Elizabeth woke up to her husband slamming the bathroom door shut. "Mark?" She asked tiredly as she sat up. It wasn't for another moment when she heard him begin to throw up that she realized why the door had slammed. She sighed as she got out of bed before moving to just outside the bathroom door. "Mark?" He asked again as she knocked on the door.
"Come in." Mark's voice replied tiredly.
Elizabeth opened the door and smiled sympathetically at her husband who sat on the floor. "You doing alright?" She asked him softly as she sat down on the edge of the bathtub.
"I didn't mean to wake you." Mark apologized in response.
Elizabeth shook her head. "It's okay." She assured him. "How are you feeling?"
Mark sighed. "I've been better." He admitted softly.
"Did you take Zofran?" Elizabeth asked him as she got up to wet a washcloth.
Mark shook his head. "I don't want to have to take it every morning."
Elizabeth smiled sympathetically as she pressed the washcloth against his forehead. "I know you don't but you should if it means…"
Mark shook his head once more. "I'll be fine in about an hour." He assured her as he took her hand in his. "The Zofran will just make me feel tired longer."
Elizabeth sighed. "Okay." She allowed quietly. "I'm going to go check on Ella, do you need anything?"
"No." Mark replied with a small smile.
"I'll be back." She promised, squeezing his hand gently before heading to check on their daughter.
She slowly opened the door to the nursery and found Ella sitting in her crib babbling to herself. Elizabeth smiled as she heard Ella cycle through the few words that she knew. She watched her quietly for a few moments before speaking herself. "Hey baby." She greeted her with a smile. Ella turned quickly as she heard her mother's voice. "Good morning." She said as she moved to lift her from her crib, groaning slightly as she rested Ella on her hip. "Do you want some breakfast?" She asked, earning an enthusiastic nod in response.
Elizabeth made her way to the kitchen and set Ella into her highchair. She was just finishing cutting a slice of banana bread into bite sized pieces when Rachel came into the room, directly walking to the pantry and pulling a box of Lucky Charms off from the top shelf.
"Morning Rachel." Elizabeth greeted her as Rachel sat down at the table with a bowl and a gallon of milk.
Rachel grunted in response, but didn't look up from her bowl.
"Rach, your Dad's not feeling well this morning, would you mind watching Ella for me?" Elizabeth asked after a few minutes.
"Is he okay?" Rachel asked, her head snapping up immediately in concern.
Elizabeth nodded. "Nothing bad, just some nausea from the medications he's on." She assured her. "He's got a shift starting in a few hours."
Rachel sighed in relief. "I can watch Ella." She replied.
"Thank you." Elizabeth said with a smile as she grabbed herself a slice of banana bread before going back up to her bedroom. When she opened the door she found Mark leaning over the bed, both of his hands supporting his weight as he tried to stand up. "Hey, let me help you." She said quickly as she put her food down on her nightstand before moving to help him sit down on the bed. "What's wrong."
"I'm sorry." Mark said tiredly as he stared at his hands in his lap.
Elizabeth sighed, pressing her lips against his forehead. "What's going on? Are you just nauseated or is something else going on?"
"I was just trying to get ready to go over to the hospital." Mark said softly.
"Your shift isn't for another three hours, you're fine." Elizabeth replied, clearly confused.
Mark didn't make eye contact as he spoke. "I woke up last night after what I think was a tonic seizure."
Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock. "When? Why didn't you wake me?"
"There's nothing you could have done…" Mark tried to insist.
She shook her head. "You should have told me sooner." She said tersely "Lie down." She insisted.
Mark looked at her with a questioning look. "What…?"
"Lie down so I can do an examination Mark." Elizabeth said tiredly.
"You don't need to…" Mark tried to stop her.
Elizabeth shook her head. "Either I do, or I take you to the ER and someone else can."
"Then take me." Mark said softly.
Elizabeth looked at him in concern. "What?" She asked in disbelief.
"I'm not letting you do this." Mark said quietly. "I love you, so so much, but I can't let you take responsibility for this."
Elizabeth shook her head. "Mark, I'm fine…"
"No." He insisted firmly. "I never want you to feel like you have to be more than my wife. You may be a doctor, but you don't have to be my doctor, especially when things aren't going well."
"Mark…" Elizabeth tried again.
"We both know I should get an MRI." Mark stopped her again. "I know this is scary Elizabeth but we need to know what's going on."
Elizabeth nodded as she took his hands in hers. "What can I do to help?" She asked after several minutes.
"I'm gonna need a shirt." Mark said with a small smile.
Elizabeth nodded before letting out a deep breath. "I can do that."
"Alright Mark, be sure to lay perfectly still." The MRI technician said into the microphone.
"Got it." Mark said, not moving other than to reply.
Elizabeth watched nervously from her seat in the imaging room as the scan results came in. She watched as his tumor came into view, looking the same as it had during the last scan. Then she saw it, another spot towards the back of the image. Her eyes widened, "Is that a hemorrhage?" She asked nervously.
The technician shrugged. "The Doctor will have to tell you what the scan says."
"Don't give me that bullshit." Elizabeth said angrily. "I'm a surgeon, I know the technicians can read these scans better than the average neurologist."
"I'm sorry." The technician said sympathetically. "I'll be sure to have the doctor come in as soon as possible."
Elizabeth was about to retaliate when Mark's voice sounded again. "The machine's been off for a few minutes am I done?"
"Yes Mark." Elizabeth replied, standing up and making her way into the room, helping him off the MRI table.
"How'd it look?" He asked her as she helped him into the wheelchair.
"Uh…" Elizabeth hesitated. "I wasn't really paying attention to the scan, I'm sorry."
"Are you okay?" Mark asked as a nurse began to push his wheelchair back to his bed in the ER.
Elizabeth nodded. "I'm fine, I was just distracted by the baby."
"Is she kicking?" Mark asked with a smirk.
"How come you're so sure it's a girl?" Elizabeth asked as the nurse helped Mark back into his bed.
"Because I make excellent daughters." Mark replied tiredly.
Elizabeth watched him nervously. "How are you?"
"I've got this headache, I'm sure it's just a side effect." Mark replied with a small smile.
Elizabeth took in a deep breath. "I'm sure Doctor Callahan will be in shortly." She said anxiously.
Mark sighed as he rolled onto his side. "Can you ask Weaver or Susan to get me some Percocet? This headache is getting worse."
Elizabeth gently squeezed his hand before making her way out of the room. She was making her way to the front desk when she saw Susan. "Hey Susan!" She called as she watched the doctor sprint across the ER.
"Hey." She stopped, quickly turning so she was facing Elizabeth. "How's Mark doing?"
"Is Doctor Callahan on his way down?" Elizabeth asked nervously.
Susan shook her head. "He got called over to an Emergency craniotomy at Mercy, he won't be back for hours. I just assumed someone told you…" She began as she watched Elizabeth's face visibly pale. "Why? What's wrong?"
"When Mark was getting his MRI, I saw something towards the back of his brain, it looked like a hemorrhage." Elizabeth said softly. "The MRI tech said he was sending the scan up to Callahan's office, but if he's gone…"
"No one has seen it." Susan finished for her. "Is Mark cognitively stable?"
Elizabeth shrugged. "He says he has a headache, he's asking for Percocet."
Susan nodded. "Alright keep him awake, I'm going upstairs to get the scan results."
Elizabeth quickly made her way back to his room. "Mark?" She asked nervously as she saw him curled up in a ball on the gurney. He groaned weakly in response. "Mark sweetheart, I need you to wake up for me." She said softly as she sat down next to him. "Mark, you need to stay alert right now."
"What's going on?" Mark asked, clearly out of it as Elizabeth tried to get him to sit up.
"Mark come on." She said more firmly, her medical instincts starting to kick in. "You need to sit up and talk to me."
"Lizabeth I need painkillers." Mark said tiredly.
Elizabeth shook her head. "Not right now you don't. Not until Susan gets back down here with your MRI results."
"It hurts so bad." Mark said, beginning to cry.
Elizabeth nodded. "It's going to be alright, you're going to be alright." She said firmly. "I know it hurts and I know you're scared but this is the time to fight this."
Mark was still crying when Susan came running into the room, Doctor Weaver and Abby right behind her.
"Thank God." Susan said quietly when she saw Mark was still awake.
"Mark you've got an intracerebral hemorrhage." Weaver said as Abby began an IV. "You need a decompression surgery right now."
"Who is doing the surgery?" Elizabeth asked anxiously.
"Romano." Susan replied. "He's the only one available."
Elizabeth shook her head. "He's the best one." She corrected him. "Is anyone else scrubbing in?"
"Just the anesthesiologist." Weaver replied. "Romano's going solo."
"Okay." Elizabeth said nervously as she watched the pre-surgery sedation begin to take effect. "Mark I love you." She whispered softly as she gently pressed her lips against his. "You're going to be fine."
"Robert's upstairs scrubbing in. We're going to take Mark up to the OR. The surgery should start in about fifteen minutes." Abby said gently. "Is there anything I can get you?"
Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm going to go talk to Robert." She said softly before quickly heading to the elevators.
"Elizabeth." Robert said in surprise when she walked into the scrub room. "What are you doing in here?"
"What is your plan?" She asked quietly, trying to keep her emotions in check.
"I'm going to try to do a simple aspiration." Robert said as he continued to wash his hands. "The scan looks like it should be clean."
"Don't forget to monitor his neurological function both during and after surgery." Elizabeth said nervously. "The tumor makes it less likely he'll respond well to any type of neurosurgery."
"I know." Robert replied, not looking at her.
"And his medication list is in his chart, the sooner he gets back on the medications the better the chances he won't have any withdrawal side effects." Elizabeth insisted.
"I know." Robert said as he began to dry his hands, beginning to lose his patience. "Is there anything else you think I don't know?" He asked harshly before looking up at her.
Elizabeth's eyes were shut tightly as she gripped onto the sink in front of her, looking like she was about to vomit.
"Lizzie?" Robert asked, immediately concerned. "Lizzie what's wrong?" He tried again before leading her into the hallway and having her sit down. "Lizzie talk to me." He insisted as he crouched down in front of her.
"If he dies…" Elizabeth began softly before Robert cut her off.
"I'm not going to let that happen." He said immediately. "I'm the best surgeon in this damn hospital and I am not going to let Mark die, you hear me?"
Elizabeth nodded slowly. "If… something goes wrong… I have to know. Don't wait or sugar coat it. Tell me."
"Of course." Robert assured her. "I'll find you myself the moment I know anything."
Hours later, Rachel and Ella were sitting on the floor of Elizabeth's office, several coloring books spread across the floor in front of them and at least four dozen crayons scattered around the room. Rachel looked up nervously at Elizabeth who was sitting at her desk, clearly pretending to work on some filing.
"Is Dad gonna be alright?" She finally asked as she watched Elizabeth open a file for the fifth time before immediately shutting it again.
Elizabeth looked up at her in surprise. "I don't know." She replied honestly.
"He just… started bleeding?" Rachel tried again.
Elizabeth sighed. "We won't know until after Robert's done with the surgery whether or not the hemorrhage was caused by the tumor or something else."
"But there's nothing we could have…" Rachel began again.
"Rachel, I'm sorry I need to get some air. Would you mind watching Ella?" Elizabeth cut her off.
Rachel nodded, causing Elizabeth to stand up and make her way into the hall, practically collapsing from exhaustion against the wall outside her office.
"Doctor Corday are you alright?" Shirley asked as she watched several tears wash down her face.
Elizabeth quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I'm sorry."
Shirley shook her head. "Don't be." She assured her quickly. "I just talked to Nancy who just switched out of the surgery, Mark is doing well, but the bleeding seems to be connected to the brain stem. Robert's working on making sure he stops as much of the bleeding as possible before closing."
Elizabeth nodded. "Thank you."
"He also wanted to know his neurosurgeon was contacted." Shirley said softly. "I know you went to New York for his surgery, but Robert would really like to talk to him."
Elizabeth took in a deep breath. "Doctor Burke at New York Neurological Network." She said immediately. "He's been updated regularly on Mark's condition but I haven't called him today."
"I can take care of that." Shirley assured her.
"Thank you." Elizabeth said tiredly.
"Hey I have a key to the on-call nurses' room, but no one is in there tonight." Shirley said softly. "You need to rest, for your sake and your baby's."
"I need to be available in case…" Elizabeth began to protest.
Shirley shook her head. "I'll tell Robert where you are, take the girls in there and get some sleep."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said softly. "Keep me updated."
"I will, I promise."