THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the best beta reader in the world, NaomiP! Even with a migraine, she gave fantastic advice.
I'm still pretty new to fanfics, but here we go. I hope to get a wedding and happy ending to this fanfic. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: I don't own ER, County General or any of the characters…
Chapter 1: How You Know
All appeared peaceful in apartment 353. For its residents, it had been a rough year. From the day of the shoot-out and almost losing Joe, to the NICU, to the trial, to the hostage-taking, added to the everyday craziness of being ER doctors, and ER Chief had made the lives of Luka and Abby very…stressful.
The whole hostage-taking still had the family unnerved. Once they'd all returned home, Joe had wanted nothing other than to be held by his father, as though he could sense that he'd almost lost Luka. He fingered Luka's lips, prompting a smile to cheer his father. Abby had hovered nervously around Luka, unsure of what to say; if she should ask the questions that lit up every nerve ending within her brain. Even so, she snuck in hugs whenever she could, and rubbed Luka's arm affectionately. Luka had cajoled his son light-heartedly, but distractedly, the events of earlier clearly weighing heavily on his conscious.
It had been Ray who had patched Luka up at the hospital after the incident. He was confident that Luka's hand would eventually have full function in a few weeks, but there were cuts etched deep into the skin, and two broken fingers from his hand getting crushed by the vise. For the entire next day, Luka ignored his injured hand completely, letting Abby change the bandage, but not examining the wound himself. The scars were too fresh and too painful, literally and figuratively.
"What do you want for supper, Chinese or Thai take-out?" Abby asked from the kitchen table where she sat with the phone and take-out menus.
"I'm not hungry," Luka said flatly from the couch where he sat with Joe and his infamous green frog, flipping through the TV Guide.
"Luka, you're eating," Abby said firmly. He'd only eaten half a toast and a cup of coffee all day.
Luka sighed. "Order whatever you want," he said.
Abby stood from the table and walked to the couch, lifting Joe into his playpen. She took a seat beside Luka and rubbed his thigh comfortingly. Not wanting to be cold to her, Luka took one of her hands with his good one and leaned his head on her shoulders. She played with his dark hair with her other hand.
"Hey, talk to me," she pleaded.
"What's there to talk about?"
"You tell me."
"Abby, it's just too much," he said quietly.
Abby watched him intently for a moment. His guardedness wasn't unusual; that's just how Luka was. But he was still starting to worry her. She sat with him on the couch, letting him rest on her shoulder. Together, they silently watched their son entertain himself with a pop-up book in his play pen.