Instant Attraction, Part 1
Instant Attraction
By Miesque
miesque48@hotmail.com

DISCLAIMER: The characters of Luka Kovac and Kerry Weaver are the sole property of NBC, Warner Bros., Amblin Entertainment and Constant C

SETTING: Before "Leave It to Weaver"

THANKS TO: Canada for editing and suggestions 

"Oh. My. God," Conni whispered, nudging Lydia. "Look at that guy!"

They both stared at the tall, dark man walking through the ambulance bay doors. He was taller than Peter Benton, that was for sure.

"If he's a patient, I want to be the one helping him into the gown!" Conni gasped under her breath, causing Lydia to nearly spill her coffee.

He made his way to the admit desk, and smiled politely. "Hello. I'm Dr. Luka Kovac. I have an appointment with Dr. Kerry Weaver...about the temporary position."

Conni just stared, intrigued by his accent and his beautiful eyes. Lydia, however, kept her wits about her. "Dr. Weaver is in a meeting right now. She should be out soon. Would you like to wait in the lounge?"

He smiled again and nodded.

"Thank you," he said.

They noticed his clothes right off. Nice fit, very well tailored. He was dark, with black, greying hair set against olive skin. The eyes were still puzzling-Lydia couldn't decide if they were grey or green. And he limped ever so slightly; or maybe it was just an unevenness to his stride common to tall men. She guided him to the table and asked him if he'd like some coffee.

"No, thank you," he answered. He was looking around the room with some interest. Lydia had to leave him for a trauma, so Luka was left alone to take in the surroundings.

It was a fairly typical hospital lounge. Very cluttered, the table covered with magazines and cellophane wrappers from Ding-Dongs and sandwiches. A refrigerator, a Coke machine, a line of lockers...nothing out of the ordinary. Luka remembered the lounge at Vukovar Medical Center...what a mess it had always been. Of course, then, the refrigerator didn't work because the electricity was out, so it was always empty.

Quickly, Luka pushed the dark memories from his mind.

Instead, he thought about his day so far. He had gotten up early, shaved, showered, and forced himself to eat breakfast. He was still not sleeping well, so he felt tired just the same. He still felt so numb, so wiped out. Fatigue...the result of not feeling, perhaps. He wasn't so sure. At least he lived on the water. That was good for him. It reminded him of home.

Of course, there was nothing left of "home". He could never go back "home" again. So whatever comfort he got from living at the marina, with all those familiar sounds and smells, it did not improve his sleeping patterns.

He had come to Chicago as a kind of last resort. He had been in America for six years, and had worked hard to buy his boat. Then he had taken all the necessary tests, passing with flying colors, and had done one years' worth of residency in Atlanta. The work had been hard, but it had been good for Luka. The more he worked, the easier it was to...what was the word Americans used? Crash? At the end of each day, he would be too exhausted to stay awake. Sleep, along with nightmares, would come and he could get a little relief. But the relief was never enough. He never slept enough, never ate enough, never felt rested or filled. He was always just tired.

Working in America had been kind of startling for Luka. His English was getting better, but he wasn't accustomed to people shouting, like Americans tended to do too often. His own soft voice tended to be muted against their loud voices. But then again, Luka wasn't much of a talker anyway. He had stopped talking so long ago, stopped trying to communicate or reach out. He felt safer when he kept away from people. Lonely, but safe.

It had taken a while, upon arriving in Chicago, for Luka to pull himself together. He had saved up enough money to stay on the boat for a while, as well as finding that temp agency. He got work quickly, being well qualified as an ER physician. Mercy and Ravenswood had called first, and now, he was sitting in the lounge at Cook County General Hospital, waiting for yet another interview.

He formed no friendships at the other hospitals. He had kept apart from everyone, said little. He didn't date-couldn't, in fact, because it would mean questions and explanations and demands from someone who wouldn't understand. Not that he never thought about sex. Hell, yes, he did. He was a heterosexual male, after all. Even after all these years, he still couldn't bring himself to ask a woman out, and he avoided situations where one of them would have to make the first move. It wasn't really because he felt he'd be 'cheating' on his wife...there was more to it than that.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a woman coming through the doors. She was a small, pretty red-head. At first, he didn't notice the crutch until she walked briskly across the room to greet him. "Dr. Kovac? I'm Dr. Weaver."

Luka stood up and shook her hand politely. She looked up at him for a moment, a strange expression on her finely-drawn face. But he only smiled slightly.

Kerry had to walk behind him to get to the other side of the table, and he didn't see her brush her hair back and self-consciously straighten her blouse. He didn't see her take a deep breath, either, as she came back around to face him.

"You've been in Chicago for...six months now?"

"Yes." He pulled a chair out for her, which seemed to startle her a little. Kerry sat down and laid a small folder on the table before her. She opened it and perused Luka's records.

"You went to the Sorbonne, I see."

"Yes." He nodded, having taken his seat again.

"Graduated number three in your class...I mean, in a three-way tie..."

"Yes."

She looked up at him, then down at the paper. That's what it said-his records were impressive. He had gotten a scholarship at a very young age, graduated with honors, and qualified very quickly as an emergency physician.

He was still looking at her, making eye contact in a confident way.

"You're from Croatia?" Kerry asked.

"Yes."

"Zagreb?"

"No. Sibenik. On the Dalmatian coast."

Kerry nodded. "I hear it's beautiful there."

"It is."

She shook her head slightly, forcing herself to get down to business. He seemed very professional, very direct, and she liked that. A no-nonsense type. He seemed to choose every word carefully, to think before he spoke. There was a calm, soothing way about him that probably made for a good bed-side manner.

"Where did you do your residency...here in the United States...for your license?" She checked the papers again, unable to find that information immediately. But she found it as he spoke.

"Atlanta, Georgia," he answered. "I worked at hospitals in Zagreb, Paris and London..." he said. He paused briefly, then forced himself to say it. "And Vukovar. I've worked in everything from battle zones to nursing homes...as my records will show."

She nodded, looking again at the papers in front of her, and Luka figured she didn't recognize the word "Vukovar".

He looked away for a moment, and she wondered what was running through his mind. She could already tell he possessed a sharp intellect. Training and experience had probably taught him to keep a cool head in even the worst situations.

But...where had she heard of Vukovar?

"Vukovar...is that in...?"

"Croatia," he said, eyes wary.

Something about his manner told her to drop it, but she made a mental note to look it up on-line when she got home. She nodded briskly. "When can you start, Dr. Kovac?"

"I can start any time, Dr. Weaver," he answered.

She smiled politely-stiffly-and stood up. He also stood up, quickly, and nodded to her. She extended her hand, and he shook it. There was a real gentleness about him that she was sure the patients would appreciate.

Luka found that he rather liked this Dr. Weaver. She seemed like a pleasant person, if rather...he couldn't find the right English word. Tough? Well, he figured she'd have to be tough, to be chief of an inner-city emergency room.

"Can you start tomorrow?" she asked. "Uh...eleven o'clock in the morning?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I'll be here."

She nodded. "Good. I'll see you then."

Luka smiled, turned and left the room. The nurses watched him go, wide-eyed. When Kerry came out, Lydia couldn't keep herself from asking.

"Is that our new floater?"

"Yeah," Kerry answered, nodding. "He'll be in tomorrow." With that, she turned and headed back to the sanctuary of her office.

To be continued...