Rain

Secrets over coffee

:thanks for taking up my couch mark:

:i kinda miss you though im hanging out in an oncall room atm:

:marrrkkk:

He grinned at Emily's spam of texts that spanned until almost a quarter to four. She must still be asleep somewhere. The automatic doors slid open with a whoosh and he heads for the cart.

"Bone dry capp and a pound cake." He paid quickly before standing aside to wait for his order. Sending a reply to Emily, he then checked his emails. Nothing about any conferences. Good - that meant more time with his family.

"Hey, can I have a caramel latte? Thank you." A new presence stood beside him and Mark chanced a glimpse up. A young man stood beside him with dark hair and olive skin.

"Dr. Sloan, your cappuccino." He grabbed his drink and cake, pocketing his phone.

"Wait, Dr. Sloan?" The man sounded surprised and Mark turned, pleased at hearing such a reaction after a long time. "Oh, wow, you're - you're Dr. Moore's husband." That... was not expected. He'd never been referenced as such.

"Uh, yeah? And who are you?" The starstruck expression didn't quite leave his face as Mark took a sip of his drink.

"Wow, okay, see I'm Andrew DeLuca-" And suddenly everything made sense.

"You're the brother." It slipped out of his mouth before he could retract his sentence. DeLuca was visibly confused before nodding.

"Yeah, my sister isn't right here now and-"

"No, no." The wind is light, tugging at his face as he gave the younger man a slightly bewildered smile. Mark had a vague feeling that he should stop talking but it was like his mouth was on autopilot. "You're Emily's brother. Dr. Moore's brother." The array of emotions that flew across the young man's face gave Mark the sudden feeling that he had said something that wasn't public knowledge.

"I'm what?"

"I thought you knew-"

"No, what? I don't even understand."

"Andrew, ignore what I said-"

"It can't be." There was betrayal that wove in his words as Mark took a step forward. "No, it can't be right. It doesn't make sense."

"Yo, Mark, have you seen my sister? Oh, hey, Andrew." Noah jogged up to them, a slight smile on his face upon seeing him. DeLuca gave the surgeon a treacherous look. "Did I just walk into something?"

"No. I just learned that you're my brother. Do you want to deny this fact or..." Noah's stricken face turned to Mark.

"You told him?"

"I thought he knew." The pediatric surgeon pinched the bridge of his nose and he turned to his half-brother.

"Look, Andrew, we can talk about this."

"Good. I want to talk about this." The two men turned to head inside the hospital, leaving Mark alone. A cold feeling washed over him and all he could think was that he had made a huge mistake.

.

Paged to her mom's room by her brother was not the way she imagined waking up. Her shift just ended (luckily not disrupting her sleep) and Emily adjusted the lapels of her lab coat on her way to the room. "Hey, is it about the scans?" Mr. DeLuca was standing by her mom's bedside while Carina sat on one of the seats, pinching the bridge of her nose. Andrew was pacing, thumb pinched between his lips, Noah's arms crossed over his chest. The tension was so thick it was almost suffocating.