Chapter 7: The way things should be
The next thing they knew, Marks alarm was sounding for them to both get up and go to work. They were still wrapped up in each other when Mark woke up to turn the alarm off. Susan carried on sleeping not disturbed at all by the raucous sound of Mark's alarm clock.
He spent a good 10 minutes looking at her in quiet awe. This was the way things should be.
Mark quietly got out of bed trying not to wake Susan, he just didn't have the heart. She looked so peaceful.
She was beautiful and looked so cute consumed by the huge king size duvet Mark had on his bed. She must have been hot in the night as she had pulled the covers down to around the small of her back.
He watched as the covers rose and fell in time with her breathing. She was snoring slightly but not in a way that was off-putting, in a calm contented way, almost like a baby.
Susan stirred as Mark trod on the creaky floorboard that he had been meaning to replace for a long time.
"Morning" Mark whispered as he came to sit beside her on the bed.
"Hey. What time is it?" Susan asked sleepily.
"It's 8. I'm on at 9. Want some breakfast. There's still Chinese left from last night." Mark replied.
"Really? I thought I ate it all last night?" Susan looked puzzled
"No, I had to rescue to box from your hand before you dropped it. You fell asleep watching the Bulls." Mark said
"Oh yeah I remember now. In that case a Chinese breakfast would be great. I guess I'd better get up too. I'm on at 9 with you." She replied.
As Susan sat up she thought about all the perfect things Mark had said the night before and it brought a smile to her face.
They were deeply in love.
Susan really didn't want to get out of bed, but she knew she had to, she really didn't want Kerry on her back this morning. She didn't want anything to spoil her mood, not that she thought it would.
As she got out of bed she grabbed one of Marks t-shirts and a pair of boxers, as he had taken the dressing gown.
As Susan padded into Marks kitchen he held out his arms and welcomed her into them. She looked so sweet in Marks clothes, especially the boxers as the crotch on them was really low on her.
Mark laughed as he hugged her.
"Well what else was I supposed to wear you stole the robe." Susan remarked
"Well I couldn't walk around naked could I?" Mark replied.
"Ooh I don't know about that" She giggled as she lifted her head to kiss Mark.
Susan always loved morning kisses. Her mum used to give her and Chloe a kiss every morning when they were little. That was what Susan missed most about being single. Waking up every morning with no-one to kiss. But now she had someone. She had Mark and she couldn't be happier.
Susan sipped her coffee Mark had made. Columbian had always been her favourite blend. Even though she was used to having latte's this wasn't too strong.
"Is there anything this guy can't do" Susan wondered to herself
"I'd better get dressed and go round to mine. I need some clean clothes." Susan said
"If you want you can shower here and then we'll go to yours on the way to work. You can get changed and we'll go and see if Carter has managed to keep quiet or not" Mark replied.
"That's a really sweet offer, but I'd rather have a shower at mine. I have this thing about putting dirty clothes on after having a shower. But how about you come over when you're ready, I should be done by then. Oh god it's twenty-past eight. We're going to be late" Susan rushed to gather her things.
"Ok. See you in a bit" Mark answered.
Susan kissed Mark as she left.
"Love you" She said as she left
"I love you too" Mark replied
Twenty Five minutes later Mark rang Susan's doorbell. She promptly arrived at the door, although her hair was still wet and she looked slightly bedraggled. Mark didn't care though, she still looked great to him.
"You'll catch a cold if you leave your hair wet. I don't want you getting ill. We have enough of that at work." Mark joked.
"I'll be fine. We better catch the L instead of walking, else we'll be late and won't that be fun!" Susan said
"Oh yes. I don't want to be tardy for first class with Miss Weaver. Come on!" Mark called as he began to run to the station
"Argh Mark I can't keep up. I am soooo unfit!" Susan cried
"Oh dear I'll just have to report you to Coach Carter." Mark replied
They got to work just in time.
"8.59. You are two very lucky doctors. Just on time." Kerry shouted as Mark and Susan entered the doctors lounge
"I guess Carter did keep quiet then. I suppose I owe you $10" Mark said
"Just a nice bottle of wine for tonight will do" Susan replied
"Oh yeah and just what did you have in mind for tonight Dr Lewis?" Mark enquired and he playfully tickled Susan
"Oh you'll just have to wait and see. Ah Mark stop it! MARK!" Susan squealed
As they left the doctors lounge Mark swept back Susan's and gave her a kiss which brought a massive gasp from the whole ER staff
"Oops, forgot they didn't know" Mark said
"Well they do now" Susan said as she smiled. "Oh well"
"Ok guys, you can stop staring now. Yes Dr Lewis and myself are a couple. And I'd just like to say that I love her very much" Mark addressed the situation
"And I love him." Susan said kissing Mark before she went to pick up her first chart.
Even Kerry had a smile on her face. The whole team had been waiting so long for this and they were all so happy that it had finally happened.
Abby was the first to approach Susan with the inevitable question.
"So have you guys, y'know slept together yet? I know you have your guidelines but this is Mark." Abby enquired
"Yeah we have. It happened last night. It was the best Abby. The best I have ever had. And no it wasn't jump on each other, tearing each others clothes off. It was gentle and smooth. It was fantastic, it lasted two and a half hours, he's wonderful Abby, I'm so in love" Susan replied
"That's great Susan. I am so happy for you guys and so is everyone else" Abby answered.
"What about you and Carter? How are things there?" Susan asked
"Not good. We split up. For good this time. Its just too hard. Its physically exhausting to stay with him, and I'm sure he feels the same about me" Abby replied.
"Awwww Abby I'm sorry." Susan said
"Don't be, it's for the best. And besides do not get down. You made love to your boyfriend for the first time last night. I want to see that grin on your face ALL day. And I can see Mark is happy too."
Just as Abby finished speaking a gurney came crashing through the doors.
"Eighteen month old baby girl, high fever, vomiting, shaking" Malik relayed the details to Susan
"Ok sounds like febrile convulsions, we need to bring her temperature down, but not rapidly, other wise she risks damage to her bowel from continued vomiting. Get me some Ice packs, but slightly melted, I do not want them freezing cold." Susan ordered
The baby was still screaming but at least she had stopped vomiting.
"It's ok sweetie come on, there we go." Susan sat and stroked the babies head as Mailk went to fetch the parents.
As the parents came in Susan reassured them about their daughters condition.
"We've managed to bring your daughters temperature down and she's doing fine. She suffered what we call a febrile convulsion, it's a common condition that results in vomiting and a high fever. We're going to monitor her overnight but there shouldn't be any more problems. She'll be moved upstairs later on but for now you can stay with her here. If you need anything just give me a shout."
"Thank-you Dr" said the mother.
As Susan wandered back to admin she bumped into Mark.
"Hey, you off now?" Susan asked
"Nope, not anymore. I'm here til 9. Got roped into doing extra" Mark replied
"An extra 3 hours? You must have done something really bad today" Susan answered.
"Not yet but maybe later" Mark said cheekily
"Oh yeah? So I guess its my turn to host you tonight? Seeing as you so kindly took pity on a weary doctor last night." Susan replied
"Ok. I'll grab some stuff and some wine and I'll be over as soon as I can. Ok?" Mark asked
"Sounds good to me. See you in a couple of hours. Do I get a kiss before I leave?" Susan enquired before leading Mark into the doctor lounge.
"Mmmmm, thank-you. So you think Kerry will give us the same days off now?" Susan wondered
"Not likely, but I did ask for Monday off. I noticed you had it off. She said ok, but only because we finally put everyone out of their misery and got together." Mark replied
"Ooh good. Well I'll be heading home, awaiting my fine bottle of wine and my extremely handsome company. Don't worry about food I'll rustle something up. And I'll even try and make it edible"
"Aren't you good?" Mark replied in a slightly patronising tone
"Hey you, if you don't behave there's no desert." Susan answered
"And what desert might that be Dr Lewis" Mark said as he slipped his arms around her for a final kiss before she left.
"Oh you'll have to wait and see." Susan said cheekily as she left the lounge.
Mark was really hoping it would quieten down so he could get to Susan earlier than about Ten o'clock. To his surprise the board was almost clear. All he really needed to do was to finish his charts and Chen, Carter and Weaver could do the rest.
An hour and a half later after seeing two more minor cases and finishing all his charts Mark summoned the courage to ask Kerry if he could leave.
"Hey Kerry, my side of the board is clear, I've done all my charts so can I go? After all I'm not meant to be here anyway, I only said I'd do the full 3 hours if it was packed in here, which as we can both see, its not." Mark barely took a breath as he relayed his speech to Kerry
"Ok, don't want you to keep Susan waiting now do we. God knows you kept each other waiting long enough" Kerry replied.
"Has everyone really been waiting that long for us to get together?" Mark asked
"Yes, everyone could see that you two should be together apart from yourselves. My god we almost had a sweepstake going." Kerry answered "Now go! Before I change my mind" She demanded.
At 8.15pm Mark rang Susan's doorbell. A delightful looking Susan answered the door, dressed in her pale blue soft towelling pyjamas, her hair was wet again.
"Oops sorry Mark I was just about to get changed. Come in." Susan said
"You don't need to go and get changed stay as you are." Mark replied.
"I can hardly sit and eat dinner in my pyjamas." Susan giggled
As Mark walked in Susan's apartment was lit only by candle light, and a delicious smell was coming from the kitchen whilst soft music was coming from the Hi-fi.
"Wow, Susan this is so romantic. And to top it off here's the wine." Mark added
"Mmmm looks like good stuff. There's a corkscrew in the top draw next to the oven. I'll just go and get changed." Susan replied.
Susan was gone less than 5 minutes but when she came out she looked great. She was wearing jeans and a fitted black jumper and her hair was beginning to dry. As she made her way through her apartment she saw Mark was at the stove stirring her pasta sauce. She walked up to him and slipped her arms in around his waist.
"Just thought I'd attend to the sauce, I didn't want it to burn" Mark said
"Its ok, I'll take it from here, you go and make yourself comfortable at the table and I'll be right over." Susan replied
She served up their dinner and placed a large plateful of pasta (with a tasty looking tomato and herb sauce down) in front of Mark. She had even put some parmesan shavings on top for decoration.
"So you can cook after all?" Mark said
" Well kind of. Pasta is about the only thing I cook well." Susan stated.
"It tastes great. Want some wine?" Mark asked
"Do I ever I'm so thirsty. And I realised I haven't had a kiss yet." Susan answered
Just as Mark leant over the table to give Susan a kiss the phone rang. There was just enough time for a quick kiss before Susan picked up the phone. Susan face dropped as the person on the other end of the line spoke. As she put down the receiver Mark could tell it was not good news.
The next thing they knew, Marks alarm was sounding for them to both get up and go to work. They were still wrapped up in each other when Mark woke up to turn the alarm off. Susan carried on sleeping not disturbed at all by the raucous sound of Mark's alarm clock.
He spent a good 10 minutes looking at her in quiet awe. This was the way things should be.
Mark quietly got out of bed trying not to wake Susan, he just didn't have the heart. She looked so peaceful.
She was beautiful and looked so cute consumed by the huge king size duvet Mark had on his bed. She must have been hot in the night as she had pulled the covers down to around the small of her back.
He watched as the covers rose and fell in time with her breathing. She was snoring slightly but not in a way that was off-putting, in a calm contented way, almost like a baby.
Susan stirred as Mark trod on the creaky floorboard that he had been meaning to replace for a long time.
"Morning" Mark whispered as he came to sit beside her on the bed.
"Hey. What time is it?" Susan asked sleepily.
"It's 8. I'm on at 9. Want some breakfast. There's still Chinese left from last night." Mark replied.
"Really? I thought I ate it all last night?" Susan looked puzzled
"No, I had to rescue to box from your hand before you dropped it. You fell asleep watching the Bulls." Mark said
"Oh yeah I remember now. In that case a Chinese breakfast would be great. I guess I'd better get up too. I'm on at 9 with you." She replied.
As Susan sat up she thought about all the perfect things Mark had said the night before and it brought a smile to her face.
They were deeply in love.
Susan really didn't want to get out of bed, but she knew she had to, she really didn't want Kerry on her back this morning. She didn't want anything to spoil her mood, not that she thought it would.
As she got out of bed she grabbed one of Marks t-shirts and a pair of boxers, as he had taken the dressing gown.
As Susan padded into Marks kitchen he held out his arms and welcomed her into them. She looked so sweet in Marks clothes, especially the boxers as the crotch on them was really low on her.
Mark laughed as he hugged her.
"Well what else was I supposed to wear you stole the robe." Susan remarked
"Well I couldn't walk around naked could I?" Mark replied.
"Ooh I don't know about that" She giggled as she lifted her head to kiss Mark.
Susan always loved morning kisses. Her mum used to give her and Chloe a kiss every morning when they were little. That was what Susan missed most about being single. Waking up every morning with no-one to kiss. But now she had someone. She had Mark and she couldn't be happier.
Susan sipped her coffee Mark had made. Columbian had always been her favourite blend. Even though she was used to having latte's this wasn't too strong.
"Is there anything this guy can't do" Susan wondered to herself
"I'd better get dressed and go round to mine. I need some clean clothes." Susan said
"If you want you can shower here and then we'll go to yours on the way to work. You can get changed and we'll go and see if Carter has managed to keep quiet or not" Mark replied.
"That's a really sweet offer, but I'd rather have a shower at mine. I have this thing about putting dirty clothes on after having a shower. But how about you come over when you're ready, I should be done by then. Oh god it's twenty-past eight. We're going to be late" Susan rushed to gather her things.
"Ok. See you in a bit" Mark answered.
Susan kissed Mark as she left.
"Love you" She said as she left
"I love you too" Mark replied
Twenty Five minutes later Mark rang Susan's doorbell. She promptly arrived at the door, although her hair was still wet and she looked slightly bedraggled. Mark didn't care though, she still looked great to him.
"You'll catch a cold if you leave your hair wet. I don't want you getting ill. We have enough of that at work." Mark joked.
"I'll be fine. We better catch the L instead of walking, else we'll be late and won't that be fun!" Susan said
"Oh yes. I don't want to be tardy for first class with Miss Weaver. Come on!" Mark called as he began to run to the station
"Argh Mark I can't keep up. I am soooo unfit!" Susan cried
"Oh dear I'll just have to report you to Coach Carter." Mark replied
They got to work just in time.
"8.59. You are two very lucky doctors. Just on time." Kerry shouted as Mark and Susan entered the doctors lounge
"I guess Carter did keep quiet then. I suppose I owe you $10" Mark said
"Just a nice bottle of wine for tonight will do" Susan replied
"Oh yeah and just what did you have in mind for tonight Dr Lewis?" Mark enquired and he playfully tickled Susan
"Oh you'll just have to wait and see. Ah Mark stop it! MARK!" Susan squealed
As they left the doctors lounge Mark swept back Susan's and gave her a kiss which brought a massive gasp from the whole ER staff
"Oops, forgot they didn't know" Mark said
"Well they do now" Susan said as she smiled. "Oh well"
"Ok guys, you can stop staring now. Yes Dr Lewis and myself are a couple. And I'd just like to say that I love her very much" Mark addressed the situation
"And I love him." Susan said kissing Mark before she went to pick up her first chart.
Even Kerry had a smile on her face. The whole team had been waiting so long for this and they were all so happy that it had finally happened.
Abby was the first to approach Susan with the inevitable question.
"So have you guys, y'know slept together yet? I know you have your guidelines but this is Mark." Abby enquired
"Yeah we have. It happened last night. It was the best Abby. The best I have ever had. And no it wasn't jump on each other, tearing each others clothes off. It was gentle and smooth. It was fantastic, it lasted two and a half hours, he's wonderful Abby, I'm so in love" Susan replied
"That's great Susan. I am so happy for you guys and so is everyone else" Abby answered.
"What about you and Carter? How are things there?" Susan asked
"Not good. We split up. For good this time. Its just too hard. Its physically exhausting to stay with him, and I'm sure he feels the same about me" Abby replied.
"Awwww Abby I'm sorry." Susan said
"Don't be, it's for the best. And besides do not get down. You made love to your boyfriend for the first time last night. I want to see that grin on your face ALL day. And I can see Mark is happy too."
Just as Abby finished speaking a gurney came crashing through the doors.
"Eighteen month old baby girl, high fever, vomiting, shaking" Malik relayed the details to Susan
"Ok sounds like febrile convulsions, we need to bring her temperature down, but not rapidly, other wise she risks damage to her bowel from continued vomiting. Get me some Ice packs, but slightly melted, I do not want them freezing cold." Susan ordered
The baby was still screaming but at least she had stopped vomiting.
"It's ok sweetie come on, there we go." Susan sat and stroked the babies head as Mailk went to fetch the parents.
As the parents came in Susan reassured them about their daughters condition.
"We've managed to bring your daughters temperature down and she's doing fine. She suffered what we call a febrile convulsion, it's a common condition that results in vomiting and a high fever. We're going to monitor her overnight but there shouldn't be any more problems. She'll be moved upstairs later on but for now you can stay with her here. If you need anything just give me a shout."
"Thank-you Dr" said the mother.
As Susan wandered back to admin she bumped into Mark.
"Hey, you off now?" Susan asked
"Nope, not anymore. I'm here til 9. Got roped into doing extra" Mark replied
"An extra 3 hours? You must have done something really bad today" Susan answered.
"Not yet but maybe later" Mark said cheekily
"Oh yeah? So I guess its my turn to host you tonight? Seeing as you so kindly took pity on a weary doctor last night." Susan replied
"Ok. I'll grab some stuff and some wine and I'll be over as soon as I can. Ok?" Mark asked
"Sounds good to me. See you in a couple of hours. Do I get a kiss before I leave?" Susan enquired before leading Mark into the doctor lounge.
"Mmmmm, thank-you. So you think Kerry will give us the same days off now?" Susan wondered
"Not likely, but I did ask for Monday off. I noticed you had it off. She said ok, but only because we finally put everyone out of their misery and got together." Mark replied
"Ooh good. Well I'll be heading home, awaiting my fine bottle of wine and my extremely handsome company. Don't worry about food I'll rustle something up. And I'll even try and make it edible"
"Aren't you good?" Mark replied in a slightly patronising tone
"Hey you, if you don't behave there's no desert." Susan answered
"And what desert might that be Dr Lewis" Mark said as he slipped his arms around her for a final kiss before she left.
"Oh you'll have to wait and see." Susan said cheekily as she left the lounge.
Mark was really hoping it would quieten down so he could get to Susan earlier than about Ten o'clock. To his surprise the board was almost clear. All he really needed to do was to finish his charts and Chen, Carter and Weaver could do the rest.
An hour and a half later after seeing two more minor cases and finishing all his charts Mark summoned the courage to ask Kerry if he could leave.
"Hey Kerry, my side of the board is clear, I've done all my charts so can I go? After all I'm not meant to be here anyway, I only said I'd do the full 3 hours if it was packed in here, which as we can both see, its not." Mark barely took a breath as he relayed his speech to Kerry
"Ok, don't want you to keep Susan waiting now do we. God knows you kept each other waiting long enough" Kerry replied.
"Has everyone really been waiting that long for us to get together?" Mark asked
"Yes, everyone could see that you two should be together apart from yourselves. My god we almost had a sweepstake going." Kerry answered "Now go! Before I change my mind" She demanded.
At 8.15pm Mark rang Susan's doorbell. A delightful looking Susan answered the door, dressed in her pale blue soft towelling pyjamas, her hair was wet again.
"Oops sorry Mark I was just about to get changed. Come in." Susan said
"You don't need to go and get changed stay as you are." Mark replied.
"I can hardly sit and eat dinner in my pyjamas." Susan giggled
As Mark walked in Susan's apartment was lit only by candle light, and a delicious smell was coming from the kitchen whilst soft music was coming from the Hi-fi.
"Wow, Susan this is so romantic. And to top it off here's the wine." Mark added
"Mmmm looks like good stuff. There's a corkscrew in the top draw next to the oven. I'll just go and get changed." Susan replied.
Susan was gone less than 5 minutes but when she came out she looked great. She was wearing jeans and a fitted black jumper and her hair was beginning to dry. As she made her way through her apartment she saw Mark was at the stove stirring her pasta sauce. She walked up to him and slipped her arms in around his waist.
"Just thought I'd attend to the sauce, I didn't want it to burn" Mark said
"Its ok, I'll take it from here, you go and make yourself comfortable at the table and I'll be right over." Susan replied
She served up their dinner and placed a large plateful of pasta (with a tasty looking tomato and herb sauce down) in front of Mark. She had even put some parmesan shavings on top for decoration.
"So you can cook after all?" Mark said
" Well kind of. Pasta is about the only thing I cook well." Susan stated.
"It tastes great. Want some wine?" Mark asked
"Do I ever I'm so thirsty. And I realised I haven't had a kiss yet." Susan answered
Just as Mark leant over the table to give Susan a kiss the phone rang. There was just enough time for a quick kiss before Susan picked up the phone. Susan face dropped as the person on the other end of the line spoke. As she put down the receiver Mark could tell it was not good news.