It had been one of the last long, lingering days of a long, lingering summer, and the only spectacular thing about it had been its very unspectacularness. Of course the staff of County General had been run off their feet, having both their skills and patience stretched to the limit by the never-ending stream of patients flowing in and out of the department, but for the ER staff that was simply to be expected. The shift had been trying, but by no means eventful, almost mundane, and sometimes these were the most difficult shifts to get though. It seemed morbid, almost perverse, but on days like these - when there were no major incidents, no life-threatening conditions, when nobody died – there was no thrill to be found in practising emergency medicine, and a twelve hour shift could seem like an eternity.
'Long day, huh?'. Doug's yawn answered Mark's question before he had finished asking it, and he could only manage a lethargic 'A-ha' in reply, barely looking up from the mountain of paperwork that sat before him at a desk in the lounge.
'Well that's me done. Are you coming?'. Mark didn't bother to change; although it had been a very hot day, he wanted to get home quickly to see Rachael before bedtime. It was the first day of school tomorrow, and he knew how she played up for Jen without his calming presence, especially if she was excited about the next day.
'I 'm gonna stick around and get through these'.
'No rest for the wicked'.
'I guess you'd better get out of here then, Saint Mark'.
'That's me'. The pair were best friends, but couldn't be more different. This was the subject of much banter between the two; Mark, the wholesome family man, and Doug, the womanising playboy. But just below the surface, both men were all too aware of their own reputations, and they both harboured a slight resentment of each other which, in the heat of an argument, occasionally came to light. For the most part, however, they were the best of friends.
'Oh, can you just tell whoever's on tonight that we're still waiting on that jerk Cole from psyche for the guy in three.'
'I'm not sure that's a good idea'.
'Why not? I mean, there's obviously nothing medically wrong with him…'. Mark was puzzled. Was Doug challenging his medical judgement? When had he even seen the patient?
'Not the psyche consult. Isn't Susan on tonight? I'm sure the last thing she wants to hear at the start of her shift is that she'll have to spend half the night harassing her ex-boyfriend for a consult'.
Mark's face dropped. He and Susan shared such a special bond, but in the last few months they hadn't really spoken properly. When she had started seeing Adam Cole without telling him, it had somehow hurt Mark, and they both knew deep down that his reaction had been one of jealousy. This in turn prompted him to strengthen his relationship with Jen, and he had been the perfect husband of late. Of course, this meant he had no time for Susan, and when her relationship with Cole had deteriorated several months ago, he hadn't been there for her. Now he was so wrapped up in maintaining his perfect marriage that he didn't even notice which shifts she was on.
'I'll stay for the consult myself'. Mark returned his things to his locker and poured himself some coffee.
'If you want to go I can call in a favour with Ryan. I know he was on today, he should still be here, he can do the consult.'
'Then Weaver would be on Susan's back about kerbside consults, maintaining professional relationships, blah blah blah. I'm sure she'd really appreciate that. Besides, I'd like to check in with Susan, see how she is'.
At this, Doug put down his pen and finally looked up at Mark.
'But all I've heard out of you all day is Rachael's bedtime this, Rachael's first day at school that. You're on tomorrow, right? Catch up with her in the morning, and I'll stay and make sure Cole gets his ass down here. Susan need never know.'
Mark looked at Doug with suspicion. He was his best friend, but aside from volunteering to work the holidays he was also incredibly selfish and rarely volunteered to help cover for his colleagues; in fact, it was usually the case that they ended up covering for him.
'And I suppose this has nothing to do with that hot new psyche nurse who you might just run into while you're up there?'. They both grinned at Mark's comment. Again it reinforced Doug's reputation as a ladies' man, and masked the real agenda of the conversation: as usual, Mark didn't want to seem too eager to see Susan, but whilst Doug usually indulged him, allowing him to make stupid excuses to see her without comment, tonight he wouldn't let Mark get away with it. Although he would never admit it, least of all to himself, Mark was annoyed by Doug's refusal to play the game. Why didn't Doug want him to spend some time patching up his relationship with Susan?
'Her name's Melissa. I asked her out to dinner last week. Unfortunately, my reputation preceded me'.
Now Doug's apparent altruism was really bugging Mark. He had offered him an alterior motive for getting in the way of his relationship with Susan, and he had refused to take it. In Mark's mind, there were only two other explanations: either Doug had seen how happy Mark had been recently with Jen, and he didn't want his relationship with Susan to re-emerge and threaten that, or…no, he couldn't, could he? Did Doug want to spend some time with Susan? For Mark, that would be a major betrayal. The thought fleetingly crossed his mind, before he dismissed it completely. Doug was just being a good friend - he didn't want Mark and Jen to start fighting again, that's all. Reassured, Mark thanked Doug, took him up on his offer, and left to catch the El.
