Chapter 3
"Hey, Abby."
Abby blinked her eyes in confusion. "Where am I?" she asked, her voice rough.
"In the hospital. You were attacked," Carter said gently.
Abby shook her head. "I don't remember," she said, scratching her head. "What's wrong with me?"
"You hit your head pretty hard. Neurology's gonna wanna run some tests, make sure you didn't damage anything."
"I feel okay," she said, stretching her fingers and toes. Yep, everything still worked. "Well, except for my head." She looked around the room. "Is Luka here?" she asked.
Carter tried not to be disappointed by the fact that the first person she asked for was Luka. "No, he went to go and get something to eat," he said. "You hungry?"
Abby shook her head. "No, just tired. How long have I been here?"
"All night. There was a cop here. He'll probably want to talk to you."
Abby frowned. "I can't remember," she said softly. "I can't remember what happened." She shook her head. "Why can't I remember?"
"It happens a lot to people who have a traumatic experience; you know that," he said encouragingly.
"Yeah, it happens to people. It's not supposed to happen to me." She put her hands on her head. "I feel like a chunk of me is missing."
"Maybe you'll remember later," Carter suggested, trying to be encouraging.
"I hope so," she said quietly.
__________________________________________________________________
By the time Luka got the news that Abby was awake, the cops had already talked to her. He raced up to her room to see her, feeling suddenly guilty for enjoying a sandwich while Abby was in a coma. What kind of boyfriend was he, anyway?
The kind that just dumped his girlfriend, he reminded himself. Technically, he and Abby weren't even a couple anymore. He had broken up with her right before she had gotten mugged. But Abby getting attacked had swept every thought of that from his mind. When he first heard about it, he hadn't even known if she would survive, and that made their earlier disputes seem so trivial.
When he got to her room, he discovered a police officer guarding her room, which he thought was strange. But what he thought was even stranger was the fact that they wouldn't allow him to go in.
"Detective Gilbert is talking to Miss Lockhart. You'll have to wait."
So he waited. And waited. Finally, Gilbert emerged from the room.
"Mr. Kovac, just the man I wanted to see. Could you come with me?"
"I need to go see Abby," Luka said, walking past the man.
"I don't think so," Gilbert said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What are you talking about?" Luka asked, shrugging the man's hand off his shoulder.
"I talked to Miss Lockhart. She doesn't have any memory of the event."
"That's common in victims of a trauma," Luka said quickly, looking over the man's shoulder to try and catch a glimpse into the room.
"I know. Her doctor told me that." He placed a firm hand on Luka's arm. "I need you to come down to the station and answer a few questions."
Luka stared at the man. "I already answered a few questions. I haven't done anything, and you're treating me like a criminal!"
"You have done something. You lied to me about leaving the train with Abby; why shouldn't you lie about attacking her?"
"This is crazy. I wouldn't have any reason to attack her!"
"You said yourself that you two were fighting. You both probably said some things you didn't mean, maybe things got a little out of hand-"
"No! I didn't do it," Luka insisted.
"Then it shouldn't bother you to answer a few questions."
Luka sighed. What choice did he have? Resignedly, he followed Gilbert to his squad car.
_______________________________________________________________
"And could you touch each fingertip to your thumb in turn?"
Carter watched anxiously from outside the door as the neurologist performed his tests on Abby. So far, she appeared to be doing pretty well. He hoped there wasn't any kind of permanent damage.
He wondered where Luka had gone. Chuny had gone down to the cafeteria to get him, but neither of them had returned. He wondered what could possibly be taking so long.
On cue, he saw Chuny walking towards him. "Did you find him?" Carter asked.
"Not exactly," Chuny said. "The cops took him downtown for questioning."
"What for?" he asked, not getting it.
"They think he did it."
Carter's eyes widened. He pointed to the window, where they could see Abby and the neurologist. "They think he...attacked her?"
Chuny nodded. "Yeah. Her doctor said..."
"Doctor Carter," the neurologist interrupted, coming out of the room.
"How is she?" Carter asked anxiously.
The neurologist looked grim. "It's really too soon to tell. She's having some difficulties, but they might go away once the swelling in her brain goes down."
Carter nodded. "Are you done with the tests and everything?" The man nodded. "A nurse should be here to take her back to her room soon."
"I can take her," Carter volunteered, and the doctor was more than happy to let him.
"Hey Abby. Feeling any better?" he asked, entering the room.
"A little. My head's still pounding. What'd he say? He wouldn't tell me anything, but I think I did pretty well on all the tests. And I feel normal," she said, reaching up to rub the bandage on her head.
Carter nodded. "You ready to do back to your room?" he asked, dodging her question.
"Yeah, sure. You're a nurse now?" she asked, amused, as he pushed the wheelchair over to the bed she was sitting on.
"Yup, Nurse Carter, that's me," Carter said cheerily, helping Abby get into the chair.
"Did Luka come by while I was asleep?" she asked as he wheeled her back to her room.
Carter realized that she didn't know that Luka was the number one suspect. Well, he wasn't going to be the one to tell her. "He was by earlier, but he had to leave."
Abby thought for a moment. "Does he know what happened? I remember we went to dinner, but I don't really remember anything after that. Maybe he could fill me in."
"Actually, I already asked him. He says he doesn't know anything." At least that was one thing he could say truthfully.
Abby sighed. "Maybe it'll come back to me," she said, unconvinced. "So what did the neurologist say?"
"He said that you did fine on most of the tests, but that there was some residual damage. But it might get better after the swelling goes down," he said quickly, eager to impart some good news. They got to Abby's room, and Abby climbed into bed and closed her eyes.
"Miss Lockhart?" Both Carter and Abby turned to face the cop that had just entered the room. Carter looked at the man's face and knew that he wasn't bringing good news.
"Did you find who did this?" Abby asked, her face hopeful.
Gilbert looked at the floor, the ceiling, everywhere but Abby. "Actually, I wanted to ask you a few more questions. Now, what's the last thing you remember from last night?"
"I remember Luka and me going to dinner and...we went to a little cafe. A diner." Abby's brow furrowed. "That's the last thing I remember."
"Do you recall you and your boyfriend having a fight that night?"
Abby shook her head. "No. It that what Luka said happened?" she asked quickly. She wanted to know anything she could about the night that was completely absent from her memory.
Gilbert nodded. "He said you two got in a fight and he left. We have a witness who claims she saw him grab you and shake you, and that he was yelling at you." Gilbert watched her face closely to see how he would respond.
Abby's face was the picture of confusion. The cops thought Luka had hurt her? That didn't sound like him. And she couldn't imagine him attacking her on the street. But he said they had a witness! Why would a stranger lie? "I...What did Luka say?" she asked, unsure of what to believe.
"He denies it. He says the two of you were arguing, and he left." Gilbert took a step closer to the bed. "Miss Lockhart, does this sound like something he would do?"
Abby couldn't imagine him doing something like this, but really, how well did she really know Luka? Had she ever seen him when he was really, really angry? She couldn't recall that she had. This didn't sound like him, but could she say with any assurance that this was something that he absolutely would not do? "I don't know," she had to admit. "I don't think he would, but I'm not positive. I guess I don't really know him all that well."
"How long have you two been dating?" Gilbert asked.
"A few months."
"Has he ever been violent towards you before?"
Abby shook her head. "No, no, he hasn't. I don't...think he would do something like this," she said hesitantly.
Gilbert nodded. "Well, he's being questioned down at the station. I'm going to talk to some of your co-workers, see if he's ever displayed a temper in front of any of them. If you remember anything, here's my number down at the station. You can call me anytime." With these words, Gilbert left.
Abby was visibly shaken. "They think Luka did this? They think he hit me over the head with something, cause he was mad?"
Carter raised his eyebrows. "You think he didn't?"
Abby turned to look at him. "Do you really think he would...do something like this?" she asked, suddenly sounding small. She hated this, Luka remembering what had happened that night while she didn't. How did she know if he was telling the truth? How did she know if he had a raging temper that he had somehow managed to keep under wraps while he was around her, that exploded last night? She was beginning to realize how little she actually knew about Luka's temperament.
Carter nodded. "Yes, I do. He's been out of control before, and I wouldn't put this past him."
Carter was trying to act calm for Abby's sake, but in reality, he was furious. He couldn't believe Luka had done this to Abby. He didn't need a confession; he believed they had already found the culprit. He had seen Luka's temper before, and he knew that attacking someone was just the next step. But Abby was, obviously, not so sure.
"I wish I remembered. I have to take Luka's word for this, and I thought I could trust him, but now I'm not so sure."
"Let's just hope you get your memory back," Carter said. Or that the cops get a confession out of Luka, he thought.