Kerry stood at the admit desk, tapping her foot impatiently as she called Mark Greene for the sixth time in as many minutes. "Can we page Doctor Greene again?" She asked Randi impatiently as she heard Mark's answering machine in her ear once again.
"I've paged him five times." Randi replied, flipping through the magazine on the counter.
Kerry marched over to her. "If you want to keep your job you'll get Doctor Greene on the phone." She said, taking the magazine and tossing it into the trash.
"He's off Doctor Weaver!" Randi protested. "I'm not responsible for what your doctors do when they're not here!"
"I don't care Randi!" She called back as she headed back down the hallway into exam four.
Abby was marking vitals on Elizabeth's chart. "Hey Doctor Weaver." She greeted her after looking up briefly.
"How's she doing?" Kerry asked looking down at the surgeon.
"Her vitals are stable and we've given her two liters of saline to reduce her dehydration." Abby reported. "She'll probably wake up soon."
Kerry nodded in understanding. "How's Ella doing?" She asked reaching for the chart Abby was handing to her.
"Haleh had to leave about an hour ago, but Ella's been asleep since long before then." Abby replied. "Last I heard Malik was keeping an eye on her." She finished reporting before looking over at her questioningly. "Have you been able to contact Mark?"
Kerry shook her head. "He hasn't been answering his phone."
"Are you calling the house or his cell?" Abby asked curiously.
"Cell. We don't have the new house number on file." Kerry replied, heading back out towards admit.
"I have it." Abby replied, following her quickly. Kerry turned around and gave her a questioning look. "I babysit for Ella on occasion."
"Alright then." Kerry said before the two arrived at the phone. Abby quickly dialed the number before handing the phone to Kerry.
After several weeks a tired voice answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Doctor Greene?" Kerry asked, surprised at how feminine the voice sounded.
"No." The voice replied, suddenly sounding familiar.
"Doctor Lewis?" Kerry questioned.
"Yeah… Sorry this is Mark's house… who is this?" Susan's voice responded.
Kerry raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Kerry Weaver. Your boss." She replied sternly. "Is Mark not home?"
"He's…" Susan began before yawning. "He's asleep."
"Well I need him to get here as soon as possible." Kerry replied, losing her patience. She didn't want to speculate on why Susan was at Mark's house, but she had heard the rumors and couldn't help but wonder about the validity of the various things she had heard.
"He really can't…" Susan began.
"Put him on the phone." Kerry interrupted her.
"Kerry…" Susan tried again.
"I don't care what you have to do, I need to talk to Mark. Now." Kerry insisted.
Susan hesitated before responding. "I'm sorry Kerry." She said quickly before hanging up the phone.
"Argh!" Kerry yelled angrily as she slammed the phone down onto the receiver. "Someone remind me to fire Greene and Lewis tomorrow." She said as she held her head in her hands.
It was then that Abby approached. "She's awake."
"Elizabeth?" Kerry asked her gently as Elizabeth looked around the room in confusion. "Elizabeth you passed out a few hours ago." She began to fill her in quickly. "Do you remember anything else?"
Elizabeth nodded slowly. "I had a migraine. I haven't eaten all day." She replied, closing her eyes trying to block out all of the sensations around her.
Kerry quickly noted this on her chart. "We also noticed you were severely dehydrated and we've been running fluids. We should probably run some more tests Elizabeth…"
Elizabeth's eyes snapped open. "Where's Ella?" She asked immediately concerned for her daughter. "I was holding Ella."
Abby quickly grabbed her hand. "Haleh had her when you fell. She's absolutely fine." She assured her. "She's asleep right now but I can go get her for you." Elizabeth nodded in response causing Abby to quickly head out of the room.
A few minutes later Abby came back in holding a wriggling Ella in her arms. "Here's Momma." Abby said as she handed the little girl to her mother.
Elizabeth sighed with relief as she felt her daughter's head resting on her chest. She gently ran her fingers through Ella's short hair. "Tests." Elizabeth finally confirmed. "Of course."
Kerry smiled softly. "Alright. We're going to do a blood workup just to make sure there wasn't an underlying cause for your symptoms. And I'd like you to try to eat something."
"I can get you something from the cafeteria." Abby offered.
Elizabeth sat quietly for a few moments. "Maybe just some toast." She finally replied.
"Of course." Abby said, quickly making her leave.
"Alright Elizabeth let's get that blood workup going."
Mark woke up, his head resting on the toilet seat. He closed his eyes breathing deeply to attempt to put the nausea at bay. After several minutes he opened them again, finally feeling stable enough to get up.
Slowly he made his way to the kitchen, finding Susan making coffee. "Morning." He said, his voice incredibly coarse.
"Mark, sit down!" Susan insisted, pushing a barstool behind him until he was sitting down. "How are you feeling?"
Mark sighed. "Like my body is full of chemicals that are slowly destroying me from the inside out." He replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh." Susan said suddenly as she set a cup of coffee in front of Mark before pouring one for herself. "Kerry called last night. She insisted that she needed to talk to you, but I just ended up hanging up."
Mark's eyes widened. "What did she want?"
Susan shrugged. "She didn't say."
Mark stood up slowly, moving across the room to the shelf that had his pager on it. He quickly flipped through the messages, barely taking in the words in front of him. Ella, Elizabeth, Emergency, Temporary Guardian.
"Mark what's wrong?" Susan asked, watching Mark falter as he continuously flipped through his pager. Mark handed the device over before he slowly moved to the bathroom, his nausea back at full force.
Susan's eyes widened as she read the pages. She quickly moved around the house, gathering her things before going to the bathroom to check on Mark. "Mark?" She asked as she gently knocked on the door. "Mark have you taken Compazine?" She asked knocking again before opening the door. "Mark I can go to the hospital to get Ella." She offered, watching him dry heave into the toilet.
Mark shook his head. "I have to go." He said tiredly. "Whatever is going on Elizabeth needs me."
Susan sighed. "Mark you're sixteen hours into your second round of chemo. You aren't in any shape to go anywhere."
"She's my wife." Mark replied desperately, beginning to cry angrily. "And Ella's my daughter."
After several minutes Susan nodded. "As soon as you're feeling okay to get up we'll go." She promised him.
"Kerry what happened?" Mark asked, walking as quickly as he could manage into the ER.
Kerry looked up from the chart in front of her, surprised to see an incredibly ill looking Mark in front of her. "I called you hours ago." She said, not able to hide her surprise.
"Where's Elizabeth?" He asked, leaning onto the admit desk.
"Exam four." Kerry stated. "But Mark…"
"Not now Kerry." Mark replied harshly, quickly walking towards the room, feeling better the more he moved. He opened the door and sighed with relief when he saw Elizabeth feeding Ella a bottle. "Thank God." He whispered.
Elizabeth looked up quickly. "Mark." She said softly.
"What happened?" He asked quietly as he pulled up a stool next to her.
Elizabeth took in a deep breath, unsure of why she suddenly felt like crying. "I don't know." She said, gently stroking Ella's cheek.
"I got a page about Ella and temporary guardianship?" Mark asked, trying not to overstep the boundaries they had been living with for the last several weeks.
Elizabeth nodded softly. "I was unconscious for several hours. When they couldn't reach you a social worker suggested a temporary guardianship placement."
"Oh God." Mark swore angrily.
"Don't worry. The nurses saved your ass." Elizabeth replied just as angrily before looking up at him. "Where were you?"
Mark shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He said smiling gently. After several minutes of silence he spoke again. "I'm sorry Elizabeth." Elizabeth didn't look at him, but he watched her composure change as she let out a breath he didn't know she was holding. "Elizabeth I need to…" He began before Kerry came into the room.
"How are you feeling Elizabeth?" She asked gently.
"Better." Elizabeth replied honestly. "Did you get the test results?" Kerry nodded before handing the result sheet to her. Elizabeth's eyes widened as she scanned the results.
"I'll leave you two to talk." Kerry said awkwardly before making her leave.
After several moments of silence Mark finally spoke. "Elizabeth?" He asked her softly. He was surprised when she didn't look at him but simply held out the paper to him. He gently took the sheet and immediately saw what she was shocked by. The hCG levels were elevated, meaning one thing he thought he would never experience again.
"Elizabeth?" He asked again, gently taking her hand in his. She turned to him, tears running down her cheeks.
"What are we going to do?" She asked, her voice shaking.
Mark took in a deep breath. "We've done it before." He replied quietly. "We've done all of this before."
Elizabeth shook her head. "Nothing is the same this time Mark."
Mark leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before picking up Ella from her lap. "Elizabeth…" He began quietly before Elizabeth shook her head.
"Where the hell have you been?" She asked, unwilling to look at him.
Mark sighed. "Elizabeth can we please talk about this later?" He asked quietly, feeling Ella's head rest heavily on his shoulder.
"The whole hospital is talking about how you and Doctor Lewis are falling in love; so no we can't talk about this later." Elizabeth replied angrily.
Mark looked at her in shock. "What?" He asked her, unable to come up with an explanation.
Elizabeth shook her head. "Give me my daughter." She replied angrily, reaching toward Ella.
Mark held onto her tightly. "Elizabeth…" He began to explain before Elizabeth cut him off.
"No Mark!" She replied angrily. "Give me my daughter."
Mark sighed, looking up at the ceiling, willing that he would maintain his temper. "Elizabeth Susan and I…"
"That's what I thought." Elizabeth began again. "Just give her to me and go home."
Mark finally snapped. "Elizabeth." He replied exasperatedly. "The tumor's back."