Chapter 13
When Steve came back upstairs, he found Mark outside on the deck. He paused at the door, the familiar sight of his father seated in his usual chair, drinking a cup of coffee and looking out over the beach eliciting mixed emotions. The relief he felt at having his dad back was marred by the knowledge that he wasn't really all 'back' yet; nothing would be the same for either of them until Mark regained his memory. He drew a breath and opened the door.
"So how'd you do with the coffee maker?" he asked as he walked out.
Mark looked over at him with a smile. "Not too badly, I think," he replied, holding up his cup. "It took me two tries, but I think I got it drinkable." He motioned to the other cup on the table. "I poured some for you if you want to try it."
Steve sat down, taking a sip from the proffered mug. "Tastes good to me," he approved. He surveyed his father appraisingly, and noted that he seemed to have recovered from the melancholy mood of a while ago.
"Jesse and Amanda are planning on coming by for dinner if you're up to it," he told Mark, watching to see how this idea struck him. "They said they'd pick up the ribs on their way over." He was relieved to see his father accept this with apparent willingness.
"Sounds fine," Mark responded. "They've been very understanding about all this."
"They're practically family, Dad," Steve said. "They just want to do whatever they can to help."
"Tell me some more about them," Mark requested. "I gathered from the way you were all talking this morning, and from a lot of the pictures and things I've seen, that we must do a lot together."
Steve smiled. "We do," he confirmed. "It started with you all working at the hospital, of course, and then there're all the cases they've helped out on, as well as the fact that Jesse and I run Bob's together."
"Are they consultants for the police department too?" Mark asked.
Steve grinned. "Not exactly – although I think Jesse tends to forget that! Amanda's the assistant Medical Examiner, so she's reasonably legit, but Jesse – well, Jesse just somehow manages to keep himself involved!"
Mark was intrigued by the air of amused tolerance Steve displayed. "How did he start getting involved?" he asked.
"Well, that's mostly your fault," Steve said with a reminiscent grin. "When he came to Community General as an intern, he was fascinated by your involvement in solving cases, and he used to tag along as one of your 'helpers'." He looked over at his father, the smile in his eyes softening the lines the last week had carved in his face. "Actually, Amanda got started much the same way; she was doing her pathology residency at Community General and got involved as one of your unofficial 'investigators'. She turned out to be so good at forensic detection that she became the assistant medical examiner for the county. They've both been a big help over the years."
"So we help you solve your cases?" Mark was definitely finding this a fascinating concept; they certainly seemed to be quite an intertwined group.
"Well, not all of them," Steve demurred. "I do manage to solve some by myself!"
Looking at him sharply, Mark was relieved and pleased to see no hint of either sarcasm or resentment in this remark; rather, he saw only the affectionate amusement that seemed to surface so often. He reflected that this was obviously a man who was comfortable with both himself and his relationships with his father and friends. He felt a sudden thrill of pride in this son.
Father and son spent what was left of the afternoon discussing several of the items that had intrigued Mark in his collections. Among other things, Steve explained that many of his childhood parties had been spent at Pony Land, and that Mark had come up with the idea of having one last birthday there before the place was sold off to make way for Community General's 'Wellness Center'. Mark felt a fleeting return of wistfulness as he thought of how he was missing all the intimate memories of his son's childhood, but this time he managed to avoid succumbing to a fit of depression. He was determined not to give way again – it only put more stress on Steve, for one thing. For another, he reminded himself that even if he never regained all those memories, he was obviously blessed in his son and his life here; when he compared it to the miserable existence he had foreseen for himself just a few days ago, he could only count himself immeasurably fortunate.
They were still sitting amongst the accumulation of memorabilia when Jesse and Amanda arrived, bearing an extensive selection of items from BBQ Bob's.
"We brought all your favorites," Jesse said, as he set down the large box they had used to carry all the food. Mark looked at the multitude of containers, an eyebrow raised in surprise.
"It looks like you've got enough there to feed an army," he laughed.
"Well, you need to eat," Amanda informed him.
"Besides, Steve eats enough for a small army himself!" added Jesse.
"Yeah, like you don't?" retorted Steve. "Your appetite's bigger than you are!"
Still trading amicable insults, the two men headed for the kitchen to get plates, drinks, and utensils. Mark turned to look at Amanda.
"Now I know they're really good friends!" he observed with a smile.
Amanda smiled back at him. "Very good friends," she confirmed. She surveyed him appraisingly. "How are you doing?" she asked.
"Not too badly," Mark replied. He encountered her steady gaze, and found himself elaborating. "It's a bit frustrating."
"I can imagine it would be," she agreed sympathetically. "You know, Mark, we'll do anything we can to help."
The warmth and sincerity in her voice were unmistakable; Mark had no doubt that Steve hadn't been exaggerating the closeness they shared with these friends. "Thank you," he replied, genuinely grateful for her caring.
Steve and Jesse came back in at that moment, bearing the necessary table settings and drinks. As they all sat around the table, Jesse looked over at Mark saying, "Oh, by the way, Alex sends his best wishes and said to tell you all the residents are looking forward to you coming back as soon as possible."
Mark saw Amanda grin at this remark, and looked back at Jesse curiously, sensing a story here.
"Is there something I should know about here?" he asked.
"They're finding things pretty boring without you," Jesse replied, a gleam of humor in his eyes. "Rounds just aren't as interesting with Dr. Norton."
Mark glanced around the table and saw that even Steve was looking amused. "Why do I have the feeling that I'm about to find out something else about myself?"
"Well, you have a knack for making rounds a bit unpredictable," Jesse told him, grinning. "You've been known to engage in some non-traditional activities – like conducting a Native American ritual for the removal of evil spirits, engaging in sing-along sessions, removing candy bars from residents' ears… things like that."
"Along with roller skating through the hallways?" Mark asked, not quite sure how to take all this. Noticing the looks of surprise from Jesse and Amanda, he explained, "Steve told me about that."
"You do tend to be a bit unconventional," Amanda confirmed with an affectionate smile.
Jesse nodded. "You give lectures to the med students in rap sometimes too," he added. "And then there was the time you faked an acute attack of appendicitis to see if the third years were ready to handle an emergency… Madison – the dean of the med school – was pretty annoyed about that one! And the time…"
By the time Jesse had enthusiastically catalogued a list of Mark's more unorthodox activities, the older doctor wasn't quite sure if he should be entertained or dismayed. Noticing the expression on his face, Amanda put a hand out to Jesse.
"Hold it, Jesse; take it easy," she said with a small laugh. "I don't think Mark's ready for all that at once!"
"Do I ever actually practice medicine in between all this stuff?" Mark asked with a slightly crooked smile.
Realizing that the question was more than half in earnest, Jesse reined himself in. He looked back at his friend seriously.
"You're the best," he said simply. "It's just that you don't take yourself too seriously, and you have a talent for making things fun. But there's no better doctor on the staff and nobody in the hospital who doesn't know it."
Mark was touched by the obvious sincerity of this response. Glancing around, he saw affirmation and approval in Amanda's face as well. Reflecting once more how fortunate he was in having such friends, he decided he'd better change the conversation before he started getting emotional again.
Once they had finished eating, the foursome relocated to the study where Mark and Steve had been going through Mark's collection of papers and albums. Discovering a scrapbook containing news clippings and related papers from cases that Mark had been involved in, Steve, Jesse, and Amanda found themselves telling Mark the details about the parts they'd all played in some of them. Mark listened and questioned, building up an ever clearer picture of this close-knit group that seemed to be so supportive of each other.
As they leafed through the album, Mark stopped in surprise when he encountered a newspaper article reporting his death from a car explosion. He looked up at the others questioningly.
"I take it the rumors of my death were somewhat exaggerated," he observed dryly.
"That was the time Sam Rosser escaped from jail and came after you," Jesse explained. "He kept blowing things up trying to kill you, so you decided to fake your death to get him to stop long enough for us to find him before anyone else got hurt."
Mark cast a glance at Steve. "It sounds like a rather drastic approach," he observed. "Wasn't that kind of hard on the people who thought I was dead?"
Picking up the indirect reference to himself and their friends, Steve replied reassuringly, "We were in on it, Dad. It just gave us a chance to look for Rosser without having to worry about you or anyone else getting hurt before we found him." He glanced down at the newspaper clipping, remembering all too clearly his first sight of the inferno blazing in the wreckage of Mark's car and the wave of grief and despair that had engulfed him in those few interminable seconds before Mark had called to him from his hiding place.
"Did it work?" Mark asked.
"Yeah, it did," said Jesse with a smile.
"Does this sort of thing happen often?" Mark asked, thinking of Sanders' attempt at revenge as well.
The three friends exchanged glances, wondering how much they should say. By tacit consent, Jesse and Amanda left it to Steve to handle this one.
"There've been a couple of times that someone's tried for revenge, Dad," Steve told him, as matter-of-factly as he could. He didn't want to lie to his father, but he didn't want to trigger a bout of depression either; and this was one of those topics that he knew Mark tried not to dwell on even under normal circumstances. "It comes with the territory, I'm afraid. But it's not exactly a common occurrence."
Mark glanced again at the newspaper article which mentioned two previous bombing attempts that had resulted in injuries to other hospital personnel. "It sounds like I could cause more harm than good," he observed soberly.
Again the three others exchanged looks of concern. This time it was Amanda who responded first.
"Mark, you've solved over a hundred cases; you've not only brought murderers to justice, you've saved the lives of dozens of people who would have been killed by some of the people you've gotten off the streets."
"Not to mention the times you've saved one of us!" added Jesse. That got Mark's attention. "You've saved my neck a number of times," Jesse told him. "You kept me from being arrested for murder when I got set up by an obsessive patient; you even saved my life when my girlfriend and I stumbled into an illegal treasure salvaging operation that involved an entire town!"
"And you found out who killed my sorority sister when someone murdered her in my apartment," Amanda added. "The cop who was investigating was sure I had done it." She held his gaze, her own warm and affectionate. "You're not endangering people, Mark. You do what you do because you're helping people – because you care."
"And you're very good at it!" added Jesse. That drew a smile from the others, and the talk moved on to other, more pleasant topics, as they relocated to the deck to enjoy the mild evening.