"A Second Chance"
Author's Note: I'm not sure how long this story will be, or how it'll end up, so I'd really appreciate some feedback.
Story: An Abby/Luka/Carter triangle, continuation of "A New Beginning"
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters; they all belong to Warner Bros.
Spoilers: Everything in season six, and a few things from seven, but no major storylines.
Luka walked into the lounge and found Abby getting some coffee. He walked over to his locker and put his jacket away.
"Hi Abby," Luka said.
"Dr. Kovac."
Luka looked over at Abby and saw the usual sad expression on her face. She really was quite beautiful, he thought. Luka hesitated, but then asked, "How are you?"
Abby was slightly taken aback. Dr. Kovac rarely even said hello to her, much less asked how she was. "I'm fine," Abby replied, a little cautiously. "How are you?"
"Good." They stood in an awkward silence for a few moments, but then Kerry walked in.
"Luka, we have a trauma coming in. Thirty-five year old male, gunshot wound," and then she walked out to meet the ambulance.
"Well, I'd better go," Luka said to Abby, as he went after Kerry.
After her shift, Abby went up to the roof of the hospital, as she often did after work. The city always seemed so peaceful as she looked down on it. She breathed in the cold air and tried to relax, but a sudden noise startled her.
Dr. Kovac walked out onto the roof. "Abby," he said, a little surprised. He walked over to the ledge and stood next to her.
"Dr. Kovac."
"Please, call me Luka."
"Do you come up here often, Luka?"
"Yes, I usually do after work. I see you up here sometimes. I never say anything though; you always look like you want to be alone."
"Sometimes, after a tough day. It's better than going home to an empty apartment."
"Yes, I know how that feels."
An ambulance sire could be heard, and they both watched the vehicle pull up to the hospital entrance.
"Are you of now?" Abby asked.
"Yes, are you?"
Abby nodded. "Do you want to go out to dinner?"
Luka hesitated for a moment, then thought about what awaited him at home. "Sure."
"I grew up by the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia. It was a beautiful village, but after the war it was too painful to stay there. What about you?" Luka asked.
Abby gave a dry laugh. "My childhood was a nightmare. I had to raise my brother and myself because my dad ran off and my mother's bipolar. We never knew what would set her off."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be… I think it's made me a stronger person."
"What about later, were you ever married?"
"For a few years…Richard was a doctor, he liked to cheat, out divorce was kind of inevitable…I'm glad it's over, though."
Luka smiled. "Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home?"
"No, I can take the El. Thank you, though…for everything," Abby said.
"Goodnight."
"See you tomorrow," she replied as he walked away. Abby sat down on a bench to wait for the El. It had been a nice evening. She had surprised herself when she asked Luka to dinner, and was a little uneasy at first. Abby smiled to herself as she recalled the date, but then stopped herself. Was it a date? She didn't know. They had flirted, and there was a certain attraction she felt, but…perhaps, to play it safe, it was nothing but two co-workers having dinner.
Luka lay awake that night as usual and his thoughts rested with Abby. He hadn't had anyone to talk to since Carol left…Carol…He needed to stop thinking about her and move on. Luka had done it once before, after he left Croatia, and that was hard enough. Perhaps Abby had come along at just the right time.
"So, when do you start work again?" Abby asked Carter as they left the AA meeting.
"Tomorrow, day shift."
"Me too…are you nervous?"
"A little."
"Weaver understands if you can't just jump right in, you know. You've been gone for more than three months."
"Yeah. I'm not allowed to take any traumas for a while, until Weaver and Greene start to trust me again."
"Can you really blame them though, Carter?" Abby asked.
"…No."
"It'll just take time."
Carter looked down at Abby and smiled. It was good to have someone to talk to besides a therapist.
"Say, where were you last night? I tried calling you a couple times."
Abby blushed a little and replied, "oh, um, I had dinner with Luka."
"Kovac?"
"Yeah."
"Like a date?"
"Sort of…"
"So…you like him?" Carter asked hesitantly.
"I don't know…maybe." There was an awkward silence.
"Do you have any plans for tonight?" he asked.
"No, why?"
"Would you like to come over, watch a movie or something?'
"Sure."
"Shh! This is my favorite part," Carter said, as they watched "An Affair to Remember."
"You know Carter, I never would've thought you would be a fan or romantic movies," Abby said with a laugh, after the film had finished.
"You think it's funny?'
"Maybe."
"I'm just getting in touch with my feminine side," he joked.
Abby laughed and threw some popcorn at him, and Carter threw more back.
"You want war, don't you?" she asked and soon popcorn was flying everywhere. Abby took a pillow and went after Carter, but tripped and landed on the floor. He took this opportunity to pin her to the ground. They were both laughing uncontrollably and Carter began to tickle her.
"All right, all right! I give up, you win," Abby gasped.
Carter smiled and their eyes locked. For a few moments they didn't move, and Carter slowly leaned in to kiss her. But the chimes on his clock suddenly rang and Abby, aware of the awkward position they were in, said, "It's getting late. I should probably go."
"Yeah," Carter said reluctantly. He got up, and then helped Abby back on her feet. "Do you want a ride home?"
"If its not too much trouble."
"Of course not."
When they arrived at Abby's apartment, she broke the silence. "Get some sleep tonight, Carter. Tomorrow's a big day."
"I know…Abby?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you for everything you've done for me…not just for saving my life, but everything since I've gotten back. It's meant a lot to me." Carter looked up, and looked in Abby's eyes. He leaned over quickly and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"See you tomorrow," she said, and got out of the car.
"Goodnight, Abby."
As Carter drove home, he thought of what had happened with Abby back at his apartment. Why had he tried to kiss her? She was the best friend he had right now, and he didn't want to ruin that, but everytime he was around her, Carter felt the urge to hold her, wondered what it would feel like to kiss her. He knew she was just getting over a bad divorce, and what about Luka Kovac? They had gone out on a date, Abby basically said that she liked him…oh, why did things have to be so complicated? Carter thought.
Abby opened the door to her apartment and looked around. It always looked so empty and lonely. She missed having someone to come home to. As she got ready for bed, Abby thought about her evening with Carter. Had he tried to kiss her, or was she just imagining things? What did she really feel about him? He was a great friend, but she wasn't sure if she wanted more than friendship right now…and then there was Luka, who was also a friend, but a friend she was attracted to. What about their relationship? Did Luka feel the same way about her? There were many confusing questions floating around in her mind, but Abby was so exhausted that she fell right to sleep.
Carter took a deep breath and walked with what he hoped was a confident air into the ER. Mark Greene looked up from his chart and spotted him.
"Carter, welcome back," Mark said.
"Thanks."
"How are you feeling?'
"Pretty good."
"Well, take it easy."
"I know," Carter replied. Chuny, Haleh, Lily, Yosh and Malik all greeted him, and Carter made his way to the lounge, where he found Abby and Luka, talking and putting their things away.
"Hey Carter," Abby said.
"Hi Abby, Luka," he replied.
"How are you?" Luka asked.
"Much better, thanks."
"Did you sleep well?" Abby asked.
"Like a baby," he lied. The truth was that he had stayed up most of the night thinking about Abby and worrying about today.
Kerry Weaver burst in the door. "Abby, Luka, I need you in trauma 1 now. Welcome back, John. There's a man with food poisoning in chairs for you."
"Good luck," Abby said as she and Luka followed Kerry out.
Abby opened the door to the roof and felt the cold air hit her face. She breathed deeply and tried to stop the tears from welling up. There had just been a trauma in which an abused woman had died. She was eight months pregnant, and the baby didn't make it either. Abby wasn't sure why this had affected her so much because she was around death all the time. Perhaps it was the look of despair and sadness in the woman's eyes, or the blueness of the baby's face when they performed the c-section. The creak of the door startled her, and Carter walked cautiously onto the roof. He walked over to Abby, put his arms around her and she began to cry.
She cried not only for the mother and her baby, but also for herself and all the pain in her life. Carter held her wordlessly and suddenly realized the extent of the pain that Abby felt. When she was quiet, he took her face in his hands and looked at her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, but she didn't say anything. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"…I don't know why it affected me so much…I saw the pain in her eyes, how she knew her baby was dead…how scared she was…why she stayed in that house…"
It struck Carter that Abby connected with this woman because of their similar situations. "Abby…Did he hit you?" Abby had told him of her ex-husband, his cheating and the misery of their marriage.
She looked at him, teary-eyed and nodded. She knew Carter understood because he simply kissed her forehead and held her again.
To be continued…
(This is obviously going to end up a love story of either Abby and Luka or Abby and Carter, but I haven't decided which yet. So, if you have an opinion e-mail me! I may make my decision based on your thoughts, or do a sort of choose your own adventure thing and have the story end both ways to please everyone.)