Family Ties

Luka woke up startled as the baby monitor was sending an alarm. Abby was already awake franticly talking to the nurse. She saw that Luka was awake. "Oh, Luka Carter's been stabbed! Can you believe it?" She turned to the nurse, "What about the other doctor who was it?"

The nurse was trying to calm her down as Dr. Coburn rushed in. "Abby listen to me I know that your friends are hurt, but you need to calm down." She called for some drugs to settle her.

Luka was holding her hand whispering soothing words in her ear. "Carter will be fine, he's a fighter. Remember, he was fine after his other accident."

"Luka, please go check on them downstairs please. I feel like it's my fault that they were hurt and he wasn't caught please. I'll feel better after I know they're fine." Dr. Coburn nodded at him to go. He hurried down the hall to the elevator. When he reached the OR he couldn't get word of them. He went downstairs to see if his friends knew anything.

He reached downstairs and found everyone standing at the admit desk in shock. He asked after Carter and who the other victim was. Ray looked at the floor and finally at him. "Luka, Carter was stabbed in the back and abdomen, he was kicked or hit pretty badly, and he's in surgery now. Lucy was…" he swallowed. "There's suspected sexual assault." Sam let out a sob as Lydia tried to comfort her. "She is fine otherwise; they just have to wait for her to wake up for consent to an exam."

Luka walked away sadly, somehow he was still hoping for good news. He didn't know how he was going to tell Abby, she was friends with both of them. He slowly went back upstairs to check on Abby and the baby. When he reached the OB floor, he walked to her room to see he lying on her side not looking at the door, she was sobbing it looked like. He stood close to the bed and reached out to her but before he could touch her she said don't. He backed up he knew something was wrong. She didn't turn to look at him but spoke softly. "There's no need for you to stick around anymore." She took a shuddering breath and continued. "The baby is gone."

He walked out of the room, stunned. He found a bench and sat on it. He put his hands over his face as he sobbed. He couldn't help but think about his other children he also lost. He couldn't understand how Abby could think that he didn't love her and wouldn't stick around for her.

Sam was sitting next to Carter's bed when he got out of surgery. "Sam?" He asked barely recognizing her. "What happened?" He asked. Sam started crying.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. I'll be leaving now, I have to go home and see my son." She put extra emphasis on the word my.

"Sam? What's wrong?" He couldn't lift his head to see her walk out of the room.

Susan Lewis came in to visit a few hours later as did other people but no one would tell him what had happened to him. "You have to talk to Lucy." She said when he asked her. He was very confused now.

A few hours earlier

Lucy was in an exam room in the ER when she woke up. "Oh good you're awake. How are you feeling?" Kerry asked.

"I feel fine. I was just taking a nap." She sat up in the bed and noticed she was in a hospital gown. "Why am I wearing this? I was napping. Did something happen?"

"Lucy, calm down and I'll tell you." Kerry smiled sweetly trying not to worry her. Kerry told Lucy what happened and Lucy just looked at her with an open mouth. "We're going to have to do a pelvic exam to make sure nothing happened. Do we have your consent?" Lucy closed her mouth and looked around the room for her clothes. "Lucy? We have to finish looking you over."

"No Kerry I feel fine, I just want to see Carter. I'll sign out AMA if I have to." She found her belongings in a bag and started to dress behind a curtain.

"Alright, then tell me why you don't want one."

"It's my choice is it not?" Kerry nodded. "Then I will not have one. Nothing happened."

Kerry looked down at the floor, "Have you had sex in the last 72 hours?" She asked on a hunch.

Lucy was done dressing and walked out the door without explaining herself. She went to the elevator to visit Carter. Kerry wrote on her charts her findings and sighed. She handed the chart to a shocked Sam who had been listening to the whole thing.

Carter woke up when he heard the door open. It was Lucy. "Lucy, oh my goodness I am going crazy here, no one will tell me anything." He painfully said as she sat in the chair next to him. His pain meds were wearing off.

"Carter it's okay. I just had a run in with Sam. She's really pissed Carter." She looked at him with sympathy. She reached for his hand and tried not to make him move anything because it all hurt him, she could tell. "I was in the exam room when that man attacked you. There thought I had been raped by him. But in all realness, I had sex today, this morning in the personal bathroom. I don't know if he raped me or not. But I don't want to know." She didn't look at Carter as she explained. "They wanted to do an exam and I was afraid they would find out about me and him. So I wouldn't let them. I swear I didn't see Sam in there until after Kerry figured it out." She took a deep breathe. "Sam thinks it was you that I slept with."

Not minding the pain, Carter let go of her hand abruptly. "Why would she think that? There are how many guys in this freaking hospital." His voice was rising. "Why? Did you say something?" He was trying not to move but he was trying to turn his head towards her. "Who was it? Who did you sleep with?"

Lucy stood up. "Obviously you are upset so I'll leave you alone." She walked out before he could say anything more.

Luka woke up the next day on the bench and he stood up still drained of all energy. He walked to Abby's room and saw that it was empty he walked to the admit desk and waited for the nurse to get off the phone. "Excuse me where is my…Abby Lockhart? Her room is empty?"

She looked at the clipboard on the counter and flipped through a few pages and looked up at him confused. "She checked out AMA about three hours ago."

He gave her a confused look and realized she was going to run. He ran all the way downstairs, past the ER and to his car parked out front. He drove to their apartment and found walked in. He saw that the whole place was void of all her stuff he checked the bathroom, the bedroom everything that was hers was gone, all her clothes, shoes, and her toiletries. He wiped the sweat from his neck and drove over to her apartment where Neela and Ray now lived. He knocked on the door and Neela answered. "Where is she?" Neela looked confused. "Where is Abby? She checked out, I don't know where she is."

"Luka calm down tell me what happened."

"She…uhh….she lost the baby I think she ran but I don't know where. Her mother. Wait her mother." He ran yet again to his car and drove to the nearest gas station. He filled the car up, stocked up on caffeine and bought a map to Minnesota." He calmed down after about two hours of driving after calling Maggie's number about 38 times in a row. His phone started ringing and he fumbled for it and saw she was calling him back. "Hello?" He asked in a hurry.

"Luka, this Maggie, you've been calling? What's wrong with Abby?" She was already jumping to conclusions obviously upset.

"Maggie is she there? Is she on her way there?"

"Luka you're not making any sense. I'm going to fly to Chicago I'll catch the red-eye I'll see you later."

"Dammit!" He was upset because she had not listened and he did not tell her he was coming to her. He turned around at a small house and headed back to Chicago calmed down and still sad. He hated that she ran he hit the steering wheel in frustration.

Luka looked at his watch as he pulled into the parking lot of his apartment and wanted to scream, he was about 10 minutes late for his first day of work since being back. He pulled back out of the spot and sped off towards County. When he finally got to work that night for the night shift he was extremely pissed off and annoyed. He walked into the hospital and everybody was avoiding eye contact with him. He slammed his locker open when he got to the lounge. He pulled his lab coat on roughly as Kerry walked up to him.

"Luka, we appreciate you keeping time and coming to work today but you don't have to. Take as much time as you need. We understand your situation."

He scoffed at her words. "All right you are short two doctors. One for this shift and one for the next correct?" She nodded slowly. "Then I think I'll go to work then." He pushed open the door and walked out grabbing a chart and walked to an exam room.

Abby climbed out of the cab, it was pouring down rain as she walked to the trunk of the door and got her stuff. She had called her brother Eric from the hospital and told him to expect her today. He lived in New York with his wife now. "Hey Abigail." He called as he ran out to help her with her stuff. He brushed against her as he grabbed her suitcase and he felt her large stomach.

He looked at her shocked. "Abby!"

Her head turned slowly towards him. "Eric, let's talk about this later, please." He sat her stuff down and crossed his arms demanding her answer. She sighed. "I'm pregnant!" She yelled into the pouring rain and picked up her stuff and walked inside. Eric followed her, mumbling something.

As soon as they got inside he looked at her determined to get the story. "So why didn't you tell me?"

"Would it of made a difference?"

"So mom doesn't know?"

"God no."

He helped her get her wet coat off. "How far along are you?" He asked.

"About 6 months."

"Who's the father?"

"Oh God, can I go to bed? I'm exhausted." She was getting upset with all the questions. He didn't look fazed. "He's dead." She lied quietly looking down. Eric walked closer and took his sister in his arms.

"I'm sorry Abby. I'm so sorry."

Luka had been at work since 10 and it was now 4 he had another two hours before he could go home and wait for Abby's mother. He groaned out loud. He walked out of an exam room and Haleh walked up to him, "Luka you got a visitor. She's at the desk." She pointed. He groaned louder. He walked to the desk, and saw Maggie standing there looking frantic.

"Luka thank god! I asked for Abby and the man said she doesn't work here anymore. I mentioned you and he disappeared. Where's Abby?" he walked around the corner to greet her. He led her to the lounge to tell her everything. They sat down on the couch and he told her everything starting with the attack and ending with Abby running away.

Maggie's face turned red and she asked for a phone. Confused he showed her one. She dialed numbers and waiting as it rang. "Eric? Eric is that you? I can hear you breathing. She's there isn't she? Well, you better send her back here now or I'm going to go there and while I'm there I'll probably run into your wife and meet her for once." Luka didn't smile at the conversation between mother and son. "Alright, send her packing here and make sure she gets on a damn plane now!" She screamed and then hung up. "I know what you're thinking Luka." She faced him. "But Abby needs her mother right now. I know because before I had Eric or Abby I miscarried. I know what it's like to lose something you love so much."

Eric got of the phone with his mother, annoyed. He knew she would come to New York, and he didn't want that. He went upstairs to see Abby. She was lying down. She hadn't been there for very long but she was depressed he could tell. He sat on her bed beside her and she woke up startled. "What?" She asked half asleep.

"Abby mom's worried I think she knows more than you let her know. She's smart. She wants you to go to Minnesota, be with her. I think you should. Maybe it'd be good for you."

She stood up obviously not happy. She called a cab to the airport and grabbed her things. She didn't say a thing to her brother but he followed her downstairs it had stopped raining so she waited outside. "You just want to get rid of me because I'm pregnant." Was all she said as she climbed into the cab. When she got to the airport she bought a ticket to Minnesota and sat down. Her plane didn't leave for about another two hours.

Luka and Maggie were waiting for Abby at Luka's apartment. He went to work and came home. Maggie encouraged him to go out and have fun, see a movie but he didn't like himself. For a week they waited for her and there was no sign of Abby at all. Maggie continued to call Eric everyday but he must not be available was all she could think. She didn't want to admit that her own son didn't want to talk to her.

Another week passed and Maggie left. Luka was wallowing in the fact that Abby would be six and a half months along. Maggie left Chicago to go to New York to find Abby. Luka didn't know why he didn't want to go. He wanted Abby but something told him to not go, it was too soon. When he ran into Dr. Coburn at work they never talked and avoided eye contact.

Luka saw patients and saved lives daily but he barely ever looked at the calendar because he knew he would count. One day he walked into his kitchen and noticed the calendar he walked over to it and saw that today was circled. He didn't know why though. It was Abby's calendar so she wrote on it not him. He tried to go about his business and he couldn't stop thinking about the calendar and why it would be circled.

That day he felt weird. It had been two and a half months since Abby had left and he hadn't slept a full night since then. He couldn't stop thinking about her. His first patient that day was a pregnant teenager who wanted him to go to the OB floor with her just to help her get settled. He hadn't been to that floor since then and he felt sick. He walked back to the elevator and as he got off it Chuny came running to him, "Luka, it's Abby!"