Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! Please keep reviewing, we really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy this chapter! :)
Jo & Lise xx

Part Four

"How did it go?" Once again Susan approached Abby at admit.

"How did what go?"

"Coffee! What else?!" Abby shrugged.

"I called psych for Mr. Palowski, now that he's conscious again. They're sending someone down asap."

"Abby..."

"And labs are back on Rebecca Diamon in 4," she continued, avoiding the conversation. "Also, Mrs. Cramtint thinks she's got a yeast infection. You should probably take a look. Although I can get Pratt to if you'd rather..."

"Abby!"

"What?" she replied, irritated. She didn't want to talk about this right now.

"How did coffee with Carter go?"

"It didn't go. Okay?" She grabbed a chart. "You wanna take a look at Rebecca's labs now?"

"What happened?"

"Her white count's sky high, and..."

"Not with the patient! With you and Carter."

"There was a woman in Africa." She sighed, feeling tears prick at her eyes. She wasn't going to cry over this - he didn't deserve it.

"Seriously?" Susan was shocked. She'd thought Carter would stay loyal to Abby forever. "He told you that?"

"No. But Chuny came in, and said there was a phone call for him from someone called Gillian."

"I'm sure there are loads of women in Africa!"

"Oh, that's a real comfort. Thanks a lot Susan." She smiled sarcastically.

"What I meant was she's probably just a friend. And who says she was from Africa? Could be anyone!"

"You should have seen the look on his face when Chuny said it though." She sighed, looking back to the chart.

"Dr. Lewis, you called for a psych consult?" She looked up at the man who'd just approached them.

"Oh yeah, hi Bob." She smiled at him. "That was for Mr. Palowski. Thinks he's in a room inhabited by the devil, and that demons reached into his heart."

"Interesting..."

"Yeah. Just watch out for the flames of fire that engulf the room." She winked at him. "I'll show you where he is." Walking round to the other side of the admit desk to join him, she turned to Abby. "Talk to him. I think you've probably got the wrong end of the stick." Abby shrugged, not looking up from the chart. "Right, this way Bob..."

Abby waited a few moments until she was sure Susan had left before looking up. Susan was a great friend, but she was sick of everyone trying to sort her problems out. If Carter had cheated on her she could never forgive him for that. Looking around she saw Carter exiting the lounge, with a strange expression on his face that she couldn't quite read. Was he upset about something? Maybe this Gillian had ended it. She smiled to herself slightly. Served him right anyway.

"Abby." Whilst thinking she hadn't noticed that he'd approached her position at admit.

"Erm, I have to go get some lidocaine for a patient, sorry." She turned to leave, but he caught her arm.

"Abby we have to talk."

"I don't want to talk about this Gillian." She shrugged his hand off. "Go live with her in Africa for all I care!"

"It's not about Gillian," he said, trying to get through to her. She wasn't letting him in though, she'd put a barrier up.

"Look I don't want to talk about us either. I think you ruined that conversation with this Gillian person."

"Abby, shut up and listen to me!" he shouted, causing Frank to look up from his place in front of the computer.

"Everything okay?"

"Shut up Frank," he seethed. Frank shrugged, took a bite of his doughnut, and turned back to the computer. Abby was still stood in shock, staring at him. "Abby, it's about Luka."

***

"Luka? What's Luka got to do with you and this Gillian...or is it a convenient change of subject?!"

He slammed through the lounge door after her.

"Go on then, what about Luka?" she demanded, hands on hips.

"Gillian is...well was Luka's girlfriend."

"Just what are you saying Carter?!"

"Luka's dead Abby. He stayed at the clinic we were working at, determined not to leave his patients. He died giving care to those who really need it. So sorry if that's ruined your bad expectations of me." His glare cut through her, then with a look of disgust he turned and walked away.

"Carter...!"

He'd reached the door now.

"John?"

He stopped, turned and faced her.

***

"So you can admit him?" Susan asked Bob as they walked away from Mr. Palowski's room.

"Yeah, he's obviously delusional, and possibly a danger to himself. I just have to find him a bed."

"Great, thanks." She smiled at him as he walked off to make his way back to psych. As she passed the lounge, she glanced in to see Carter and Abby standing there. Carter had his back to the door, and Abby had a shocked look on her face, almost distraught. At least they'd talked - she just hoped that Abby's suspicions had been wrong.

***

"He's dead?" she whispered, shocked. Even if she wasn't best of friends with Luka he was still someone she cared about, and a good man.

"Yeah. The Mai Mai, they..." He stopped, and walked over to the sofa, where she joined him. "They raided the clinic, killing everyone. Gillian could hardly tell me what had happened, she was so upset. She's going over to the clinic on Saturday to...to get his body." He looked down at the floor sadly. He'd got to know Luka a lot better in Africa, and he'd found he quite liked him.

"My goodness." Instinctively she reached out her hand and took his firmly in it. "I never thought that something might happen to him."

"I know, I know."

"The whole time I was worrying about you, and if you'd come back to me safely, and it never occurred to me that anything could happen to Luka."

"You were worried about me?" Tears had started to well up in her eyes: she wasn't usually one to cry much, but today had turned into quite an emotional day.

"Yeah. I didn't know what I'd do if anything happened to you." She wiped furiously at the tears. "I can't believe he's actually gone."

"Hey, come here." He let go off her hand, and pulled her into a hug. "I'm here now." She nodded into his shoulder, holding him tightly. "And Luka died around friends, doing something he cared about."

"John," she said, lifting her head off his shoulder to look at him. "Promise me you'll never leave me again." He nodded, and she sunk back into the hug again.

"Ssh, it'll be okay." He kissed the top of her head gently, knowing his promise wasn't quite true. Perhaps now wasn't the best time to tell her his plans for Saturday.

***

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