Here is the third and final post. The story probably could been complete without this post, but I feel it needs a chapter about Luka. This part takes place the day after the Christmas party at susan's aka the day before the evening Luka and Harkins got smashed up in a car accident in 'Hindsight'.

Thanks to all who reviewed,for keeping me on my toes about the spelling of characters'names. I thrive on feedback.

No thanks to my computer that crashed and delayed this final post.

Note: I have forgotten the name of the social worker in the wheelchair, so I have called her Alana for the purposes of this fic.

And just in case anyone cares, I don't own ER.

*********

"This is the fourth MVA this weekend!" remarked Gallant to other doctors who were shivering as they waited for the ambulances to arrive.

"Better get used to it ," replied Susan, "once the roads get icy, pileup season begins."

Kerry pushed open the door and stepped outside, followed by Pratt and Abby.

"It turns out there sending us four of the five survivors, instead of only three," Kerry informed them. She was assigning the patients to doctors, just as the ambulances pulled up.

Luka winced inside as the ambulance doors opened. His patience was a little girl who had a large shard of glass protruding from her forehead, and was quite thoroughly cover with blood. As the paramedic reported to Luka the girl's name and vitals, the tiny patient looked up a the doctor with big, imploring brown eyes. She reminded so much of his daughter Jasna it made him sick.

"Where's my mommy?" she whimpered, "I want to see my mommy."

"Don't worry,"Luka assured her as they brought her inside, "We'll find her. "

Luka had never told anyone, but treating young trauma victims pained him most out of all the heart-wrenching tasks his profession required him to preform.

***********************

"Time of death: 14:56," pronounced Susan, setting the paddles down.

Gallant looked down at the woman lying limply on the table.

"Did they ever find her kids or her husband?" he asked.

"There were quite a few a DOA's at the scene," replied Abby, "Her husband was taken to Nothwestern, and he's in critical condition.

'

Luka entered from the adjacent trauma room. He stopped short when he saw the corpse.

"Is this Melanie McNeil ?" he asked.

Susan nodded.

What the miniscule amount of hope that Luka had had evaporated.

"My patient is her daughter," he sighed, "She's in stable condition, but I promised her that I would find her mother."

"Well you found her, didn't you?" replied Abby coldly.

************************

Luka flipped through the charts, trying to find one with symptoms that didn't sound particularly fatal. He only had half an hour left on his shift, and he had had his fill of tradegy for the day.

"What'd you think," he consulted Susan, who was standing nearby, "flu or sore throat.

"I'll take the sore throat"

He handed her the chart and headed to exam one. Through the blinds he could see a young african-american man with a woman who looked about the same age . Luka was just about to open the door when someone called his name from behind him . He turned to see Kerry.

"I'll take your patient," she said, "Dr. Romano wants to see you in his office ASAP."

She exchanged the memo for the chart and was on her way. Luka just stood there for a minute, staring into space. Part of the reason his suspension a had been so brief was that there would be 'other remedial measures taken, at a later date'. It seemed that a later date had come. His steps heavy with dread, he boaded the elevator. Once it had reached the surgical floor, he got off and almost immediately bumped into Dr. Corday.

"Luka!" she greeted him, with more enthusiasm than she wanted to show.

"Hello, Elizabeth," he said. In the daylight, she was even more than in the dim light of her living room. He admired the elegant arch of her neck, the determined sparkle in her deep brown eyes. . .

"Where are you off to?" she asked, snapping him out of his awestruck trance.

"Down to the fiery pits of hell," he answered, gesturing toward the hallways that lead to Dr. Romano's office.

She smiled. "Good luck," she said, "and have a good holiday. Perhaps I'll see you later."

"That would be wonderful," he whispered to himself as she passed him to get on the elevator. ****** Somehow, Luka had survived his encounter with the chief of staff.

At first, he had been relieved to find out that he did not have to spend an extended period of time with the arrogant worm who was in charge of the hospital's staff. His relief turned right back to dread when Romano abandoned him in a small, stuffy room with the five dullest human beings on the face of the earth. These were representatives for the Association for

******

Somehow, Luka had survived a doctor's worst nightmare.

At first, he had been relieve to find out that he did not have to spend an extended period of time with the arrogant worm who was in charge of the hospital's staff. His relief turned right back to dread when Romano abandoned him in a small, stuffy room with the five dullest human being on the face of the earth. These were representatives for the Association for the Creation and Maintenance of Safe and Productive Workplaces in Health Care of Illinois, an associate who's sole propose was to waste doctors' valuable time.

"The reason you are here, Dr. Luka Kovac,"one worker stated listlessly, "is to get to the root of your problem so that, together, we can find an effective solution."

This statement was followed by the most excruciating emotion dissection imaginable. Peering over their clipboards, they asked him question after pointless question in their monotone voices. A good portion of the questions were vague and roundabout, and pertained to mysterious entities such as Team Dynamics and Interpersonal Strength. The rest of the questions pried into his personal, into things he did not want to discuss with strangers. This intrusive bunch included a women with a shrill voice, whose vocabulary seemed to be the phrase : "Could you please elaborate on that?", which she demanded after each of Luka's responses. For the first time in his life, Luka found himself wishing that he was down in the ER. When the relentless questioning finally came to an end, the team quickly came to the consensus that any deep, emotional problems that their subject had could be solved with ten sessions with one of the Association's therapists.

As she was leaving the room, the woman with the high-pitched voice patted his hand and flashed him a smile full of crooked teeth.

"There now, " she said condescendingly, "doesn't that feel better, getting all that off your chest."

No, he thought as he rode the elevator, it doesn't. In fact, I feel worse than I did before I went up there. I honestly don't see how having my soul torn apart and poked and probed by strangers who couldn't care less is supposed to benefit me.

He stepped off the elevator and was immediately was affronted by Pratt holding a bundle of straws.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"I still have a job," Luka replied.

They proceeded to the admit desk, were most of the other doctors and nurses who had handled the MVA victims earlier.

"Luka's here, now we can pick straws," announced Pratt. Everybody selected a straw from Pratt's handful. They compared their straws for length and concluded that Gallant's was the shortest.

"What does that mean?" asked Luka, who had no idea what the straws had to do with anything.

"I have to go tell that little girl from this morning's MVA that all of her family is dead," Gallant answered solemnly.

"Where their any survivors from the other vehicle?" inquired Luka, though he was afraid of the answer.

"I don't think so,"replied Abby.

Jerry, who had been listening to the entire conversation, turned around.

"It turns out," he said, "that the teenaged girl who came in after the others with facial lacerations was also in involved in that MVA. She arrived just in time to find out that she was an orphan."

*********The remainder of Luka's shift expired uneventfully. He was about to head to the lounge to collect his belongings, when he began to wonder about his young patient who had lost her family. He had a strange urge to see how she was doing. He located the room she was in, but he couldn't bare to enter. After all, he had broken his promise. He had not been able to bring the little girl to her mother. Melanie McNeill's death was beyond Luka's control, but he still felt responsible.

Luka squinted between the blinds to catch a glimpse of his bereaved patient. She was sitting up in her bed, sharing a box of tissue with another, somewhat older, girl, as they wept together sorrowfully. The second girl, who Luka did not recognize, had bandages covering most of her face. Despite the tears, Luka's patient did not seem as utterly devastated as he had expected. Perhaps this had something to do with the comfort from her roommate. The older girl had the pale, thin hand of Luka's patient in her own. Even from his narrow viewpoint, Luka could sense the girl drawing strength from each other.

He noticed a third figure in the room. It was Alana, the social worker, talking to the girls and jotting down some notes. After awhile, Alana gave each girl a reassuring pat on the shoulder and wheeled out of the room.

"How is she doing,"asked Luka as soon as the door shut.

"Better than I expected." replied the social worker.

"She seems to be getting on with her roommate," commented Luka.

"That's the funniest thing," said Alana, "Olivia there, the older girl, was the only survivor of the other family involved in that incident," she pause thoughtfully, still going over her conversation with the girls in her head, "It's almost as if their common loss has brought them together." She peered up at the tall doctor, " They both have a long, difficult road ahead of them, but I have a gut feeling about these two. Crazy as it may sound, I think they're going to be alright in the long run, as long as they stick together. Well, now I have some phone calls to make. Hopefully I can find a spot in a group home for them together. Happy Holidays, Dr. Kovac."

"Happy Holidays," he replied, and they were both on their way.

********

Luka stared listlessly into the dark abyss of his coffee cup. His shift had ended nearly an hour ago, but he was still sitting in the lounge, wallowing in self-pity. Damn americans, can't even make a decent cup of coffee. What he wouldn't give to be back in Croatia. To have his wife and children back. . .

His train of thought was interrupted as Susan entered the room.

"You're lucky Weaver took your flu patient," she said as she opened her locker, "apparently he has leukemia, and now he's up in the ICU. It's a good thing we were able to catch it so soon."

"Like they say," said Luka, "There are no easy cases."

"Didn't you get off a while ago?" she asked.

"I'm hiding from Harkins" he improvised feebly.

"She seems to have a thing for you," chuckled Susan as she closed her locker and headed for the door, "See you later, Luka. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

In a sort of melancholy trance, Luka collected his belonging and left the building. Then he saw her. She was thoroughly bundled up against the cold, trudging through the ankle-deep snow.

"Elizabeth," he called after her, and she turned to face him.

"Luka," she exclaimed through the scarf that covered her mouth. The majority of her face was obscured by the blue and white checked woolen monstrosity, but Luka liked to think that she smiled when she saw him.

She looked around to make sure no one was around. Looking nervously down at the ground, she said to him, "I'd like to thank you, Luka, for being such a gentleman, last night."

For the first time all day, Luka didn't feel as though the weigh of the worlds was weighing down on him.

"Your welcome," he said, finding that her presence had made it nearly impossible for him to think up anything witty or suave to say.

"I'd love to stay and chat," she said, "but I have to catch the next EI train so I can get home before Ella's sitter leaves."

"I could give you a ride," he suggested, "that is, if you'd like."

"I would like that very much," she replied, and they both headed toward his parking spot, "your Viper is quite famous up in the OR. All the male surgeons are positively green with envy."

They reached the sleek black car, and Elizabeth stopped suddenly.

"I will let you drive me home on one condition," she said with a smile, "I get to drive."

He tossed her the keys and they were on their way.

THE END