"Reuniting With the Past" part VII by: Alexandra

Elizabeth tried to get up, but quickly collapsed. Her body was throbbed with pain. She realized she'd been shot in her left arm. But she didn't care about that right now. All she wanted to do was to find how Mark was. She looked around and saw Michael on the ground, lying in a puddle of blood. She knew he was dead. She looked the other way and saw Mark laying motionless.

Just about that time, an assortment of nurses and doctors ran outside to get a closer look of what just happened. Kerry was the first out the doors. "Oh God!" she thought loudly. "Chen, Malucci, you take him to Trauma 1." she point to Michael. "Abby go with them."

"Peter take Elizabeth. Luka, Carter help me with Mark."

Peter went to Elizabeth and tried to get her to lay down on the gurney. "No, I don't need a gurney, I just want to go with Mark."

"Come on Elizabeth, you know the rules. Just let me clean you up and then you can see him."

"No...don't touch me." she ordered. He looked at her with a mixture of disappointment and concern. She gave a sigh, she knew he wouldn't give up. Peter could be just as stubborn as she could.

Peter and Haleh set Elizabeth up in the curtain area by the Trauma Room. "This doesn't look too bad, the bullet just grazed your arm. You're going to have to..." he noticed she was looking through the window to the trauma room, watching everyone work on Mark.

"Elizabeth?" she turned to him. "He's going to be Ok. Mark is strong willed, he's going to make it through this." tears swelled up in her already swollen eyes. Haleh wrapped her arms around her and tried to comfort her.

Just then, Chuny appeared in the hallway and yelled, "Dr. Benton, Dr. Weaver needs you in here now!" Peter jumped up and ran into the trauma room.

Kerry walked to the curtain area a little uneasy about the news she was about to announce. Elizabeth looked up hopeful, saw Kerry's face and knew something was wrong. "That can't be good." she thought to herself.

"Kerry what is it?"

"Uh...Elizabeth, Michael was dead before we could get him inside."

"And Mark?"

"The bullet nicked an artery in his chest, Peter is taking him to the OR."

"I want to scrub in." Elizabeth said sternly.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Kerry I..."

"Elizabeth, I think it'd be better just to wait in the waiting room." she paused. "You shouldn't be waiting alone, I'll have Carol go up with you Ok?" Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement.

It had been 4 hours since Elizabeth heard anything from anyone. And she was beginning to worry more as time went by. She was a surgeon, she knew what went on in the OR.

"Elizabeth?" she looked up at Carol. "Look" Carol pointed to the OR doors and saw Peter coming out. She quickly stood up and ran over to him.

"He's in the SICU..."

"He's Ok?" her face brightened.

"Not exactly. He's in a coma. We repaired the artery the bullet nicked, but he went into shock." Tears began to swell in her eyes and she felt herself getting light headed. She grabbed on to Peters arm for support. "Come on, I'll take you to him."

Elizabeth walked into the curtain area of the SICU and saw Mark in bed hooked up to all the life support machines. She walked over to the chair next to his bed and sat down.

"Could I have some time alone?"

"Of course." She watched him walk out, and then she turned to face Mark. She grabbed his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. "Mark, I'm here with you now. Please wake up." her voice shaky. "You can't leave me here, Don't leave me here alone Mark!" She cleared her throat and tried to pull herself together. "I love you." She then pulled her chair closer to the bed, still holding his hand, and watched him, until she drifted off to sleep.

Elizabeth woke up several times during the night, to check Mark's status. Still no change. Around 6:00 a.m., the SICU nurse came in to change the IV bag. She saw Elizabeth was finally sleeping, "Poor thing," she thought. She turned around to leave and noticed that Elizabeth had woken up.

"Dr. Corday, you should go back to sleep, you need your rest."

"No, that's ok Crystal, I want to be awake when he wakes up."

"I'm sure Dr. Greene wouldn't mind if you went home and got some rest. In fact, I think he would probably insist on it."

Elizabeth laughed at the thought of Mark making her go home and sleep. But if he were with her now, they wouldn't need to have that conversation. "Yeah, but I just want to stay here. I should probably call Rachel and tell her. She would want to come to Chicago and see him."

About noon, Carol came up on her break to see how things were going. "Hey aren't you supposed to be working today?" she joked as she walked into the room.

Elizabeth smiled, "No actually, Mark and I were going to take today off and go rollerblading," she frowned and looked to Mark, "...but our plans got changed." Carol looked at Mark and back to Elizabeth. "When was the last time you had a bite to eat?"

"I don't know" she didn't take her eyes off of Mark.

"Tell you what. I'll go get some food, that way you can eat here, because I know you will. And then you go home and take a shower."

"Carol, I..."

"Your no good to Mark unless you're taken care of yourself. Plus when Mark wakes up and finds out you have been like this he'll yell at me. So what do you want?"

"I want him to wake up."

"To eat?"

"I don't..."

"I'll just get you a something."

"Thanks" Elizabeth called to Carol as she walked out the room.

After lunch, Elizabeth went to her locker in the OR women's locker room and got a new pair of scrubs. She quickly jumped in the shower, so if Mark had woken up she wouldn't miss him. The scorching hot water actually felt good. In a way she was hoping to wash away everything that had happened in the past 48 hours.

Just as Elizabeth was finally starting to forget about everything, Carol peeked her head into the shower room and called to her through the stall door, "Elizabeth could you hurry, I, uh, I need you out here."

"Oh God," she thought "something happened to Mark." she quickly jumped out of the shower and put the clean scrubs on.

Running through the hallway to the SICU, millions of thoughts ran through her head. Once she got to his room Peter and some nurses were standing by Mark's bed.

"What happened?"

"Elizabeth, let's talk outside Ok?" Peter requested.

As they walked outside Elizabeth quickly asked, "What happened?"

"Elizabeth, he went into shock. His brain wasn't getting enough oxygen." she felt her heart skip a few beats. "Elizabeth, I think it would be best if we took Mark off the respirators."

She knew deep down inside that it was what she had to do, it was just actually having to do it. "Rachel's flight comes in today" she said trying, but not really succeeding to keep herself from breaking down. "I'll ask Carol to go pick her up so I can stay here with him. She started to walk away and Peter stopped her, "Elizabeth," she looked back. "If you ever need to talk..." she nodded and walked back into the curtain area.

Everyone had already left. Mark was lying so peaceful. It was just yesterday that Mark was in her arms talking to her, telling her how much he loved her. She wanted that back! It was all Michaels fault! Even though she was a doctor, and was supposed to help people, she couldn't help but think Michael deserved to die. If it weren't for him none of this would have happened. She sat down in the chair next to the bed and watched him.

"Flight 19 from St. Louis is now arriving at Gate 12."

Carol looked at her watch, "It's about time," she thought.

"Carol where's Elizabeth?" Rachel asked as she got off the plane.

"She asked me to come pick you up. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, I really don't care, I just want to see my dad."

The elevator doors opened and Carol and Rachel stepped out. Elizabeth was standing at the desk filling out some paper work when she saw them coming towards her.

"Hey Carol...Hello Rachel."

"Where's my dad?" Elizabeth looked at Carol, surprised by her bluntness, but she could understand, considering the circumstances.

"Before you see your dad Rachel, let me tell you what to expect . He is hooked up to a respirator. There's a tube in his neck helping him breathe. He is also hooked up to a monitor that shows his heart beats."

"Where is he?" Elizabeth turned around and started walking towards Mark's room.

When they got there Rachel looked at Mark and her eyes filled with tears. "Daddy?" she whispered. She walked over to Mark's bed and put her hand on his. "Daddy? Wake up." she called softly to him, barely able to hear herself. She turned to Elizabeth "Can I have a moment alone with him please?" Elizabeth nodded and walked out. While she was waiting for Rachel she fell asleep.

"Elizabeth?" she opened her eyes and saw Rachel standing in front of her. "Can we go home? I don't want to be here right now."

She wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to leave Mark, but Rachel didn't want to be there. She would have to go home with her. "Ok let me just talk to one of the doctors before we leave." The two walked down the hall to Mark's room and found Peter checking on him. "Peter, Rachel and I are going home. If his status changes *at all* page me." He nodded and walked out of the room.

Elizabeth walked to Mark's bedside, gave him a kiss and said, "Rachel and I are going home. I'll be back in the morning. I love you."

Later that night Elizabeth was helping Rachel get ready for bed. "You never told me exactly how my dad got shot."

There was a moment of silence. "Well...a guy I used to know came here and tired to kidnap me and take me back to England with him. Your dad tried to stop him and save me. When he did, this guy started shooting his gun. He shot your dad in the chest and..."

"So if he weren't trying to save you he wouldn't be in the hospital right now?" Elizabeth was speechless. "This is all your fault! If it weren't for you, he'd still be alive. He'd be here with me right now, tucking me into bed, reading me a story. I wish he would never have met you!" She ran to the couch and covered up with the blankets Elizabeth laid out for her.

"Rachel..." she turned on her side away from her. Elizabeth gave up and walked back to her and Mark's room. "I give up." she uttered.

Elizabeth climbed into bed, she could still smell Mark's scent on the sheets. All night she tossed and turned. It just wasn't the same without him. She wanted to go to the hospital so bad, and be with him, but she couldn't.

She walked out towards the kitchen to get a glass of water, she felt like a Pimms, but she knew that it wouldn't be a good idea while Rachel was with her. She heard Rachel tossing in her sleep, so she walked out to the living room and she lay still, like nothing had happened. Elizabeth couldn't help but think how much Rachel looked like Mark. She picked the blanket off the floor and pulled it back over Rachel. She then walked quietly back to their room.

TO BE CONTINUED...

-- (fanfic@ertvonline.net), January 15, 2001