Chapter 11

She would never forget the look on his face.

His mouth hung open with shock. Slowly, all the color drained from his face. "Wha-what do you mean?" he stammered.

"I mean he didn't do it." Finally, she had told him! She wanted to, her mind had screamed the words, but it had been a day after waking that her lips were finally able to form them.

"The first night, he left, just like he said, and someone else snuck up on me. The second time, I slipped and fell, and he was in front of me, walking up the stairs." She leaned back on the pillow, exhausted. The small amount of talking had drained her. But she had told Carter the truth; that was enough.

"Oh, God," Carter said quietly, finally realizing the implication of his words. "He didn't do it."

Almost against her will, Abby felt her eyelids closing. Well, she had delivered her message; it was okay to sleep now.

Carter sat there for a long, long time after Abby fell asleep, allowing her words to sink in. Luka was innocent. Abby had told him so herself.

Could it be the pain meds? Was she delirious, saying what she wanted to be true? No, that was the clearest she had been since she woke up yesterday. He could tell she had something to say, and she wasn't going to stop until she had said it.

Carter thought of the way he had treated Luka for the past few days. How many times had he told him that nothing could prove his innocence, and now Abby had? What could he do to fix this?

Interrupting his stream of thought, Chuny and Lily burst into the room. "Did she wake up?" Chuny asked breathlessly. Carter turned towards Abby ,and noticed that she had fallen back asleep.

"Yeah, about an hour ago," he said dully.

Chuny stared at him. "What's wrong? Is she okay?"

For the first time, Carter lifted his face to look at the two nurses. "Luka didn't do it. He's innocent. Abby told me."

Chuny and Lily froze, almost unable to accept his words. "Are you sure?" Lily asked desperately.

Carter nodded. "I could tell it was really important to her to tell me. She's been trying to get it out for a day now. But now we know; this whole thing was just a big, stupid coincidence."

"We have to talk to Luka. Where is he?" Chuny asked urgently.

"I don't know," Carter admitted.

"We'll I'm gonna find out. We have to make this right!" Chuny was visibly upset.

"We all owe him a huge apology. But sorry won't begin to cover it."

Carter, Chuny, and Lily were silent, and with each moment that passed, they were reminded of how Luka had almost been jailed for a crime he didn't commit.

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They tried to find him.

"Luka!" Carter yelled. He banged on the door. He looked in the windows. Luka was nowhere to be found.

No one at County had seen him for more than a week. Officially, his suspension hadn't been lifted, so he hadn't reported back to work. It was like he had dropped off the face of the earth.

Guilt fueled their search. Every day, they met up after work. For nine days, they combed the city, looking for the man they barely knew. They considered going to his hang-outs, but realized that no one knew where he hung out. Really, no one knew anything about him.

They thought of stopping many times. After a week, not so much as a clue to Luka's whereabouts had been found. But every time they considered giving up, they remembered how they had treated him. They knew they had stood by and let him be hauled off by the police, when they had no reason to believe in his guilt other than the fact that he was there.

Carter felt the worst of all. He had called the police; he had proclaimed Luka's guilt when no one else was willing to say it. If Luka's body was found in a ditch somewhere, he knew it would be his fault.

So he searched. And searched. Even after the others had given up, he continued to search. He just couldn't bring himself to accept the fact that Luka was gone.

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In the end, it was the least likely one who found him.

At first, she was sure she was imagining things. But the man at the end of the platform looked a lot like Luka. As she got closer, she realized that he looked a little too much like him.

"Luka!"

He turned to face her. His eyes lit up at first, then his expression turned to one of concern. "Abby! What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you!" Her face set itself in a worried frown. "Where are you going?"

"Away. For a while."

"Why?"

He looked up at her. "Everything that's happened has made me realize something. I don't belong here. You weren't there; you didn't see how quickly everyone turned on me, how eager they were to point the finger of accusation at me. The people at County, they aren't my friends."

"I'm your friend," Abby said softly, reaching a hand up to touch his arm.

Luka smiled faintly, then covered her hand with his own. "Then you're the only one." He patted her hand gently, almost absentmindedly. "I'm sorry Abby. For all of this. This whole thing turned into a big mess. But I'm glad you're okay. I'll miss you." He turned away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Abby asked, running after him.

"A friend of mine, he's volunteered for an organization, Doctors Without Borders. They give aid to impoverished countries. I'm going to Africa for a while. Not forever, I just need a little time away from Chicago."

"When are you coming back?" Abby asked breathlessly.

"I don't know, Abby," he said, looking down. "I guess I just need some time to sort things out." He wrapped an arm around her, pulled her closer to him. "You take care of yourself, okay?"

"I'm sorry, Luka. Please don't leave because of this," Abby said, hugging him fiercely.

"You know, it's really not because of what happened. This just showed me the way things really are."

"But it's not the way things are! Listen, everyone jumped to conclusions because they were scared that I might die. But Luka, they are your friends. They've all been looking for you every day since you disappeared. I know it can't make things better, but they want to apologize."

Luka looked tired. "Abby, they want to apologize because I didn't do it this time. Not because they know that I would never hurt someone I love, but because you told them I didn't do it, and now they feel stupid. Nothing's changed. The next time something happened, they would be just as quick to blame me."

"But it has changed. Just come back to County and see for yourself," Abby pleaded, holding his hand as is she might drag him off the platform.

"No, I think it's time for me to try something else. Now that I see how little trust my coworkers have in me, it makes me think, maybe it's time for a change." He picked up his bag. "See you later, Abby."

And before she could say another word, he was gone, and Abby was left standing alone.

THE END

A/N: Think this ending is sad? You should've read the first one I wrote. It was enough to make anyone, carby or luby, jump off a bridge in abject misery. When I don't have anyone to bounce my ideas off, I wander into the Land Of Eternal Angst, so you have Brynn to thank for the not-quite-as-miserable-ending! And for the comma in paragraph seven, line one. Though I appreciate the ending more... ~Taz