"Not Too Much Too Ask." Part Four

She didn't see much of Dave over the next few days. With him working extra night shifts for Carter and Cleo, they only really saw each other in passing, or at work. And the citizens of Chicago seemed to be conspiring to keep them apart.

Add to that her complete, and rather amazing, distraction over Carter. 'Which is completely ridiculous.' She told herself as she changed an IV. 'I was going to tell him I couldn't be his sponsor anyway. And, ' She reasoned over changing the sheets in Exam Four, 'he thanked me, said I'd been a great help. He sounded sincere. So then, ' She pondered as she was put on hold in radiology for the fourth time. 'Why do I feel so let down?'

Dave seemed pretty distracted too. The first two days she'd put his quietness in the mornings as they crossed paths, to tiredness. Then during the day shift, she convinced herself he was simply too busy to make lunch or dinner arrangements. And them when, on the fifth day he blanked her completely during lunch in Doc Magoos, she finally faced up to the fact the Something Was Wrong.

"Hey Dave? Dave?" She put her hand on his arm to stop him playing with the cooling pasta. "I know it's not the Cordon Bleu, but there's no need to destroy it."

"Huh?" He asked, finally looking up.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"Yes." He told her, a smile spreading on his face. "Just tired. Too many night shifts and the like."

Silence descended as he, finally, ate some lunch. "How'd that girl do?"

"Which girl?"

"Five days ago? The GSW no one knew anything about?"

"Oh, yeah. Crashed on the table." His eyes glazed slightly and she heard imaginary warning bells go off.

"Too bad."

"Can't save them all." Dave threw off, glibly.

"No, you can't."

--

For the first time in a week they were both off at ten, and not on till eight the following morning.

"So, what wild and crazy plans do you have for us tonight then Dave?" Abby asked as they left the hospital.

"Sleep, sleep and more sleep." He laughed at himself. "Stop me it I'm getting too wild for you Abby."

"It's okay. Been a tough week."

"Yeah." Dave looked up a the El platform, as he reached into his pocket. "Hey, Abby. I think I left wallet in Docs. I'll be right back, ok?"

"Ok."

Abby watched him run back inside, as a car pulled up in front of her.

"Good evening."

"Luka." Abby smiled at him.

"You catching the El?"

"Yep."

"No need. Why don't I give you a ride?"

"Are you sure?" Abby asked. "'Cause Dave's..."

"Hey, I found it Abby. Oh, hi Luka."

"Luka was offering us," 'me...' "a lift home."

"You sure?" Dave asked him.

Luka looked at the two of them, taking in Dave's casual arm around Abby's waist, the almost nothing distance between them.

He plastered a smile on his face. "I'm sure."
--

"Still at the same apartment?" Luka asked Abby. She glanced in the mirror to see Dave staring out the window from the backseat.

"Yeah."

"I thought you were going to move as soon as possible. You said it was too expensive for one person to rent."

She returned Luka's smile. "It is. But then I got a roommate." She looked back in the mirror, to see Dave hadn't reacted at all.

"Oh." Luka said, his eyes facing front again as the traffic began to move. "I did not realise…" He trailed off.

"Yeah. Seemed silly for Dave to renew a lease on a place he never stayed in." Abby said distractedly, then mentally slapped her head against the windscreen.

Luka opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and simply forced a smile at her.

There was a moments silence. Abby struggled for something to say, and came up blank. Of course Mr. Dave stare-out-the-window-in-a-deep-blue-funk Malucci was being absolutely no help.

"So…" She started. "You still at the hotel?"

"Yes. Same old room." Luka laughed slightly. "Remember how the cold tap on the sink was so stiff you couldn't turn it?" He asked her. She smiled and nodded, smiling a fake smile and wishing the ride passed quickly.

--

"Thanks for the ride Luka."

That's okay." He told Abby. "Take care."

"You too."

Luka drove off as Dave and Abby climbed the stairs to her apartment. "Wow, that was awkward, huh?" Abby smiled as she searched for the apartment key.

"I didn't notice." Dave told her, absently.

Abby's smiled dropped and she simply nodded. 'Of course you didn't, you were too busy staring into the night like it was going to start doing the tango. God.'

Inside she headed for the kitchen. "You want something to eat? I think we've got leftovers, though we could always order out." She poked her head out into the hallway where he was slowly hanging up his coat.

"We could eat on he couch and then have some dessert. . ." She smiled suggestively and went on tip-toe to kiss him. He responded but then pulled away.

"I'm sorry baby, I'm really tired. I think I'm going to just go straight to bed."

"Oh." Abby smiled. "That's okay, I can have dessert by myself." She joked, laughing.

After a moment Dave smiled and nodded. Her laughter died out. There was an awkward pause. "Night then." She said brightly.

"Night." He kissed her again, then headed into the bedroom.

In the kitchen Abby found some salad, and put it into a bowl. She stabbed at the lettuce viscously, even though she didn't really have an appetite after she and Carter had gone for a late lunch around four. 'I'm really tired.' She echoed in her head. 'I think I'll go straight to bed.' "What am I, chopped liver?" She asked out loud. "Ha. Mouldy chopped liver. Mouldy chopped liver with little green bits, floating in a pool of blood."

She shook her head and dumped the remaining salad, thoroughly put off.

She slumped I front of the TV, flicked through the channels, eyes glazed. Finally, around midnight she flicked it off.

In the bathroom she stared herself in the eyes. "Tomorrow he talks. Or else." She tried to look threatening, laughed at herself, then climbed into bed. Dave's breathing was even and he was clearly asleep. She watched him for a while, then curled up beside him. His arm automatically held her against him, and she tried, for a short while, to put all thought of Dave, Luka and Carter out of her mind.