A week of silence was all he could take. Susan had been professional of course but far from friendly. And she looked tired every day. midway through a quiet shift Mark found her sitting at the counter in Doc McGoos, stirring a mug of something hot absentmindedly. Mark ordered a coffee and sat beside her.

"Hi." He tried so sound nonchalant, lifting his mug to his lips.

"Hi." She looked at him for a moment then returned to her drink.

"How have you been?"

Susan nodded. She hated how cold they'd been lately. She'd been looking for a chance to fix things but when circumstances didn't get in her way her pride kept showing up and telling her he should make the first move – he should apologise and maybe even grovel before she let him off the hook. Right now all that seemed pretty stupid. "I'm tired." She smiled, leaning her head on her hand and looking at him. "Are you okay?"

He wasn't expecting any kind of warmth from her and had to smile. Taking a deep breath, he nodded, "I hate fighting with you."

She could feel tears at the back of her throat. it was only because she was tired but she was determined not to cry. "I'm sorry I made such a big deal out of it – it's just hard not to take some stuff home."

"No, it's my fault. I should have trusted you. You're a good doctor and – well, a helluva lot more than a colleague – I should never have questioned your judgment." He fidgeted with a toothpick and some pepper someone had spilt on the counter. "I would have said something sooner but I've had a rough couple of weeks."

"Takes two to tango Mark. I could have said something. It's not like I didn't want to. I hate having this between us." She pointed to him then herself indicating the space between them. "In fact the only reason it bothered me so much is that your opinion matters to me – more than most – and your not trusting me was just…"

"I do trust you." He interrupted her. "If it was my life on the line, heck, if it was Rachel's life on the line…"

Susan smiled. "I think we can call off the war."

"It wasn't the war – it was the silence that was killing me."

"Anyway, it wasn't just you I was mad at. I was a total hypocrite yelling at you about knowing what's really important and then not talking to you for two weeks. Yeah, I clearly have my priorities straight."

"Oh, you'd cope without me."

She shook her head shyly, "Don't be so damn self depreciating."

Mark grinned. "You're impossible to please."

She smiled. She wanted to hug him. "We should probably head back." She stood up and swallowed the last of her drink.

Mark followed her outside. The pavement was wet, rain pounding away like it would never end. They stopped under the awning and zipped up their jackets.

"Ready?" Mark pulled his hood up.

"As much as ever." Susan took a deep breath. "Come on." She splashed through the puddles and Mark followed, only stopping when they were inside the ER and dripping all over the floor laughing.

"You're making a mess." Kerry looked up from Admits pretending to care.

Mark held open the staff lounge door and followed Susan inside.

"You sure you're okay?" he watched her rub her forehead and then her eyes.

"Oh, you know, a weekend off would go a long way but can't complain."

"Do you want some vicoden?"

"I've already taken some." She recognized the look in his eyes.

"You still have a headache?"

"Don't look so concerned. It's just a headache."

He didn't want to be pushy. "Don't push yourself too hard. If you want some time off just say so."

She smiled, heading back out to the ER, "You could come in handy when you're feeling guilty."

He stopped her from leaving. "That's not what this is."

"I know." She stopped kidding around.

He held her eye contact so tightly she didn't know where to look. So she reached up and hugged him. His arms wrapped right around her, almost lifting her off the ground. She didn't want to let go. It had been way too long since she'd been there. A beeper should be going off or a major trauma rolling through the doors but nothing happened.

Eventually she let go and he reluctantly dropped his arms to his sides. "Will you get a check up?"

"It's just a headache."

"But it's not the first one."

"I haven't been sleeping very well and…" she didn't know how to combat the look in his eyes.

"It can't hurt to make sure."

She took a deep breath and barely nodded. "Okay."

Mark pulled his eyes away, suddenly aware of how much she'd drawn him in. "Come on." He opened the door toward admits and followed her out as the suddenly became the main attraction in the quiet ER.

Thanks for the review everyone!

And to answer someone's query… Contagion is a made up word. I couldn't think of a title and since Susan got what Mark had it's just like a brain tumor was contagious. Only not really since the one's in a totally different story. Perhaps my train of thought should have remained unexplained and my title charmingly mysterious. But there you go.