24 Steps
Part Two
By Carolina
super_carolina1@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me. Suing is useless, I have no money.

Author's notes: Thanks to all those who liked the first part of this story, I know I'm not the best at thanking each one of you personally, but I really do appreciate it. Next part should be out really soon. I'd like to say that I'm a spontaneous writer, which means I don't plan my stories ahead of time. This might explain why it takes me longer to write the individual parts, but I don't like to follow the crowd, so right now, I have no clue where this story is going :) That being said, on with the show.



Luka waited in front of Abby's door for her to open it so they could go to work. It was still a little early, but he hadn't had the of luxury of sleep the night before, and since Abby hadn't been answering the phone, the first thing he did before even having breakfast was come over, he figured they could stop at Doc Magoo's for some food later. Still there was no answer at her door. He reached inside his pocket and took out his keys, looking for the particular bronze one. They key slid perfectly into the lock and Luka turned the knob, pushing the door open. Inside there was an awfully uncomfortable silence, and all the shades of her windows were up, the rays of sun revealing the particles of dust traveling through the air.

Luka didn't hesitate before going into her bedroom; since it was obvious she wasn't in any other room of the apartment. He found her on her bed, sound asleep. So he stood there for a moment, wallowing in trepidation, and even considered calling Kerry so that Abby could at least have a day in peace, away from patients, Carter, and even himself. But he knew she wouldn't appreciate his bearing. So he walked over to the right side of her bed, where she laid. She still slept despite the weight of his body sitting next to her laying form and lowering the bed even more. He was so relieved to find her here instead of in a hospital or an alley somewhere that he didn't even noticed a glass with a little clear liquid sitting on the night table next to him. He finally traced the form of her face with his fingers, trying to awaken her with tickles. She must have been really tired the night before, because she only wrinkled her nose.

He laughed at that, and leaned in to her to rub his nose against hers, "Abby," he whispered softly, removing some of the hair from her face.

Abby took a deep breath through her nose and only moaned.

Luka sat back and stroked her arm, which was the only thing coming out of the covers of her bed. "Abby wake up, we're going to be late," he said, still in that soothing and sleepy voice.

Abby heard that, and she opened her eyes slowly, only had to close them because the brightness hit her like thousands of needles. "Luka?" she moaned, still trying to open her eyes.

Luka smiled, and felt a tingle in his stomach when he heard her say his name in such a state of vulnerability. Or maybe because the last person who had moaned his name like that, was his wife when he had to drag her out of bed to go to work. "Yeah," he replied.

Abby finally opened her eyes and tried to focus on his face, which was even blurrier in contrast with the rest of her room. She tried to sit up, but winced in pain and brought her hand to her head when a bolt of pain traveled through her brain.

Luka jumped back and lay her back on the bed, "What is it? Are you sick?" he asked her.

Abby shook her head, "No," she mumbled and felt Luka's hand on her forehead, trying to get her temperature. If only he knew she was having the worst hangover of her life, it would change his way of thinking about her completely. She opened her eyes again and looked at him. "How did you get in?" she moaned, trying to get him to forget about her headache.

"I used my set of keys," he said.

Abby nodded, her eyes closed. "What time is it?" she asked, trying to find at her alarm clock with her hand, and knocking the glass to the floor.

"7:30," Luka said as he picked up the glass and put it back on the night table. He liked to keep a glass of water next to him when he slept, so his reaction was involuntary. "We're on at 9."

Abby let out a sigh of frustration. If she could only stay here all day, that would make such a difference in her life. So for now, she just kept rubbing her temples as an attempt to make the headache vanish.

"I tried to call you last night, you didn't pick up the phone," Luka suddenly said, stroking her arm and looking down at her so that she wouldn't think he was accusing her of anything.

Abby didn't move, "I, had a headache so I turned the ringer off," she said. That was half the truth, the other being that she was too drunk and the ringer sounded like a fucking fire truck siren. Of course, Luka might have called before she stumbled into her apartment at 3 am, in which case, she was lying completely. It didn't matter though. Abby had learned to be such a good liar when she began to drink, that she could probably accuse Kerry Weaver of stealing money from the hospital without proof and everyone would believe her.

Luka felt something hard near his left buttock, and stood up to uncover Abby's body. "You slept with your clothes on?" he asked in a little awe, seeing how she hadn't even removed her shoes. If someone was to be chosen as the king or queen of getting ready for bed, it had to be Abby. So seeing her with her scrubs still on, and her black shoes not even unlaced, was quite a shock.

Abby looked down at her body, "I guess I did," she said nonchalantly.

Luka hovered over her with concern, and finally sat down on the beg again, this time even closer to her, with his right hand on the other side of her body, using it to lean on the bed. "Abby," he released with a sign, stroking her hand with his finger, "I know you must be, overwhelmed about everything that's happened. Let's take some time off. I can talk to Kerry and we can go somewhere, the Caribbean, or we can take a cruise," he suggested softly.

That caught Abby off guard, and she was actually touched by his intentions. It was too much though. There was something about being at the bottom of the totem of society, which drew you to stay there. She knew how to move up, yet it was as if she didn't want to. There was something so delightful about self-pity, maybe masochism, she didn't know. But it was so much harder to go up than down, especially when every drop of determination has been drained out of your body.

She looked down and played with his fingers. "Luka, I can't," she suddenly said, very softly and not knowing if she herself was talking about the trip or something else.

Luka was disappointed by her answer, but didn't intend on showing his let down. There was something different about Abby now, and he couldn't quite figure out what it was. It was like having a word on the tip or your tongue, and then when someone finally tells you what it is, it was something completely different than what you thought it was, and didn't even sound the same. He noticed how tense her muscles were, and the big dark bags under her eyes. It made him want to do something about it, force her to relax, take her to a masseuse, even make her stay home.

"I'm going to call Kerry," he snapped as he stood up, determined to reach the phone.

"Luka, no," Abby said, standing up as well and ignoring her headache. She had a little difficulty finding her balance, and once up, she came down to the floor.

Luka turned around in time to see her sit back against her bed. He let out a sigh and walked over, sitting down next to her. "Abby, If you're sick, or sad about something, please, I need you to tell me," he said, begging as if he was pleading for his life.

Abby rested her head on her knees, "I'm not sad, Luka," she said a little firmly.

Luka analyzed her, and then it hit him like a pie in the face at a carnival. He wondered how he hadn't noticed it before, and kicked himself mentally for not doing so. So he reached with his hand and cupped the sides of her face so that she could see him. "Abby, whatever it is I just want you to know that I wouldn't never leave you over it, or judge you. In fact, if you want me to stay away so you can have some time alone, I will. But, I really need you, I'm begging you, to tell me," he said, deciding to state this before asking the inevitable.

She looked at him, and knew he wasn't kidding. Still, how was she going to tell him that she had fallen off the wagon the previous week? How was she going to tell someone who thought so highly of her that she was no different now from that homeless man who begged for a bottle of rum on the corner of the hospital. She just couldn't. It would destroy him and was sure to disgust him away, like it disgusted Richard.

"I'm ok, Luka. I'm just having, a bad week, that's all," she finally said.

Luka let out a sigh. He wished she would stop with this fucking denial crap. She didn't have to though because it all came to him. Her depression, her constant headaches, her silence, and her avoidance of him lately, he was, after all, a doctor. It was no surprise it had happened either, since he had been so careless with her lately.

He gathered her hands in his and looked once more into her eyes. "Abby? Are you pregnant?" he asked, his voice low but determined.

Abby looked at him at that, and let out a sigh of amazement. She looked away and removed her hands from his. "No, Luka. I'm not pregnant," she said with a mirthless chuckle and stood up, this time her legs didn't fail her.

Luka looked at her as she did so. "Did you take a test?"

"I'm not pregnant, Luka," she repeated, but this time it sounded more like a scolding.

Luka truly didn't know how to react. Was he relieved or disappointed? It was actually too early in their relationship to be thinking that way. He was relieved because he didn't think Abby could handle a pregnancy at that very moment, but regretful because that meant the equation wasn't solved. At least that theory was ruled out though. So he just watched her as she took some of the clothes from her drawers, and popped two aspirins into her mouth, gulping them down with a glass of water, which seemed to have been there for days.

Abby turned to him, "I'm gonna take a shower, I'll be out in a few minutes," she said and disappeared into the bathroom. The sound of the shower began to travel through the apartment not long after that.



The soft wind and small stubs of green leaves on the trees were an indication that Spring was almost here. That, of course, meant that the snow was gone, clearing the roads and inviting everyone to drive again. Luka loved walking in days like these. It gave him the time and peacefulness he needed to think about his life, and relax before walking into the insanity that was the ER. He had been sharing this ritual with Abby and it seemed to work for her too, because she was looking at all the blossoming foliage as they walked. But he couldn't help but feel the barrier between them. Holding her hand now was as  hard as reachinginto a wall of cement with your bare fingers. He was still holding it though, so he figured at least one of them was fighting for something, although it seemed unfair that they had to fight at all.

He squeezed her hand and felt a squeeze back. It was during moments like these in which he kicked himself mentally for being so negative. She really had been having a bad week, he had been a witness of that. And even though the reason was yet to be determined, it seemed completely selfish of him to get upset over her having a bad few days, when he himself had 9 years. So he just decided to give her some space and hoped she came to him when she was willing to accept his offer of help.

He noticed they were in front of the hospital, and decided to break the silence. "Do you want some breakfast?" he asked, bringing her back from her reverie, or her quiet self-torture.

Abby looked pass him to Doc Magoo's. "Um, no, I'm just gonna go in," she said, taking her hand away from his.

"Ok, I'm starving, so I'll see you in there," he said and gave her a peck on the lips.

Abby smiled and walked towards the hospital, while Luka analyzed the back of her head.



"Can anybody help me here? I've been waiting on those hard ass chairs for three hours!" a man said as he appeared out of nowhere in front of the front desk.

Kerry looked up, and tried to keep her stare monotone above her glasses. "Take a sit sir, we'll call you in a second," she said in her best nonchalant tone.

"That's what you said a million seconds ago," the man protested.

Kerry let out a sigh and looked around. "Carter!" she exclaimed when she saw the young man round the corner.

Carter raised his eyebrows as a response and approached her.

"Why don't you take Mr....?" she looked at the man for help.

"Font," the man said, still annoyed.

"Mr. Font here and make sure he's seen upon," she said.

Carter looked at Kerry, "Uh, I have two patients already," he said innocently.

"I don't care, just get him out of my face," Kerry snapped and pushed Carter towards Mr. Font.

Carter raised his eyebrows again, but in a slightly different context. "Why don't you come with me, Mr. Font?" he said as he guided the man away from the front desk.

"You know, that's the reason why women shouldn't be in power, too much PMS," he said.

Carter gave him a killer look, "Maybe Dr. Weaver would appreciate to hear that from your own mouth," he said.

"Yeah, right," the man said, following Carter.

Carter rolled his eyes and pushed the door to the suture room open. He walked in first, in time to see Abby resting her arms stiff on the small counter in front of the cabinet supply, her head hunched under her shoulders. She immediately turned around when she heard the door open.

"Abby, are you ok?" Carter asked, noticing the fake smile on her face.

Abby closed her eyes for a second and walked towards the door. "Yeah, great," she mumbled.

"Hey, hold on," Carter snapped as he sat on the seat in front of Mr. Font. "Can you get me a suture kit?"

Abby noticed the kits next to him and closed her eyes again, this time so he wouldn't see them roll. She walked over and began to set the tray. Doctors could be so useless sometimes.

Carter grabbed the needle and looked at her, "Haven't seen you at the meetings for a while, do you wanna go together tonight?" he asked as he numbed Mr. Font's hand.

Abby flinched her face, "You know, I'm kinda busy tonight, I'm sure Phil would more than love going with you," she said in a semi sarcastic tone and walked out of the room.

Carter put the needle down and looked at Mr. Font, "I'll be right back."

"Oh, come on!" the man protested, but was ignored by Carter.

Carter walked out of the room and caught up with Abby, "Hey," he said and saw her turn around. "Abby, do you have a problem with me getting another sponsor?" he asked. "I know I didn't talk to you about it first, but I thought you only wanted to work with me temporarily."

Abby looked to the side and played with her lips. "No, I don't have a problem, Carter. Like you said, it was temporary," she said with a small hint of regret.

Carter put his hand on his pocket, "Is it something else?"

"No, I'm just having a bad week, that's all," she replied with half a smile.

"Do you wanna go somewhere later? Get some coffee?" Carter asked, a little concerned but determined.

"Abby, we have a trauma coming in, let's get going," Kerry said as she limped near the scene.

Abby turned around to see Kerry and some gurneys being rushed in. She looked at Carter again and shook her head, "No, I'll be ok," she said as she touched his arm and walked away.

Carter just nodded and watched her walk away, with now both his hands on his pockets.

"My hand is waking up!" a voice came from the suture room.

Carter rolled his eyes and walked back into the room to finish with Mr. Font.

Abby ran out to the ambulance bay and followed Kerry, since all of the other nurses seemed to be staying away from her today.

"35 year old male, complains of abdominal pain, BP is 90/60, pulse 110," Doris said as she helped wheel the gurney in.

"Alright," Kerry looked around, "Chen, I need you over here," she said as the young doctor walked by. "We got it from here, Doris."

"Party on," Doris said sarcastically and walked away.

"Ok, on my count, one, two, three," Kerry said. She looked around and realized Abby was the only nurse. "Abby, put him on an IV and hook him to the monitors," she said. "Sir, can you tell me what happened?" she asked the man, who was lucid.

"Yeah, we were in a car accident, is my wife ok?" the man asked desperately.

"We're gonna take good care of her, don't worry," Kerry said sweetly.

"Pupils are equal and reactive," Chen said. "Abby, order a cat scan."

Abby fumbled with the IV and looked up at Chen, "Coming up," she said.

"Sir? Does is hurt when I do this?" Kerry said as she pressed the man's lower abdomen; he winced in pain. "Ok, Abby, order a pelvis scan while you're at it," she said.

Abby was just beginning to hook the man to the monitors. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Ok," she mumbled. As soon as she finished, a couple of machines began to beep.

"Whoa, let's get the pressure up," Chen said.

"I need a lavage kit, now," Kerry called out to no one.

Abby hung up the phone and began to look through the drawers for the kit, only her fingers were shaking and her mind wasn't working at all. Another machine began to beep even more loudly than the rest, and it was all she could hear over Kerry and Chen still shouting instructions. Abby finally reached into a drawer and found a kit. She turned around to give it to Kerry, only it stumbled on her hands and it fell down.

"Alright, let's take him up to surgery," Kerry said, ignoring Abby, who was trying to collect all the items from the floor. "We already got a kit, Abby," Kerry said as she walked out. Somehow Lydia had suddenly and unexpectedly joined the picture, which might have explained the situation.

Abby looked up at them as they rushed the man out, and stood there for a moment, letting out a sigh and closing her eyes as hard as she could. She finally stood up and threw the kit against the wall before stumbling out of the trauma room. Ignoring the turmoil around her, she walked into the lounge, where she opened her locker to take her bag out. Without even being noticed, she rushed into the bathroom and locked herself in one of the stalls. She sat on the toilet and her shaking fingers opened the bag, reached inside and finally they felt a cold bottle. She brought it up and opened it desperately, and drank the alcohol until it was nearly over, feeling that burning sensation on her throat. Her now controlled fingers scrolled the bottle, and she put it back on her bag before leaning her arms on her knees, and hunching forward.

She felt the anger raising in her throat, and boiling the insides of her stomach. Before the first tear even came out, she wiped it from her eye, but couldn't catch the next one in time.

"Stop it!" she whispered to herself. "Stop it, stop it, stop it," she continued as she rocked back and forth, but suddenly came to a halt when out of the blue, she stopped crying.

This was what her life had come to, hiding from everyone so she could have a quick fix in the bathroom, at work. She knew if Kerry found her there, she would get fired in a nanosecond. She didn't care. Losing her job right now would probably be the best thing to ever happen to her. A hard fact hit her, and a flashback of those days in which she would bar hop all night looking for men who would buy her a drink came back to her. Was that any different from now? Probably not. Both scenes were equally disturbing, and they disgusted her to her very core.

Funny how you think you're over something and then all of a sudden it comes back to haunt you. The most painful part of this though, it's that it was a door she had closed. She had gone to the meetings, helped others, stayed sober for five years, gotten her life back together, then boom. She thought hard, trying to see where she had left her shoe untied, what had caused her to fall again. So much for predictability.

She let out a sigh, and ignoring the temptation of beating that door down to the ground, she unlocked it and walked out. Thankfully, there was no one else in there, and she walked to the sink to wash her face with cold water. The coldness and freshness of it made her feel a little better, but she jumped back when she raised her head and through the mirror, saw that she wasn't alone.

She turned around to come face to face with Kerry, but she suddenly didn't know what to say.

Kerry looked down, giving her the opportunity to shift on her other leg. "Abby, is everything ok?" she asked suddenly in that voice she used when she was concerned about one of her workers.

Abby nodded, "Yeah," she said simply.

"We, told you many times that we didn't need that lavage kit when you were looking for it, didn't you hear us?" she asked in the same tone.

Abby looked to the side, and then at her, "I guess I didn't, I'm sorry," she said.

"No need to apologize," Kerry said and analyzed her for a while. "How's your mom?" she suddenly asked.

Abby looked at her suddenly, finding that question extremely off topic. "Uh, she's well. Um, I got her an apartment and she's taking her medication again," she said.

"That's good," Kerry said with a smile.

"Yeah," Abby reciprocated the smile.

Kerry looked down and shifted on her leg again. "Look, Abby, if you need a couple of days off..."

"I'm fine," Abby interrupted her.

"I know," Kerry said understandingly. "I know you have a lot of people who depend on you," she began, looking at all angles to see how she would approach her. "Abby if you ever need someone to listen to whatever you have to say, you don't have to look very far," she finished softly.

Abby looked at her for a moment, and then removed her stare. This wasn't the kind of speech she had been expecting, at least not from Kerry Weaver. A wave on the tone of her voice though, made her hesitate for a moment, and the idea of telling Kerry the truth was like a light at the end of the tunnel. Something pulled her back though. In her own paranoia, her mind tricked her into believing that Kerry would fire her if she knew about this. Not only had she gone back to being an alcoholic, but she was drinking at work, and thus endangering patients. When they found out about Carter, it was different. He had been working in the ER for years, and everyone had him in a holy pedestal, he was one loved man. Would they be supportive of her too? How many people could she name who would be at an intervention. Luka, Carter and now, maybe her boss, that's it. Still, she felt comforting warmth coming from Kerry Weaver, and she made a mental note to remember this in the future.

She finally looked at the doctor, who had been expecting an answer, "Thanks Dr. Weaver," she whispered.

Kerry smiled and stroked the young nurse's arm. "If you wanna go home, you can."

Abby took a breath, "No, I'll be ok," she said with a genuine smile.

"Alright," Kerry said. "Why don't you stick to minor cases for the rest of the day," she said and walked out of the room after seeing Abby nod.

It wasn't long before Abby followed her.



Luka finished getting ready to go to sleep, and laid next to Abby, who was watching some movie on the international channel. He looked at her curiously, "I didn't know you spoke Chinese," he said.

Abby smiled and looked at him, "I don't."

"Ah," Luka said. "What's going on?"

Abby looked back at the television. "I think that woman is cheating on her husband," she said and then noticed something peculiar on the movie, "Oh, that's her brother, never mind," she said with a chuckle.

Luka smiled at her good mood, took the remote from her hands, and turned off the television. He looked at her in a weird way.

"What?" Abby asked.

Luka leaned in and kissed her softly, leaning his hand on the side of her face. It wasn't long before he was on top of her, burning with a fire he had tried to extinguish for days now.

Abby ran her hands through his hair, and felt the fire Luka was feeling, only hers was completely different. She needed a drink. She needed alcohol so badly, she couldn't even think of anything else, and it was making her fingers tremble again. Luka was now kissing her neck, working his way down, but she stopped him when he was kissing her collarbone.

"Luka," she said all of a sudden.

Luka had heard her call out his name while they were having sex before, so he ignored that and continued to kiss her.

"Luka," Abby said a little more firmly, and Luka realized she wasn't just encouraging him to keep going. He looked up at her with a questioning look on his face.

Abby sat up, making him move to the side. "I'm sorry, I just," she stammered. It was either stopping him now, or throwing up all over him later.

"What?" Luka asked interrupting her.

"I have to go," she said, standing up.

"What?" Luka asked again, but this time incredulously. "Go where?"

"Home," Abby simply said, looking for her purse.

Luka let out a sigh and looked down, "Abby, I..."

"Good night," Abby said and walked out of the room, without even letting him speak.

Luka laid there, flabbergasted about her sudden outburst. Well, he knew one thing, whatever was wrong with her, it had to be about him. He knew her mother was ok, Carter had another sponsor, she was doing ok at work, she wasn't pregnant, what else is left? He could see the old: "Luka, we need to talk" speech coming from the horizon and knocking at his door. But before thinking about anything concerning his future with Abby, he needed to talk to Carter about something first.



"Well, six days in a row, I think we have a new record," the bartender said as he saw Abby walk into the bar.

Abby wasn't that amused about that joke, so she decided to ignore him and sat on the same stool by the corner. The bartender poured the vodka into the glass and shoved it in front of her, watching as Abby gulped half of it down at once.

"Having a bad day?" a strange man said as he sat next to her.

Abby glanced his way with a look of everything but friendliness.

"Didn't think so," the man said.

The stool turned and Abby looked at him, "Sorry, I'm not in the mood for 'Opra's Spiritual Healing' right now," she said callously.

The man smiled and looked to the other side of the bar. "Well you know what they say," he said and stopped there.

Abby looked his way again, waiting for an answer, only he remained quiet. "What?"

The man looked at her, "You know, about talking to strangers, how it can be good for venting?"

Abby half nodded and looked down at her drink.

"Kevin O'Brian," the man said as he showed Abby his hand for her to shake.

Abby looked at him for a moment, "Look, uh, Kevin, I..."

"Unless you wanna hear about how my wife is cheating on me with the 20 year old kid who delivers the groceries," he said.

"Abby Lockhart," she said, extending her hand.

"Nice to meet you," Kevin said. "Come here often?"

"Lately, yeah," Abby said, playing with the glass in front of her.

"Ditto," the man said. He motioned the bartender to fill Abby's glass again and then turned to her. "Let's see," he said as he analyzed her, "You are having problems with your mother, which are now affecting your job, and your boss is about to give you the axe."

Abby looked his way and chuckled, "Well, some of that is true, but that's not the real problem now," she said.

"Husband?" he asked.

"No," Abby said with a dry smile. She finally gave up with a sigh and turned her face to him. "See, I have this problem, which is... very hard to solve. I mean, normally I fall down, then I get up and keep walking, but now I hit rock bottom so hard I can't even look at my boyfriend in the eyes, let alone talk to him or even be with him," she said, her smile vanished.

"And this problem, is it another man?" he asked.

Abby shook her head, "No." She thought for a moment, "Actually, I work in a hospital, and there was an accident last year. This psych patient attacked me and a med student, who died. It was a really hard recuperation, so I got addicted to painkillers," Abby said and paused to continue a couple of seconds later. "I had to go to Atlanta for three months, for detox, and now, something happened that made me go back to pain killers," she finished with a lump on her throat and the saddest tone she ever heard herself talk in.

Kevin nodded his head, "What made you go back?" he asked curiously.

"Just, different things building up and then exploding," Abby said. "Things seemed to be getting better when I had some people depending on me emotionally, but then they got all better, and that left my in mid air," she said.

"Helping others so that you don't have to think about your own problems," the man said.

Abby looked at him, that was exactly what had been under her nose and she had been too blind to see. "Actually, you're right," she said.

"Yeah, I've been there," Kevin muttered.

"You are there," Abby said, motioning to what he was doing at that very moment. Kevin looked at her, and realized this too. "Any kids?" Abby asked after a silence.

"No," he said.

"Why are you still married to her," Abby asked, drinking some more.

"I love her," he responded sincerely.

Abby smiled, "Well, I hope that works out well in your favor," she muttered.

"We'll see." Kevin looked at his watch. "And I hope everything works out well with you too," he said. "It was very nice to meet you, Abby Lockhart," he said and shook her hand again.

"You too Kevin," Abby said with a smile.

Kevin smiled, "And, drink away, it's on me," he said and walked away.

Abby let out a sigh and turned her stool to face the bar. The bartender came back and filled her glass to the top again, already aware of how much Abby could take, which was a lot.

Abby didn't even thank him and just looked at the way her drink swirled when she moved it with her straw. She made a mental note not to come to this bar again, because her meeting with Kevin was something she wanted to keep a one timer.

She thought of calling Luka and apologizing for being so blunt and awkward earlier, but first she had to think of an excuse for walking away from him like she did. That "I've been having a bad week" bit was getting a little old, although she could use it to say she was on PMS... thank God for the reproductive system. She knew he must have called her apartment to over saturation by now, but she wasn't quite ready to face him yet, let alone lying to him. So what the hell, Kevin was paying for all the drinks, so she might as well enjoy the free ride. There was always someone generous enough to put her on a cab at the end of the night, when she'd pass out on the counter of the bar.



To be continued...