Disclaimer: I don't own ER or any of its characters. They are the property of Michael Crighton, NBC, etc.

Author's note: Okay, I promise, no more big cliffhangers at the end of chapters! These next two chapters will hopefully explain the significance of the last one, as well as "answer" it, so to speak. P.S. I wrote the first half of this chapter before "Foreign Affairs" aired, which is why Luka went to Croatia and not the Congo. Any resemblance to that storyline is completely coincidental.

Suddenly I felt like I'd been hit with a ton of bricks. Why was Luka coming back?

         "I-I have to go get something. I'll be right back out, Carter," I said as I quickly rushed into the lounge. I almost collapsed into the chair as I heard the door slam shut behind me. Luckily for me, there was no one in there, because I really wasn't in the mood to answer questions right now. I didn't even know most of the answers myself. I sat there silently for a minute, my head buried in my hands, trying to collect my thoughts. Then I heard the door swish open.

         "Abby?" I heard Susan's voice ask gently. "Abby, are you okay?" She sat down next to me, and I looked up at her slowly.

         "I don't know," I said. "I have absolutely no idea what to think right now." Susan looked at me questioningly, and I sighed. "I suppose I should explain all this to you, shouldn't I?"

         "Well, since I have no idea what's going on, that might be nice," she replied.

         "The day before Luka left, he and I had gone out for coffee," I paused as Susan looked at me warningly. "Oh, no, it wasn't like that- he said he just wanted to talk before he flew halfway across the world, since he didn't know when he'd be back. Carter knew what I was doing." I stopped short, not exactly sure how to explain what had happened next.

         "So, what's the problem?" Susan probed curiously.

         "He's still in love with me," I answered quickly. She stared at me in complete shock.

         "What?"

         "He said he's still in love with me. He also said that he knew I was with Carter, and he didn't expect me to do or say anything about it. Then he got up and left. The next day he got on a plane and flew to Croatia, and I haven't seen him since."

         "That's it? That's all he said?"

         "Well, not exactly. He wrote me this letter too." I got up and went to my locker. I pulled out a folded piece of paper, hidden beneath my scrubs and assorted other junk. "Here," I said, handing the letter to Susan. "Go ahead, read it." As I saw her eyes begin to scan the letter, mine did too, reading the last thing I'd heard from him in almost two months. I'd thought we were friends, but maybe I was really naïve, thinking that I could be friends with my ex, like everyone did in high school. Then, you had to stay friends; otherwise the entire school would have hated each other, with all the break-ups and make-ups that occurred in those four years. I guess it wasn't that way in the real world, though. The last sentence he had written was, "I don't know how long I'm going to stay in Zagreb, but I don't think I'll be coming back any time soon, unless you give me a reason to." As soon as Susan finished reading it, she looked up at me.

         "Abby, are you sure you should be agreeing to marry Carter with all this going on?"

         "I don't know," I replied. "But I need to talk to Luka first."

* * *

         "John, nice to see you back," said Dr. Weaver.

         "Well, I wish I could say the same about being back," I replied.

         "So you had a good time with Abby this weekend?"

         "Yeah, it was nice," I replied happily.

         "Nice?" Chuny, one of our nurses, butted in. "Rumor is you two got engaged."

         "Can't anyone ever have anything to themselves around here?" I asked, laughing.

         "Nope," she replied. "Oh, and here," she added, handing me several charts, "there's a bad headache in Exam 4, a sore throat and a lingering cold in Curtain 2, and a possible aspirin OD in Exam 5."

         "Great," I said sarcastically.

         "You're welcome," she said teasingly. "Oh, and congratulations."

         "Why did I become an ER doctor again?" I asked Dr. Weaver, shaking my head. She laughed and shooed me away with her crutch.

         "Because you're good at it. Now go, we need all the help we can get today." I turned around, but stopped at the sound of Weaver's voice.

         "Oh, and John-," I turned my head back around. "Congratulations. You two'll be great together."

         "Thanks," I replied sincerely. I walked over to Exam 5 first.

         "So, Mrs. Johnson, what seems to be the problem today?" I asked.

         "My stomach hurts awful bad, and I don't feel very good in general. I've had a constant headache for the past few days."

         "Did you take anything, or eat anything, that might have caused this?"

         "Well, I took aspirin earlier for my headache," she said reluctantly.

         "How much aspirin, Mrs. Johnson?" I asked.

         "I don't really remember…" she drifted off.

         "Hey Carter, do you have a minute?" Susan asked, poking her head in the door.

         "Yeah, just a second," I responded. I told Chuny what tests to order, and walked out with Susan.

         "Look, I probably shouldn't be saying anything at all, so I'll let Abby do most of the talking, but you really, really need to talk to her soon."

         "What? Why?" I asked, confused.

         "I can't tell you anything else, Abby would kill me. As it is, I'll probably already be in trouble, but I don't want to see anything get messed up for you two. You've already had too much confusion and drama in your relationship," she said hurriedly. "I gotta go. Talk to her, Carter." I stood there in stunned silence. What could be so important that I had to talk to Abby right away, but that Susan couldn't tell me about? I stood there for a moment, then rushed off to find Abby. I wasn't about to let anything ruin our future together.