I'm Just Septic-Eyed

Chapter 29: Reunited

A/N: I realized as I was writing this chapter that I could have possibly written Suzy as Suzie. It's supposed to be Suzy so please ignore the Suzies that I may have missed. That goes for any other chapter I mentioned Suzy in.

Mark turned his back to the window when the ambulance arrived. He couldn't bare to look at that crumpled body anymore. Suzy was rubbing his arm and glancing out the window constantly. Marzia emerged from the back room carrying a cup of water and a sandwich. She handed them to Mark and he muttered a thanks. There was a silence in the room. Mark knew the question they wanted to ask. "Yeah, I knew him," Mark answered. He put the cup and sandwich on the counter. He lost his appetite, anyway. "I guess you could call him a friend. He helped Jack out once."

"Was he the one that went missing?" Marzia asked quietly. She looked at her painted nails as if they were the most interesting thing going on. "I saw the posters at school."

Mark nodded. He suddenly felt anger surging through him. Taurtis was the only person who could tell them about Sam. How could he just go and die like that after being gone for months? Where was he the whole time? Now they would never know. Mark tried to remain calm. "I thought he was dead."

"Well now he is," Suzy couldn't stop herself. "Oh. Sorry. Was that insensitive?"

Marzia let out a small smile. Mark shrugged. Suzy glanced out the window. The ambulance was driving away, but the police were there. They were blocking off the street. She knew they were going to want to talk to witnesses. She looked back to Mark and Marzia. She felt a sense of protection: like a mother toward her children. Suzy always thought of them as her kids, and her kids were suffering. They felt the loss of a fellow student.

The bell to signal that the door was open jingled. The three inside looked to the sound. Two police officers entered. Suzy, feeling like the only adult in the room, stood up and greeted the men. "How can I help you, sirs?" She mustered up the sweetest voice she could manage.

"We're here about the hit-and-run," one of them said. He was an older man, but not elderly. "Would any of you happen to have any information on it?"

Suzy pursed her lips and Marzia shifted awkwardly. Mark was the only calm one. "He saved me," Mark's voice was hallow. The two officers and Suzy turned to look at him. "In case you didn't notice, that was the missing person Sam supposedly took. The car was a black sedan. I didn't catch the license plate as I was too busy almost being splattered on the street like Taurtis." If Mark was going for intimidating and annoyed, then he certainly captured it. Even the police officers weren't too eager to engage with him any further, so they thanked them for their time and headed out. Mark knew they had his information if they needed him.

Suzy stared after them for a couple of seconds before turning to Mark. "Was that your first time being interviewed by police, Mark?"

"More like my fifth." Mark took a sip of water. "You'd think they'd be tired of seeing my face by now."

Suzy and Marzia glanced at each other, but neither brought up the obvious question that hung in the air, and Mark didn't seem like he was going to answer it.

The day went by slowly. No one was coming in, and the police were still hanging around. Suzy stayed with Marzia and Mark like a hen with her chicks. Marzia busied herself by organizing things. Mark finally started eating his sandwich. The shop was quiet, save for the occasional sip of water from Mark or shuffling of things in shelves from Marzia. Suzy sighed and counted money in the register for the hundredth time. She decided to leave some in there for change and put the rest in the money box to be brought upstairs later. "Why don't we just close up early?" Suzy suggested. No one was coming in and the kids were traumatized. Hell, so was she. The image of that poor boy's body being broken lingered in her mind. "I can call Arin and maybe we can all go out to eat?"