Thank you to both my reviewer and Naomi, my beta. Your help and encouragement are invaluable. I know I've been slow in progressing with this story but you have shown wonderful patience. It is my sincere hope that you enjoy this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it and interacting with you. Yours, DDW

"You haven't eaten much. Do you always eat like a bird?"

"No, usually I have the appetite of an elephant." Sarah smiled faintly. "I guess nerves have gotten the better of me."

Luka understood, exactly, how she felt. He was a nervous wreck. So far dinner was an experience akin to walking a tightrope sixty feet in the air with no safety net. Eating dinner and engaging in polite conversation seemed bizarre considering the circumstances. But to do anything else, talk about anything else, was strictly taboo. Especially, since they were in such a public setting.

"So…how was work today?" Sarah blurted out.

"Work? Work was good. At least, it was good for being a day in the ER."

"That's… that's good."

She stared down at her plate, wondering why the hell she had just asked such an inane question. Realizing it was for the same reason she had ordered the food she wasn't eating. It was an attempt to make everything seem natural and mundane; a portrayal of normalcy. Though there wasn't anything normal about the situation. Awkward and painfully embarrassing described best how the evening was progressing. Luka appeared to be just as uncomfortable. Over the course of the meal he had overturned the sugar bowl, dropped his utensils, and sloshed nearly half of his coffee over the rim of his cup. Sarah, politely, pretended not to notice, each incident adding to her discomfort.

"So how much longer are you in town for? You said you're staying with friends?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sort of …visiting. I probably won't be in town much longer; at least that's not the plan."

"That's nice. I mean about your staying with friends not about your leaving! Because you don't have to stay in a hotel, I lived in a hotel once and I can tell- Okay, enough is enough! Let's get out of here."

"To be honest, Sarah, I think I was less ill at ease the night we met. And our lives were in danger then!" Luka admitted turning to the woman seated next to him on his couch.

"That's because we were distracted and didn't have much time to think about anything."

"Is that what you call what happened between us, a distraction? That night represented something more than just that, at least to me."

"Luka, you couldn't even begin to comprehend what that night and our time together has meant to me! Looking back on everything I can honestly say that I wouldn't change a single event. Because then I might not have met you."

"You have this odd compulsive habit, your always biting on your lower lip. Are you aware of that? You do it all the time; you're even doing it right now." he reached out, trailing a finger along her lips. "And every time you do it, whether you're nervous or surprised or troubled, I have this urge to kiss you."

Sarah knew that if she didn't stop him would do precisely that. Then the situation would quickly spin out of control and lead to other more intimate deeds. The attraction that had drawn them to each other, once before, was still there and just as powerful. Luka was one of the most captivating and handsome men she had ever met. Her connection to him stronger than anything she had ever known with another man. Ignoring the probable consequences, she chose to act recklessly instead of responsibly. She tilted her head, a silent invitation he seized. Feeling his lips against hers sent her senses into overdrive and she forgot everything else.

Luka stroked the soft skin of Sarah's arm and shoulder. She shivered; her skin goose-bumped. In response he pulled the sheet wrapped around them higher, before continuing on with what he was saying.

"I stayed in Africa for about six more weeks after we met, working in Kissangani and Matenda exclusively. I was forced to leave when I developed a serious case of Malaria. The very day I was leaving I spotted you on the side of the road. That was you, wasn't it?"

Suppressing a yawn, she nodded. "Yes, that was me. At first, when I saw you I thought I was hallucinating. But you looked so different and so surprised that I figured you must be real. Then you disappeared as quickly as you appeared."

"Due to my illness the possibility that you were a hallucination was likely. It was that funny little lip biting habit of yours and my friend Dr. Carter seeing you as well that convinced me that it was really you. Since he was quite healthy and the chance he was sharing my hallucinations improbable. Either that or you had an identical twin."

"Truthfully, I think being struck by lightening would have been a less jolting experience then seeing you on that road! I had been told you were dead and that your body was being searched for. Later that afternoon I found out the original report of your death had been false. I cried, thankful that you were alive and I hadn't seen an apparition. Yes, you were sick but at least you were alive and safe, out of danger."

"But you were still there and still in danger."

"Not for long, less than a week later I was on my way home as well." she whispered.

Something in her tone of voice made Luka frown, she sounded strange. Rising up on his forearm he stared down at her a look of great concern on his face.

"What happened? Was it serious? Are you okay now?" he demanded.

"Yes, I'm fine now. It was serious and took quite awhile to deal with but…You see I ...I was pregnant, just over six weeks."

So what do you think? If there are any errors it is entirely me fault as I'm not sure I made all the neccessary corrections before posting. Even with the new tools fanfiction.net has provided I'm having trouble with formating, so bear with me. Thanks.