"You just let him leave?" Elizabeth asked Carol angrily.
"I'm sorry Elizabeth." Carol replied tiredly. "I tried to stop him but he was insistent. He promised he'd come back."
"And what good does that do me now?" Elizabeth asked as she raised an eyebrow.
Carol shrugged. "I'm sorry." She apologized again.
Elizabeth sighed. "I know, I know." She said tiredly before leaning back into the couch she was sitting on. "I'm sorry Carol. I just can't stop worrying about him." She said before closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths, trying to calm down.
"Elizabeth he's going to be fine." Carol tried to assure her as she rested her hand on her friend's shoulder.
Elizabeth shook her head. "You don't know that."
Carol tried to comfort her friend for several minutes before Rachel came into the room, her backpack slung over her shoulder. "I'm going out." She announced to no one in particular.
Elizabeth sat up, pressing her hand against her small bump to help counterbalance it. "No you're not." She replied tiredly.
Rachel turned around, her eyebrows creased in confusion. "I'm sorry…what did you just say?"
"You're staying home today Rachel." Elizabeth elaborated. "I need your help with Ella and your Father has decided to run off. You aren't going out."
Rachel shook her head. "You're not my mother." She said angrily before turning and heading for the door.
"Rachel Greene!" Elizabeth called after her. "If you step one foot outside that door I swear you will be on the first flight to St. Louis."
Rachel turned around, fire in her eyes. "Why do you even care where I am?"
"Because your father is going to begin his next round of chemotherapy tomorrow morning and the day after will be starting a trial drug that may or may not save his life." Elizabeth replied tiredly. "I don't want you to regret this."
Rachel looked at her, anger still present in her eyes. "Fine." She replied angrily, tossing her backpack onto the rug in the middle of the room before storming back up the stairs.
Elizabeth sighed deeply. "I just don't know what to do."
"Elizabeth…" Carol began before stopping herself.
"What?" Elizabeth questioned her sudden pause.
"I don't want to overstep…" Carol began again, obviously nervous. "Are you… are you alright? Like honestly alright?"
Elizabeth looked at her, eyes widened slightly. "Why?"
Carol sighed. "You seem… I don't know Elizabeth. I just want you to know if something is wrong…"
"I have been having pains in my left leg." Elizabeth interrupted her, eyes closed, unwilling to accept her own admission.
Carol's eyes widened. "How long?"
Elizabeth shrugged. "About a week."
"We're going to the hospital." Carol said immediately.
Elizabeth shook her head. "I can't. I just can't put this kind of stress on Mark, not right now."
"Elizabeth if it's a blood clot…" Carol began to chide her.
"I know." Elizabeth replied. "I can't."
"No Elizabeth we're going, now." Carol insisted before heading to the stairwell. "Tess can you get Daddy from the study for me?" She called up the stairs.
A small "Yes mommy!" Was heard in response before she headed back into the living room.
"Elizabeth I know you're scared," Carol began gently as she knelt in front of her. "It's very important that we get this checked. You know this… I know you know this."
Elizabeth nodded, trying desperately not to cry. "I need Mark." She admitted softly.
Carol nodded. "We'll find him." She assured her, grabbing both her hands and squeezing comfortingly.
"Carol what's up?" Doug asked as he made his way into the room.
"I need you to stay here with the kids." Carol said quickly as she stood up. "I need to take Elizabeth to the ER."
Doug's eyes widened in surprise. "What's wrong?"
"She may have a blood clot." Carol said softly.
"Damn." Doug swore. "They really just can't catch a break right now can they?" He asked softly before kissing her gently. "I'll be here with the kids."
Carol nodded. "Thank you." She said softly. "And if Mark comes back, please send him." Doug nodded in response before moving to help Carol help Elizabeth to the car.
"Alright Doctor Corday we're going to do an ultrasound of your left thigh to look for a clot. If we don't see anything I'll run a blood test just to make sure you don't have an elevated DD level." Doctor Roberts explained to her gently.
Elizabeth nodded, indicating her understanding. She gently turned onto her right side to allow him to begin the ultrasound. "Carol has Mark called my phone?" She asked softly as she clutched onto her friend's hand to help ease her anxiety.
Carol shook her head. "I'm sorry." Elizabeth nodded before sitting quietly, waiting for Doctor Roberts to speak.
"There appears to be a large clot." Doctor Roberts said as he set the ultrasound machine on the cart. "I doesn't seem to have traveled which is good. I'll have a nurse set up an IV and run an anticoagulant."
Elizabeth looked at him in concern. "Anticoagulants increase the risk of inter-uterine hemorrhaging."
Doctor Roberts nodded. "That's true." He assured her. "Heparin is the safest especially if used short term. We'll run it and check in in a few hours. If we can get rid of the clot we're in the clear."
Elizabeth sighed. "Okay." She agreed quietly.
Carol gently rubbed her arm. "I'll go grab the saline and heparin." She said softly.
"Is this what you would do?" Elizabeth asked her nervously.
"As a mother or as a nurse?" Carol replied, clearly confused.
"I don't know." Elizabeth replied, trying not to cry.
Carol gently squeezed her hand. "If I were you I would follow Doctor Roberts' advice. Mark would do the same thing." She assured her.
Elizabeth nodded. "Okay." She affirmed softly. "Thank you."
It was several hours later and Carol was starting Elizabeth's second dose of heparin when the door to the room opened.
Elizabeth's head snapped to the door, where she made eye contact with her husband.
"Elizabeth." Mark said gently, quickly moving to kiss her. "I'm so so sorry." He apologized. "I never should have left." Elizabeth looked at him but couldn't respond. Mark sighed deeply. "Elizabeth... I shouldn't have been putting the amount of pressure on you I have been. I've been relying on you too much these past few months."
"Mark are you that daft?" She asked him suddenly. "I'm not mad at you." Mark cocked an eyebrow, obviously confused. "I'm not mad at you Mark. I'm scared I'm going to lose you."
Carol looked at the couple awkwardly. "Uh… I'll be at admit… if you need me." She excused herself quickly, not wanting to invade her privacy.
Mark's eyes immediately met Elizabeth's. "We've talked about this…"
Elizabeth shook her head. "Not like that." She stopped him. "I'm scared that we're not strong enough for this, emotionally. Last time we started in a really good place, but all of this started when we were separated. What if we can't…"
Mark looked at her sympathetically before stopping her. "Elizabeth I love you more than anything." He assured her gently. "We're going to be fine." He said before kissing her softly. "I promise I won't let you go."
Elizabeth sighed deeply, finally relaxing into his arms. "Don't ever leave again." She whimpered quietly, tears flowing down her cheeks.
Mark shook his head. "I won't. I promise." They sat quietly for several moments before Mark shifted, grabbing Elizabeth's chart from the end of the bed. He sighed as he read through the notes. "You should have told me." He said quietly.
Elizabeth looked away from him before responding. "I didn't want you to worry."
Mark chuckled. "I worry about you just as much as you worry about me." He replied before gently turning her face back towards his own. "I never want you to feel like because I have cancer you can't tell me things. I don't know how much time I have left, but I do know a lot of that time is going to be influenced by this. I don't want you to stop trusting me because of it."
"I trust you Mark." Elizabeth protested.
Mark sighed. "Okay." He assured her gently, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "How's your leg pain?" He asked after a moment.
"It's receding." Elizabeth replied quietly.
Mark nodded. "That's good news. In most clots in pregnant women the lessening of the pain tends to correlate with clot reduction."
Elizabeth smirked. "I know Mark." She assured him.
"Right…" He replied awkwardly. "Sorry."
Elizabeth laughed. "It's fine. I'm just hoping we can go home soon. We have to get ready for your…"
Mark shook his head. "I took care of it." He interrupted her. "I packed for the observation week and I scheduled my port cleaning for tomorrow morning before my chemo."
Elizabeth sighed. "You're ready?" She asked him quietly.
"Well…" He replied with a smirk. "I was hoping to spend the night with my wife and daughters."
Elizabeth smirked. "I think that can be arranged." She said, leaning up to kiss him gently. "I love you Mark."
"I love you too Elizabeth."
That evening the entirety of the Ross family and the Greene-Corday family sat at the dining room table. Four pizza boxes laid open on the counter behind them as they ate.
"Rachel I want you to help out Elizabeth while in at Northwestern." Mark was saying as he took a bite of the pizza.
Rachel sighed. "It's not fair."
"What else do you have to be doing Rach? You don't live here, it's not like this is home where you have friends and school." Mark replied clearly annoyed.
"I have friends." Rachel replied angrily. "I'm not spending my Summer break babysitting for you."
"Rachel." Mark warned immediately. "I'm sorry this isn't the dream vacation you apparently thought it would be, but we came up here to get a break from work and school, not for a getaway."
Rachel sneered but focused her attention back to her pizza.
Tess was bouncing in her chair excitedly. "You can stay here with me and Kate and Ella!" She exclaimed excitedly. "We can play on the dock, and maybe we'll get to go on the boat with Daddy!"
Rachel smiled slightly, but didn't look up. "Yeah, sure Tess." She replied quietly.
"Daddy can we go on the boat?" Tess turned to Doug quickly, nearly slipping off her chair in the process. "Please Daddy, please!"
Doug laughed as he steadied his daughter. "We'll have to see sweetheart."
"I'll make sure we do." Carol whispered loudly to her girls who giggled in response.
Elizabeth laughed. "Ella's going to need lots of distractions, aren't you?" She asked the child in her lap. "She's a Daddy's girl."
Mark smirked. "But she's going to come visit me every single day." He said before pressing a kiss against his child's forehead. "Rachel you're welcome to come with Elizabeth and Ella." He said gently to his oldest daughter.
Rachel shrugged. "I don't really… I don't want to see you…"
"You don't have to." Mark stopped her. "You can always call me if you need anything. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable about anything, especially not me."
Rachel nodded, but once again avoided eye contact. Mark sighed before smiling softly at Elizabeth, obviously trying to comfort her.
"After the week of inpatient trial we still have another week here to do whatever you want Rach." Mark tried to offer.
Rachel shrugged. "I just want to not be on house arrest." She replied crankily.
"Rachel we're just asking you to help out. I'm sorry it seems unfair, but there's nothing I can do right now to change this." Mark replied. Rachel scowled but made no further comments.
Doug shifted in his chair awkwardly. "Why don't we go out on the boat tonight?" He asked suddenly. "Mark doesn't need to be at the hospital until eight, and it's still early. We could go out and watch the SeaFair fireworks." He suggested.
Mark looked at Elizabeth for approval before replying. "We're in."
Carol smiled. "Let's do it." She agreed immediately.
Mark was holding Ella on his lap and had Rachel leaning on his left shoulder. He smiled as he glanced across the boat to see his wife sitting along the front of the boat with Carol, Tess and Kate in each of their laps. Doug was driving them out into the center of the lake on the opposite side from where fireworks were being set up.
"Hey Dad?" Rachel said softly, sitting up and looking at him.
"What's up bug?" Mark asked, adjusting his position so he was facing his daughter.
"Can I go… I want… I want to go stay with Mom for a while." She finally managed to say.
Mark's eyes widened but he remained calm. "Okay." He replied immediately.
Rachel looked at him in surprise. "What?"
"Rachel if you want to go stay with Mom while I'm in treatment I completely understand." Mark assured her.
Rachel didn't know what to say. "I… it's not that I…"
Mark sighed. "Rachel, I know how hard this is for you. I get that you're getting pressures from me and Elizabeth to do things you don't want to because I'm sick. If you want a break from it I'm not going to stop you."
Rachel nodded, quickly wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I'm sorry Daddy." She said softly, curling up against him.
"It's okay bug." He assured her gently. "I'll call your Mom from the hospital tomorrow."
Rachel shook her head. "I can do it." She tried to protest.
Mark sighed. "Rach, I haven't… I haven't told her the tumor's back. I should do that, not you."
Rachel nodded. "Alright." She affirmed quietly. "Please don't hate me."
"I could never." Mark replied quickly. "I don't hate you Rach. I understand that you need a break from this in a different way than Elizabeth and I can. This trip was meant to help you too, and if it hasn't been then you deserve your own break."
"Okay." Rachel replied softly.
Mark held her for a while until Doug parked the boat. "Why don't you go up front with Ella to watch the fireworks?" He suggested, handing the toddler to her sister.
"Yeah, sure." Rachel affirmed, carefully taking Ella up to the front of the boat.
Mark watched his daughters interact with the Ross twins for several moments before Elizabeth stood up and headed toward him.
"Hey." She greeted him gently, leaning down to kiss him.
"Hey." Mark replied, grabbing onto her hand as she sat down next to him.
"You alright?" She asked him gently, her voice full of concern.
Mark shrugged. "I should be asking you that." He quickly changed the topic. "Your leg still feeling fine?"
Elizabeth smiled. "Yes Mark. I'm going in for a check-up ultrasound in three-days." She assured him gently. She looked at him and could tell he was thinking about something else. "Mark what's wrong?"
"Rachel's gonna go spend some time in St. Louis." Mark admitted quietly.
"With Jennifer?" Elizabeth asked in surprise. "When did you talk to her?"
Mark sighed. "Technically I haven't yet." He admitted. "I'm calling her tomorrow."
"But why?" She asked, still confused.
"Rachel needs a break from this." Mark replied softly. "I should have seen it before. I've been fighting so hard to keep her with me to fix her, but what's going to fix her is going back to St. Louis."
Elizabeth looked at him sympathetically. "I know how much having her here means to you." She assured him softly.
Mark shrugged. "I can't keep acting like this isn't affecting you and the kids." He said softly. "I have to stop relying on you all for things."
Elizabeth shook her head. "Mark we're family." She said softly. "You're supposed to rely on us, me especially."
"I don't want you to feel like…" Mark began to explain before Elizabeth abruptly kissed him.
"Mark the only thing I feel about you is that I love you." She stopped him. "I don't want you to think I resent you."
Mark nodded. "Thank you." He said softly. "For everything."
Elizabeth smiled before curling up into his lap. "Do you want me to call Jennifer for you? I know tomorrow is going to be a long day for you." She offered.
Mark shook his head. "I have to do it." He replied quietly. "Thank you though."
"What can I do?" Elizabeth asked insistently.
"Bring Ella to visit." Mark replied immediately. "Just come see me."
Elizabeth smirked. "You are very cute when you're vulnerable." She replied. "I promise we'll be there every day."
Mark gently elbowed her. "Thank you." He replied honestly. "You'll make it bearable."
"Well I don't promise to be entertaining or anything." Elizabeth replied with a smirk. "But thanks for the confidence."
"Anytime."