Going Home
Part Six
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 "All In The Family".

"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. And a
special thanks to Carolyn for the dialogue between Dave and
John - and for her medical advice.



The next few days crawled by for the two men. Dave had a deck
of cards in his suitcase and he offered to teach Luka how to play
poker. Neither one of them had enough money to make a game
worthwhile, so they ended up breaking off the tines from the
plastic forks and using those in place of money.

Dave decided it wouldn't be fair to actually bet while he was
teaching Luka how to play, but once Luka indicated that he had
the hang of the game, Dave decided that it was safe to bet. He
soon found himself regretting that choice though when his pile of
tines diminished while Luka's grew larger.

"Are you sure you've never played poker before?" Dave groused as
he folded once again.

"I never said I hadn't played poker before. You simply offered
to teach me the game so we could while away the hours. You never
asked me if I knew how to play." Luka grinned as he shuffled the
cards. "Why don't we make things more interesting, hmm? How
about Jacks are better, trips to win, progressive. You do know
how to play that, right?"

"I know how to play that. Just deal the cards. Now that I know
I'm dealing with a card shark, I can take off the kid gloves."

"You can do what?"

"It means that I can quit being nice to you."

"So that's what you were doing. I thought you were just a bad
poker player."

"Just deal," Dave growled.

Luka laughed and dealt out the cards, thinking it was a pity that
they weren't playing for money.

When they weren't playing cards, they were either watching
television or calling the hospital to check on John's condition.
Doctor Robins had been right when he told them that Doctor Smith
was a nice person. She always made sure that their questions
about John were completely answered. If they happened to get
the other doctor, they were never sure if they were getting the
full picture regarding John's condition. The man would only
give them basic information. From their calls with Kerry Weaver,
they found that she didn't get much information from the man
either.

After one of the calls to Doctor Smith, Luka hung up the receiver
and sighed.

"Has he had a relapse?" Dave cut off the television and looked
over at Luka.

"No. He's finally out of the I.C.U. Not really any better yet,
but not as bad off as he was yesterday. I'm just tired of being
stuck here and not able to do anything."

"According to Robins, we should be over the flu within the next
day or two. Then we can go see John and get back to Chicago.
You won't feel so useless then."

Luka silently agreed with Dave about that. He was sure that
the E.R. was hurting by having three of the doctors gone for
such a long time. There would be a lot of double shifts to make
up for once they got back. He just wished that there would be
three of them going back instead of two.

Dave easily picked up that Luka was in a melancholy mood. It
was tedious and exasperating to be confined to their motel room.
And Dave knew that Luka was still blaming himself for John being
in the hospital. He tried to think of something that would cheer
Luka.

"What made you decide to become a doctor?" he finally asked,
hoping that the answer wouldn't make Luka think about his dead
family.

"I just always knew that I wanted to help people. Help anything
really. When I was growing up, I would take care of all the sick
animals in our neighborhood, even the wild birds. I probably
would have been a veterinarian if I had not become a doctor. What
about you? You said that it wasn't until your last year of
college that you realized that's what you wanted to be, right?"

Dave nodded. "Yeah. Not that the idea was new to me. My
grandfather Alvarez was a doctor and when I was growing up he
kept trying to talk me into becoming one as well."

"Alvarez doesn't sound very Italian."

"It isn't. It's Cuban. My Mom's parents fled Cuba when Castro
took over. They had a good life there and they left it all
behind because they knew that Castro would take away everything
they had worked so hard to earn. They preferred to willingly
give up everything in order to keep their freedoms. My Dad's
parents were both born in the U.S., but their parents were
from Italy."

"That explains why you speak Spanish so well. Cleo has mentioned
that more than once."

"I can't speak Italian though. My grandparents do speak it, but
they never used it much in front of their kids, so my Dad never
learned it. Luckily for him, he decided to learn Spanish in
school. Even though my Mom became very fluent in English within
two years of moving here, it still came in handy for Dad when he
found himself face to face with the rest of her family. What
about you? Are you trilingual?"

"I can speak and understand German, but I can't write it very well.
I didn't stay in Austria long enough to get that proficient in it.
I have thought about learning Spanish. It would be a good
language to know."

"Is there a word for someone who speaks four languages? Other
than overachiever?" Dave asked with a grin.

"I don't know. We'll have to ask Randi when we get back. She
seems to know everything."

"Ain't that the truth." Feeling bold now that he felt he knew
Luka better, Dave asked, "Do you miss Croatia much?"

Luka shook his head. "Not really. My memories of there aren't
good ones. I'm glad I left." He looked away, thinking to end
the subject, then decided that Dave might as well hear the whole
truth about what happened in Croatia.

"I didn't tell you everything earlier. I wanted to join the
army, work as a doctor for my country. My wife didn't want me
to be a soldier, even if I was just a doctor. So, I didn't
join. Instead I remained working at the hospital. As it
turned out, I treated the same type of injuries, only most of
patients were civilians. The night my family was taken, I was
working a double shift because one of the other doctors had
been killed by a sniper on his way home the day before."

"Wow. Talk about a bad neighborhood," Dave commented.

"It was very dangerous getting to and from the hospital. The
Serbs didn't care if they shelled the hospital or not. They
just wanted to run us out. Anyway, I made my way home, tired
and wanting to sleep. I got to my street and found it smoldering.
Every house had been burned. And it was so empty. I was afraid
because I didn't know what had happened to my family. I hoped
they had gone to relatives. An old woman who lived down the
street from us approached me, telling me that the Serbs had come
and taken everyone away. Then they burned the houses. I went
to the local authorities, but they didn't have any further
information. All they did was tell me to go get some sleep and
that maybe they would have more information when I came back in
the morning. They didn't. And they didn't know anything else
the next morning either. I was able to salvage a few things from
the ashes of my home. Some photographs and mementos. Not much.
The fourth day after they had been taken we heard that the
Serbs had executed everyone from our street and buried them
in a mass grave. Unfortunately, we had no way to confirm that
information because the grave was in Serb occupied territory."
Luka took a deep breath as he remembered how helpless he had
felt upon hearing that. But his helplessness had quickly
turned to rage.

"I knew that the only way to find out for sure if they were
dead was to find the grave. To do that, I had to join the army.
I didn't join as a doctor. I joined as a man out for revenge.
I can't tell you how many Serbs I killed in battle, Dave. I
know it had to be a lot. And I got my answer. We found the
grave and I was able to identify the bodies of my wife and
children by the jewelry they were wearing. They each had
distinctive gold crucifixes. Why the Serb soldiers didn't take
them, I'll never know, but they didn't. They left them on their
bodies. And I still burned for vengeance. Then one day, our
commander ordered us into a village to burn it. We were to shoot
anyone who resisted when we ran them out of their homes. They
weren't even Serbs. They were Muslims. I stood in the middle
of a street and looked around in horror as the other soldiers
carried out our orders. It was if I had been trapped in a
nightmare, but then was finally able to wake up. What we were
doing was wrong. It was the same thing the Serbs had done to
us. I turned around and walked out of the village. I wasn't
the only soldier who walked away that day. After that, I asked
for a discharge. After much argument, I received it, and then
I went to Austria. I knew that I had disappointed my wife by
my actions and I vowed that I would never intentionally cause
the death of another human being."

Dave opened his mouth, then closed it. What was there that
he could say to that? Except, "I'm glad you walked away that
day, Luka."

Luka's smile was thin as he nodded. "Not nearly as glad as
I, Dave."

"You know, I have never understood how my grandfather Alvarez,
who has such a good life here, can sit and plan the overthrow
of Castro so he can go home to Cuba. It consumes him. He
just recently retired from a very successful medical practice
and all of his children and grandchildren are patriotic
Americans. He's never become a citizen. In his heart and
soul, he is Cuban and he wants to return there."

"There are areas back home where no Serb has lived in hundreds
of years, yet they claim the land as theirs. They will fight
to the death to get it back. I don't understand it either.
I don't understand how I could kill people, but I did. I guess
that's why I don't like to talk about it. You're the only
person at County who knows all the details."

"Well, I'm glad you were finally able to tell someone about
what happened to you. It's not healthy to keep something like
that locked up inside of you, Luka. I promise you that your
story won't go beyond these four walls."

"I appreciate that. It's getting late. We should go to bed."

The next morning they got up and found that their temperatures
were back to normal. Their morning call to the hospital made
them even happier because they learned that John's condition
had improved overnight and if their fevers didn't return, then
they would be allowed to visit John that afternoon.

Dave and Luka took another dose of zanamavir and kept their
fingers crossed. Lunch came and went and their temperatures
remained normal. They packed, checked out of the motel and
headed for the hospital, planning to see John and then head
home. It had been five days since they had first noticed their
flu symptoms, and they were more than ready to celebrate their
freedom.



When Luka and Dave arrived at the hospital, they went to the E.R.
to see if Robins was on duty. He was, and he was very happy to
see them. He had been lucky and didn't pick up the flu from them.

"Alex is on duty upstairs, so you'll finally get to meet her.
She's told me how much she's enjoyed her phone conversations with
you," he told Luka.

"She's been very helpful."

"That's good to hear. It's time for my break, so I'll take you
up there. Follow me." Robins let the desk clerk know that he
was on his way to the third floor and then they headed for the
elevators.

"I guess that you guys are anxious to get home, aren't you?"

"Very much so. We're not looking forward to the extra shifts
we'll probably have to work, but it will definitely be good to
be home," Luka said.

"It'll be more than good. It'll be great. How long will it
be until John is released?" Dave asked.

Robins shrugged. "You'll have to ask Alex, she's his main doctor.
I do know that he'll be happy to see you guys. He's been asking
about you."

The doors opened on the third floor and he led them straight to
the nurses desk, asking where Doctor Smith could be found.

"She's in with John Carter right now," the head nurse replied.

"Good. That's who we're here to see. Thanks, Pam."

They walked away, but Dave was sure he heard one of the nurses
say that she wished the cute one was there to see her. Maybe,
just maybe, she meant him. But, he doubted it.

Robins stopped in front of room 312 and knocked on the door.

"Come in," a woman called out.

They went inside and Dave and Luka found that Robins had not
exaggerated a bit when he extolled the virtues of his future
wife. She was a beautiful woman. As for John, well, Dave thought
that John had definitely seen better days. He was pale and thin,
but he smiled when he saw them and even sat up straighter. Dave
had thought that John would be in better shape after five days in
the hospital. But, then again, after the time he had spent at
County General, John probably felt sick just over the thought of
being a patient once more.

"Hey, there. Alex told me that you two were finally over the flu.
I'm just sorry that you ended up catching it from me."

Luka shrugged. "It couldn't be helped. How are you feeling?"

"Better. They finally found something to take care of the pneumonia."
He saw the questioning looks on their faces, but before
he could explain, Alex jumped in.

"John apparently picked up an antibiotic resistant organism
somewhere -probably in the E.R. You trauma doctors get exposed
to all types of nasty things down there. It made it difficult
for us to treat his pneumonia. But, we finally got it under
control and he's going to be fine." She grabbed Robins by
the hand and they headed for the door.

"We'll give you guys a chance to catch up with each other," she
said. "It was nice to finally meet you both."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, too," Luka said. He waited
until the door had completely shut, then he returned his
attention back to John. His eyes clouded over with worry,
he began, "John, I'm so sorry that I put you in the hospital.
I should have never given you the cold medicine. I almost
killed you and I'm sorry about that. I'll do anything I can
to make it up to you."

"Luka, it wasn't all your fault." John said, shaking his head.
"I should have told you why I didn't want to take anything. I
wasn't so out of it from the flu that I couldn't take two
minutes to explain things. I'm just glad that you figured it
out." He stared down at his hands and continued, his voice barely
audible. "I've been having a rough time since Lucy...since
Valentine's."

Luka and Dave exchanged glances, neither one of them forgetting
the way that Valentine's Day ended.

"It wasn't your fault," Dave said. Then he decided to be bold
and ask about something that had bothered him ever since he had
found the bottle of Nardil. He really meant to be tactful, but
when he opened up his mouth, what came out was far from it. "What
the fucking Hell was Daraad thinking when he prescribed that to
you? No one uses that shit anymore."

John continued to stare at his hands for a few moments and when
he looked up at Dave, they could tell he was struggling to decide
what to say. "I tried a lot of medicines and nothing else worked
for me. It's been rough. I know in my head that it wasn't my
fault, but my heart has been having a difficult time with all of
it. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Lucy."

"We all do. Ms. Knight would have been an excellent doctor,"
Luka said.

John apparently decided to change the subject. "Thanks for
taking care of me. I really do appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Dave felt uneasy being thanked for doing what
a friend should do anyway. "So, when can you get out of here?"

"I'm not sure. Alex is being vague about that. My blood pressure
is still high and I'm still running a slight fever. They aren't
sure if that's from the flu or from the drug interaction. She
also wants to run a few tests because I had more than one seizure
and she wants to make sure that there's no residual damage from
them. It won't be soon enough for me, that's for sure. I've
heard enough "doctors make bad patients" remarks to last for a
lifetime."

"It could be worse. They could be nurses you personally know,"
Dave joked.

"I dunno. At least I would be in Chicago and not here. But, I
can't complain about the care I've received. It's been top notch."

"Good. We're going to head back to Chicago today. I think that
Kerry Weaver will be very happy to have us back," Luka commented.

"I spoke to her on the phone this morning. She was at work and
sounded harried. I'm sure it's been rough for them to be down
by three doctors. Tell her that I'll be there as soon as I can."

"We will. We brought your suitcase with us. It's down in the
car, but we'll bring it up to you before we leave." Dave told
him.

"I appreciate that," John ran his hand over his face. "I can
use a shave. And a few other things."

"Oh, I don't know. You might want to give some thought to
growing a beard. It might make you look older and more mature."
Dave said.

"Been there, done that. Got rid of it. Any other grooming
suggestions, Dave?" John couldn't help but grin as he asked.

Dave shook his head. "Can't think of any right now. So, is
your family staying near here?"

John's smile disappeared. "No. They didn't come." He looked
away from them, then shook his head and turned his head back to
face them. "There wasn't any reason for them to be here while I
was in the I.C.U. There wasn't anything they could do for me
then. I'll see them when I get back to Chicago. Besides, my
parents are out of the country."

"I see," Luka said. But, he didn't. This was a repeat of the
time John spent in the hospital back in February. Luka didn't
understand why John's family stayed away then and he didn't
understand why they were staying away now. If his child, brother
or sister was in the hospital, he would be there. But, he didn't
have any siblings, and he no longer had any children, so there
was no chance of him ever needing to go back to Croatia for
such a visit.

Dave kept quiet. He had picked up a lot of information about
John's family from his co-workers. He knew they were rich and
powerful. He knew that John's parents spent more time outside
of the U.S. than they did in Chicago. He knew that John didn't
see any of his family much. The most had been his recent affair
with Elaine Nichols, and she wasn't really family. She was
simply the ex-wife of his cousin. But, Dave knew that if he were
the one in the hospital bed, then his parents would be there at
his side. And so would his grandparents. He didn't think too
highly of the Carter family. He had not been the only one to
notice their absence when John had been stabbed. Back then,
he had simply felt sorry for John. Now he felt angry on his
behalf. Angry that the people who should love him the most
seemed to not give a damn about him.

Sensing that John was uncomfortable talking about his parents,
Dave changed the subject and nearly an hour passed before the
nurse chased them out so she could take John's vital signs. Dave
took that opportunity to go to the parking lot to get John's
suitcase and when he got back upstairs, Luka was once more in
the room talking with John.

"Shall I unpack it?"

"Please. After spending all that time on my back, my legs are
more than a little wobbly when I stand."

Dave put everything away, then stowed the suitcase in the small
closet near the bathroom.

"I think we need to get on the road, Luka," Dave said.

"I think you're right." Luka stood and the two of them said
their good-byes to John. Then they left.

"I hope that Kerry is willing to let me have time off when
John is discharged. I would like to come here to bring him
home," Luka said in the elevator.

"Count me in, Luka. We left Chicago together, we should return
that way. It's going to feel strange going back without him
this time."

"I know. But, we'll make up for that when he's released."

"Definitely." They stepped out of the elevator and headed for
the parking lot.

"Luka?"

"Yes?"

"Did I ever tell you how grateful I was that you worked a double
shift on Christmas Eve so I could stay home with my family?"

"I think you mentioned it in passing."

"Well, I really did appreciate it. It was great to have my
folks come all the way to Chicago to see me. If you hadn't been
willing to switch shifts with me, then I wouldn't have had much
time to spend with them. Thanks."

"You're most welcome." At the time he had offered to work the
extra shift, he had not been too thrilled when Dave had been
the person to take him up on his offer. But, he had made the
offer to switch shifts with anyone who wanted Christmas Eve
off and he didn't feel that it was right to back out of the
offer just because Dave was the only taker. Now he was glad
that he had kept his word. "Let's go home, Dave."

"Can we stop somewhere for lunch? We don't have to eat in, we
can get it to go."

"That all depends. Are you paying?"

"Yeah, I'll pay."

Luka grinned, "Then I guess we can stop. Name your preference."

"I would kill for a good cheeseburger right now."

"Doesn't that eliminate any fast food place then?"

"Don't be a food critic, Luka. Just be prepared to stop when I
tell you to stop, all right?"

They got into the car and left the parking lot, looking for signs
advertising a burger joint. As happy as they were to be headed
back to Chicago, they were also sad at the fact they had to leave
John behind. But, having seen him, they knew that he was doing
fine physically, so they didn't have to worry about that any
longer. All they had to worry about was convincing Kerry Weaver
to let them be the ones to come back to Ohio to get him once he
was released from the hospital.


End of Part 6