The Older Woman
Part Three - Together Again
By Zoinks
ergirlz@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: The characters in this story do not belong to me, they never have belonged to me, and unfortunately, never will belong to me. They belong to Warner Bros., Michael Crichton, NBC, and the writers of ER. If I ever reach writer status, I may not need to use this disclaimer, but until then, please enjoy my story, and the borrowed characters appearing within it.

NOTE TO POLITICALLY CORRECT READERS: The places traveled to in this story are also made up. I do not live in or near Chicago, so I do not know what type of stores, resturauntes and recreational facilities they have. That being said, the names of the places used in this series are (to my knowledge) imaginery. Please do not hold it against me, I just don't get out much.

WARNING: The characters in this story are a bit (well okay, quite) out of character. This story is meant to be humorous though, and the only way I could do that was to change their personalities.

Elizabeth held open a garbage bag as Mark threw in a wad of napkins that were left lying on the floor. The two were cleaning up from the evening's big event. "What'd yah say we just go out for dinner tomorrow and let someone else clean up after us?" Mark asked.

"I'd say that that sounds wonderful, except I'm on until ten."

"Do you wanna go out when your shift ends, it'll be fun, we'll go to a bar, get some food, drink some alcohol, you'll love it."

"If you really want to, it's fine with me."

"Great, how about 'Froggers,' they have great sandwiches."

"Sounds wonderful," she replied without much enthusiasm.

"You're that excited for it?"

"Hey, after the 8 hour surgery I'm scheduled to assist Romano on, putting contact lenses soaked with cooking spray in my eyes will sound inviting."

"That bad, huh?"

Elizabeth shrugged and the pair continued cleaning, making small talk. They were both tired, and their energy was pretty well drained from the days events.

Mark woke up tiredly at 9am. "Elizabeth," he said softly while shaking her awake, "time to get up."

"Just five more minutes."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, your on in five minutes. I, on the other hand, am on at 12:15."

"Why'd you let me oversleep!" she exclaimed, slapping him.

"I thought a change of events would be good."

"Oh God, I have to literally run to work."

"Want me to call Cleo, she'd be a good running buddy?"

"Very funny."

Elizabeth raced around her house getting ready for work. In less than a minute she was reaching for her keys and hurrying out the door. "Later," she called to Mark, who was still in bed.

Three hours later, Dr. Greene made his entrance at work. "You're early," Randi noted. Mark smiled, he had made it with time to spare.

"So, Mark, what's on your agenda for this evening?" Kerry asked.

"Oh, well, Elizabeth gets off at 10, and we're gonna go to Froggers."

"Oh, that place has great food."

"Yeah, it does, what are you doing tonight?"

"I'm going bar hopping. John needs a date, and it has become my duty to find him one."

"Good luck."

"I'll need it." That being said, Kerry turned and walked into the lounge where John was reviewing charts. "I'll pick you up at 11pm, we are going to Froggers."

"Why so late?"

"Because the people we care about don't even get off until 10."

"Oh, you're on late tonight?"

"No, not me," Kerry slyly replied.

"Me?" John questioned surprised.

"No, not you either," She snapped back, then made her way towards curtain two, to treat a patient. She couldn't help but smile to herself, tonight was going to be very interesting.

Mark and Elizabeth sat at a table in the middle of Froggers, eating their meals. Their food had just came a couple minutes ago. Mark was babbling about a phone conversation he had with Rachel earlier in the day. He spoke about how she was coming for a visit next week and how he promised to take her to Six Flags, but that that really didn't mean they were going because he's been promising to take her there for years.

Just then, Kerry and John walked into Froggers. Kerry decided that they should mingle, because mingling was the first rule in finding a date. It was also the only way to find Mark and Elizabeth in the crowded bar, but she didn't tell John that.

"Mark, is that who I think it is?" Elizabeth asked, half gesturing in her colleague's direction.

"Yeah, I think it is. Maybe if we're real quiet, they won't see us?"

"Mark! Elizabeth!" Kerry exclaimed, as if she was surprised to see them.

"Too late," Elizabeth said in response to Mark's request.

"Kerry," John said, tugging at her sleeve, "I can't believe she's here."

"You can thank me later, for now just say hello, and let me do the work."

"Okay."

John and Kerry approached Mark and Elizabeth. "Hello," Elizabeth said.

"Hi," Kerry said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Hey, Elizabeth, what's up?" John asked as coolly as possible.

"Oh, nothing much, what about you, what's up?"

"My IQ.," John laughed at his own joke, Kerry put her hand on her head and Mark and Elizabeth exchanged glances. John snapped out of his present state and looked squarely at Corday. "Wanna dance?" he asked boldly.

"I would, except, there's no music playing."

"Who needs music to dance, I mean, really, how hard can it be?"

"John, can I speak to you for a moment?"

"I'll be right back," John said. He stepped aside near Kerry who picked up her cane and smacked him over the head with it.

"I told you," she said, "Let me do the talking." The pair returned to the group and helped themselves to a seat. Kerry picked up some of Mark's french fries and began eating them.

"What are you doing?" He asked with an irritated tone of voice.

"Eating," Kerry said dryly.

The four sat around talking about various things when Mark and Kerry's pagers went off. They both stood up. "I have to go, 9-1-1 to County. I'll call you later," Mark said. He kissed Elizabeth and turned to leave when Kerry interrupted him.

"Mark, I just got paged, too. Why don't you just come with me and then Elizabeth can drop John off at his house."

"It's fine with me, do you mind driving my van?"

"No, that's fine, do you just want to come to my house when your finished and pick it up?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah, that'll work. See you later," he said, kissing her again, "Don't wait up."

Everyone said their good-byes and Kerry and Mark turned to leave. "I guess it's just you and me," Elizabeth said smiling at John. She picked up her drink and sipped it. John just looked at her. He had a feeling that there was no big emergency at County, and that this was just a set-up by Kerry.



Where we last left off: John and Kerry followed Mark and Elizabeth to a bar in an attempt to get John and Elizabeth to start hanging out more. The ate the food Mark and Elizabeth had ordered right off their plates, and proved themselves as great annoyances. Mark and Kerry are paged to County to assist in a multiple trauma, leaving Elizabeth and John together at a bar. Kerry and Mark took Kerry’s car to the hospital. John and Elizabeth used Mark’s.