Author's Note: Hi everyone, I'm finally back with part 7! I'm so terribly sorry it's taken so long! Please forgive me. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you so very much for all of the support everyone has shown me. J
"John! There you are!" Abby jogged after the tired doctor. "I've been looking all over for you!"
"Hey," John rubbed his eyes.
"What's the matter?"
"We had to take Dave up to the OR."
"Why? What happened?" Her brown eyes were worried.
"He had some internal bleeding from that glass you pulled out of him."
Abby put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God, is he going to be okay?'
John shrugged, his expression as soft as he could muster. Abby turned away, her hand on her forehead. "I can't believe this. This is all my fault."
"No, no…" John let out a heavy sigh. "I told you it was okay… It's my fault…"
"You can't blame people for things like this." John nodded his agreement. "It's just… how long was he in surgery?"
"He was out a half hour ago but is still unconscious. Didn't have to tube him or anything, but these next couple of hours are critical."
Abby nodded distantly, her gaze and mind somewhere else. After a moment, she shifted her gaze back to John. "How're you holding up?"
"I'm okay."
"Well, you know I'm always here for you if you need someone to talk to."
John nodded and smiled weakly as Abby squeezed his arm and walked away.
Kerry had been looking over a patient's chart when her mind began to wander over the events of the day. It almost seemed like too much to be real. Her gaze had shifted aimlessly to focus on nothing as a police officer came up behind her.
"Are you Dr. Weaver?" The police officer in his mid-thirties asked hesitantly. His dark mustache complemented the incredible smooth appearance of his black skin.
Kerry turned around, shifting her glasses to her nose. "Yes, how my I help you?" The policeman smiled warmly, his eyes expressing sympathy. "I', Officer Brown," his smooth voice cut through the air like a warm knife through butter.
Kerry looked at him for a moment, perplexed, before shaking her head as she remembered his name. "Oh yes! God, I- I', sorry, I've just been-"
"That's understandable, one of your friends is injured."
Kerry smiled, reflecting his understanding. "Dr. Malucci is unconscious right now, but I'll be sure to inform you once he wakes up."
"I'd be much obliged," Officer Brown smiled and left as Kerry turned back to her work.
"That the cop?" Randi was still chewing gum.
"Yes," Kerry didn't look up.
"What does he want? They think Malucci started the fight or somethin'?" She observer Kerry's indifferent stance and decided to use provocation as a means of getting gossip out of her. "I'll bet he did."
"No, actually, the man who attacked him was his father and was brought in and called a few hours ago," Kerry responded swiftly, her annoyance evident as she felt the need to defend Dave against any bad rumors Randi could start about him.
"Whoa, wait, his real father?" Randi was trying to get over her shock and pry for more before Kerry hobbled out of earshot.
"I really couldn't tell you and honestly I don't think it's any of your business!" Kerry snapped and rounded the corner, colliding with Gabe Lawrence in doing so.
"Oh, I'm so sorry sir, I didn't see-" she looked up to see the surprised face of her mentor. "Gabe!" she laughed in surprise.
"Hello to you, too," Dr. Lawrence chuckled.
"Well, how are you?"
"Eh… I do okay."
"I'm glad," Kerry smiled a smile that spoke pure friendship.
"Eh, come 'ere!" Gabe pulled her into a much-needed hug.
"Gabe," Kerry pulled away, her voice serious as she felt she needed to inform him of what had happened. "There's been an incident here. One of our junior residents has been injured."
"Are they all right?"
"I don' know, but apparently he was in the supply room when someone attacked him."
"Well, what do you mean attacked? Who was it?"
"It was Dr. Malucci… he was beat up pretty bad."
"Malucci…" Gabe's mind wandered, trying to match a face to the name he remembered. "Oh no," his face fell as recognition crossed it.
"He's in the ICU recovering from surgery. Apparently there was some internal bleeding and he lost a lot of blood."
Gabe sighed, looking down as he let his shoulders sag. "Have you been up to see him yet?"
Kerry shook her head. "No, not yet." She paused for a moment, regarding the man who was practically her surrogate father. "Would you like to come with me?"
Gabe nodded his head. "Yeah, I'd like that." Kerry gave him a sad smile and led the way to the elevator.
Abby sat in the room with Dave, feeling guilty and willing her unconscious companion to wake up. She nervously bit her fingernails as she stared at the rise and fall of Dave's chest, yet didn't focus on anything. Her thoughts bringing her back to the present she glanced at the clock. It was already early evening and as she shifted her weight she seemed to notice the pressure in her bladder for the first time. She'd been keeping her vigilance over Dave for nearly three hours now and figured that five minutes away for a trip to the bathroom and to get some coffee wouldn't make much difference. As she opened the door to leave she noticed Kerry and an elderly man coming towards her.
"Hi," she spoke quietly.
"Abby, this is Dr. Gabe Lawrence. Gabe, this is Abby Lockheart."
Abby smiled and Gabe nodded warmly.
"How is he?" Kerry's face was laced with compassion.
"He's not awake yet. I'm just gonna' go…" she gestured down the hall.
"Oh, yes," Kerry stepped out of her way.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," Abby called over her shoulder.
Kerry and Gabe stepped into the quiet room. The steady beep of the heart monitor was both reassuring and frightening for at any minute a beep might be prolonged, indicating heart failure.
Gabe breathed out heavily and Kerry's expression softened when she saw the black eye and cuts on her friends face. It was hard to see anyone like that. She lifted the light sheet to peek at Dave's chest, hoping for reassurance, but was instead met with the white linen enhancing the now dark bruised skin. "Oh God," she sighed as she placed the sheet over his peaceful form once more.
"Poor kid." Gabe kept his hands in his pockets.
"How could this happen?" Gabe put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it for reassurance. "What human beings are capable of is sometimes frightening." Kerry was silent for a moment. "Before we found him an MVA was brought in. Dr. Greene was working on him at the same time Carter found Malucci. Dave saw him and was able to identify him as the mad who attacked him. He also said that it was his father. He was pronounced before Dave went into surgery."
"Geeze…"
After a momentary pause Kerry's tone of voice changed. "It's funny. You can think you know someone, work with them every day, yet you really don't know them. I mean, who would of thought…" she gestured with a flat hand toward Dave.
'Well," Gabe sighed. "People aren't always easy to figure out. I mean, you have to be insightful and sometimes look at things from a different angle." Kerry remained silent, thinking of a response to defend her stance.
"I worked with him, too, for a time. I remember him as a cocky kid- the kind that makes jokes and somehow always manages to get in trouble. Yet no one's really like that. Underneath there's always a reason for certain behavioral patterns. I could tell by watching him and how he responded to encouragement that he relied on his trademark, indifference, if you will, as a sort of defense mechanism."
"Humph," Kerry pondered this for a moment, realizing that Gabe never meant to convict her of being blind to faults in others. " I never thought about it that way before."
"I mean, it's obvious now that he suffered from an abusive father, however a mystery the extent may be. Who would want to remember that? It's just important to remember that everyone has a deeper side to their character, although it may not always be east to see."
"That is so true," Kerry though out loud, thinking of herself. "Thank you for that insight, Gabe, it was very though provoking."
Gabe chuckled. "Well, I try." Kerry laughed with him, a nice break from the seriousness that had befallen the two. She took a step forward to Dave's side.
"Come on, Dave," she squeezed his wrist. "We need you to wake up now. Who else am I going to yell at?" she tried to laugh yet heard her voice crack and felt tears forming in her eyes. After a moment of gazing at her silent friend who wore an oxygen mask to aid breathing she pulled away with a loud sniff.
"It's okay," Gabe enfolded her in her arms as she let out a few quiet sobs. He rubbed her back comfortingly. After a few moments Kerry pulled away and began to wipe at the tears behind her glasses. "I'm sorry…"
"No, don't be," Gabe kept his hand on her arm.
"It's just… how could this happen?" she asked the question again, the memory of Lucy's death making the situation seem all the more desperate and painfully familiar.
"Good evening here, folks," came the sarcastically cheerful greeting of Dr. Romano as he strut in, surprising the other two doctors. "How's the patient doing?" He didn't wait for an answer as he checked the readout on the heart monitor and checked the IV.
"The surgery went well, I presume?" Kerry turned her attention to the enthusiastic short man.
"Extremely," Romano had a habit of speaking in a way that mirrored yelling.
"Good."
"Well, he's a tough bastard. A fighter. But he should be waking up about now…" Robert glanced at his watch. " In fact a few hours ago." He rested his elbows on the side of the bed and grabbed Dave's hand in an unusual show of affection. "Come on buddy…" he whispered as he watched the heart monitor.
Kerry smiled inside. She loved it when Robert showed that he wasn't all monster. As suddenly as he had entered the room Romano sprung up and strolled towards the door. "We're lucky," he locked eyes sympathetically with Kerry, "we almost lost another one."
"Abby?" Luka cautiously stepped into the room of the ICU that held Dave.
"Mmmmmmmm…" Abby say up, the magazine she was looking at falling from her chest.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he whispered as he walked toward her.
"Ugh," Abby rubber her eyes "No, it's okay, I'm just, uh, what time is it?"
"Ten thirty."
"Oh."
"Are you coming home tonight?"
"Oh, I don't know. I – I think I better stay here."
"Abby," Luka spoke commandingly. "It's not you fault. It would have happened anyway."
Abby sighed. "I know… It's just I feel I should be here with him."
Luka slowly nodded, fully understanding how it felt to be responsible for injuring someone. He tried to pull his thoughts away from the night he had killed a man who tried to mug him and Abby.
"All right. Let me know when you get home." He bent down and kissed her before leaving.
After he left Abby looked at the clock again, then back at Dave, disheartened that he still had not woken up, and tried to shake off her feeling of guilt.