a party. Every birthday, every holiday, we have a party. Mom and Dad moved down near us, they wanted to see the baby and Suzie more...so now we have family gatherings... maybe a little too often!"
"They're adorable!" Mark and Susan chatted for a while before Mark looked anxiously at his watch. "Damn, Susan, we've been having lunch for almost 25 minutes. I think I should go back to work. How about I meet you tomorrow? You should come over and meet Elizabeth."
"Mark, I really don't think that's a good idea. I'm...we...it's just a bad idea."
"Alright, then I'll talk to you tomorrow...or later. Call me." He reached into his pocket for a pen and paper. Realizing he was out of paper, he went to his locker and grabbed another little notepad from the top shelf. He scribbled his number on the top sheet and handed it to Susan. As the locker door swung shut, he rubbed his head and re-opened the locker, grabbing a bottle of asprin from the shelf.
"Mark, what is it?"
"Headache is all. No biggie."
"Mark..."
"Susan, people get headaches. I've been working forever, I need to grab a nap in a bit. It's nothing, really."
Susan remained unconvinced. "Mark, I really think you should go for a CT. I mean, this could be more than a headache. Please?"
He could see that she wouldn't feel right until she knew he was OK. Convinced as he was that the pain was nothing, he agreed to go upstairs. Susan looked at him expectantly. "Now?" She nodded anxiously. "OK, let me tell Kerry I'm going." She walked with him to find Kerry and then up to get his CT.
*****
Susan sat next to Mark while the CT was being analyzed. The damn doctors wouldn't show them the films until they had checked them over. "Dr. Lewis, Dr. Greene, I'm afraid I have some bad news."