Title: "And the Beat Goes On"
Author: Pammie Helton
E-mail: bjtvgcd@aol.com
Rated: PG
Challenge: #58) Mark suffers a heart attack while trying to help
Steve, Amanda, and Jesse on different problems. - Raymond G.
Summary: Mark has a heart attack, and when he recovers he must
face being kidnapped by a patient's relative who is out for
revenge.
Disclaimer - These characters are not mine. They belong to CBS,
Viacom, or whoever else. But they are not mine, and I am in no
way making a profit from this story.
******************
"Steve, are you ready yet? It's getting late."
"Dad, I'm coming. Would you calm down? You've got twenty
minutes before you have to get to the hospital."
"I just want to get there so I can check on a patient that
was admitted last night."
"Alright," Steve said coming up the stairs,
"alright. I'm coming. Let's go." Steve opens the front
door and allows Mark to go first. Steve closes the door behind
him and checks to make sure the door is locked.
******************
Mark walks into the hospital and he hears his name being called
immediately after he steps off the elevator.
"Mark," Amanda called, "I need your help on
something."
"Sure, Amanda, what is it? An autopsy?"
"Oh, no. Nothing like that. It's CJ."
"Is something wrong?"
"No. Yes. Well, he's having nightmares, and I don't know
what to do about it."
"How long has it been going on?" Mark asks as he picks
up a chart and reads it.
"For about a week maybe 10 days. He can't sleep after he has
one. I've tried everything I can think of. I tried leaving the
lights on, tried a nightlight, and I even tried buying him a new
teddy bear to sleep with. I need help."
"Well, have you tried talking to him and telling him that
those dreams aren't real?"
"Well, of course, Mark, but it hasn't worked either."
"You could try letting him sleep in your bed for a few
nights. I know when Steve was little, he would crawl up into bed
with me and Katherine. He slept like that for about a week, and
then he was fine."
"Thank you, Mark. I'll try that tonight. I hope it works. I
really don't think I could take many more sleepless nights."
"Good luck, honey." Mark said as he walked off for his
rounds. Mark rounds the corner and bumps into a woman.
"Oh, sir I am so sorry," replied the lady as she tried
to pick up the chart Mark had dropped.
"No harm done. I'm still in one piece," Mark smiled.
"This is my first week here, and I still haven't figured out
which turn takes me where I want to go."
"New jobs can be tough, especially in a big place like this.
I'm Mark Sloan."
"Debbie Jones. I've heard about you."
"Uh-oh. Is that good or bad?" Mark asked with a grin.
"All good…at least so far anyway."
"Well, I guess that's something to be proud of. Where are
you working?"
"In the admitting area. I'm on break and decided to try and
figure out this hospital."
"Why don't I help you find your way?"
"Thanks. I would really appreciate it." They start
walking off and Debbie smiles, "You know, you're about the
only person I've met here that was willing to help me out."
**************
"Debbie, I'll see you later. Tonight you'll be able to meet
my son."
"Great. I'm looking forward to it. I've got to get back. See
you tonight." Debbie waves and walks in the elevator.
Jesse and Amanda walk up and surprise Mark, "Hey, Mark. I
see you've met our new admitting nurse."
"Yeah, I have. She's real nice. She's coming over for dinner
tonight."
Jesse grins at him, and Mark quickly adds, "You know just as
a welcome to the new job."
"Yeah, okay, Mark." Amanda remarked with a sly grin.
"Well, why don't you two come over and see for yourself.
It's only a welcome dinner for a new friend."
"Sure I'd be glad to come. I always enjoy free food."
Jesse said as he walked down the hall.
"Yeah, Mark. I'll be there." Amanda said as she caught
up with Jesse.
Mark continues looking at his patient's chart, but his mind is
barely on anything medical.
Steve walks in, "Dad." Mark ignores him so he repeats,
"Dad?"
"Yeah, Steve. What is it?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah, what do you need?"
"Well, Dad, I was wondering. There's an officer retiring
next week, and we needed somewhere to have the party. I
volunteered our place. I need your help in organizing it. You've
always been better at that sort of thing than me." Steve
said.
"Sure, I'd be glad to help out. Who's the officer?"
"Karl Rivers."
"I remember him. Is he really old enough to retire?"
"Well, he's getting on up there. He's 50, and he has been on
the force for 25 years."
"My God. Time sure does fly by, doesn't it?" Mark asked
getting a distant look in his eyes.
"I guess," Steve answers confused, "So I can count
on your help for the party?"
"Yeah."
"Dad, are you sure you're okay? You look kind of
tired." Steve asked eyeing his father.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's almost the end of my shift; I'm just
tired. I'll see you at home. Oh I invited someone over for dinner
tonight. Will you be home?"
"Yeah, I should be there by six. Who is it?"
"The new admitting nurse."
"Dad, what are you doing?" Steve looked suspiciously at
his father.
"Don't worry. This isn't one of my set-ups. Trust me. But if
you like older women… It's your choice."
"See you at home. Bye, Dad," Steve said as he walked
towards the elevator.
Jesse gets off the elevator and runs into Steve. "Why don't
you watch where you're going."
"Sorry, Steve. What's wrong with you?"
"Jess, I'm just kidding. Get a grip."
"I knew that. So, will you be there tonight?"
"Let me guess. I'll be seeing you there?"
"Yeah, of course. It wouldn't be much of a party without me,
now would it?"
"Guess not. Bye Jess."
"Bye, Steve."
Jesse walked over to where Mark was standing, "Mark?"
He didn't respond, so Jesse tried again, "Mark?"
"Yeah, Jess. What is it?"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You look kind of spaced out right now."
"I'm just tired I guess. I woke up this morning kind of
sluggish. It's nothing."
"Alright. So we're still on for tonight aren't we?"
"Of course. I told Steve and he thought I was trying to set
him up."
"That's right. You haven't done that in a while."
"Yeah. I need to find some new nurse or something for
him." Mark grins.
"Hey don't forget about me."
"I won't. Well, I'm off in ten minutes. I'm going to get my
stuff and get home."
"Bye Mark. See you about 6 o'clock."
"Yeah, see ya then."
Mark walks towards his office as Jesse walks into a patient's
room.
******************
Mark is in the kitchen cooking when he hears somebody coming
through the back. "Jesse is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me and Amanda. Do you need some help?"
"Sure, if you want." Mark answered as they walked into
the kitchen. "What time is it?"
"It's fifteen after six. Why?" Amanda asked as she
started to stir a sauce.
"Nothing. Steve was just supposed to be home at six."
"Mark you know he doesn't have set hours."
"Yeah. I know. Just a little fatherly worry."
"So, when is Debbie supposed to be here?" Jesse asked
as he stole a bite from a plate on the counter.
"At 6:30." Mark replied as he washed his hands.
"So, she'll be here in a few minutes?"
"Yeah, she should."
The back door opens and Steve walks in.
"Steve, is that you?"
"Yeah, Dad. It's me. You weren't worried were you?"
"Me? Never?"
"Sorry I'm late. I had to finish up some paper work."
Jesse adds, "Yeah, we all know how you like to save all your
paper work for the last minute."
"Shut up. I'll be back in a minute. I'm going to go
change." Steve heads off downstairs.
"Hey, Steve, wait up."
"Yeah, Jess, what is it?"
"Has your dad been feeling alright lately?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Why?" Steve questions Jesse.
"Well, I don't know. He just looks pale and he seems to be
tired." Jesse follows Steve into the bedroom.
"I guess he has seemed a tired lately, but I just blamed it
on a couple of long hospital shifts. I'll keep an eye out."
"Yeah, me too."
"Thanks. Now would you mind getting out of my bedroom and
letting me get dressed."
"Oh sure. See you upstairs."
****************************
There's a knock on the door and Mark all but jumps up to answer
it. "Hi, Debbie."
"Hi, Mark."
"Sorry I'm late. I ran into a little traffic getting
here."
"No problem. Everybody, I'd like to introduce you to Debbie
Jones. Debbie, this is Dr. Amanda Bentley. This is Dr. Jesse
Travis. Both work at Community General. And this is my son Steve.
He's a detective for the LAPD."
"Wow, sounds like you have an impressive job, Steve."
"I guess I do."
The group walks to the dining room and sits down to eat. They
engage in small conversation, and each learns something about
another. Mark stays kind of quiet throughout the meal but when
Steve asked him if anything was wrong, he denied it. The evening
ended a few hours later. Mark showed Debbie to the door and
promised to do it again sometime.
********************************
Two days later at the hospital…
It's been a busy day in the ER (a five-car pile-up), so Mark
decides to take a break in the doctors' lounge. He pours himself
a cup of coffee and sits down at a table. He looks as if he might
doze off. Amanda comes rushing in and startles Mark. "Mark.
Mark, I have got a major problem. My cousin back home is having
major surgery in the morning. I've got to take the next flight
out, but I can't take CJ or Dion. Could you please watch them for
a few days?"
"Sure, but I don't get off until five tonight."
"That's okay. The babysitter can watch them till then. But
she can't keep them overnight. Okay here's a few little things
you might want to know." A rushed Amanda rummages through
her purse and pulls out a pad of paper. "Here's their
pediatrician's name and number for emergencies. Here's some
medicine that CJ has been on." She said as she pulled a
bottle out of her purse. "He's almost out. He takes one each
morning."
Mark just sits there trying to take it all in. Her words
eventually start to blur, but he just nods in understanding.
"You're sure you've got everything?"
"Yes, Amanda, I'm sure. I think I can handle this."
"I know you can. Thank you so much Mark." Amanda leaves
just as she came: in a rush. She meets Debbie outside the
doctors' lounge, "Hey, Debbie. Mark's in the lounge."
"Thanks, Amanda." Debbie walked to the door and saw
Mark looking at a newspaper in front of him but obviously not
reading it, "You haven't called."
"Debbie, hi. Come on in. Have a seat." He pulls a chair
for her to sit, "I'm sorry about not calling. But I was
wondering if you wanted to go to this banquet with me."
"When is it?"
"Next week. There's a colleague of mine being honored."
"Sure, I'd love to."
"Great. Well, I'd better get going. I just wanted to come
say hi. See you later."
"Bye" As she leaves, Mark sits back to try to relax
again. He sits for a few minutes before he is interrupted again.
Steve comes bounding through the door. "Dad, we've got to
talk."
"What is it Steve?"
"It's about Karl's retirement party. You said it was okay to
have it at the house, and you said you'd help with the party. The
party is next week. Have you done anything for it yet?"
"Oh, Steve, no I haven't. I completely forgot about
it."
"Do you still want to do it? I can tell someone else to
organize it."
"No, Steve. I'll do it. How about tonight? Can you help me
then?"
"Yeah, that'll be great. Dad, are you all right? You look
kind of pasty."
"I'm fine. We just had a rush in the ER. Oh and before I
forget. Amanda had to leave suddenly, so we've got CJ and Dion
for a few nights."
"Great. I haven't seen them in a few weeks."
Steve and Mark continue talking when Jesse comes rushing in.
"Mark, we've got two majors coming in."
"When?" Mark said as he started to stand up.
"In about 30 seconds." Jesse starts to walk towards the
ambulance bay.
Mark stands up and starts to walk out the door, but a pain comes
over him and he grabs the chair, but he falls to the floor
anyway.
Steve jumps from his chair, and is by Mark in no time.
"Dad?" But there's no response. "Jesse, get in
here."
"Steve, I can't."
"Jesse, now."
Jesse comes to the door, "What? I've got two… Oh my
God! Mark?" He kneels down beside Mark and feels for a
pulse. "Barely there. Nurse, get me a gurney."
"Jesse, what's wrong?" Steve asked as he just looked
on. The nurse brought the gurney and they lifted Mark on it.
"I'm not sure yet. Let's move him to trauma room 1."
"Doctor, what about the two that were just brought in?"
"Get Johnson and Brown to handle it."
They get into the room. Steve stands in the corner. Worried for
his father, and upset that he can do nothing to help.
"What are his vitals?"
"BP is 80/40, Pulse is 100, Resps is 11."
"Sounds like his heart. Give him 6 liters of oxygen. Let's
get a chest x-ray, some blood tests, and an EKG. I want an update
on vitals every minute. Let's get him on Heparin."
"His BP is up to 82/50. Pulse steady at 100."
"Sounds like he may have some blockages. Call the cath lab,
and prepare for a catherization."
"Jess, what's going on?"
"Steve, it looks like Mark may have some blockages. He's
stable right now, so we're going to take him for a test that will
tell the extent of the blockages. Let's move him."
Jesse and a nurse push the stretcher and Steve lags behind. They
get off the elevator and Jesse points Steve to a waiting room, as
he and the nurse push the stretcher through metal double doors.
Steve finds a seat in the waiting room. There are only a couple
of other people around. He gets up and paces, he gets some
coffee, and he sits back down. About a half-hour later, Jesse
comes out, and Steve stands up to greet him. "Steve, Mark
has five blocked arteries. They are all over 80% blocked and
there are two 95% blockages. If they weren't so blocked we could
do angioplasty, but since they are badly blocked, we have to do
bypass."
"Oh my God." Steve sits back down.
"They're prepping him for surgery now."
"Are you going to be in there?"
"Yeah, I'm assisting Dr. Campbell. He's the best cardiac
surgeon here."
"Take care of him." Steve looked up at Jesse with
pleading eyes.
"We will. Don't worry. He's in the best of hands. I need to
get back."
Steve just sits there and nods.
Debbie comes rushing up, "Steve, I just heard. How's
Mark?"
"They're having to do bypass."
"Oh, God. I was just talking to him. We made plans for next
week."
Steve went over to stand next to her and he guided her to the
chair next to his. They both sat down and neither said a word.
******************************
Several hours later…
Steve is looking out a window, and drinking a cup of coffee. It's
dark outside and Steve is just staring into the dark. Debbie is
lying down on a couch and is sleeping when Jesse opens a door and
quietly walks over to where Steve is standing. "Steve."
"Yeah. How's Dad?"
"He's doing fine now. He had a bad heart attack. The
combination of stress and the blocked arteries caused it."
"You sure he's okay?"
Debbie wakes up and listens to what Jesse is saying.
"Yeah. The surgery went fine. No complications. It'll be a
little while before he can sit up, but he should be fine in a few
weeks. Come on. I'll let you see him. He's in the Cardiac
Intensive Care."
Steve and Jesse walk to the room in complete silence. "Bed
11. Down the hall and to the right."
"Thanks, Jess."
Jesse walks back to the waiting room and sees Debbie is now
sitting up.
"Is he really going to be okay?"
"Yeah, he'll be fine. Why don't we go get some coffee? Let
Steve have this time alone with his father. You can go see him
later."
"Alright," Debbie gets up and walks to an elevator with
Jesse.
Steve walks into the room slowly and pauses at the doorway. He
looks towards the bed. He sees his father lying completely still.
Wires coming from various places: an IV in his left forearm,
heart monitors coming from different areas of his body, and an
oxygen tube around his nose. There was a large bandage covering
most of his chest. Steve walked over and stood beside the bed. He
pulled a chair close and sat down. Before he knew, he had fallen
asleep. The next thing he remembered was the next morning when a
nurse came in to check on Mark.
"Sorry to wake you."
"Oh, no problem. How is he?" Steve sat up.
"He's doing fine. Vitals are strong," she walks out of
the room.
Steve looks at his father, and Mark begins to stir.
"Dad?" Mark opens his eyes and Steve moves closer to
the bed. Mark slowly rolled his head toward Steve and after a few
moments managed a slight smile. Steve returns the smile. Mark
closes his eyes and drifts back into sleep. Steve leans back in
the chair and picks up a magazine from the table and begins
reading it. Jesse walks in the room quietly, but Steve hears him,
looks up, and grins. "Hey, Jess."
Jesse walks to the bed and checks the readouts on the monitors
and then walks over to where Steve is sitting. "Looks like
he's doing well. Everything looks good. He should wake up
soon."
"He already did once. It was just a couple of minutes, but
he was awake."
"That's a good sign. Did he say anything?"
"No, he just looked at me and smiled."
"Well, I need to get back to the ER. I just wanted to check
on him. Dr. Campbell should be coming in a little while to check
Mark's progress."
"Thanks Jess. Thanks for everything."
"Sure, Steve. No problem." Jesse pats Steve on the
shoulder as he leaves.
Some time passes. Mark stays asleep, awakening a couple of times.
Nurses breeze in and out of the room. And after some time a tall
graying man in a white coat comes in the door. Steve stands when
the man enters.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Campbell. I performed the surgery on your
father." He shook hands with Steve.
"Steve Sloan. How is he?"
"He looks good." Dr. Campbell said as he looked at the
monitors. "Everything looks strong. And the nurse told me
that he has woken a couple of times."
"Yeah, but he never said anything. He just looked and went
back to sleep."
"That's alright. He's still probably somewhat groggy. And
he's on pain medication, and that helps him sleep also. He should
wake up anytime."
"Thanks Dr. Campbell."
"No problem. I'll be back this afternoon to check on
him." He walks out of the room.
Steve goes back to his chair, and continues to read his magazine.
He reads for a few minutes and he hears a rustling noise coming
from the direction of the bed. He sees his moving his head. He
spots Steve, and Steve goes to the bed.
"Steve," Mark said in a weak rough voice.
"Shh. Don't talk. It's okay. I'm right here.
"Water," Mark said in the same weak voice.
"You want some water?" Mark nodded his head. Steve
looked around the room and saw that there was no water pitcher.
He looked back to Mark, "Hang on. I'll go get some." He
walked into the hallway and went to the nurses' station. "My
father's awake and he asked for some water, but there wasn't a
water pitcher in the room."
"Oh, okay. I'll get him some and be right in."
"Thanks." Steve returned to his father's room and found
Mark looking around the room. A nurse followed closely after.
"Here's some water for you Dr. Sloan." She poured some
water into a cup and put a straw in the cup. She placed the cup
near Mark's head and helped him raise his head enough to drink
some through the straw. "You finished?" the nurse asked
as she removed the straw.
"One more sip." Mark said a little stronger than
before.
"No problem. There you go," she said as she put the
straw back in Mark's mouth. When he finished, she took the straw
out, set the water pitcher and drinking cup on the bedside table,
and asked, "Would you like to sit up a little bit?"
Mark nodded, "Yeah."
"Alrighty. Here you go." She said as she pressed a
button on the side of the bed. The bed hummed as it moved. She
stopped the bed when Mark was elevated. "There. You're not
exactly sitting up, but you won't have to just look at the
ceiling."
"Thanks." Mark said.
"Just doing my job. If you need anything else, just
call," she walked out of the room.
"Steve?"
Steve quickly moved to the side of the bed, "Yeah, Dad. I'm
right here."
"What happened? I feel like there's a truck on my
chest."
"Dad, you had a heart attack. Jesse said you had blocked
arteries, and they had to fix them."
"What time is it?"
"It's about noon."
"How long have you been here?"
"Ever since you passed out yesterday afternoon."
"Steve, go home and rest."
"Don't worry about me. You just worry about getting better.
I'll go home later."
"What about CJ and Dion?" Mark asked getting upset
knowing that he had been unable to fulfill his promise he had
made to Amanda.
"They stayed with the sitter last night."
"But Amanda said that the sitter couldn't keep them
overnight."
"She changed her plans so she could watch them. Dad, don't
worry about that. It's all taken care of."
"Worry about what?" Jesse asked as he walked into the
room.
"Dad's worried about CJ and Dion."
"Oh yeah, they're staying with me tonight and tomorrow
night. I got in touch with Amanda and she's coming back in two
days. It seems like her cousin's surgery wasn't as bad as first
thought."
"See, Dad, nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
So, Mark how are you feeling?" Jesse asked.
"Like a truck ran over my chest."
"Is you're leg hurting?"
"Yeah. So you had to do bypass."
"Uh-uh. You had some pretty bad blockages. But you'll be
fine in a few weeks."
An aide comes into room carrying a lunch tray,
"Hungry?"
"I guess I can eat something."
"Alright. Well here you go. Enjoy," the aide walks out
of the room.
Jesse uncovers the plate and makes a face.
"What's wrong Jess?" Steve asks as he gets up and goes
over to where Jesse is standing.
"Nothing. It's just meatloaf. Mark, what do you say if I try
to sneak some contraband in here?" Steve walks over to the
plate and sneaks a bite.
"Well, I do have to stay on a healthy diet, remember."
"Oh, I know. But still it could be better than this so
called baked meat from the hospital."
"Steve, what are you doing?" Jesse asked as Steve
manages another bite.
"Dad, I'm just making sure the food is good enough for
you."
"Yeah, okay Steve," Jesse takes the plate from Steve,
and puts it on the tray in front of Mark.
"Steve, Jesse, why don't you two go and get something to
eat, while I try to eat this."
"Well, alright, Dad. But you rest okay."
"I will. Don't worry Steve. Now go eat."
Steve and Jesse leave and Mark attempts to eat. Mark finishes and
lays his head back and eventually falls asleep. Some time passes
and Steve and Jesse return to the room. Jesse motions for Steve
to come out into the hallway. "Steve, why don't you go home
for a little while. I'm sure you didn't sleep much last
night."
"But, Jess, I think I should be here."
"My shift just ended. I'll stay here until you get back.
Does that make you feel better?"
"Well, yeah. I guess I could bring some of his stuff up
here."
"There you go. Now go on."
"Bye, Jess. I shouldn't be any longer than an hour."
"Oh take your time." Steve walks down the hall and
disappears into the elevator.
Jesse walks into the room, but he isn't alone for long. Debbie
comes to the door. She looks hesitant to enter, but Jesse motions
her in. She walks to the side of the bed, and Jesse leaves. He
looks through the glass and sees Debbie sit down and take Mark's
hand.
****************************
Go
To Part Two
