Who: Mark and Mia What: Mark wakes up from his post-health care power surge When: Monday afternoon Where: The hospital at Georgetown U Warnings: None
"Hi, Mark. I know—well, I know we haven't always gotten on very well, but I was talking to Mom the other day and… you're alright, aren't you, big brother? Mom didn't—I mean, I wouldn't ever suggest that she would, but I saw your assistant's note, and your little incident was all over the news this morning, and Mom mentioned that she'd just evicted you from the brownstone and I know how much that house means to you, so…
Well, I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Obviously I don't agree with the vote last night, but I hope it didn't somehow hurt you, and I do mean it when I say congratulations.
Please be okay. Call me when you wake up, and don't worry us like this again, yeah?
And, um, this is Connie, by the way. Your little sister. I guess I should have said that. It's been awhile, but… I love you, Markie. Be well."
He wasn't an overly emotional person, but even Mark had to smile at the message from one of his younger sisters. They never had agreed on much (or anything, really), but she was always sweet about it, no matter what the circumstance. She was right. It had been too long since they'd seen each other, but at the moment there was little that Mark could do about it. There was only so much movement allowed when one had an IV needle jammed into their arm and a nurse absolutely insisting that he needed to stay put for at least two more days and a donkey that refused to leave the hospital room (something that was entirely flummoxing the hospital staff). Mark wanted to leave, but it seemed that everything was standing in the way of him doing so. Referring to the nurse as 'Nurse Ratchet' about fifteen minutes after waking up probably hadn't helped his cause.
"And cell phones aren't allowed in here either, Mr. Harden."
"It's not a cell phone, it's a Blackberry."
"Mark." Mia rolled her eyes and snatched the phone from his hand. "You know what she means. Don't be difficult about it."
"And stop trying to pet the donkey. We'll have it removed in just a moment."
Mark couldn't help his smirk. "You've been saying that since I woke up."
"And leave the IV alone!" the nurse very nearly shouted at him, obviously fed up with the entire situation. There were paparazzi parked outside of the hospital, a disagreeable patient, and a donkey. Her frustration had to be compounding. "Mr. Harden, we have a policy of tying down difficult patients—"
"I need to leave. I have a show tonight," he interrupted her, pulling out the IV despite the warnings. "Mia, we can still make a train if—"
"Mark, your blood pressure was 130 over 80. That's the pressure of a diabetic about to have a heart attack. And maybe lose a foot. I know this was a huge bill, but there was no reason for you not to eat, sleep, and stress like this. You're sick and you collapsed. There is no show tonight, and I'll bet Maggie agrees with me."
"You told her?"
"Well, if I hadn't then the news certainly would have. It's all over the cable shows. You passed out as soon as the vote for the fixes went through. Everyone saw it." Mia pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "There is no show tonight."
The nurse attempted to stick the IV back in his arm, but Mark jerked away again, hopping out of the bed without a care in the world that the hospital dressing gown was far more revealing than he would have liked. He knew that he wasn't sick and that his blood pressure wasn't anything to worry about. Even if he hadn't known what was going on, the presence of the donkey would have told him all he'd needed to know. It wasn't his mother, which his sister would be most glad to hear. There was power to be had from last night's vote and tired and stressed as he'd been the entire week, he hadn't been able to deal with it. So he'd blacked out. He could feel it now, the electricity of reform bouncing through his system and likely affecting those blood pressure and heart rate readings. The donkey licked at his and let out a loud bray, acknowledging the party he represented.
With just a thought and no consideration of the consequences, Mark blinked his eyes and the donkey vanished.
It was easier to convince Mia and the nurse to let him leave in heightened state of disbelief.