** Disclaimer: “ER” is property of Warner Brothers Television, NBC, and all respective producers and cast. I have written this story for fanfiction and nothing else. I am not making a profit from this. This is simply for fanfiction enjoyment. **
Relevant Episodes: Contains content from all the episodes up until “It’s All in Your Head”
Rating: PG
Summary: What happened after the credits rolled in “Bygones”? Elizabeth and Rachel try to come to grips with Mark’s cancer. But deep in their hearts, they know they will have to say good-bye and face a loss no family should have to endure.
Acknowledgment: As always, I would like to thank Lori (SixteenOzs) for her generous comments and suggestions with my stories! Thank you so much Lori!! J
I
Wish This Moment Would Last Forever
“That was so far away!” Rachel laughed as the Frisbee Mark threw sailed a few good feet from her right, “I’m over here.”
Rachel chased after the Frisbee and threw it to Mark who caught it and threw it back.
“You trying to make a duck pancake?” she asked as Ella struck the rubber toy on the blanket again.
After fifteen minutes of Frisbee, Mark retreated back to the blanket to rest. Rachel pulled the contents of their picnic basket out.
“I’m starved.”
“Me too,” Mark agreed.
As Mark, Elizabeth and Rachel ate their sandwiches, Mark fed Ella between bites. Surprisingly, Ella was accepting each mouthful.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you?” Mark asked Ella as he wiped her chin with her bib.
“Rach...” Mark asked, “Could you pass me the … uh… the… uh… “
Elizabeth and Rachel looked up at Mark, concern filled in their eyes.
A moment of silence descended as Mark sat with his mouth open. His eyes squeezed shut in frustration.
“…..”
“…napkins.” Mark finally blurted out.
“Sure,” Rachel said, trying to act as if nothing was wrong. She handed Mark a stack.
Mark sighed. Elizabeth clasped her hand around his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“Doctor Greene? Doctor Corday?” a voice inquired from behind Mark.
Mark turned around and saw a teenage girl with blonde hair accompanied by what looked like her father. She had a leash in her hand, which she used to guide her Basset Hound. When Mark turned around, the teenager’s face lit up.
“Dr. Greene!” she exclaimed, “I thought that was you! You remember me?”
Mark looked at the girl, trying to remember her face.
“I’m J.J. Mitchell,” the teenager explained, “I was in an accident on the way to a ski trip when you and Dr. Corday saved me.”
“J.J?” Mark asked, getting up on his feet, “You were trapped in that school bus, right?”
“Yes,” J.J. confirmed, “And you and Dr. Corday saved me. I’ll never forget that. Um.. this is my dad,” she gestured to the man beside her, “Dad this is Dr. Greene. He was the one who helped me out in the accident scene. And this is Dr. Corday, she operated on my leg” she continued as Elizabeth stood up with Ella in her arms. Dr. Greene also called you and mom up.”
“I remember,” J.J’s father piped up, shaking Mark’s and Elizabeth’s hands, “Hi, I’m Nathan. You know, I wanted to thank you, but you were running around so much, saving lives, I didn’t get a chance.”
Mark nodded, “It was a pretty horrible day… How are you two doing?”
“Just fine, thanks to you. J.J’s in high school now and she wants to be a child psychologist.” Nathan said.
Mark raised his eyebrows, “Planning for the future early, huh? That’s great!”
“Yeah.” J.J. said, “I like kids. I volunteer at this daycare center after school. I want to make a difference in peoples’ lives, just like you did with mine.”
"I was just doing my job,” Mark explained.
“No.” J.J. corrected, “You didn’t have to stay in that bus with me, but you did. That’s not ‘just doing your job.’ You made sure that I was taken care of. It took me a long time to get over the accident, but every time I think about it, I take comfort in knowing that someone was there for me. I don’t think I could ever repay you for what you’ve done for me.”
“You don’t have to,” Mark smiled.
“And Dr. Corday,”
J.J addressed, turning to
“It was nothing,” Elizabeth said modestly.
“No.. it was my whole life. I can walk because of you. Both of you.”
“You taking a break from saving lives?” Nathan asked.
“Something like that,” Mark said a little too quickly. He then introduced J.J. and Nathan to Elizabeth, Rachel, and Ella.
For the next hour, the two families talked. J.J and Rachel shared the dread of final exams.
“It’s such a coincidence we both had a pupil free day at the same time,” J.J commented to Rachel.
“Uh… yeah,” Rachel responded.
Nathan talked to Mark and Elizabeth, bragging about J.J.’s accomplishments in school, much to J.J’s embarrassment. Mark and Elizabeth shared small talk with Nathan, and before long, the sun had started to set.
“I guess we better be heading off,” Nathan said, “I wish you could have met my wife. Too bad she’s on a business trip. Maybe you could meet her over dinner sometime. We’ll keep in touch.”
~~~~~~~~~
Several months later, J.J. called the Greene household. She called often, having developed a friendship with Rachel. Several times, Rachel and J.J went to the movies together and met at the mall to shop. This time, she was calling to invite Rachel to a sleepover, to hang out.
“Hello?” Rachel answered, trying to fight back the tears.
“Hey, Rachel,” J.J greeted, “whatsup?”
“Nothing much. How about you?”
J.J couldn’t help but notice that Rachel’s voice was very subdued.
“Well, I was just planning a slumber party for this Friday,” J.J explained, “Just for fun. It’d be great if you could come.”
“Um…” Rachel said hesitantly, “I… I can’t.” Rachel thought fast, trying to think of an excuse.
“Why not?”
“I... I have dentist appointment on Friday.”
“So come afterwards.”
Rachel fought hard to keep the tears that were stinging her eyes from falling. But it was no use. She took in a sharp breath as two tears slipped down her cheeks.
“Rachel?” J.J. said, suddenly concerned, “What’s wrong.”
“Nothing.”
“You’re crying. Something’s wrong.”
Suddenly a flood of tears took over Rachel and her entire body shook with tears. Several moments passed before she gained enough composure to speak.
“It’s my dad,” she explained, “he’s really sick.”
“What do you mean?” J.J. asked hesitantly.
Rachel paused. She had never told anyone about Mark’s illness, but in the few months she had gotten to know J.J., they had developed a friendship Rachel thought she’d never see.
“J.J., promise me you won’t tell anyone else?”
“Not a single soul,”
“My… my dad has cancer… and it’s gotten worse.”
J.J. drew in a sharp breath and sat frozen in her chair.
“Oh, God,” she gasped. Several moments passed. Neither Rachel nor J.J. spoke. The only sounds were the sounds of Rachel sniffling. J.J. struggled to process what she had just heard.
“Is there anything they can do?” she asked, breaking the silence.
“No. It’s an inoperable brain tumor. He… he had it before and they operated on it and took out the tumor, but it’s back this time. I thought the focal seizures would go away, but they keep happening now. And sometimes he can’t use his left hand.”
Rachel was sobbing by now, her voice interrupted several times by the hiccups that came when she cried hard.
“I… I just want to be with him right now.”
“J.J.?” Nathan asked as he entered the room, looking carefully at his daughter on the phone, catching the tear that slid down her cheek, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
J.J. looked up at her dad, fighting back tears.
“I’ll tell you in a minute,” J.J. said to her dad, swallowing hard, “I’m okay.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Is there anything I can do?” J.J. asked Rachel. Nathan walked out of the room, looking over his shoulder as if trying to catch as much of the conversation as he could before J.J. was out of earshot.
“Not really…” Rachel said, “God, J.J., what the hell am I supposed to do? I can’t just sit here and watch my dad die!”
J.J remained silent, struggling to offer some comfort for her friend, but she was at a loss for words. Having just heard the news, she was having a hard time coming to terms with it herself.
For the next hour, Rachel and J.J talked over the phone; the conversation very different from ones they have had before. Rachel told J.J. everything. From first hearing of Mark’s diagnosis, to Ella ingesting her Ecstasy, to now. J.J. listened to every word, trying to offer words of comfort, but most of the time, her sighs and tears of anguish told Rachel that she wasn’t the only one grieving.
“I wish there was something I could do,” J.J. said softly after Rachel had finished explaining what had happened in the last few months.
“So do I,” Rachel said, “But you have already done something for me. I needed this. Thank you, J.J., for listening. It felt good to finally tell someone.”
“Anytime,” J.J. said sincerely.
When J.J. hung up the phone and walked upstairs, her father stopped her to ask what the conversation had been about. Taking a deep breath, J.J. led her parents down to the den and told them. In the past few months, the Greenes and the Mitchells had become close friends. That night, neither family slept well.