****
"The woods.. What's it look like Elizabeth?!" Mark snapped at her sharply. He was getting very tired. The sparseness of his hair didn't help matters as Mark shivered. It was cold.. It was dark and it was... He glanced at his watch.. Two in the morning. Mark groaned. He was out in the middle of nowhere.. A body in his trunk and he was due for work in four hours. This wasn't like being a secret agent at all.
Mark got out of the driver's side, stiffly and not much unlike Kurt Jones at County General. It had been a very long day..
Elizabeth watched her husband and sighed sadly.. "Oh Mark... Come here
Luv.." She got out of her side of the car and gave him a big hug, and kissed
him on the lips. "I'm sorry Mark. I'm sorry about all of this. I promise
to make it up to you. What about breakfast in bed when we get home?"
Mark wrinkled his nose and writhed under his wife's touch at the thought. "But.. Elizabeth.. As nice as that is.. You can't cook..." She swatted him hard with a hand and stormed out into the forest.
"Wait! Elizabeth! There's ANIMALS out there!!" He yelped frantically.
"Oh yes MARK!" She spat back at him sarcastically. "Bunnies and all those other evil cuddly little vermin.. I'm well aware MARK! Bunnies and toadies and vampire moles.. Killer voles and hedgehogs.. Mace toting water rats and UZI carrying badgers.." She growled at him, fuming, and planting herself on a stump. "YOU can move Lawrence and bury him.. *I* am not going anywhere!" Elizabeth grumbled, crossing her arms.
"Elizabeth! Stop whining about Wind in the Willows and help me! I can't do it with my back.." He whined, limping slightly to the trunk.
"Fooey on your back, Mark.. Your back is fine.. Nothing is wrong with your back, Mark. Your head maybe, but not your back. Get moving Mark, I don't want to be here all day twiddling my bloody thumbs. I'm cold and I want my rug back!!!" She complained loudly.
Mark had, had enough. In fact they'd both had reached their limit, but Mark was the only one on that dark country road bold enough to cross his wife. "Elizabeth, I'm sorry about your cooking. I didn't mean it. I'll put anything in my mouth you put in front of me, I swear!" Provided I don't swallow it, thought Mark to himself as he crossed his chest and smiled at his lovely wife, I'll be fine.
Elizabeth smiled and sighed with relief. They were just a little stressed out. As soon as they got Lawrence out of the boot, out of her rug and six feet under the forest floor, everything would be right again.
*******
Mark had walked back to the SUV and Elizabeth watched him as he removed the fold away shovel from the emergency kit bolted to the floor of the trunk, and gave a hard sharp yank on the rug, tumbling it and Lawrence to the sandy wet gravel.
A soft wet squish sound as Larry hit the earth was all that could be heard in the still morning air. "Mark..." Elizabeth began, as he grabbed around Larry's swollen purple, mottled ankles and started pulling the half naked corpse into the woods.
Larry's dragging body cut a deep scratched V in the earth and leaves parted like the red sea as he began his morbid journey into the woods. He stared blankly upward into the canopy of green with deeply sunken eyes, his skin now sunken and yellowing. Pale like death... Elizabeth thought to herself before should could catch herself and remember that Lawrence was indeed dead.. Quite dead.
She nervously and dutifully followed her husband, kicking piles of leaves over their trail and humming child hood school rhymes to herself. The man deserved a proper burial with his children and wife in a cemetary with a preacher and black and veils and.. Elizabeth sighed sadly. He didn't deserve this .. He didn't deserve to be dumped in a mucky hole in the forest. Elizabeth sighed again, her stomach rumbling grumpily. She'd not eaten since her shift yesterday. A stale ham and cheese sandwich with wilted lettuce, out of the vending machine. A cheery sign had informed her that the sandwiches were all made fresh that morning. Her stomach had discovered otherwise. The sandwiches were rank, and she'd known it before she'd even plinked in her quarters. Elizabeth's thoughts were dashed to forgetfulness with the sudden sharp clink of metal on stone and sound of anguished grunting, Mark had started to dig the grave.
She looked up tiredly, stooped and shuffling, her massive curls fluttering aimlessly in the cold morning breeze. Mark was several hundred yards away, and already ankle deep in what was to be Lawrence's final resting place. Elizabeth thought absently of the rug, laying there in the dirt. The rug that almost twenty-four hours ago was the thing to have, was now laying in the dirt, discarded. Peeled away like an orange rind because they had to bury the soft pink fruit nestled inside it's protective shell.
Elizabeth walked up to the hole and took the shovel from her husband. She dug and thought about Peter being screwed around by Romano. She scraped metal against stone and swore at the ground, the earth moistened by her falling tears as she thought of Lucy. She dug fiercely as she thought of Luka's lost family. Every bit of pain locked away inside served has fuel as Elizabeth dug the grave, the sun had started low in the sky and as it rose high she dug deeper, her sorrow fell where it lay by the mounds of dirt.
Don Anspaugh had remarked with sympathetic surprise when he'd seen her hands later that week. His voice low, warm and kind. "God.. Elizabeth what were you doing? Digging a hole to swallow you up?!" She'd smiled sadly and shook her head. "Something like that, Donald.. But not quite.." Elizabeth had replied, walking to the sinks and scrubbing in for an appendectomy.
Mark rolled Larry into the hole and started to kick dirt over him. Elizabeth wiped away the tears and began shovelling the dirt over top of the body, covering him completely, and sprinkled a layer of leaves over the grave. "Mark... Can.. Can we please go home now?? Please??" She pleaded with him softly, her voice cracking.
He nodded and slowly put his arm around her and they walked to the car arm in arm. Closer for the comfort and warmth. Mark sighed, his muscles aching, his head throbbing and his sins washed away. He had been absolved. Larry was buried. Elizabeth hung her head and stopped in her tracks, pulling Mark back slightly, causing him to stumble. "What's up, hon??"
"We.. We have to say something Mark.. We can't just leave him like this.." She said tremulously.
"We can.. I'm late for work. Let's go Elizabeth. We don't know him.. Who he was.. How he died. How can we say anything without sounding foolish?" He said softly, staring back at the mound of dirt and leaves. This was unbelievable. Mark was feeling remorse and sadness for a man he never knew.. A man he found decomposing in a carpet... A man he'd just let his wife bury.. A man his wife was now weeping for.
"Mark.." She asked softly, burying her face in his warm shirt. Mark kissed the top of her head, swept away the tears from her cheeks with his thumb and nodded.
"Yes?"
"Why did he smell like bananas and Tang?"
"I don't know Elizabeth.. I think perhaps somebody in that house liked bananas and Tang. Who knows?" He replied softly, as Mark stared at the grave. "Uh.. We don't know you Larry-"
"Lawrence.." Elizabeth corrected quietly, muffled by his shirt as she had buried her face deeper and held Mark closer, unable to look at the grave.
"Lawrence.. We didn't know you.. We just had the misfortune of coming across you, yesterday morning. Uhh.. From what we could see, you had a good taste in clothes.." Mark stammered uncomfortably. "Sorry you died.. May you rest in peace.. Ashes to Ashes.. Dust to dust.. Uhh.." He sighed. "Elizabeth.. That's all I know.." He said quietly.
"That's okay Mark.. I think that's all we can say.." She kissed him on the lips and pulled him away towards the car. "Thank you, Mark.. That's all I wanted.." Elizabeth replied, smiling sadly.
The sky suddenly turned very black and thunder crackled over head as the heavens split open and Mark and Elizabeth were in the middle of a torrential downpour.
They walked back to the car, arm in arm and Mark glanced at his watch again. He was late for work. Kerry was going to have his head on a stick. He groaned softly and came to the conclusion that nothing Kerry could do, could even begin to top the last 24 hours he'd endured.
Elizabeth stared at the carpet as Mark threw the sodden woven mess in the back and squished and splashed to the car door and got in. The fuzzy seat cushion darkened as settled down into the seat and left a big wet 'Mark' print.
They drove back to County in silence, the only noise was the static of the radio as it sprung to life suddenly on the outskirts of Chicago, picking up a local college station.
"-I fell back on you because I needed more time, and I needed an excuse. You're a thief, you're a liar, an angel caught on fire. A king. A drug. The push that comes to shove. A freak. A star. I'm everything you are. I'm your Jesus, I'm your pride. We're made to heal. I depend on you for the wings of life and for the air that you move. I defended you for this one last time and the nerves that you abuse. We're made to heal.. "
Elizabeth started to cry and hugged Mark close. "Mark... That man... He was dead... We just buried a man... Mark.. We.. We just.." It was a body.. A cadaver.. Not much unlike those she'd operated on as a med student. splitting them from stem to sternum.. A little more decomposed than she was used to.. But that's all it had been.. A body.. It was just a body.. That's all it was.. Reasoned Elizabeth.. Except it wasn't just a body.. It was a man. A husband who probably had a wife and kids and a dog with a house and a picket fence. It was a man..
Mark pulled off the road and parked on the shoulder. "Elizabeth.. It's okay... Yes... It was a man.. We gave him a nice burial. That's all we could do.. He'd obviously met with foul play.. Nobody has a hole like that in the side of their head by accident, honey. He is dead.. It's okay.."
He pulled back onto the road and kissed his wife softly, and held her close, before putting the car into gear.. They kept driving, as the rain and wind whipped ferociously at the windows. Elizabeth tucked herself down and closed her eyes listening the rain beating down and making everything dark and wet. The water surrounded the SUV like a skin, encasing it like a safe cocoon.. Like coffin.. Thought Elizabeth.. It was like they were dead as they drove along the highway. Dead men driving.. Corpses on a journey. Driving to nowhere coming from nowhere..
Mark turned off and drove home, glancing worriedly at his wife. He drove down the streets and perfectly parked in the perfect neighbourhood, the cats not sitting on the welcome mats but staring forlornly out the windows. Mark got out of the car and carefully deposited the rug into the garbage can before driving off.
"Mark... Why did you do that??" Elizabeth asked softly.. Staring at him as they drove down the street and towards their house. He pulled in and quickly got out of the car and walked into the house. "Mark... Why did you do that?" She asked again, her voice softer. "Mark?"
She found him dirtying her favourite leather chair. Mark was filthy..
Covered in grime and dirt and blood.. Elizabeth looked down at herself
and gasped. She wasn't faring much better. "Mark?"
She asked again. He looked up at her, a vacant look in his eyes. "It
wasn't ours Elizabeth.. It wasn't ours to keep. They weren't throwing out
the rug.. They were throwing out Larry.. There's a difference. I'll.. I'll
buy you a rug.. A nice one.. A big one.." He said distractedly, as Mark
got out of the chair and walked to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich.
"Mark? Are you okay?" She watched him slice the meat and the bread and slather on mayonnaise.. The dirt in the cracks and lines and creases in his face and hands, aged him.. Elizabeth started to cry again. Heart wrenching sobs. Crying that hitched in the throat and made her tremble and seize. She dropped to her knees and bawled, rocking back and forth.
Mark watched her as he assembled his sandwich and wrapped his dirty hands around the WonderBread and ate, watching her cry. He looked up from his wife on the floor to Luka and Abby walking into the kitchen, pulling on their coats. "The baby is upstairs sleeping. We washed your sheets, and made your bed. We cleaned your house and made you casseroles and lasagna for the next few nights. Tony's bottles are made up in the fridge." Luka said softly, nearly drowned out by Elizabeth's sobs.
Abby nodded and got down on her knees and held Elizabeth as she cried, rocking her slowly like a child. "It's okay, Elizabeth.. It's over now.. It's okay.." She said soothingly, brushing the hair from her face and wiping the tears away. "It's okay... It's over... He's gone... It's okay..."
Mark exited the kitchen through the other door and walked up the back stairs. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the bathroom and took a long hot shower. The water stinging and burning on the scratches and cuts all over his body, Mark writhed under the showerhead and moaned softly as the burn from his aching muscles slowly ebbed away and was washed down the drain with the dirt and sin that swirled on the bottom of the tub. The sins of the father are visited upon the son.. What about the sins of the wife? Mark sighed and squirted a miniscule bit of shampoo on his hand and he stared at it for a moment, marvelling on how the years got longer, he got older and less shampoo ended up in his hand.
There was a knock on the door and Elizabeth walked in, wrapped in her bathrobe, and spent tears making clear pink trails on her cheeks. "Mark?" Quietly, she shed the robe and stepped into the shower, the curtain parting and thick clouds of steam and heat escaping in puffy white clouds. He smiled and kissed her on the lips.
"Hi.. I'm sorry about downstairs.. I.. was eating.." He finished lamely.
Elizabeth nodded, craning her neck back and letting the spray wash away
all the filth and pain. "I know.." She mumbled. Truth be told, she hadn't
wanted Mark to comfort her.. Abby was the right person at the time.
"They went home.. Luka.. Abby.. I thanked them.. They've been wonderful.
I told them so, Mark. It's the truth."
He nodded and lathered up what was left of his hair. "I know, Elizabeth. They've been very good. I'll tell them when I go to work. Okay?"
"You're going?! You're hours late.. Kerry will kill you.." Elizabeth said with surprise.
"I know that too.. Kerry will just have to stick it in her ear.. I'm late.. I'm late.. What's she going to do kill me and roll me up in a rug!?" Mark grinned.
"MARK!" She swatted him. "I'm going to stay home.. I'll phone Romano.. I'm not going in.. I'll stay with Tony.. Spend some time with my son."
Mark stepped from the shower, and dried his hair. "And you should.. No sense in both of us getting our asses in a sling. Luka and Abby made all those dinners, so there's no need to cook. Have a nice bath.. Get some sleep.. Watch some television and get caught up on your Passions.. See if Ethan finally snagged his girl." He smiled. "Okay? Don't over-extend yourself. You've done alot today. Take it easy.."
Mark turned and left the bathroom, jogging slightly to the bedroom and throwing out the dirty scrubs and changed into some clean ones. He walked to his son's room and kissed his sleeping son, on his down feather head and smiled. "I love you Tony.. Don't ever leave.. Don't ever grow old.. Don't ever invest in oriental carpeting.." He walked past the bathroom as he walked down the stairs and rapped on the door. "Take care of yourself Elizabeth. I'll be back around 2 or 3 in the morning.."
Elizabeth nodded to her husband, even though he couldn't see her. She picked up the bar of soap and slowly ran it over her body, leaving clean pink trails and washing the dirt away. She poured a dime-sized drop of shampoo in her hand and lathered up her hair, moaning softly and working her fingers into the tight tangles of curl. Elizabeth shook her hair down her back, spraying the curtain with suds and mud. She, smiled and started to laugh. Boistrous, loud and braying.. Water caught her open mouth and she spurted it out of her mouth, playfully as she crossed her arms over herself, hugging her shoulders and slowly dancing to the music in her head.
"Life is waiting for you. It's all messed up.. But we're alive.. Life is waiting for you. It's all messed up.. But we'll survive."
THE END.