In Her Eyes

I am sorry about the shortness of the chapters. I hope this one is alright!

Susan and Luka sat silently in the ominous waiting room of the OR. Susan sat in the chair next to Luka's, her right knee bouncing up and down nervously. She had still not bothered changing her scrubs, though Luka had offered to get her some. Susan had sent so many people to the waiting rooms without even thinking about the way it would affect them. Her heart beat fast with apprehension and she closed her eyes tight. She didn't really know how to act. Abby was her best friend and everything was spinning out of control. This wasn't the way anything was supposed to be. If only Abby had stayed with her and Sam. Maybe she would be safe. Maybe they would all be safe. As she stared blankly at her blood-stained hands, Luka cleared his throat. Susan glanced up to find him staring at her with an odd expression on his worried face.

"Will you tell me how bad it is?" His voice was very quiet compared to his usual booming tone. Susan contemplated what exactly she wanted to tell him. No matter how she put it, he would be upset. She knew that the only thing she could do for him was to be completely honest. Not harsh, but concerned and caring.

"Um...she was stabbed twice in the abdomen and her right knee looked pretty bad. She had been hit and kicked." There was no use in beating around the bush with Luka, so she told it to him straight. She changed gears into her 'doctor's informative voice'. She saw the distant anger in his eyes. The prominent emotion in his dark eyes was grief and sorrow. This was not normal for him. He had a terrible temper and he always acted on his anger with some sort of violence. She was slightly worried about him, but she had bigger things to worry about.

"Susan, Luka?" A strong accented voice interrupted their conversation and they immediately stood up to meet Corday and Neela, who were still in bloody scrubs as well.

"Is she okay?" Luka's voice echoed Susan's deep agonizing worry. Susan took a quick breath to settle her heart down. Susan observed Neela's face and then Corday's. Neela looked concerned, but not devastated. The news couldn't be that bad, she thought hopefully. Corday's expression was very serious, but she looked slightly triumphant. This was a good sign.

"It was a very difficult surgery, but she pulled through." Neela said this with a sad smile. Corday continued with the details.

"She arrested twice when we were repairing her liver and kidneys, but we got her back fairly quickly. She had us scared to death the whole time, but it went alright. She is still intubated because she isn't breathing on her own just yet. I think she will be fine, but it is going to be a very long recovery. She has another surgery scheduled for a week from tomorrow for her knee, but that isn't very urgent. She's a fighter." Corday finished with tears in her eyes, threatening to fall. They were tears of happiness. She looked extremely relieved. Neela smiled sadly again and put a comforting hand on Susan's shoulder. Luka looked down and smiled a little, closing his eyes. He started to whisper a prayer in Croatian. Susan looked up to the ceiling and took a long awaited deep breath. Abby was going to be okay. She let it out and grabbed Luka in a hug.

"Thank you." He whispered to her. When she let him go Corday was smiling.

"Do you two want to see her? She is unconscious, but I am sure she will know you are there. She is still really bruised and scraped up. Her knee is in a brace, so that we can keep it in line." Corday gestured in front of her so they could follow to Abby's room. Susan and Luka nodded and followed to see Abby.

..........

Meanwhile, Dr. Carter stood listening to a patient drone on and on about his horrible day. 'His horrible day...I wish he would just shut up.' He kept thinking about how Abby was doing. She was still in surgery as far as he knew and it had been a long time since she went in. Flashes of Abby's bloody, lifeless body came to his mind as he zoned out of the 'conversation' he was having with his annoying patient.

Carter held up a hand, stopping the man's voice and said, "I will be right back, Sir." He walked off rolling his eyes and headed to Sam's room. Weaver had cleared a room so that they could treat her in the ER. They constantly checked on her and Carter figured it was his turn. It was that excuse or just that he wanted to see if she was alright. He didn't know her very well but that she was a good friend of Abby's and that she was a great nurse. She was great to work with because she knew what she was doing all of the time. He walked into the exam room where he bumped into Chuny. "Oh...Sorry. I was just checking on her. How is she doing?" Chuny smiled and patted his shoulder.

"She is doing alright. Still out of it though. We took her to do a head CT to rule out a brain bleed and we are waiting for the results. She's pretty beat up. I'm so glad they got that guy in jail. I heard that they had the bail really high so he won't be able to get out." Her strong accent was soft and sweet. She was the kind of nurse you wanted to have take care of you when you came to the ER.

"How did you hear that?" Carter wondered how a nurse would hear such information.

"Police rumors and chatter that I kind of pick up on, you know?" Chuny smiled mischievously and shrugged.

"How long have you been waiting for the results?" Carter's brows drew together and he leaned on the wall beside him.

"It's been a little longer than usual. They said it would be right out."

"Hey, where is her kid staying?" Carter wondered aloud, this thought just now coming up.

"Uh...Sam had called her babysitter and told her that she would be a little late and we got her number from emergency contacts. We called to tell her what was going on. She is taking care of him."

"Wow...I wonder if her son knows." Carter's voice had dropped to a whisper. Chuny cocked her head to the side and turned to leave.

"I have to go check on some other patients, but if you stay for a little while, I will be right back." She smiled once again and left him in the dark exam room. Carter walked over to the side of Sam's bed and opened his mouth in surprise. She looked even worse than last time he saw her. All of her bruises were now officially black and blue and her face was extremely swollen. He didn't understand what kind of a person could do this to someone. Even if they were drunk. He was pretty sure that if he were drunk, he could never do anything like that. It was just unthinkable.

He sat down next to her bed taking the bridge of his nose in between his thumb and pointer finger. He didn't feel quite up to seeing anymore patients. He figured that he would just wait for Chuny to come back. The room flooded with light just then and Carter sat up straighter, a sudden reaction to conscious human presence. A red-headed woman hobbled through the door and stopped suddenly, seeing Carter.

"What are you doing here, Carter?" Her voice seemed to be forced into harshness. It appeared that she didn't feel like putting on an act either.

"Checking on Sam....and thinking. About Abby and Sam." He decided to be honest with Weaver. She nodded thoughtfully and pulled up a chair.

"You couldn't deal with patients either then?" There was a wry smile on her now friendly face. Carter nodded and sat back comfortably in his seat.

"I can't believe someone would do this." There was disgust in his voice and Weaver nodded and spoke.

"You know, the more time I spend in this place, the more accustomed I get to all of the bizarre things that happen here. I start to think that what goes on in this hospital is normal to the outside world. Then I see all of the happy and innocent people out there and realize that we are the selected few who can deal with all of the evil and insane people that inhabit this world. It's kind of like we are the protectors. The little kids who don't know about what kind of horrible things that people are capable of are the ones we do our job for. The teenagers who just want to be kids and pursue their dreams without the constant interruption of all of the psychos out there are the ones we protect. But no amount of time working here will ever prepare you for a human act as vile, menacing, or brutal as what has happened here. You know first hand what kinds of terrible things happen here. But you made it through because you are exactly the kind of person who can handle all of this iniquity and push through to be able to help the sick and injured. The great people in Chicago are very lucky to have you as a doctor." Weaver stopped and gave an approving nod to Carter who was in shock. He had no idea what to say to this. It was so sudden and it totally caught him off guard. Weaver stood up and smiled at Carter. She limped out of the room and didn't turn back.

Thanks so much for all of the wonderful reviews! I had writers block for a short time, but some great music by: Priscilla Ahn helped get rid of it! Please review and tell me what you think!

--soccergirlmich--