She didn't say a thing as she left the ER. She knew people were discussing the argument, she could tell.They kept giving her funny looks. She hadn't seen Carter since they had spoken, but she knew he was still around.His shift didn't finish until 8pm, and she didn't think he would have left. She simply assumed he was avoiding her. People, especially her fellow nurses, were trying to figure out the reason for the break up and when ever she got close, everything went quiet or people changed the subject.
In the lounge she put on her coat and buttoned it up. It was a cold April day, and she couldn't wait to be as far away from here as possible. She hated being the centre of attention, it reminded her of various events throughout out her childhood, like when her mom ran down the street naked, or when she flipped out on a plane, and 4 air hostesses had to try and calm her down 40'000 feet in the air. The whole plane stared at Abby for the rest of the flight, a mixture of horror, sympathy and fear tattooed on their faces. She walked out the ER and breathed a sigh of relief.
She glanced at her watch, and saw it was almost 3pm. Her stomach grumbled, as she hadn't had breakfast or lunch. Despite the cold air circling around her and the sharp wind whipping her cheeks, she decided to walk home. This would give her time to think, and pick something up to eat. She wanted someone to put their arms around her, and tell her everything was going to be OK. She felt awful as Carter looked devastated, and he'd hurt her feelings, something that few lucky individuals managed to achieve. The solid wall that she had built around her meant that most hurtful comments went passed un-noticed.
She was half way home when she spotted her favourite small Chinese take-away. It was dingy but she didn't care. The food was nice. She was starving so she crossed the street and walked in.
The owner was on the phone "Hello Dr Kovac" Abby looked up and listened to the man taking his order "The same as usual? Good. Would you like us to deliver or are you going to pick it up? Ok, hang on a sec" He covered a the hand piece and shouted back to the kitchen "A number 22, 36 and 25 to be picked up in 15 minutes"
Picked up? This meant Luka would be coming here. Maybe they would run into each other.
The owner resumed his conversation with the doctor and interrupted Abby's trail of thought "Sorry about that Dr Kovac. Did you know that you really are one of our best customers? I'm sure there must be other take-aways closer to your hotel." Abby watched the man's oriental face as he listened to Luka reply "No. I'm not a fan of Thai food either. Well I'll see you in 15 minutes. Bye" He placed the handset down and looked at Abby.
"Hi, Can I have crispy fried duck, egg fried rice and some chicken and sweetcorn soup please?"
"Of course, but that'll be around a 15 minute wait"
"That's fine," she said quietly
He rang the bill up on the till, "That's $11.97 please"
She handed him a $20 note, and accepted the change.
"Thank you" he smiled before turning around and taking the order into the kitchen.
Abby sat on the seat and peered up at the old black and white TV balanced a shelf. An old Country and Western was playing. She hated them; She never understood the fascination with them. She looked round the shop and pushed her hair behind her ears. She was worried about Carter; she didn't want to loose his friendship. Tears sprung to her eyes, and she blinked them away. The anger she had felt earlier had melted away and now she felt like crying. Carter had looked so surprised, had he really had not clue about the way that she felt?
"Abby?" she looked up and saw Luka peering down at her. From where she was seated he looked taller than usual.
She tried to smile but the tears sprang back to her eyes.
"Mr Kovac" the man brought out his order, along with Abby's, before Luka could say anything to her.
"Thank you" he said, as he handed over a $20 note, picking up both bags. "Keep the change"
He turned round to see Abby standing outside the store, her back towards him. Was she crying? She looked so fragile and hurt, and he could see tears in her eyes. He had never seen her cry, not even why her mother was being resuscitated in front of her. She always remained composed. He walked out the shop
"You OK?" He knew this was a stupid question but he didn't know what else to say
She nodded
"Well I can tell your not, you've spoken to Carter haven't you?"
She nodded again
"I don't think you should be on your own at the moment, you don't have to talk if you don't want to but you can come back to my hotel for a bit, if you want"
"Thanks" she said "But my apartment is 5 minutes away, do you mind if we go there?"
"Of course" and he started walking. He didn't want to ask her too many questions in case she thought he was prying; yet he didn't want her to think that he didn't care. Luckily she broke the silence
"Why do you use that Chinese takeaway?"
"Well as I've lived in that hotel for I dunno, 14 months and I know the room service menu of by heart, so I started trying different take-outs. This is the best I've found"
"Why don't you get yourself a place?" She asked as she unlocked the door to her apartment block"
"Well I thought about it but to be honest I don't really know that much about Chicago. I'm comfortable in the hotel, and seeing as I've been working so much recently, I haven't had time to look" he said as they walked into her apartment
He put the two bags down in a table and looked round to see that Abby had vanished
"Sit down, make yourself at home" she called from her bedroom. "I'm just changing out my scrubs"
Two seconds later she walked out the room to find Luka sitting on her couch, taking the food out the bag. She sat on the couch. They both started to eat, until Abby spoke softly, her eyes focused on the floor.
"I talked to Carter" she started...