All the Lonely People
Part Two
By Carolina and Rachel
super_carolina1@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: None of the ER characters belong to us.

Author's notes: Thanks for all the feedback on part one, it only makes us write
faster :oP DO NOT REPLY VIA EMAIL, newsranger doesn't have an e-mail provider.
IF you want to contact us, send an e-meil to either: Super_Carolina1@yahoo.com
or michaelsmom6599@netzero.net

Enjoy!



"What happened?" Jing Mei said as she walked through the ER doors. There were patients everywhere, some waiting in chairs with minor injuries and others crying out in pain. She took off her coat and threw it on the admit desk, where Randi was trying to answer three phones at the same time.

"There was a gang shooting, and of course, we're getting all the patients," Cleo complained as she ran by.

Chen looked around for a moment in confusion, and not knowing what to do. It wasn't until the doors to the ER opened again and Kerry rushed in when she came back to reality.

"Chen! We have some pulling up outside, jump in," Kerry said hurriedly.

Jing Mei looked hesitant for a moment, feeling her stomach move all around inside her, but she instantly ran out and met a gurney coming in.

"Randi!" Kerry yelled. "Get on the radio and make sure Kovac and Lockhart get in here, now!"



Everything happened too fast, and the sounds of the shooting gun seemed like a thousand decibels. Then it stopped, and she heard a clink as the gun was dropped to the pavement, and the boy ran away. From on top of her, she heard Luka moan, and it all came to her like a lightning bolt.

"Dr. Kovac," she exclaimed and rolled him over quickly, feeling his blood drain down her neck. "Are you ok? Are you shot?" she asked quickly even though that was obvious. But she tried to calm herself and at the same time help him out. His jacket was soaked in blood already, and she unzipped it to try and see if the wound was serious.

Luka felt Abby roll him over and he felt light headed from the pain. "I think I was shot, but it is ok," he said shakily. Actually, the pain seemed to be making him lose touch with reality, but he didn't want to sink into delirium, fearing Abby's reaction. "Are you ok?" he asked, his voice hoarse, and trying to sit up.

"Yeah, yeah," Abby said quickly. "Just stay down, ok?" She was beginning to panic, the blood protruding out of Luka's wounds made his shirt change colors completely from blue to burgundy, and it felt incredibly heavy on her skin.

"Keep doing CPR on the patient and call for help," he said weakly. He thought he must have been losing blood quickly, because his vision was becoming blurry. Or maybe it was just the shock setting in. He blinked hard, trying to remain conscious, but he could feel his mind swimming.

Millions of thoughts ran through Abby's head, and she turned around to the bigger scene of the crime, "I need some help here!" she shouted, but no one seemed to hear anything, because she was still alone. "Dr. Kovac, just hang in there," she tried to soothe him, but he seemed like miles away. Why did some people have to be such quick bleeders? She took his jacket off, and only then did she see that he had been shot twice, once in the shoulder and once in the arm.

Ignoring his jacket, she took hers off and to try to stop the bleeding. She wrapped it around both his wounds; Luka winced in pain. "Just," He was beginning to drift off, so she slapped his face a couple of times to keep him conscious. She turned to the previous victim, his blood mixing on the ground with Luka's. His pulse was gone, and she began to do CPR, while staring at Luka. "Dr. Kovac, wake up! Just stay awake!" she shouted at him.



One-bedroom apartment, spacious walk in closets, kitchen, living room, and balcony. Pets ok. Must be a non-smoker.

"Nope."

Two-bedroom apartment, west side, one bathroom, living room, kitchen, call for more information. "Two bedrooms..."

"What are you doing," Millicent Carter asked as she walked into the kitchen, watching her grandson hunched over a newspaper.

"Looking for a place to live," Carter mumbled, not taking his eyes off the paper, and chewing a pen.

"You have a place to live," Millicent said, taking out some pots and pans to start making dinner.

"I mean a place of my own," Carter replied.

Millicent went to the refrigerator, to take out some meat, milk and eggs. "Why don't you wait a while before you move out, you just came back."

"It's all the same," Carter said.

"Exactly," Millicent added.

Carter looked up at her, and put the pen and paper down. "Hey, gamma, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Millicent said as she mixed some ingredients together.

Carter hesitated for a moment, looking forward and playing with his fingers. "Um, have you ever, uh, had a friend who was pregnant, but the baby didn't have a father?"

Millicent looked at him for a moment, "You're not pregnant are you?" she joked.

Carter laughed, "No. I mean, hypothetically, if you had a friend who was expecting, and she didn't have any support, what would you do?"

"Well, probably just be there for her," she said simply. "One of your friends?"

Carter flinched, "Um, yeah, kind of." He didn't want to give away anything about that friend being Deb, because he had promised he wouldn't tell anyone, even someone who was completely unlinked to the hospital.

"Is she having money trouble?" Millicent asked.

"No, no," Carter shook his head. "She has money, it's just that, um, I don't know.," Carter trailed off.

"Don't toy with pregnant women, John," Millicent warned.

"I'm not," Carter said. He let out a sigh, "It's just complicated."

Millicent put down the spatula and looked at him. "John, you just came back from rehab, you have to start all over again at work, you have a recuperation you have to work on. Concentrate on your own problems first, and then worry about others."

Carter curled his lip. "Yeah," he said unconvincingly. "I just feel bad for her."

"Of course, honey. But what can you do? You're not the father." She frowned, "You're not the father, are you?"

Carter shook his head.

"It's ok to help a friend, but don't make it your own problem, you have enough of those," Millicent added. She looked at him with a smile, "Roast beef?"

Carter looked at the mix in the bowl, and then just nodded. "I have an NA meeting, why don't you save some for me?" he asked, but before she could answer, he kissed her head and walked out of the kitchen, leaving her with her protest on her mouth.



Doug tapped his fingers on his thighs and looked at Carol, sitting next to him. "No chance of getting out of here in the next ten minutes, huh?"

Carol played with Kate, and looked at Doug, "Doubt it."

Doug looked around the room, at all the lockers and the old coffee machine. "I miss the traumas. Not too much excitement when you have your own office, unless one of the kids chokes on a sticker," he said absentmindedly.

Carol kept doing Kate's hair, "Well, there comes a time in every doctor's life when he has to open up his own practice. You weren't thinking of working on an ER forever, were you?"

"Well not forever, maybe until retirement." He thought for a moment, still looking forward, "Eh, I wouldn't wanna work under Weaver again. I hate Chicago, and I swear, if that foreign guy stares at me one more time..."

"Dr. Kovac," Carol said.

Doug looked at her, and decided to change the subject, "I wonder who got my locker."

"Dr. Kovac," Carol repeated.

Doug let out a sigh and stood up. "I think I'm going for a walk," he mumbled and walked out.



"Hang another unit on the rapid infuser and call the OR," Chen said, each one of her blinks quick and hard to make that blurring go away.

"BP is falling," Haleh said.

"Ok," Chen sighed and took a deep breath.

"Are you ok?" Haleh asked.

"Yeah, yeah, get me a chest tube tray," she said quickly.

Malik kept staring at her, "Want me to get Weaver?"

Chen shook her head. "Dammit."

"I'm getting Weaver," Malik said and walked out.

"No! It's ok," Chen protested, but it was too late. A machine began to beep wildly, screeching in her ears.

"V-fib," Haleh said.

"Start compressions," Chen said.

"What's going on?" Kerry asked as she walked in.

"Chen is sick," Haleh said.

"I'm not, it's ok," she said, but looking pale and weak.

Kerry stared at her for a moment, and then snapped into action, "Number 8 ET tube, keep doing compressions and have the paddles ready, charge to 250." She took Chen's place, and gently pushed her aside.

Chen just walked over and leaned on the wall, and let her legs wobble for a moment before she sat down on the floor, head between her legs. She could only hear Kerry giving out orders, and too many machines beeping at the same time, and nurses repeating the status of the patient over and over, but no one even seemed to notice she was still there.



Doug always hated this hospital, the architecture. It was just a labyrinth, and anyone could just walk into a room if they felt like it. Still, when he walked out it, he was surprised to find out he missed it. Well, he missed Carol most of all, but he missed the hospital. That feeling went away as soon as he opened his own practice.

He peeked his head into trauma two, and watched as Mark and some of the nurses worked on a patient. He walked in.

"Where's radiology?" Mark asked, a little exasperated.

"They said they'd be here any minute," Chuny said.

"We don't have a minute," Mark said.

Doug looked around, and then at Mark, "You ok in here, buddy?"

Mark looked up, his hands almost all the way inside the patient, "We're a little short handed, as you can see."

"Where's Carter?" Doug asked, thinking for the first time that he hadn't seen the resident anywhere.

"Leave of absence," Chuny said.

"What?" Doug asked, but a machine began to beep loudly. He quickly moved next to Mark, putting some gloves on his hands. "Get me the internal paddles."

"You're not licensed to practice here, Doug," Mark said, but made no effort to push Doug away.

"I'm not practicing, I'm assisting you," Doug said.

Mark looked hesitant, but caved in, "They tore his aorta."

"Yeah, no kidding," Doug said. "Have surgery ready and charge to 25."



Luka opened his eyes and tried to keep himself awake. "Abby, you're. doing... fine," he said breathily. He was not sure how many times he was shot, but he was surprised at his apparent blood loss. "Just keep doing... compressions," he was trying to help her out, but he could not even seem to find the words. Luka took a shaky breath and just thought how nice it would be to rest for a moment. Everything seemed so quiet all of the sudden. 'I'll just close my eyes for a moment,' he thought and let his eyelids cover his eyes.

After the 15th compression, Abby reached over and pushed and pulled Luka's body, "No, stay awake!" she ordered firmly and resumed compressions. There was no way she could do this alone. She didn't want to stop the CPR, but she could only do so much with two hands. She needed help.

Out of the corner of her eye, something shone against the sun, and after stopping compressions, Abby ran over and picked up the gun the kid had left behind. She went back with it, and resumed compressions as she looked at Luka, who was whispering something to himself in another language. "Dr. Kovac," she pushed him with her leg; he just moaned.

All of sudden she just stood up and ran to where someone could see her. She had never fired a gun before, so she made sure it as aiming at the sky. There was one bang, and a couple of faces turned her way, some cops pointing guns at her. "I need help over here!" she shouted again and went back to Luka and the victim. "Dr. Kovac," she called out as she did CPR again, "They're coming now," she said, pressing on his wounds with her foot as well, trying to get him to move.

Luka could feel his body being pushed and poked and he moaned. He was so tired still. "Danjiela, I am awake," he said in English, then he said more softly in Croatian, "Mogu li pospavati vise?" Luka tried to open his eyes and he looked up in time to see Abby Lockhart holding a gun in the air and shouting at the top of her lungs. Luka blinked and blinked again. Surely this was a dream.

He tried to prop himself up and look at the victim, as the whole situation was coming back to him, but he winced and cried out in pain as his shoulder gave way and he fell back down to the ground. 'Great plan Kovac,' he thought to himself. This was not going to help Abby see the good side of emergency medicine. 'Get a hold of yourself, this is no big deal,' he scolded himself mentally. When Abby returned to resume compressions on the patient, Luka smiled. "You... didn't kill... anyone... did you?" he said through tense breaths.

Abby looked at Luka and smiled; glad he was back. A couple of paramedics came over and one of them took over the CPR, another one made her sit down, seeing the blood on her hands, arms, and clothes.

"Are you ok? Are you shot?" he asked her, but Abby just struggled with him to stand up.

"He was shot, twice. The arm wound has an exit, but I couldn't find an exit wound on the shoulder," she said as she crawled over where Luka was. A couple of paramedics took over, examining Luka up and down and giving him some morphine. "It's ok," Abby said soothingly as she knelt behind his head, resting her chin on his forehead. The paramedics took the young boy away, and then they proceeded to put Luka on a backboard.

Luka could feel Abby's chin on his forehead and her hair brushed across his face. With the pain and morphine, Luka could not keep his mind focused. He reached up and brushed her hair back, "Danjiela," Luka whispered, but he snapped out of it for a minute, "Abby."

"Just hang in there," Abby said as the paramedics lifted Luka. "Are we going to County?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's the closest, traffic's a little backed up," the paramedic said.

"No, let's go in the chopper," Abby complained.

"It's not that serious, Miss Lockhart," the paramedic said.

"You can put him in with the other victim, you still have space," she said firmly, there was no way they were transporting Luka by ground because that would take days. "All the critical patients are gone, he's losing too much blood!" she yelled to the paramedic, until they finally caved in.

"Fine, fine, but we don't have space for you," the paramedic said and quickly went the other way.

Abby just nodded, and as they waited for the helicopter to descend, she just put her mouth near Luka's ear so he could hear her. "They're going to take you to County now, ok? It'll be alright," she said as one of the paramedics was beginning to push her away.

Luka tried to stay coherent and nodded as Abby told him what was happening. He was a bit embarrassed to be taken into the ER in this condition, but he didn't have another option. The morphine was making it hard to stay awake and he was feeling dizzy. Luka closed his eyes and before he awakened again, the helicopter was landing at County.



Kerry wandered down he hall, watching as the flow of patients was reducing to just a trickle. She stopped, and opened the door to trauma one, where Chen was still sitting on the floor. "Dr. Chen?" she asked carefully. "Are you ok?"

Jing Mei looked up, "Yeah," she sniffed as she stood up.

"You wanna tell me what that was about?" Kerry asked carefully, not wanting Jing Mei to feel like she was being scolded.

Jing Mei shook her head, trying to seem nonchalant, "I-I don't know what happened, I'm sorry, that was very unprofessional."

Kerry just nodded. "Did you take a pregnancy test?" she asked, and watched as Chen looked up as if Kerry had just fired her. "I've worked here for years, enough to know that you're one of the best doctors we have."

Jing Mei just let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner."

Kerry nodded, "Don't apologize." She watched Chen for a moment, and then shifted on her feet. "Go home, you can take the day off tomorrow." Jing Mei was about to protest, but Kerry held her hand up, "Just make sure that next time you're feeling sick, you come and tell me and we'll figure something out, ok?"

Jing Mei bit her lip, and just nodded.

"Ok, I'll call you tomorrow," Kerry said and put a hand on Jing Mei's arm as the doctor walked away. She turned around; she saw something that made her stop in her tracks. Walking over quickly, she opened the door to trauma two rather abruptly, watching in shock as Doug and Mark worked on a patient. "What the hell are you doing?"

Mark looked up, but Doug continued working. "We're short handed, Doug is giving us a hand," he said casually.

"Like hell he is. He's no longer insured to work here, step out Doug," she barked.

Doug kept working, without even looking her way. "Kerry, you're short on doctors and there's more patients waiting outside, I'm saving your ass here."

"Step back!" Kerry repeated firmly.

"Dr. Weaver," Malik peeked his head in. "Chopper's about to land, they're bringing Kovac in."

Kerry looked back, "Tell him to start seeing patients right away."

"No. They're bringing Kovac in," Malik explained.

Mark and the nurses looked up immediately, and Kerry rushed out.



She waited in front of the elevators, still trying to figure out what was happening. She hadn't heard anything on the radio about Luka being hurt, so maybe he just needed help with the patient? The numbers on top illuminated in coordination on both elevators as she watched, 4, 3, 2...

"What happened?" she asked in disbelief when she saw the limp body of Luka Kovac on a gurney.

"Doc got shot, that guy's even more critical," the paramedic said as both gurneys rushed towards the rooms of the ER.

Kerry walked alongside, looking down at a drifting Luka, "Luka, are you ok?" she asked, but Luka only moaned under the oxygen mask.

"Two GSWs, one to the upper left arm with an exit wound, the other on the left shoulder, no exit wound. We have him two of morphine on the scene and he lost around 2 liters of blood. BP is 70/50, pulse is 95," the other paramedic said.

Kerry looked around as Luka's gurney rushed into trauma one, the other critical patient being rushed into trauma two. "Cleo! Take this other patient."

"I have three already," Cleo complained.

"Get someone to help, anyone," Kerry called out and walked into the room. "Ok, let's get him on a pulse ox and an IV. Hang two units on the rapid infuser and make sure they have type specific up in the OR, tell them we have another patient going up, now."

"Got it," Lily said and went to the phone.

Kerry removed the oxygen mask from Luka, "Luka, what happened?" she asked him, because his eyes were open, but he looked rather lost.

Luka tried to focus his stare, and kept trying to decipher all the sounds around him, because the last thing he remembered was watching the blades of a helicopter. He blinked twice, and Kerry's face came a little more into focus. "Where's Abby?" he asked softly. Kerry looked up at the remaining paramedic.

"She's ok, coming by ground," he said and walked away.

"Alright, let's roll him over," Kerry said.

"Kerry, do you need help in here?" Mark asked as he walked in.

"No, go help Cleo," Kerry barked.

"Is he ok?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, go!" Kerry exclaimed. With the help of the nurses, she got Luka on his side carefully, but he still moaned in pain. "Call radiology, and the OR, he'll most likely need surgery."

"Corday's around, want me to bring her in?" Lydia asked.

"No, just call the OR and tell them we have another patient, I want Peter to see him," Kerry said.

"They're really backed up there," Lily said.

Kerry signed something on Luka's chart and gave it to Lydia. "Well, so were we, and we managed."



The ambulance finally pulled into the bay and Abby pushed the doors open, ignoring the gurney that rushed in with her. Without thinking, she walked into the ER, which was calmed down now.

"Abby?" Dave asked, noticing her blood soaked clothes and skin. Intuitively, he began to check her body out to see if she was ok. "Are you hurt?"

Abby looked at him. "No," she said absentmindedly. "Where's Dr. Kovac?"

Dave nodded, putting his hands on his hips. "Up in surgery, they had to remove one of the bullets." Abby looked like an ad for 'Save this Starving Child', so he gently grabbed her arm and walked her to the lounge. "Why don't you get out of those clothes and wash yourself?"

Abby nodded, thinking maybe this really was a dream, because Dave was being too nice.

"Abby," Kerry called out as she limped over. "Are you ok?"

Abby nodded, wanting to pull her hair back, but two different types of dried blood coated her hands. "Yeah."

"There's a cop who wants to talk to you and Luka. Are you up to it?" Kerry asked.

Abby looked doubtful for a moment, and then just nodded.

"Why don't you let her take a break, Chief?" Dave asked, still holding Abby's arm.

Kerry looked from Dave to Abby, "If you wanna take a break, feel free, Abby. But I think the sooner you do this, the better. They want you to meet with a sketch artist."

Abby let out a sigh, "Yeah, you're right. I'll be right there."

"Get into some scrubs and clean yourself up," Kerry said before she walked off.

Abby let out another sigh, and raised her eyebrows at Dave.

"Sure you're up to it?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, thanks Dave," Abby smiled.

"What happened?" he finally asked.



Beep. That sound. During a shift it always melted with the others and you could barely hear it at all. But he did now. It was so loud and defined that it hurt his ears.

He could also hear someone in the room, moving around, paper being fumbled, a pen against a clipboard. He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't. He tried to move, but he felt disconnected from his body.

The door opened, and a female voice inquired about his state.

"He's still unconscious," a male voice said, distant and almost incoherent.

'No! I'm awake!' he called out, but was ignored.

"Please tell me there are no more patients coming up," the male voice moaned.

"No, no, trauma is over," the female voice said. "Mind if I sit?"

"Be my guest. Anesthesia should be wearing off soon." The door opened again, or closed.

He heard someone pull up a chair and sit next to him, and then silence. Every once in a while, he felt a little movement, and breathing, but nothing else besides the relentlessly beeping of the machine. His body was slowly feeling heavier, but his eyelids were still glued together. He supposed he could go back to sleep, and he should have, but not while someone was in the room.

The chair moved, and with the noise, Luka's eyelids finally separated. Everything was a big blur, all the colors melted together, defining themselves too slowly.

"Dr. Kovac?"

He tried to discern the voice, but it was a mumble, like adults on a Peanuts movie. That went along well, because right now he felt as if a tree had eaten him whole.

He finally opened his eyes fully, the room still a Van Gough. He turned his head; blurry brown hair fell on a pale face, which was looking at him. He blinked hard.

"How are you feeling?"

Luka flinched his face, letting out a sigh that sounded more like a moan. He looked around the room once more, trying to figure out where he was, and then at Brynn.

"How's your shoulder?" she asked.

Luka then remembered, and figured he must have been somewhere in the OR. "What happened?" he asked, his voice hoarse and low.

Brynn inched forward, "They had to take the shoulder bullet out, not a big deal. You'll be working again in no time," she grinned.

Luka took a deep breath, feeling nauseous and dizzy from the medication, and starting to feel the pain on his shoulder and arm. But still bullheaded, he tried to seem strong and nonchalant in front of Brynn, this was embarrassing enough as it was. He still didn't know what to say.

"My first day in the ER, I didn't expect it to be so overwhelming," she smiled.

Luka closed his eyes and looked over at her, noticing for the first time his left arm was in a sling. "You'll get used to it," he said a little absentmindedly.

"Yeah," Brynn sighed. "The cops are outside, they want to talk to you."

Luka frowned; he was not up to giving out the details of what had happened. He cleared his throat, "What happened to the man we brought in?"

"Oh, um, I think he's still in surgery." Brynn said, "He lost a lot of blood."

"Well, well, well, look who's up and back from the land of unconsciousness," Romano chirped as he walked in. He showed Luka a plastic bag, "I took the liberty of saving your bullet. You can keep it with the rest you got in Bosnia, or whatever the hell it is you're from. The ladies love it." He turned to Brynn, "Right, Miss McKay?"

"Depends on who was shot," Brynn quipped.

"You can keep it," Luka said coldly.

"That's a very nice Thank You gift, Dr. Kovac, but I'm not one of those losers who collect things they extracted out of other people's bodies," Romano said. "Any pain?"

"No," Luka said firmly, although he was beginning to feel a little prick on his arm and shouder.

"Speak now or forever hold your peace, I'll be going home in a couple of minutes," Romano warned.

"I'm ok. When can I go home?" Luka asked.

"Home?" Romano laughed.

"I can sign myself out," Luka warned as Brynn watched the scene in silence.

"True," Romano nodded. "But why go home and struggle when you can stay here, covered by your insurance, and have such beautiful women dropping by." He winked at Brynn, and walked out.

Luka turned to Brynn, "He operated on me?"

Brynn smiled, "We were short handed."

Luka shook his head, disturbed and tired. "I have Romano cells inside of me."



Jing Mei hated cities for one and only one reason; you could never see the stars. She stared up, and as some clouds passed by, she tried to peek and see if she could see them shining, at least one, but they weren't there. She still looked up. The sky was hypnotizing, a couple of white clouds blocking the moon and making the summer night a little cooler.

She let out a sigh, and turned to leave home.

"Oh good, you're still here," Carter said as he ran to her.

Jing Mei jumped back, and seemed less than happy to see him. "John."

"Are you going home?" Carter asked.

"Yeah, um, I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" she rubbed his arm quickly and walked away.

"Hey, hold on," Carter said and caught up with her quickly. "Do you need a ride?" Jing Mei kept walking, "No, I have a car."

"Oh," Carter said, with his little tail between his legs. "Wanna grab something to eat?"

Jing Mei stopped, a little annoyed. "I'm fine John."

"I know," Carter said quickly.

"Good," Jing Mei said and kept walking.

Carter followed, "I just, I want to..."

"You want to help, you want to be here, you feel bad about what happened," Jing Mei said in a little tune. "Do you know why I haven't told anyone about this, John?" she asked.

Carter felt afraid of answering, so he just stammered.

"Because of this. Because the people who are not going to be following me around with questions about who the father is, about my future plans, because the people who are not going to be pointing fingers at me, are going to be following me around making sure I'm ok."

"And that's a bad thing?" Carter asked.

Jing Mei stopped walking, and got closer, "You know exactly what it feels like."

"Yes I know," Carter said. "And if people hadn't kept asking if I was ok, I'd still be using drugs. And if you remember correctly, you were one of those people, Deb," he added firmly.

"This is different," Jing Mei said.

"How?" Carter asked, pushing her.

"Because I can't wake up tomorrow and say, 'I'm gonna give up my pregnancy'. This isn't something I can go to AA and fix, John, this is forever. Do you know what that feels like?" she asked.

Carter let out a sigh, and looked around, "I just..."

"Don't try to understand it," she hissed. "I'll see you later."

Carter just watched her go, let out another sigh, and just punched the air around him.



A little built, sort of tall, tanned, maybe Hispanic. She tried to remember as best as she could, but everything happened too fast, and now the memory of it all was giving her a pounding headache.

"Do you remember his face," the detective asked as they stood in the hallway of the 6th floor.

Abby let out a sigh, "No, I don't know, I had my back to him. He thought we were cops."

"So you didn't see him," the detective assumed.

"Only his shadow," Abby said.

"Did Dr. Kovac see him?"

Abby shook her head in ignorance, "I don't know, maybe."

The detective scribbled something on a pad and ripped up a page to give it to her. "If you remember something, call me immediately. And don't leave town until we let you know. Can we talk to Dr. Kovac now?"

Abby looked at the door behind which Luka rested, and saw as Brynn walked out and smiled at her. She looked back at the detective, "I'll see if he's awake."

She walked over carefully, knowing the cops were still looking at her back, probably talking about how bad of a witness she was, that they couldn't believe how someone so dumb got into med school in the first place.

She knocked on the door, and only walked in when a voice told her to come in. She did so slowly, as if Luka was sleeping and she didn't want to wake him. She smiled, and Luka motioned her to sit on the chair where Brynn had been.

"How are you feeling?" Abby asked.

Luka half smiled, "I've been better." He saw her nod, wearing blue scrubs that were two sizes too big for her. "Are you ok?" he finally asked, very aware about the fact that he was wearing a small hospital gown, and lying on a bed. That made him feel even more embarrassed than he imagined it could.

Abby let out a sigh, "Yeah. That was scary, though."

"I'm sorry I took you down there, I should have known it would be dangerous."

Abby smiled, "It's not your fault."

Luka raised his eyebrows, but still felt terrible about the whole thing, because he was sure that was the scare which would push Abby out of medicine altogether.

She looked at the sling covering his arm and flinched her face, "How long do you have to wear that?"

"Couple of weeks, depends," Luka said.

Abby just stared at him. "Dr. Kovac, that was very heroic, what you did. I don't think I would have reacted that quickly and you saved my life, so thank you," she said very nervously, fidgeting with her fingers.

Luka smiled, "Abby, after all this.," he indicated his arm, "I think you can start to call me Luka."

Abby smiled back, "Well, anyway, the cops are outside, and they want to talk to you." Luka moaned. "Do you want me to tell them you're sleeping?"

"No, no," Luka shook his head. "The sooner the better."

"Ok," Abby said and stood up to open the door, and motioned for the detectives to come in. They did so without hesitating, and she went to sit back on the chair, but the detective already occupied it, so she stood by the door, which opened with a little force, knocking her in the head.

Chuny peeked her head in, "Oh, sorry, Abby," she said softly as the detective interrogated Luka.

"What are you doing here?" Abby whispered, stroking her head.

"I'm pulling a double, covering the OR. You know how they are floating nurses again," Chuny said, looking at Luka. She grabbed his chart and wrote something on it.

"A sponge bath?" Abby asked incredulously.

"What? He's indisposed," Chuny said defensively, but mischievously.

Abby shook her head and smiled as the detective shook Luka's hand and stood up to leave after raising his hat at her courteously.

Abby sat back on the chair as Chuny began to do things which did not need to be done, and making sure all the hospital gowns in the room were too small.

"Do you think they'll catch him?" Abby asked.

"I doubt it," Luka said.

"I have a friend who was in a shooting a while ago. Cops don't really look for the guys, they know they're not gonna find him. Either that or they'll arrest the first guy they see on the street, put something on his pocket and take them in," Chuny said very matter-of-factly.

Luka raised his eyebrows. "Anyway, Abby, I hope you're still not thinking about leaving medicine."

"You're quitting?" Chuny asked.

Abby looked back at Chuny, "No, I, I don't know, maybe."

"I'm sorry, Abby, I scared you even more," Luka ducked his head. "Let me make this up to you, you shouldn't just make a decision like that. I can get your files, your grades so far, and some literature, we can look at them over dinner, and figure something out. You've got what it takes to be a doctor, Abby; you proved that to me today. I don't think you should let it go to waste."

Abby curled her mouth unconvincingly. Truth was that she thought of quitting med school all the time, every time she did a mistake. This was probably no different. Tomorrow she would walk in, do something good for a patient, and forget about the whole idea of leaving medicine. Still, right now she felt like she didn't have what it takes, and she needed to hear from someone what she needed to do in order to boost her own confidence. She didn't know how hard it would be to go back to med school being so old. All the other students were too young, so naturally they were always huddled together. She always had a hard time finding a partner, which meant that she would do her work alone most of the time. Having Luka there to help her seemed like an advantage, like someone was pulling her up. Not that she would try to convince Luka to give her a good evaluation, but if he knew that she was actually a good person, he might be inclined to put in a good word for her. Like he said, he owed her one.

But she looked up at Chuny, who looked like she was about to run out of the room to print this in the gossip column. "Well, technically I owe you one," she told Luka, trying to be humble.

"Well, you can wash the dishes then," Luka said very casually.

"Wash the dishes?" Abby asked.

"Yeah," Luka said. "I don't know any good restaurants, so I thought I should cook." He smiled, "It's a hobby."

Chuny dropped an emesis basin and quickly picked it up, "Sorry, I just moisturized my hands."

Luka smiled at Chuny and then at Abby. "So what do you say? It's the least I could do after you kept me alive down there. I can pull some strings; maybe get you into a better program? Get you another resident?"

Abby just raised her eyebrows, "Well, free dinner, sure."

"Good," Luka smiled.

"Great," Chuny added.

"Anyway, I have to go home now, I just wanted to know if you were ok," Abby said and stood up.

"Thanks, Abby. Good night," Luka said.

"Night," Abby said and walked out.

"Sleep well, Dr. Kovac," Chuny said and walked out before Luka could answer, turning off the light behind her. She caught up with Abby, "I don't believe it."

"What?" Abby asked casually.

"He asked you out," Chuny whispered, but loudly.

"It's not a date, Chuny," Abby said casually.

"Um, Abby, I think I know when a man is asking a woman out. And going his house? That is a third date!" Chuny added.

Abby looked at Chuny and stretched out her hand to stop her , "You know that tingling you feel inside of your stomach when a guy is asking you out on a date? I didn't feel any of that. So it's not a date. You heard him say that we were just going to go over some paper work. So don't start spreading rumors that are not there. And even if it was, I would have said no."

"Are you kidding?" Chuny asked.

"Nope," Abby said and kept walking. "I don't date men who are prettier than me," she said bitterly. "Sooner or later they realize they could be with someone beautiful and end up dumping me."

"Still," Chuny said, unconvinced.

"Besides, I'm a med student, he's a resident, I doubt he'd go there. Trust me, Chuny, not a date," she reiterated. "And if you don't believe me, why don't you come too?"

"Sorry, Abby, I don't do threesomes. Not girl-boy-girl anyway," Chuny joked.

Abby just rolled her eyes and shook her head, and walked away, knowing she would never hear the end of it from the nurses.



Carol sat back on the passenger seat of her mother's car, watching a landscape she knew by heart because of all the nights and days she drove, walked, or jogged by. There's a bench where there used to be a light pole right by a tree, but other than that, nothing had changed. Sometimes back in Seattle, she would close her eyes as Doug drove and pretend she was still here. She would pretend that every time she walked into the building where his practice was, Chuny, Lily, and Haleh would greet her by the doors, ready to impart the latest gossip. But she would open her eyes and it was raining. She got up in the morning and it was raining. Tess would cry at night and it was raining. Doug and Carol made love, and it still rained.

She felt his hand on hers, looking at her with an insinuating look on his face. She smiled, and looked back at their babies. Their hair was longer, Kate's turning curly, Tess' still straight, like her father. They looked so much alike when they were babies, but now she could tell the difference right away, everyone could. Tess was the vivid image of her father, whereas Kate looked more like Carol.

She looked at Kate, her little head resting on the side of the car seat. She was a very active baby, even in her sleep. Carol smiled. The baby must have been dreaming, because she was frowning and moving around as if she was awake.

She looked at Tess. So fussy and quiet. So much sleep lost over her, trying for hours to get her back to sleep, but she rarely did, and as a result, the baby was always lazy and tired. Carol watched her little nostrils as they expanded, and her small tummy rising as she breathed. Up and down, up and down, up...

"Doug," Carol sat up straight; her heart stopped beating for a few seconds, her breath gone. She immediately panicked. "Doug, Tess is not breathing."

"What?" Doug asked.

"She's not breathing!" Carol shrieked.

Doug immediately hit the brakes, causing the car behind him to almost hit them, but instead the driver drove by and cursed at them.

Doug quickly took his seatbelt off and turned around, climbing over his seat to see his little baby. "Tess," he shook her.

"Oh God," Carol cried, covering her mouth with her hand.

Doug began doing little compressions on the girl. "Come on, honey, don't do this to me," he said over and over.

All of a sudden, though, Tess took a breath, and began to cry.

"Is she ok?" Carol cried, clearing away some tears.

Doug tried to examine the baby from his seat, and took her out of her car seat to put her on Carol's lap. Doug turned in his seat and began to turn the car around, "We're going back to the hospital."

To be continued...