The Alternate Daughter
The following story is under the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Unauthorized copying and/or use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: ER no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
"Luca, where are you going?" Weaver yelled at him across the room.
"I have to go home!" he yelled back.
"We need you here! We've got a pile up coming in!" Weaver yelled back, "You can't go, now!" Luca growled with frustration. Ria was waiting him at home. It had taken hime the better part of three days to convince her to let him take her somewhere fancy, then another three days trying to convince her to go buy something nice for herself to wear. He had made reservations and he couldn't be late.
"I can't stay, Kerry!" he argued.
"You have to" Weaver said quietly, pushing past him and going out to the ambulences that were just ariving. Luca growled again, and followed her.
*Later, while working over a paitent*
"Damn it, close that up!" Luca yelled at one of the nurses.
"Losing his pulse again!" Abby announced. This was the third victim of the pile up Luca had worked on. They'd lost him twice already.
"No pulse!" Abby announced.
"Damn!" Luca cursed again, taking the paddles from her, "Clear!" But the shock did nothing to the man's heart.
"Clear!" Luca yelled again, but still nothing.
"Call it" Abby told him. Luca threw the paddles at her.
"Fine. Time of death...shit."
"What?"
"Nothing. Time of Death, 1:08 am" Luca threw his gloves in the container and stoormed back to the locker room. Abby followed him.
"What is wrong with you? You're been so secretive the past couple months, it's like your hiding something illegal" Luca tried to calm himself down. He was upset but there was no need to take it out on Abby. As he reflected on that thought, he came to the conclusion that Ria had had much more of an influence on him than he'd thought.
"It's nothing, Abby, really" he said, putting his coat on, "I had an appointment for something, and now it's too late to go. But I can reschedual it for tomorrow or something" He could see Abby wanted to know what kind of appointment it was, that she didn't quite believe that he wasn't doing something "wrong". He touched her arm as he passed her.
"Don't worry, it's nothing illegal" he told her and left. He wished he'd had time to call Ria earlier, but he didn't want to call her now in case she was sleeping. But when he opened the door to the apartment, she was there waiting for him. He was surprised to see she wasn't all dolled up, she wasn't mad, she just smiled warmly at him as he came in.
"Oh good, you're home" she said, handing him a glass of wine, "Are you okay?"
"Yes. A pile up came in and I had to stay late. I'm so sorry" he apologized, pecking her on her forehead.
"That's okay, I figured something like that had happened" she answered, " I didn't have time to make a nice meal, but I think there's some left over spagetti in the fridge. You want me to heat it up?"
"No." Luca answered, putting his still full wine glass down, "I just want to go to bed" She nodded, carefully poured the wine back into the bottle, and followed him up. He watched as she tried to french braid her hair, as she did every night. It never came out just right, and it always pricked her pride.
"Here" he said, pulling her hands away and taking the locks of hair himself, "Let me do it for you"
"You can french braid?" she asked amusedly, standing still so he could work.
"Yes. I learned a long time ago. Danjela liked her hair french braided" he said absently, weaving the silky curls in and out of each other.
"Danjela?" she repeated softly. Luca suddenly realized what he'd said.
"Yes" he replied, slowing in his work. After all, if he was going to do this much, he'd better tell her.
"She was my wife, in Croatia. She died with our two children a little over ten years ago, in a building bombing" he told her. She didn't move, didn't answer, just kept that somehow knowing silence she had sometimes. Luca kept working with her hair. It was very long.
"I'm sorry" she said finally.
"So was I" he said lightly, finishing her braid. He twisted the rubber band around the end slowly. As he let the long thick braid fall to her back, she turned, ever so slightly, and then more, and more, until she was finally facing him. He looked down into her upraised face, into those violet eyes so serene, so calm, so loving. He could see in them the universe, and it was a happy one. As he gazed deep into those eyes, a sort of peace came over him, and his lips touched hers.
The following story is under the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Unauthorized copying and/or use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: ER no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
"Luca, where are you going?" Weaver yelled at him across the room.
"I have to go home!" he yelled back.
"We need you here! We've got a pile up coming in!" Weaver yelled back, "You can't go, now!" Luca growled with frustration. Ria was waiting him at home. It had taken hime the better part of three days to convince her to let him take her somewhere fancy, then another three days trying to convince her to go buy something nice for herself to wear. He had made reservations and he couldn't be late.
"I can't stay, Kerry!" he argued.
"You have to" Weaver said quietly, pushing past him and going out to the ambulences that were just ariving. Luca growled again, and followed her.
*Later, while working over a paitent*
"Damn it, close that up!" Luca yelled at one of the nurses.
"Losing his pulse again!" Abby announced. This was the third victim of the pile up Luca had worked on. They'd lost him twice already.
"No pulse!" Abby announced.
"Damn!" Luca cursed again, taking the paddles from her, "Clear!" But the shock did nothing to the man's heart.
"Clear!" Luca yelled again, but still nothing.
"Call it" Abby told him. Luca threw the paddles at her.
"Fine. Time of death...shit."
"What?"
"Nothing. Time of Death, 1:08 am" Luca threw his gloves in the container and stoormed back to the locker room. Abby followed him.
"What is wrong with you? You're been so secretive the past couple months, it's like your hiding something illegal" Luca tried to calm himself down. He was upset but there was no need to take it out on Abby. As he reflected on that thought, he came to the conclusion that Ria had had much more of an influence on him than he'd thought.
"It's nothing, Abby, really" he said, putting his coat on, "I had an appointment for something, and now it's too late to go. But I can reschedual it for tomorrow or something" He could see Abby wanted to know what kind of appointment it was, that she didn't quite believe that he wasn't doing something "wrong". He touched her arm as he passed her.
"Don't worry, it's nothing illegal" he told her and left. He wished he'd had time to call Ria earlier, but he didn't want to call her now in case she was sleeping. But when he opened the door to the apartment, she was there waiting for him. He was surprised to see she wasn't all dolled up, she wasn't mad, she just smiled warmly at him as he came in.
"Oh good, you're home" she said, handing him a glass of wine, "Are you okay?"
"Yes. A pile up came in and I had to stay late. I'm so sorry" he apologized, pecking her on her forehead.
"That's okay, I figured something like that had happened" she answered, " I didn't have time to make a nice meal, but I think there's some left over spagetti in the fridge. You want me to heat it up?"
"No." Luca answered, putting his still full wine glass down, "I just want to go to bed" She nodded, carefully poured the wine back into the bottle, and followed him up. He watched as she tried to french braid her hair, as she did every night. It never came out just right, and it always pricked her pride.
"Here" he said, pulling her hands away and taking the locks of hair himself, "Let me do it for you"
"You can french braid?" she asked amusedly, standing still so he could work.
"Yes. I learned a long time ago. Danjela liked her hair french braided" he said absently, weaving the silky curls in and out of each other.
"Danjela?" she repeated softly. Luca suddenly realized what he'd said.
"Yes" he replied, slowing in his work. After all, if he was going to do this much, he'd better tell her.
"She was my wife, in Croatia. She died with our two children a little over ten years ago, in a building bombing" he told her. She didn't move, didn't answer, just kept that somehow knowing silence she had sometimes. Luca kept working with her hair. It was very long.
"I'm sorry" she said finally.
"So was I" he said lightly, finishing her braid. He twisted the rubber band around the end slowly. As he let the long thick braid fall to her back, she turned, ever so slightly, and then more, and more, until she was finally facing him. He looked down into her upraised face, into those violet eyes so serene, so calm, so loving. He could see in them the universe, and it was a happy one. As he gazed deep into those eyes, a sort of peace came over him, and his lips touched hers.