Upstairs, Lizzie steps out of an elevator and into the Oncology ward, asking where Mark is. The nurse answers Elizabeth's worst fear by directing her to Mark's room and giving an in-depth explanation of the treatment he's undergone. Elizabeth eats her lip for nourishment and follows the nurse, as all sounds start to ring hollow in her head. She can barely focus. Finally, she sees Mark sitting in a chair in a darkened room. He spies her and sits up with a start, and we fade to commercial on Elizabeth staring at him sadly.

Carter and Weaver treat a firefighter who was working the school inferno. Weaver casually asks him a string of questions about the safety of the firefighters, to prevent herself from grabbing him, throwing him on the ground, and banging his head against the tile until he coughs up information about Sandy. Through her almost nonchalant line of questioning, the man reveals that they're still looking for Sandy, who was the first firefighter inside the school. To the show's credit, they don't show anyone giving Kerry knowing or amused looks -- I mean, people witnessed The Kiss and could easily put two and two together, but the writers don't go there, which is nice because it doesn't fuel the idea that the entire ER is homophobic. Weaver, clearly affected by news that Sandy's still inside the inferno, nonetheless continues to work coolly.

Elizabeth sits opposite Mark, reeling from the day's realization. She's been apprised of the situation and is suggesting things -- Gamma knife, seeing Dr. Humperdinck -- that Mark's already tried. Stunned at how long it's gone on without her, Elizabeth stares intently at her hands. "How much time?" she finally asks without looking at Mark. "If this works, ten months," he replies quietly. Lizzie's left nostril twitches and shoots fire. "Why didn't you tell me?" Elizabeth scolds him, pained, and finally looking him in the eye. Mark blames his silence on bad timing. "I could've helped," she says, desperate and wet-eyed, but Mark knows that's not true and says as much to allay her guilt. She coldly says that he shouldn't be alone right now, and Mark promises that this doesn't change anything. "I don't expect you to come back and be my wife just because this happened," he whispers. Elizabeth exhales hard, and Mark waits for her to say, "That's not why I want to come back," but she doesn't say that because she's got no soul, so he glumly gets up to leave, tumorrific and alone. "You're going back to work?" she gapes. "I don't know what else to do," he says flatly. He shuffles out, and she stares into the air he once inhabited, breathing heavily.