JULY

"Hey, Kerry!" Kerry turned back towards the stairway of the El when she heard the familiar voice calling her name. Abby was coming up behind her from the platform, a surprised and equally as warm smile spread across her face,

"Abby, hi!" Kerry stopped, waiting for Abby to catch up. When Abby did, they enveloped each other in a friendly hug, exchanging another set of quick hellos. Pulling away, they continued to walk towards the ER as they conversed,

"It feels like it's been weeks…did you have a good time?" Kerry smiled,

"Was Don that bad?" Kerry winked then nodded, "It was amazing…the girls loved it…You know, I've told them stories and all, but for them to actually be able to see it and be there was great. I was so pleased to be able to catch up with an old friend of mine; Mlungisi…he and I grew up together, but I hadn't seen him in about sixteen years…" a bit of a solemn look crept across her features as their most recent goodbye replayed, still fresh in her mind. Shaking it away, she continued as the two walked through the ambulance bay. "It was really, very great." She finished, figuring the anecdotes would hold until she had the pictures to go along with them. Abby nodded,

"I'm glad." The two women entered the ER together before parting ways, Kerry promising to bring pictures later that week at Abby's request.

Kerry, hoping to avoid getting pulled into any discussion of paperwork, hopped on the elevator and rode up to the fifth floor.

"Hey Dr. Weaver! How was Africa?" Her assistant, Jake, asked her as she rounded the corner of the wide corridor that led to her office.

"Uh…hot…" She smiled at the younger man, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder before holding out her hand for the pile of messages Jake was gathering from his desk. "But good…Has Dr. Anspaugh been in today?" Jake shook his head and handed her the small stack,

"No…he said he figured you probably wanted him out when you got back," the assistant winked.

"I see…" she grinned, "well, I'm going to go see what he's done to my poor office…" she raised her eyebrows in confirmation of the unsaid fact that she wanted Jake to, if someone were to call or come up, not hesitate in buzzing her; she knew she'd have a good bit of damage control to do as Don wasn't a particularly organized man.

The assistant nodded again as Kerry pushed through the heavy wooden door and entered her sanctuary- the overheated office she'd grown to call her own for the past eight or so years. Stalking across the room, she set down her bag and surveyed her desk; it was, as she'd left it, perfectly neat and organized- pictures of her daughters and Kim in their rightful place, calendar filled out to date, and stacks of paper neatly organized; Don had, evidently, taken good care of her space.

Sitting down in the oversized leather chair, Kerry leaned back and shut her eyes; though they'd arrived home two days earlier, the jet lag still hadn't subsided; despite the fact that it was about twelve in the afternoon, her mental and physical clocks were telling her that it was about time for her to go to bed, and the fact that she'd been up since five that morning certainly wasn't helping her out. Kerry ignored her tiredness and began sorting through the papers on her desk in attempt to make sense of all that she'd missed.

*

"Kerry, you out of here for the night?" Luka said, walking towards the office door Kerry was shutting and locking.

"Yeah…did you need something?" Kerry sincerely hoped not; though she'd only worked from twelve to six, she was about ready to collapse in bed. Luka shook his head slightly, wringing his hands uncomfortably,

"Ah…I got a call today- from my sister-in-law in Croatia- my brother was, um, killed a couple days ago…" he spoke gravely, deriving a slight, soft gasp from Kerry,

"Oh my…Luka, I'm so sorry," she placed her hand gently at the crook of his now-crossed arms. He continued,

"Thanks, Kerry…but, I need to head out there…she's alone and needs some help…and I know you just got back…but I need someone to cover the ER for a couple weeks...and Abby and Joe are coming with me, so…we'll be down to attendings…." His sentence trailed off, his voice- though faltering a bit- hopeful and questioning. Kerry was quick to nod her head,

"Yeah, yeah of course…when are you leaving?" she was hoping that she'd have at least a few more days to recover before jumping back in to full shifts. Luka frowned lopsidedly.

"Ah…the day after tomorrow." That hadn't been the amount of time Kerry had been hoping to have.

"Okay…" she gave Luka a sympathetic smile, "I'm really sorry, Luka…" she placed her hand back on Luka's arm and gave it a squeeze, "take as much time as you need."

Luka nodded in thanks. The two shared their goodbyes- agreeing to talk the next day to get everything in order- and parted; one heading back to the ER by stairs while the other road the elevator to the front entrance of the hospital.

*

"How was your first day back?" Kim asked, handing Kerry a couple plates from the dish rack to put away. It was nearly nine o'clock and the girls had just been tucked in; it was the first one on one time they'd shared all day.

"I don't think six hours have felt so long…" she sighed, "and Luka and Abby have to go to Croatia…so I'll be back in the ER for a couple weeks." Kim raised an eyebrow,

"Second honeymoon, maybe?" she teased; she had always found humor in the fact that the couple had never had a propper honeymoon.

"Funeral, actually." Both her own exhaustion and Kim's presumptuous humor- something that normally wouldn't have bothered her- cut Kerry's circuit short.

"Oh…" Kim took note of Kerry's snippiness and chose to accept it- she knew Kerry had wicked jet lag, and having only had two days to recover from the crossing of multiple time zones hadn't cured it- "when are they leaving?"

"Wednesday." Kerry held out her left hand for the clean glass Kim held.

"Damn."

"Mhmm…" Shutting the cupboard door, Kerry leaned back against the counter and rubbed her eyes. Kim noticed her lover's drained expression and body language and became a bit annoyed- Africa was supposed to have been- at least in part -a vacation- something to escape the stress- but, as soon as they returned stateside, it seemed as if Kerry jumped right back into the busyness- willingly or not. Kim walked over to Kerry, whose eyes were still shut, and silently wrapped her arms around the smaller figure. Kerry complied with the contact and delved her head into Kim's collar bone, sighing. Kim felt the heaviness of Kerry's fatigued body and held her tighter,

"Well, it was good while it lasted…" she spoke – more of her thoughts than the conversation- into the red hair, deriving only a subtle 'mhm'. Kim gently pulled away from Kerry and took her by the hand, "Alright…let's go to bed." Kim offered more for Kerry's benefit than her own; she had the rest of the week off and, unlike Kerry, had slept in.

Kim led Kerry up the stairs and into their bedroom, where the already half-asleep woman silently exchanged her clothing- khaki pants and a pink button down- for pajamas and slipped into bed. Kim giggled internally at her zombie-like movements and placed her hand on Kerry's shoulder,

"Ker…aren't you going to take out your contacts?" Kerry only shook her head and dug deeper into the sheets. Kim nodded to herself then kissed Kerry lightly on the forehead. Kim tip-toed out of their bedroom, got ready in the bathroom as to not disturb Kerry- though she figured, at that point, she would sleep through anything- then returned to go to bed herself. Sliding in, she hovered over Kerry for a second to see whether or not she was out; she was; her breathing was even and deep and her eyes were heavily lidded. Kim- again- kissed Kerry gently and pulled the sheets up to her chin before she tucked herself in for the night.

Africa had been the most amazing of vacations, but, in Kim's oppinion, had done a good job at kicking both their asses- she had the sunburn of all suburns and Kerry, evidentally, had one hell of a case of jet-lag. She still, however, had no idea as to how neither of their daughter's had come back to the states without either of those symptoms; their skin was still a healthy glow- though Madi had a fresh sprinkle of freckles across her cheeks- and neither had a hard time waking up at seven- as they had, apparently, made Kerry well aware of that morning- nor going to bed at eight. Laying on her back, Kim allowed her train of thought to slow down then drifted off to sleep.


A/N: I think Luka and Abby ever had a real honeymoon, but I kind of didn't watch season 14, so I really have no idea. Please review and thanks for reading.