Thanks to EBStarr, Audra Levin, George-Julianna-fan1, Dr-Mara-Weaver, abigailc and Melissa Larkin for your reviews, they were all very much appreciated! Dinner and Flowers.

Dinner and Flowers

Susan woke up the next morning with butterflies in her stomach, smiling as she remembered her impromptu first date with Mark the night before. She stretched her body then swung her legs out of bed, forcing herself to stop daydreaming and get up. As she climbed out of bed she stumbled over the stuffed frog that Mark had won her at the fair and she laughed at the memory of Mark trying to shoot rubber darts from a toy cross bow, cursing every time he missed and cheering when he finally hit the target. She hummed as she got ready for work and laughed at herself for being so soppy.

However, by the time she arrived at work, Susan had got an attack of nerves. What if Mark had changed his mind? She tried to tell herself that she was being silly, but the question wouldn't leave her mind. As she walked into the hospital, she saw the back of Mark's head down the corridor pushing a gurney into one of the trauma rooms. She bit her bottom lip nervously, anxious to speak to him. Knowing there was nothing she could do for now, she went into the lounge to her locker. Carol came in after her.

"Must have been some date last night," Carol said.

Susan turned round and saw Carol carrying a bunch of red roses.

"Wow, who are they from?" Susan asked.

"You tell me," Carol said, handing her the roses.

Susan looked surprised. "They're for me?"

She picked up the card that was sat on top of the flowers.

May the second date be as good as the first. Dinner tonight?

"So, are you going to tell me or do I have to guess?" Carol asked, studying Susan's face, which had broken out into a huge smile.

"Guess what?" Susan said secretively.

"Who this mystery guy is," Carol answered impatiently.

Susan laughed and went across to the sink to put the flowers in water.

"Let's just say that last night's blind date was a lot better than Tad!"

Doug came into the lounge and whistled when he saw the huge bouquet of flowers.

"Nice flowers, you shouldn't have," he said with a cocky smile.

Susan rolled her eyes. "That's ok, I didn't."

"They're from her blind date last night," Carol explained. "It went very well!"

"Not you too. Mark hasn't stopped grinning since he got back from his last night," Doug said, settling himself on the couch.

"Really?" Susan asked, trying not to sound too interested but aching to know what Mark had said to him.

"Is that why he's been so happy all morning?" Carol asked.

"Yep. It's disgusting," Doug laughed. "Apparently it was 'the best date of his life'."

Susan bit her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling too much and kept her back to Carol and Doug so that they couldn't see her reaction. Fortunately, Malik interrupted them.

"There's a guy in curtain two complaining of chest pain and we've got a drunk out here with a deep arm lac," Malik said, holding out the charts in his hand.

"I'll take them," Susan said quickly.

Doug and Carol watched her leave. Carol sighed.

"I had such high hopes for those two," she said.

"Who? Susan and Malik?" Doug joked.

Carol tilted her head and looked at him, bemused.

"Susan and Mark. They seemed so perfect for each other," Carol said.

"Maybe I should try one of these blind date things," Doug said.

"Doug, you've slept with most of the women in Chicago. There's no-one left in the entire state who doesn't know you at least by reputation," Carol laughed, trying not to sound as jealous as she felt.

"Well, I guess I should start at the beginning again," Doug said pointedly. He wanted to tell her that she was perfect for him, and that he could be perfect for her if she gave him a second chance, but he believed it was too late to make amends for the hurt he had caused her in the past.

A wave of confusion and then embarrassment washed over Carol's face as she understood what he was saying and she quickly made her exit. When it came to Doug, she had never been able to let go of the feelings she had for him, no matter how hard she tried, but she had learnt how to keep them at bay.

Meanwhile, Mark had been kept busy all morning. Trauma after trauma kept rolling in and triage was overflowing. However it didn't deter his good mood. Doug was constantly pestering him for details on his date, although Mark was keeping quiet. Secretly, he was worried that Susan might have changed her mind. Too scared to call her, he had taken the safer option of sending her flowers inviting her to dinner. He had seen the flowers arrive before being pulled into yet another trauma, but so far there was no sign of Susan.

The trauma kept him busy for an hour. When he finally transferred the patient to surgery, he made his way across to the admit desk where a group of nurses were gathered.

"They must have cost a fortune," Chuni was saying.

"I'd say they were worth every penny judging by the smile she's had on her face all morning," Haleh said.

"He's one lucky guy, whoever he is," Malik said.

"Who's lucky?" Mark asked.

"Susan's date last night," Chuni answered. "He sent her a huge bunch of roses this morning."

"Do you think she's keen on him?" Mark asked, trying to sound casual.

"Oh yeah," Haleh said, nodding her head.

"Why, are you jealous?" Chuni asked.

Mark turned away as he smirked and he saw Susan alone in one of the rooms with a patient. Leaving the nurses to continue gossiping, Mark walked across to the room and went in, closing the door behind him. Susan was sat on one side of the bed writing on a chart. She looked up and smiled.

"Hello," she said.

"Hello," Mark said, standing on the other side of the bed.

"Thank you for the flowers," Susan said. "They're gorgeous."

"Gorgeous flowers for a gorgeous woman," Mark said.

Susan rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Too cheesy?" Mark asked.

Susan laughed and nodded. "Yeah."

"So, how does dinner sound?"

"I'm working until nine," Susan said, frowning.

"Come over when you're finished. I'll cook," Mark said.

"Ooh, a doctor and a cook, I didn't know you were so multi-talented," Susan laughed.

"I have many talents you don't know about yet," Mark flirted. "So is that a yes?"

"What about Doug?"

"He's working a double shift."

Susan smiled. "Dinner sounds good."

They both moved their heads closer to each other across the bed until their noses were touching. As their lips were about meet the machines next to them started to go crazy. Susan dropped her head.

"This patient is crashing," Mark said.

"Uh huh," Susan said.

They let their doctor instincts take over as they started to resuscitate the patient. After this patient there were many more, and Mark and Susan barely saw each other. Every time they tried to steal a moment together something interrupted them. The day passed quickly. On his way out, Mark found Susan in the lounge.

"Hey stranger," Susan greeted him.

"What a day," Mark sighed. "Are we still on for dinner?"

Susan nodded as Carter walked in.

"Dr Lewis, there's a GSW coming in, multiple gun shots," he said, holding out a pair of surgical gloves.

Susan followed Carter out of the lounge, and as she left she turned and blew Mark a kiss, her eyes twinkling.

A few hours later, Susan practically ran out of the ER desperate to get away before Kerry could persuade her to stay later to clear the back log of patients that had built up during the day. She made her way to Mark's apartment. She rang the bell and waited nervously, cursing her hair for not doing what she wanted it to. Mark answered and Susan laughed. He was wearing an apron and there were smears of tomato sauce all over his face.

"Did you have a fight with the blender?" Susan asked.

Mark put his hand up to his face and was embarrassed when he realised he was covered in food. He lifted his apron to clean his face. Susan walked past him into the apartment. As she did, he grabbed her arm and spun her around, pulling her into his body and kissing her.

"I've been wanting to do that all day," Mark said afterwards.

"Well, if you behave, maybe I'll let you do it again," Susan said, smiling seductively before pulling away from him. She held out a paper bag that was in her hand. "I brought a bottle of wine."

Mark smiled and with a disgruntled look went back to his cooking. Susan sat on one of the stools next to the kitchen unit and proceeded to open the wine.

"So, what's for dinner? I'm starving," Susan said.

"We've got delicious tender pasta, with juicy beef mince and a beautiful tomato, red wine and basil sauce," Mark said over-enthusiastically, mimicking a television chef.

Susan raised her eyebrows. "Spaghetti bolognese? You've been cooking for the past three hours and the best you could come up with was spaghetti bolognese?" she teased.

Mark looked sheepish. "Yeah, well, my attempt at doing something more sophisticated didn't turn out very well," he said, opening the kitchen bin to reveal a gunky mess.

Susan laughed. Mark pretended to be offended but couldn't hold back his own laugh.

"I guess my talents in the kitchen are a bit limited," he said.

"I hope that's the only area where your talents are limited," Susan flirted.

Mark wandered over to Susan and leant across to face her. "Oh, believe me, I have many hidden talents."

Susan giggled as Mark kissed her again until something interrupted them.

"Um, Mark," Susan mumbled. "I think something's burning."

"Oh, sh…"

Mark ran over to the cooker as the pan of bolognese sauce started to boil over. Susan laughed and went back to pouring the wine. She moved a glass towards Mark and took her own in her hand.

"God, what a day. I thought it was never going to end," Susan sighed, stretching her back. "So what were you, Kerry and Morgenstern whispering about all day?"

"Ah, if I told you, I'd have to kill you," Mark joked, without answering the question. Susan frowned and he relented. "They're going to announce next week which hospital they're going to close."

"Do you really think they'll close County? Look how busy we were today, where are all the patients going to go if we close down?" Susan said.

Mark shrugged. "We're all busy hospitals, it's going to be the same for all of us."

Susan sighed. "And I'd just decided to take a vacation as well," she moaned.

Mark laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just, for a second there I thought you were worried about your residency," Mark said. "Ok, dinner's ready."

As Mark and Susan ate, they talked and bantered the way they always had. Being together had always felt so right, and now there was something different between them. The slightest touch that gave them goosebumps and the flirtatious looks and comments felt so natural, it was easy to fall into being a couple. There was no awkwardness.

After dinner, Mark and Susan collapsed onto the sofa, curling up together. Susan rested her head on Mark's shoulder as they settled down to watch a film. She struggled to keep her eyes open, eventually letting her fatigue take over and she fell asleep. At the end of the film, Mark lifted his hand to her face and gently stroked her cheek, coaxing her to wake up. Susan stirred.

"Was my company that boring?" Mark joked.

Susan smiled and, following her instincts, leant up and kissed him long and hard.

"What was that for?" Mark asked.

"I don't know," Susan answered. "Because I can."

Sitting up and stretching, Susan sighed. "It's late, I should go," she said, standing up and reaching for her coat.

Mark stood up and reached across to help her, pulling her in for another kiss.

"You could stay," he whispered.

Susan looked up at him, slightly nervous. "I don't know. If I stay, that's it. Everything changes, there's no going back," Susan admitted.

"Everything's already different," Mark said. "We can never go back to the way it was. I can never go back to not loving you."

Susan was taken aback at the ease in which he used that word. Mark started to feel panicked, worrying that he'd gone too far. Not that it wasn't true, he did love her, but maybe it was too soon.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"No. Don't be," Susan said. "I just, I hadn't thought about it like that."

Susan reached up and kissed him again, almost as if she was testing him. When she pulled away, she was smiling. Mark understood.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They brought their lips to meet each other in a passionate kiss. Susan pulled at her coat, trying to take it off. Mark reached behind her to help, all the time their lips locked together. Mark kept his arms around Susan's body and lifted her, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist.

He carried her into the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind them, and they disappeared.