Chapter 6

Abby pushed through her day at work, blinking the exhaustion from her eyes on an hourly basis. She had gotten home from Doc Magoos at nearly four- thirty that morning and tried to sleep for an hour before getting up for a full day at the hospital.

Carter hadn't been working that day and Abby was thankful to be leaving the hospital for the evening. Nearly everyone knew about her pregnancy after she was brought in via ambulance from the grocery store, not to mention that Haleh liked to spread the word. She was tired of all the congratulations, she just wanted to go home and absorb the news herself.

Abby retrieved her purse from the lounge and headed out into the chilly night. As she was walking down Amsterdam Street, a man wearing a ski mask over his face ran out of the bank, a gun in his hand. He was running down the sidewalk directly toward Abby, glancing back over his shoulder as he pushed through the pedestrians littering the sidewalk during the busy rush hour.

She moved out of the way the best she could, jumping off the sidewalk and into the street. Out of the corner of her eye, Abby saw the Mercedes speeding directly toward her but didn't have time to react. She slammed into the hood of the car, flipping sideways off the windshield, her leg snapping with a sickening crunch.

Abby lay in shock on the cold, damp pavement, spots scattering in front of her eyes. She knew she was blacking out but valiantly tried to fight the darkness engulfing her. Her last thought before succumbing to complete oblivion was the jagged pain in her belly. Red-hot pokers of pain were radiating from her middle, streaking down her legs at alarming speed.

She was dimly aware of a man leaning over her, telling her to stay with them, that the ambulance had been called and was on its way. She felt a cool hand brush a wisp of hair away from her forehead and a soft voice telling her she would be fine.

"No," Abby murmured, "you don't understand, the baby.."

* * * * * * * * * *

Bright lights flashed overhead, bringing tears to Abby's overly sensitive eyes. "Ohh," she moaned, "please help the baby. God please, help the baby."

"Abby, hang in there, were going to help you and the baby, just stay with us." Abby recognized Dr. Weaver's confident but worried face hovering above her.

"Lets get X-ray in here right away!" another male voice bellowed, "I want a CBC, chem. 7 and lights, stat!"

Abby looked for the origin of the man's voice. She looked hazily at all the faces scattering around her, spotting Luka giving orders to Lily. He was so focused on running the trauma he didn't notice her staring at him, her eyes pleading with him to help her baby.

"This doesn't look good," Dr. Weaver said quietly, obviously not wanting Abby to hear. "Get OB down here." She came over to sit by Abby's head, "Honey, can you hear me?"

Upon Abby's nod, she continued her voice filled with worry, "Abby, your leg is broken in two places, once we know you are stable, you will need an operation to straighten it with pins. We are going to take you up for a CT to determine if you sustained any head injuries and Luka is going to stitch up your head laceration.

She paused, her face overcome with a shadow of sorrow. "Abby, we don't know how the baby is right now. OB is coming down to do an ultrasound and until then we don't know much. But honey, I'm not going to lie, it doesn't look good right now. Our preliminary findings are you have suffered a partial abruption of the uterus.

Abby stared at the older woman in shock, tears rushing to her swollen eyes. "Oh god, my baby." She brought a shaking hand to her mouth, tears escaping down the side of her face.

"We don't know much now, but Abby I promise you we will do everything we can." Dr. Weaver patted her shoulder, "lets get you upstairs for that CT and OB will be here shortly.

Abby didn't register anything Dr. Weaver said after learning that she might have lost the baby. A sob wracked at her already sore ribs, causing her to gasp aloud in pain.

All of a sudden Luka was at her side. "Abby, its okay. Just hang tight for us, just hang tight." He picked up her hand and gently massaged it, blowing cool air on her stinging face. He leaned over and placed an ever so gentle kiss on her temple. "I promise Abby, no matter what, I'll help you get through this. I love you."

Abby's last sight before she blacked out completely was Luka's pained face staring at hers, his eyes searching the bruises forming on her pale cheekbone. She tried to squeeze his hand, but all she could do was flutter her fingers entwined with his. She was terrified he didn't feel it, but a smile flickered over his face. "Just rest Abby, we've given something to help with the pain, it will help you sleep a little." He brushed a hand over her cold forehead, soothing her with his touch.