Author's note: This is my first time writing any type of fanfic so I apologise if it's not perfect and dialogue is a bit unrealistic and awkward. It's defiantly my weak spot! I hope you enjoy :)

'There you go Mr Gleaves, all sewed up,' said the doctor as he rose to his full height from the bedside of his patient, 'Just try not to burst this lot because I won't be coming back to redo them.'

As he pulled off his rubber gloves, Luka's green gaze glanced at the arrogant man whom had already proceeded to undo two lots of previous stitches because apparently, they didn't meet a standard he saw fit.

His exact words had been 'they don't do them like they used to', referring to the stitches though Luka was much more accustom to the phrase being used to refer to people or maybe even food. Despite the man's ungrateful attitude, Luka had sown him up once
more since the ER was relatively quiet but he was reaching the end of his patience.

'You've brought this upon yourself young man. If you did them properly there would be no need for me to remove them and personally, I don't believe...' but Luka heard no more for he had backed out the room, leaving the old man babbling to himself.

As he reached the main desk, a sigh escaped his lips and a quick glance at the clock told him he still had an hour left on his shift. He placed Mr Gleaves' chart in those ready to be discharged and then proceeded to rest his elbows on the desk, his head
finding its way to his hands and they glanced over his face and made their way to his dark hair. He had been on since five in the morning and it was now four in the afternoon and he felt no better now than he had when his alarm had sounded earlier
that day. In fact, he had acquired a splitting headache and his scratchy throat told him he was coming down with the flu.

'Down at the last hurdle, huh?' came a voice accompanied by a hand squeezing his shoulder as the person breezedpast. Keeping his arms on the desk, Luka glanced round at Carter as he wiped his latest patient off the board. The younger doctor had
a small smirk on his lips from his own comment and when he turned to Luka, it was clear the attending wasn't in such high spirits.

'Oh come on,' he huffed playfully, 'Only an hour left and then you're free for the weekend, right?'

'Yeah something like that,' Luka muttered in response as his head returned to it previous position in his hands. He was meant to be attending a conference in St Louis on Saturday and he had the day off on Sunday but due to his new found aches and pains,
he was debating whether the cancel the trip.

'D'you wanna to catch a bite to eat after you get off? I'm off at five too,' Carter said, selecting a chart with a patient that simply had a grazed knee.

'I don't know, I mean I'm pretty shattered and - '

'It'll be my treat,' Carter cut in, turning to Luka with a small smile. He had noticed Luka hadn't been himself since his break up with Samand he was concerningly down in the dumps. Understandably, he was heart broken at losing the sassy nurse but
to make it worse, he was distraught at no longer seeing her son, Alex. He was the first kid Luka had gotten close to since the death of his own two and now he has lost Alex too.

With an internal sigh Luka heaved himself up off the desk and turned to face Carter with a submissive smile on his face.

'Fine you win,' he said and with that, Carter walked off satisfied at the outcome. Luka watched him go and continued staring in that direction long after John had disappeared. He was snapped out of his trance by Frank's piercing voice.

'Abby and Pratt just took a girl into Trauma one and it looks like she is going to need all the help she can get. I doubt you'll even get there in time,' he chuckled to himself and missing the daggers Luka shot at him.

'What do we have?' Luka asked bursting through the door and pulling on a pair of gloves whilst his eyes took in the mess that was supposedly a patient. Blood covered every inch of fabric in the room including Pratt and Abby's clothes and he had to watch
his step making his way to the gurney for it was like an ice rink.

'Young woman, estimated age of twenty-five but she is too injured to give us her name or any other details. Multiple stab wounds to the stomach and back as well bruising around the neck so suspected strangulation. Heart rate is 100, pressure is 120/80,pulse
ox is 90% and pupils are equal and reactive,' reeled off a young med student whom Luka had never encountered before.

'Ok, she is hypoxic so get two units of O-neg and we will need to insert a nasal cannula,' he said, nodding at Pratt to do so, 'Until the blood arrives, hook her up to some saline and start an IV. She is dehydrated. Just to be on the safe side, order
a head CT and get me an ultrasound.'

He moved so he stood at the woman's head and grabbed a torch to double check her pupils. He flashed the light in her already opened eyes and sure enough, both pupils reacted to the light. She was conscious yet clearly unable to move or speak due to her
injuries yet her eyes gave away more than either her speech or actions could ever provide. As he drew the torch away, Luka's gaze held the patient's and the fear was blatant in her sapphire eyes. Something about her terrified and wild look made Luka
hover perhaps a moment longer than he should of done and breifly, he felt her pain rise in his chest. It was similar to the one he had felt when seeing the wreckage of his apartment building in Croatia and knowing his family wasn't going to make it
out alive. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out and the patient saw this and confusion flitted across her eyes.

'The blood is here,' Abby said, glancing at Luka.

'Umm...yeah, just...start a central line,' he said rather flustered but also confused as towhy his speech had abandoned him.

'Mam, can you tell me your name?' he asked her, dragging his gaze away from her's but still talking to her. He watched as her lips made slight movements but no sound was produced. Looked like the two had something in common.

'Right, we need a surgical consult down here. She is stable for now so she needs to be moved as quickly as possible,' he said with a raised voice so everyone could hear. He then grabbed the portable ultrasound that had been delivered to the room and waited
as it took a few seconds to boot up. Spreading the gel over her stomach he placed the receptor over her stomach and focused on the grainy image it produced.

'The bladder has been puncutered. We need a that consult, NOW!' Luka groaned getting frustrated. 'You,' he said nodding at the med student who has given him the vitals, 'Get on the damn phone now and stop wasting time.'

'You ready?' A voice sounded from behind Luka as he slipped his coat on.

'What?' He asked, confused as he turned around to face Carter who was in his own coat and scarf and ready to venture out into the depths of Chicago's winter.

'Dinner?' Carter laughed gently at Luka's confused expression morphing to one of realisation and apology.

'Oh yeah. That,' he said, shaking his head as though to reset his thoughts into clearer, more helpful ones. 'We better get going.'

'And anyway, so I guess that's how she...' Carter trailed off as he noticed Luka wasn't playing the slightest bit of attention to him. His fork was pushing the remaining part of his stake round the plate and Luka's eyes followed it though it was clear
his mind was elsewhere.

'What's wrong?' Carter asked, placing his own knife and fork down in an orderly fashion, thanks to his upbringing.

'Huh what?' mumbled Luka as the glaze over his expression faltered and disappeared, 'Your story, carry on.'

'Ha nice try. What's on your mind?' persisted Carter as he stared at the fellow doctor's troubled expression with a look of concern on his own. 'You know, if you miss Sam that much - '

'This isn't about Sam,' Luka butt in rather firmly which caught Carter off guard but he didn't say anything. 'It's stupid. Nothing really. Just a patient.'

Just a patient. It happened to be his most recent one, the young woman. Usually Luka was good at separating what happened in the hospital with the rest of his life and once he stepped outside that ER door, he didn't allow anything from inside the hospital
to invade. Yet here he was, replaying the image of that poor woman's frightened eyes over and over again as thoughhis mind was a CD player and it was jammed on that one moment. Not only that but he was now worried he hadn't done enough. They
had put her injuries down to attempted burglary that went wrong since the police explained she was found inher house with the back door smashed in and a considerable amount of money stolen along with items of value and considerable worth. However
looking back on it, why strangle AND stab someone? Surely one would shut them up. And he never ordered a rape kit and that is what worried him the most. That fearin her eyes was one he recongsied from multiple rape victims and if they didn't
check soon, it might be too late to ever tell.

'Look. I've got to go,' Luka said, standing up and grabbing his coat without even thanking Carter for dinner.

Ok so that was my first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it and any tips are welcome. I'm aware I have a lot of improving to do but I enjoyed writing it!