Dear Abby
Part Seven
By Carolina
super_carolina1@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. And if I had a Luka I would be very busy right now (wink wink). I've been doing a lot of brainstorming lately about this story and where it's going. It'll probably take me longer to write the individual parts since the story took a big turn on chapter 5. Thanks to all of those who have sent me positive feedback, I hope you all enjoy the story until the end. E-mail me at super_carolina1@yahoo.com

Abby stared at Luka's face for a moment and in it saw an expression she hadn't seen before. It scared her a little and it made her loose track of what she wanted to communicate. She had gone over this in her head a thousand times and now the words just refused to come out. She silently gave up while her brain quickly scanned for other possibilities.

Abby: I, I was, um, I'm doing a pediatric internship after graduation. It's a very important program and Dr Weaver recommended me for it.

She knew what he was thinking. He knew that was not the reason why she brought him here. And whether he knew the real reason or not, it was too late now. She looked up and pasted a smile on her face.

Luka: Well that is great

Abby: It is!

Luka: Congratulations

Abby: Thank you

Abby immediately looked down at her menu as if it would made the uneasiness go away. Luka kept staring at her, trying to analyze her face. He wondered if something had happened between this morning and lunch. Did it had something to do with that Dr. Matthews guy? He had been thinking about it all morning. Why? He wondered. Involved in his own paranoia, he hadn't heard a few people talking about the new doctor conducting a pediatric internship. He mentally kicked himself for being so stupid and selfish. If Abby was dating someone she would tell him, there was nothing they couldn't talk about. Until last night.

Luka: Is that all?

Abby looked up, not at all expecting that question.

Abby: Yeah, I, it's great news, don't you think?

Luka: Very good news (Luka smiled and thought for a minute). In fact, I think we should celebrate

Abby: Really?

Luka: Yeah. How about dinner?

Abby: Sure. Where do you wanna go?

Luka: No, no. I will cook for you

Abby sat back in amazement and crossed her arms.

Abby: You know, if you keep spoiling me like this you'll never get rid of me

Luka just gave her a mischievous smile as the waitress came over to take their order. After a light lunch they both headed for the er, where it was a little more hectic than it had been during the morning, both wondered how they got away with lunch without being paged. Luka grabbed a chart and immediately started to work whereas Abby was pulled away by Carter

Carter: Abby I've got a 36 year old woman, 25th week of pregnancy. Started contractions this morning, she's 7 centimeters.

Abby: Ok. Um, call OB, see if you can find who her OB is and call the NICU, tell them we have a premature on the way. We might have time to take her up, but make sure we have everything ready down here, just in case. Where is she?

Carter: Exam 4. Name's Terri Lewis

Abby and Carter walk into exam 4. Where a young woman lay on a bed, gasping in pain.

Abby: Hello Terri. I'm Abby Lockhart. I hear you're having a baby today? You wanna tell me how that happened?

Terri: My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for years. I've been pregnant 3 times and we always loose the baby early. This is the longest we've ever been to.

Abby: Do you suffer of any conditions, diabetes? asthma?

Terri: I was just diagnosed with labile hypertension before I got pregnant

Abby: Does your OB-Gyn knows that?

Terri: No

Abby: Have you gain a lot of weight lately?

Terri: Yes, the doctor said it was normal. Please don't let my baby die, please (the woman said between breaths)

Abby: We'll do everything we can Terri.

Abby stroked the woman's hair and pulled Carter to the side.

Abby: We'll have to take that baby out right now if we wanna save it.

Connie: The baby has a heart rate of 90.

Abby: OK. Connie get a urine sample. Tell the lab it's an emergency, I need those results right away. And call OB, tell them we need Terri's OB-GYN down here now.

Connie: Sure

Carter: She's 6 months and a week Abby, I don't think that baby's going to make it outside her womb

Abby: I think she's suffering from Toxemia. It's a very serious pregnancy complication. If we don't do a c-section right now we're gonna loose both the mother and the baby

They're interrupted by the woman's screams and all kinds of sounds coming out of the machines

Chuny: Baby's heart rate just dropped to 65

Abby: Damn

Carter: Chuny call the OR, tell them we need to go up, now.

Abby: No no no, we don't have time for that. We're gonna have to do it here

Carter: What?

Terri: What's going on?!

Abby: Terri we're gonna have to do a c-section right away. You're suffering from a very serious pregnancy complication, and if we don't take the baby out I'm afraid he won't have much chance

Terri: Oh my God

Abby: Get me a scalpel.

Chuny: OK Terri I want you to take a deep breath, when you wake up your baby will be out.

Terri: Wait! My husband's not here

Abby: I'm sorry Terri, we have to do this without him

Terri: Will you at least call him, his number's on my purse, his name is Joe

Abby: I promise

Abby smiled at the woman as she dozed off.

Chuny: She's gone

Carter: Abby we can't do this down here, the room's not even prepared. Do you even know what you're doing?

Abby: I've seen many of these Carter, don't worry. Now, either help me out or go away.

Carter looked at Abby, who was concentrated on what she was doing and had the most confident expression he had ever seen. His attention was later on the woman lying on the bed. Like a lightning strike, he moved over the bed and started working alongside Abby. Suddenly the woman started shaking.

Carter: What?

Abby: She's having a seizure, it's common in these cases. We don't have much time

Both started screaming orders as the nurses ran in and out of the room. After the seizure subsided, they kept working and 3 minutes later, the baby was out and was immediately put on a cradle and sent to the NICU, just as 3 people walked in

Dr. Coburn: What's going on here? Abby?

Abby: She was suffering from Toxemia, we had to do an emergency c- section, the baby's in the NICU

Dr. Coburn: You should have called us immediately

Carter: We did

Dr. Coburn: We'll take it from here. Thanks Dr. Carter, Abby.

The doctor said in a strong tone as she looked at them intensely. Abby and Carter both left the room reluctantly as the other doctors worked on the patient. Carter stared at them through the door as Abby let out a sigh of frustration.

Abby: I'm sorry about that, I got carried away.

Carter: Well, you saved their lives

Abby: It's probably the reason why she lost her earlier babies, labile hypertension is usually detected after you're 35. It increases the chances of suffering Toxemia

Carter: It was a good call

Abby smiled: I'm gonna go check up on the baby.

Abby walked into the NICU looking for new baby Sarah Lewis. Although extremely premature, the baby had the same chances as a normal 6 month baby. Abby took a chair and sat in front of the incubator as she touched carefully Sarah's little hand. The image in front of her made her think once again about her little baby girl. Still looking at little Sarah, a tear fell down her cheek

Abby: I'm sorry Julie, I'm so sorry.

The events of the rest of the day seemed to have no effect on both Carter and Abby. A couple of traumas came in, along with a group of kids who were playing on a field of poison ivy. Seven o'clock came faster than Abby had cared for and she had to remind herself that it was time to go home. She walked into the lounge and met Carter by the lockers.

Carter: Hey, did you talk to Luka?

Abby: About what?

Carter: You know.

Abby: Oh, yeah. Um, no. I never got around to it

Carter: You shouldn't worry about it. It was just a friendly kiss

Abby let out a sigh: I'm not sure about that anymore

Carter got serious: So ... are you...

Abby: I don't know Carter (she said in frustration as she sat down). It's just so confusing

Carter sat down next to her: Did you feel something when you kissed him?

Abby looked up at Carter, hearing his question over and over in her head, as if she stopped repeating it, she wouldn't be able to understand it. It obviously meant something to her, it meant a lot, but did she feel something? She was about to answer her question when the door suddenly opened and Kerri walked in.

Kerri: Hello Abby, Carter.

Abby, Carter: Hi

Kerri: Abby, good job on that premature pregnancy earlier. It was a good diagnosis. I'm sure Dr. Coburn will be back to apologize later.

Abby: Dr. Coburn? Don't count on it.

Kerri: Dr. Matthews heard of it, he's very pleased. Both the mother and the baby are doing fine.

Abby: I know, I saw them earlier (she assured Kerri as she picked up her things) I better go. Good night

Carter, Kerri: Good night, bye.

Abby's eyes met with Carter's as she left the room. She was to meet Luka who went home earlier to start the meal. As she was riding the El her thoughts drifted back to Carter's question. She knew the answer, but it scared her to death to think about it. Luka was a great man, that was an understatement. But she knew he wasn't ready for another relationship, she wasn't sure he would ever be. She knew him well. Enough to jump to the conclusion that when he saw her, he didn't see love but friendship. And with everything that was going on in her life, she did not need a broken heart to add up to that pile, it was too much to take. She knocked his door several times as her nose picked up the wonderful smells coming out of his apartment. He opened the door, wearing an apron and a smile.

Luka: You are just in time. Come in

Abby: Thanks. Smells great in here. Are you sure you're a man?

Luka smiled at her: Want to help me set the table?

Abby: Sure.

After completing her task, Luka made sure Abby didn't do anything else while he served the food. He opened up a bottle of wine and filled both their glasses, sat down and raised his.

Luka: To the future

Abby smiled: the future

They clinked their glasses and proceeded to enjoy their meals. They made small talk about their day at work and such, both wanting to talk about something else they couldn't bring themselves to. After dinner Abby tried to convince Luka that she would wash the dishes, but he wouldn't let her so they shared the duty. After taking care of that business, they both sat down on Luka's couch, Abby noticing for the first time how big and well taken care of his apartment was. It was like taken right out of a Sears catalog. On a corner she looked something that brought a smile to her face.

Abby: You play the violin?

Luka: Yeah. I took some lessons when I was little and I loved it so I kept playing

Abby: I always wanted to learn, but my dad couldn't afford the lessons. Plus a violin is so expensive

Luka: Do you want to hear a piece?

Abby: Sure

Abby said excited. Luka got off the couch an picked up the delicate instrument. He moved closer so that he could be facing Abby and added.

Luka: My wife and I used to play this piece together, it always put the kids to sleep.

As those words entered Abby's ears she thought that maybe it would be a bad idea, that memory being so personal. She was about to ask him to maybe play something else, but he had already started. After a few seconds she realized that this is what he needed in order to get closure. So she let him play. She immediately recognized the piece as Beethoven's "Violin Romance." The scene in front of her became more painful to watch as she saw Luka's expression changing from inspiration to melancholy. Taking a closer look she saw a small tear forming on the corner of his eye. Making sure she didn't startle him, she got off the couch and walked closer to him, touching his arm to make him stop. He recognized her look, and squeezed her hand into his. She walked him back to the couch, all the while preparing themselves for a moment that they both knew had to come someday, and this was it. She sat down making sure she was facing him and took both his hands in hers, as if she could somehow transfer all her strength into him. He took a deep breath and the words poured out.

Luka: One night I woke up to Eva screaming and crying. I thought it was a nightmare, because she was always scared of the dark. Before I got up to check on her, I felt someone hit me in the head with a hard object, a gun I think. When I came to, the first thing I saw was my wife and children tied down with ropes. I tried to move to help them, but I couldn't because someone was holding me back. I noticed that four men were in the room with us, they all had guns and I couldn't tell who they were or where they took us. They started asking me questions about my father, and some secret operations I didn't know anything about. They said that if I didn't talk they would kill my family. But I didn't know.

Luka had reached a point where he had to look down, which Abby thanked God for as she couldn't look at him in the eyes any longer. He was trying to be very strong, she was trying as well. But as the words poured out, none of them could hold on much longer. Luka was squeezing Abby's hands as if she would disappear if he didn't hold on to her. He took a deep breath and continued.

Luka: I tried to lie to them, just make up things so that they would let us go. But they knew. They kept screaming into my ear. All I could see was my family's terrified look on their faces, my kids were crying, and I couldn't comfort them. I tried to tell them that it was going to be ok but I knew it wasn't. They shot my son first, right in front of me.

Tears started to flow down Luka's face as he said the last sentence. As hard as Abby tried to keep her strength, she failed, and tears formed in her eyes as well.

Luka: After that, they shot my daughter and then my wife. They said that is what happened when people wouldn't cooperate with them and that I would have to live with my mistake, that my family's death was my fault. God, I tried to help them Abby, it was all my fault. I didn't know, I tried to help them, I'm so sorry.

Small tears became big sobs as Luka held on to Abby's body as if there was no tomorrow. She embraced him like a small child while trying to reassure him that it was not his fault. She stroked his hair and kissed his head while her own tears clouded her sight and began to fall down once again. She was crying for him, for his family, for her own, and for her sudden disbelief in God. She didn't try to stop him from crying, even knowing that it would take a long time for him to let it all out, time didn't matter right now. She held him in her arms until his tears subsided, and he fell asleep. Trying not to wake him up she laid him down on his couch and put a blanket over him. She called the er and told Mark that Luka wouldn't be able to work tomorrow, lying about his health. Abby walked closer to the couch and knelt down next to his head, she stroked his hair and kissed his forehead "It's not your fault" she repeated before getting up and walking out the door. It suddenly occurred to her that she should stay with him tonight, but Kerri's words came back in a flashback, so she swallowed every feeling and yearning inside of her and found herself laying on her bed not long after. Looking to the side she saw that empty space next to her on the bed, and thought of Luka once more. His story had hurt her more than she thought it would. It hurt her to see him suffer, to see him cry. She wished she could be with him right now, in every way. But right now she had to settle for closing her eyes and seeing his face. She silently promised him she would stop by early in the morning to be check up on him. She wasn't sure how tonight's event would change their relationship. But she did not want to think about that now. Tomorrow would be here in two hours, yesterday forever.

"If you wanted the moon,
I would try to make a start.
But I, would rather you let me give my heart
To you, with love."

To be continued...