Going Home
Part One
By Cathy Roberts
huntersglenn@yahoo.com

A John Carter/Luka Kovac/Dave Malucci Story. Rated PG. Contains
spoilers for Season Six. Last episode seen was "Be Still My Heart".

"ER" and all its characters belong to Warner Bros. No
infringement of their copyright is intended. This story
was written for the enjoyment of "ER" fans everywhere, and
may be downloaded for your own pleasure. However this
story may not be used, distributed or archived without the
permission of the author.

As always, I wish to say a big "Thank you" to Melissa, who
edits what I write and makes sure that it all makes sense.



Luka Kovac closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. If he
were lucky, then Dave would think he was asleep and would shut up.
John had fallen asleep over twenty minutes ago, not that Luka
thought Dave had noticed. The man just kept talking about
anything and everything. Asking personal questions, giving
stupid opinions, bragging about what a great doctor he was. Luka
had heard all of that practically non-stop over the conference
and he was tired of it. Whatever had possessed Kerry Weaver to
send Dave Malucci to a medical conference? Had she been doing
it out of self-preservation? Getting him out of the E.R. before
he drove her and everyone else mad with his arrogance?

Although, to be honest, the idea of attending the conference
with Dave and John had appealed to him. He knew that except
for the trip there and back, he wouldn't have to see much of
Dave. That had been when he thought they would fly. Kerry
destroyed that fantasy when she informed them that due to budget
constraints, they would have to drive. From Chicago to Buffalo.
Still, he had thought it wouldn't be too bad. That had been
before John had informed him that his sense of distance was
slightly off. And so he had been forced to spend endless
hours in a car with Dave. John was brave though, and rode in
the front seat while Dave drove. Then, when John took over
the driving, Luka had moved up front, letting Dave sleep in the
back seat. That part of the drive was pleasant. Luka liked
John a lot more than he liked Dave. John was a very good doctor,
but he didn't flaunt it. There were times when Luka suspected
that John didn't even know he was a good doctor. John just
stepped in and did his job. But, Luka had watched him with
patients, saw how attentive he was to everyone. The way he
genuinely listened to everything they had to say. Not like Dave.

Once they reached Buffalo, they discovered that the organizers
of the conference had decided that they would put the attendees
into teams. In order to help promote camaraderie, they would
not get separate rooms, instead they would room with a member of
their team. Luka had ended up with one Jamie Goutreaux, from
Louisiana. At least that was the name on the nametag. Luka
had spent three days partnered with Jamie and he still had no
idea what the man had said. He supposed that the man's Cajun
accent wasn't a hindrance back in New Orleans, and he did take
some pleasure in the fact that for every time he looked blankly
at Jamie, Jamie had looked blankly back at him. John ended up
having to share a room with some pediatric doctor from Philadelphia,
some guy he said he had met a few years back, Max Rosher.
Neither one of them seemed happy to be staying together, and
John had been in a foul mood during the conference. By the end
of the long weekend, it was apparent that Doc Philly, as Dave
called him, had caught a strain of flu which had not been included
in the annual flu shot. It wasn't discovered early enough to do
John any good though, which was why he was sound asleep in the
back seat of the car. So far, the drive home was being hindered
by the many stops they had to make so John could be sick, then
stopping to get fluids into him followed by more stops so he
could be sick again. Luka was certain that the nausea would
pass; it didn't last long with the flu. Then John could get
some healing rest. Luka took a deep breath and told himself
that he should just go on and get some sleep while he could.
He was going to have to take a turn driving now that John was
out of commission. He wasn't looking forward to it, but he didn't
have any other choice. The last thing he remembered was the
soft music coming from the radio. And Dave's loud voice as he
sang along.



Dave carefully pulled the car off the road and came to a stop.
Peering through the windshield, he struggled to make out the
sign that had to be no more than twenty feet in front of him.
The snow had been a novelty when it first began forty minutes
ago, but now it was approaching nightmare status. He glanced
over at Luka, who was still asleep, then into the back seat
where John was still out of it. He nervously cleared his throat,
then reached out and shook Luka's arm. The man's head snapped
up and his eyes flew open.

"What?"

At least that's what Dave thought he said. It was hard to
tell, because he didn't think Luka had said it in English.

"We're in trouble."

Luka blinked at him, then looked outside. The snow was heavy
and he could tell that it had been that way for quite some time
now.

"Where are we?"

"Ohio."

"Where in Ohio?"

"Somewhere between Cleveland and Toledo. I think. Since John
was sick I wanted to find a shortcut, and you were out of it, so
I had to read the map myself while I was driving. I'm not really
sure where we are. I think there's a name of a town on the sign
over there, but I'm not sure."

"You got us lost?" Luka couldn't believe that Dave had been
stupid enough to get off of the interstate. Didn't the man
realize that it was the fastest way to get John home?

"You were asleep and I did the best I could, okay?"

"No, it's not okay," Luka snapped. He undid his seatbelt and
reached for the door handle.

"What are you doing?"

"Someone has to check out the sign."

Luka rushed out and was soon back in. He reached for the map,
then frowned as he saw where they were.

"Well?"

"We're in Fair Oaks, Ohio. Here." Luka pointed out their
location on the map and Dave groaned. They were about fifty
miles away from Interstate 90.

"Okay, so I'll just turn around and we'll be back on course."
Dave started the car. Now that he had a plan, everything
would be fine.

"Can we stop?" John asked from the back seat. "I'm going to
be sick again."

"We are stopped," Luka said, turning in his seat to take a look
at John. "It's cold out there."

John barely nodded as he sat up then opened the door and
stumbled out of the car. Luka got back out to help him and
Dave cut the engine off. A few minutes later, Luka helped
John get back into the car, where he promptly laid back down.

Luka got back in the car. "He's burning up. He needs to get
some decent rest in a bed. There should be a motel or
something here."

"I don't think that Doctor Weaver will be too thrilled about
that. She said we were to watch our expenses."

"I'll pay for the room. Just find us a motel. You are capable
of that, are you not?"

"Yeah, I can do that. Just shut up and watch me," Dave snapped.

A few minutes later, Dave pulled into the parking lot of the
Shady Rest Motor Lodge. There weren't a lot of cars around,
so it was a good bet they could get rooms.

"Wait here," Luka ordered as he got out of the car. Dave was
tempted to go inside anyway, just to annoy him, but someone
needed to stay in the car with John. Reaching over the backseat,
he gently felt John's cheek and forehead. Luka was right, John
was burning up. He wished they had a thermometer, but his
mental inventory of his doctor's bag told him that he didn't
have one. Maybe Luka or John had one in their bags.

Luka returned to the car. "Room 12, to the right over there
and toward the back."

"One room? There doesn't seem to be a lot of guests here,
Luka."

"We need to stay with John, so one room with two beds and a
roll away bed will be sufficient for our needs. The desk clerk
said that the storm is going to get worse and it's a good thing
we decided to stop. There's a store down the road and we can
get medicine for John there, and something to eat."

"I suppose you want me to go shopping then."

Luka thought about it, then shook his head. "I'll go once we
get John put to bed. I think I've had more experience driving
in snow."

"Whatever." Inwardly, Dave was glad that he didn't have to
drive back out in the mess. He parked and they got John and
their luggage into the room. It was a corner room and very
spacious, with a large bathroom. Besides the two double beds,
there was a table with four chairs, a dresser with a television
perched on the top and a chest of drawers. The extra bed was
in the closet, but Dave could see that there was plenty of
space in the room for it. He didn't want to be the one stuck
with the cot. It would be lumpy. He could wait until later
to fight Luka over the other bed. Then again, Luka would most
likely tell him he could have the real bed. He was like that.
So amiable and indifferent to things that would bother normal
people. Too good to be true, that's what Luka Kovac was.
Dave chuckled as he recalled how Luka had treated him on this
rip -- the people back at the hospital would be aghast to hear
the tone of Luka's voice when he was tearing into him.

"Is there something humorous about all of this?" Luka asked,
his tone telling Dave that he wasn't finding anything funny
right now.

"No. I was just thinking how lucky we were to get such a
great room. And you won't have to pay for it all by yourself.
I'll chip in half."

"If you wish. Any special requests from the store?"

"Something hot to eat and something cold to drink. Like a beer."

Luka nodded. "Got it. I'll be back as soon as I can. Why don't
you call Kerry while I'm gone and let her know that we'll be
delayed getting back," Luka picked the car keys up off of the
table, then shook his head. "On second thought, I'll call her
when I get back."

"You don't trust me to call her?"

"I'd prefer to explain things to her. Do you know if John is
allergic to any medications?"

"How would I know something like that?"

Luka shrugged. "You like everyone to think that you know
everything, so why wouldn't you know?"

"Well, I don't know that." Dave gently shook John's shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Luka's going to the store to get food and some medicine for you.
Are you allergic to anything?"

John shook his head. "Not that I know about. Just get me some
juice. I'll be fine once I get some rest. I don't need anything
else."

"You might want to take something to make you feel better. It
won't be easy to get rest if you're feeling achy," Luka said.

Once more, John shook his head. "I'll be fine, Luka. I can
live with the aches and pains. Honest. I don't want any
medicine, okay?"

Luka frowned, but he nodded. "Okay. Juice for you then. I'll
be back as soon as I can." He bundled up once more and headed
outside, leaving John and Dave alone.

"What time is it?" John asked.

"Almost three. It's still snowing pretty heavily, so it's a
good thing we decided to stop overnight. Why don't you try to
go back to sleep and we'll wake you when Luka gets back with
the groceries. Maybe you'll feel like eating something by then."

John grimaced. "I doubt it." He suddenly shivered and pulled
the covers closer around his body. "I could handle some water
though. Would you mind getting some for me?"

"No problem."

Dave grabbed a glass and filled it, then waited until John had
sat up before handing it to him. John managed a few sips before
he gave the glass back.

"Can you try to drink a little bit more? You don't want to
get dehydrated."

John shook his head. "Maybe later." He snuggled back down
under the covers and closed his eyes, wishing for any part of
his body to quit aching and silently cursing Max Rosher for
giving him the flu in the first place. His head was pounding,
he ached all over and his stomach was sore from all the vomiting
he had been doing. Oh yeah, Max, life is great, thank you very
much. He found it ironic that he, a person who was so vigilant
in making sure he received a flu shot every year, should get
hit with a strain of flu that the shot just did not cover. The
only consolation he had was that Max Rosher was also feeling
like shit right now.

"Do you happen to have a thermometer in your bag?"

"Yeah, I think I do. Did you bring everything in here or is
it still in the trunk of the car?"

Dave looked around, finally spotting the three doctors bags
on the floor on the other side of the bed. "They're here." He
looked through John's bag, finding the thermometer and then
popping it into John's mouth. A few minutes later he had the
result, and he wasn't pleased with it.

"Well?" John asked.

"You definitely have a fever. 103.8."

"Well, that's not really unexpected, is it? I'm sorry that
you won't get home on time now."

"It's not your fault that you got sick. I just hope that I
don't catch this strain, too."

"Sorry."

"Forget about it. Go on and sleep. You need it more than I
need the company."


End of Part 1