Gap-Filler: "The Peace of Wild Things"

By: Lori (SixteenOzs)

DISCLAIMER: "ER," the characters and situations depicted within are the property of Warner Brothers Television, Amblin Entertainment, Constant c Productions, NBC, etc. They are borrowed without permission, but without the intent of infringement. The story presented here is written solely for entertainment purposes, and the author is not making a profit.

Please do not post or redistribute without the disclaimer above, or without the consent of the author.

Feedback is welcome. Please send all questions, comments or criticisms to SixteenOzs02@yahoo.com

SUMMARY: Continuation of the episode "The Peace Of Wild Things"

RATING: PG


As the baby shower started to break up, Elizabeth turned to Carol. "Do you know where Mark is? I haven't seen him today."

"I saw him in the suture room earlier, trying to dry out his charts," Carol replied. She paused for a moment, then asked, "You heard about what happened, right?"

"The explosion?" Elizabeth questioned. "Yeah."

"Well, he's a little banged up, just so you know what to expect," Carol advised her gently.

"Thanks," Elizabeth said with a slight smile before turning down the hall. She paused outside the door of the suture room and watched him, her breath catching in her throat.

She quietly pushed open the door and said, "You look like hell."

He looked up at the sound of her voice. "Thank you," he replied sarcastically, but with a smile.

"You're welcome," she grinned as she stepped closer to him. "So, tell me something."

"What?" he questioned.

She gently ran her hand over the scrapes on the left side of his face. "Why did I have to hear about this from Romano, and not from you?"

"I know you're swamped upstairs. This wasn't a big deal," he explained.

"Well, judging from your face, it looks like it was a pretty big deal," she pointed out. "And I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it down until now."

"It's okay," he assured her with a smile. A moment later, he wondered, "You off?"

She glanced at her watch. "In about twenty minutes. How about you?"

"At least another hour," he sighed.

"How about this?" she suggested, "I'll go home, fix a nice quiet dinner, you join me when you get off and I'll see what I can do about making you forget all about this day."

"You're cooking?" he questioned with a grin. "Haven't I suffered enough for one day?"

"Keep this up, and you'll be leaving here for your apartment, ALONE," she teased.

"Okay, you've made your point," he laughed. "I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven," she chuckled. "Besides, I was planning on getting take-out."

"I'll see you when I get off," he smiled.

"Okay," she said softly as she kissed him gently.


Elizabeth had just finished lighting the last of the candles when she heard the knock on the door. Giving the room one last approving glance, she crossed to the door and opened it. "Hey," she said with a smile.

"Hi," Mark said as he entered the apartment and gave her a soft, tender kiss. As the kiss ended, he handed her the single red rose that he was carrying.

"What's this for?" she asked with a smile.

"To make up for that comment about your cooking," he replied with a grin.

She chuckled. "I already told you that you were forgiven."

"I didn't want to take any chances," he smile before looking around the candlelit room. Next to the fireplace, there was a blanket spread on the floor along with their dinner. He took off his coat and scarf and hung them by the door. Turning to her, he slipped his arms around her waist. With a smile, he wondered, "So, what's for dinner?"

"I'm glad you asked," she grinned. "I wasn't sure what you wanted. I figured veal parmigiana would be safe, or we can share and you can have some of my chicken sabatino. But first, we'll start off with bruchetta, and then there's tiramisu for dessert. I was in an Italian mood."

"I noticed," he laughed. "But that sounds perfect."

"Come on," she smiled softly as she took his hand and led him to the blanket. She placed the rose on the blanket, then picked up a piece of the toasted bread, topped with a plum tomato, olive oil, garlic, basil and oregano, offered it to him and grinned, "What do you think?"

He took a bite. "Mmm, that is wonderful. And I am starving."

"So let's eat," she said as she took a bite of the bruchetta.


After dinner, they leaned back against the sofa, Mark's arms wrapped around Elizabeth, as they watched the fire. "So, how was your day?" she wondered.

"Honestly, getting thrown across the trauma room was probably the highlight," he admitted with a sigh.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked gently.

"Yeah," he nodded quietly. It was several minutes before he spoke again. "I helped destroy what was left of Gabe Lawrence's career today."

"What?" she questioned in disbelief.

"Kerry talked to one of her friends at New Western today. Her friend said Gabe quit after she asked him to undergo testing for Alzheimer's. This afternoon, Kerry and I arranged a 'sting' operation, where we had someone pretend to be a patient he'd seen earlier that was waiting on a 'script. He wrote it without a second thought. After he found out what we'd done, he just stormed off," he said as he stared into the fire.

"Wow," she said softly. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"He came back later, talked to Kerry. He's going to quit," he replied.

She turned so that she could look at him. "What are you thinking?"

"Just trying to figure out if there was an easier way," he said quietly.

"There may have been," she shrugged, "but you can't change that now."

"I know," he said with a sigh.

"Mark, you and I both know that it's very difficult for early-stage Alzheimer's patients to admit that anything's wrong. You could have tried talking to Gabe, but I doubt if it would have done any good," she pointed out gently.

"But he still has to give up his career," he said sadly.

"Do you honestly think he should still be seeing patients, especially in the ER?" she questioned.

"No," he admitted.

"Then you didn't have much of a choice," she concluded. "He can still teach, and maybe he can enroll in some new trials that will give him more time."

"Maybe," he agreed quietly.

They were both silent for several minutes. She smiled gently as she watched him. He knew he did what he had to do, but that still didn't make dealing with the results any easier.

She finally grinned and said, "I've got something that should cheer you up, or at the very least, amuse you."

"What's that?" he questioned suspiciously.

"After Romano told me about the explosion in the ER, he asked me how much I would pay for his sperm," she said, trying not to laugh.

"He WHAT??" Mark demanded, turning to look at her.

She chuckled. "Jealous?"

He glared at her for a second. Grinning, he countered, "Should I be?"

"No!" she laughed. "The mere thought of little Romanos running around terrifies me. I want NO part of that!"

"That makes two of us," he assured her. "Why was he asking?"

"Apparently he's being recruited by some 'very selective' sperm bank," she said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm assuming they don't screen on the basis of attitude or personality," he remarked.

"You're awful!" she laughed.

"Come on," he teased, "you weren't thinking it?"

"Well, maybe," she admitted, still laughing.

"So, what did you tell him?" he wondered.

"I was so shocked by the question that I couldn't come up with a response," she replied.

"Probably for the best," he said with a smile.

She studied him for a moment, then gently caressed the side of his face. "How are you feeling?"

"A little sore," he admitted with a weak smile.

She grinned seductively, "Want me to 'kiss it and make it better?'"

He laughed. "That's probably the best offer I've had all day."

"So is that a 'yes?'" she wondered.

He didn't say anything, he just pulled her closer until their lips met.


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