CHAPTER TWO
A/N: Wow! Thanks for all the great reviews! I'm glad that you all are enjoying what I have so far. Here's the next chapter. =]
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April 25, 2004Sam woke up sleepily the next morning around nine. Her apartment was eerily quiet, except for the sound of her shower running and the coffeemaker. Luka's pants and shirt had been picked up neatly off the floor and placed on the end of her bed, as well as her own clothes from the night before.
Groaning, she rubbed at her throat, which was just as sore as the day before, if not worse. She sat up and tugged the sheets around her bare body just as Luka walked out of her bathroom with a towel around his waist.
"Morning," he greeted, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. "Your fever's down."
"Thank god," she mumbled, falling back against the pillows. "I still don't feel any better though."
"Not even after last night?" Luka smiled. He shook his damp hair out over her face, which only caused Sam to pull the sheets up over her head.
"Last night was great, but I still feel like crap. Plus that coffee is definitely not the best smell in the world right now," Sam complained. Luke gave her a sympathetic smile and walked back into the bathroom with his clothes, coming out a minute later fully dressed and now toweling off his hair.
"I'm sorry."
Sam shrugged and sat up again. "I'm sorry for complaining. What time does your shift start?"
"In twenty minutes. I'm on until ten tonight."
"Ten?"
Luka nodded and sat down to tie his shoes. "Yeah, why?"
"You working tomorrow?"
"I'm on at six at night."
Sam sighed and nodded. "We didn't really get a chance to talk last night."
Luka gave her a small grin and started playing with the loose pieces of hair around her face. "I'm sorry. I know we didn't. I guess we got a little distracted. Lunch?"
"I have to pick up Alex from Mikey's, but what time?"
"I don't know. I'll have to see how busy we get. Kerry's still not in today. Neither is Carter and Susan's on bed rest until the baby is born. It's just me, Pratt, and Morris today."
Sam nodded again. "Okay. I have to run in to get my test results so I'll see what's up then?"
"That's fine. I'll see you later." Luka leaned over to kiss Sam one more time before grabbing his car keys off of the nightstand. "Stay in bed."
"I'll try. And dump the coffee pot in the sink before you leave!"
"I'll try to remember that," Luka grinned before heading into the kitchen.
* * * *
Two hours and one shower later, Sam was heading towards County General. It was decently warm out today, probably in the mid sixties, although it was a little overcast. Still, the hospital was the last place she wanted to be today, even if it meant just stopping in to pick up some test results.
Sam tugged at the black hair tie, allowing her damp curls to fall over her shoulders in messy clumps. She ran her fingers through quickly to separate them before walking towards admit. Unpleasantly, Morris, who was chewing on a piece of gum obnoxiously and scanning a new chart, greeted her.
"Hey, Sam," Morris greeted. "You're not on today?"
"Nope. Just came here to get my test results from yesterday. Where's Luka?"
"Where's Luka, eh? He took a little girl to x ray, last time I checked. Then again, I don't sleep with him so—" Sam's immediate glare silenced Morris and he closed his mouth. "Test results for you right here." His eyes scanned them briefly. "Oh, by the way, congratulations."
"For what?" Sam raised an eyebrow at him and scanned the results of her tests. Negative for strep and anything else under the sun, so she probably just had a minor cold and sore throat. It was when she reached the bottom of the results that she knew what Morris meant.
"Your hCG levels are out of the roof. So, congratulations! Didn't know you were planning a little brother or sister for Alex there, Sam."
As much as Sam wanted to punch Morris in his face at that moment, she gritted her teeth and managed to regain her composure. "How far along do you think I am?" Whether she liked it or not, Morris was a resident, and he could probably make a better guess than she could off the top of her head, even though she was a nurse.
"My guess is about five to six weeks. Probably five, though. Want me to page Doctor Coburn? Or Luka, perhaps?" he questioned snidely.
"Morris, look. I'd really appreciate it if you kept your mouth shut about this right now. It's my business, not yours, and not anyone else's in the hospital."
"You got it. But really Sam, congratulations. I think it's great."
"Thanks," Sam replied softly. "Tell Luka that I'll be around if you see him." She pocketed the test results and sighed, heading for the ambulance bay.
"No problem." Morris then answered the ringing phone inches away from where he was standing. "County General."
* * * *
Sam rested her chin on her knees as she sat outside of the ambulance bay, staring up at the sky. She was pregnant. She had to admit, when she first found out she was pregnant with Alex, it had sounded nothing short of a death sentence. Almost. And then two missed abortion appointments and nine months later, Alexander Peter Taggart had been born at one forty-five on an August morning after almost twenty hours of labor. She had just turned sixteen the month before and now had a newborn son to take care of. None of the books she had read or the advice her mother had given her had helped Sam through those first few weeks of sleepless nights and the early morning feedings. Even though it certainly hadn't been easy, Sam felt that she had done a pretty damn good job of raising Alex, even though he was more mature then a lot of kids his own age.
Sam didn't even have to think twice about who the father of her baby was. She had only slept with one person since she had moved to Chicago, and that person being Luka. They had been pretty careful too, but Sam knew that there still always was a possibility. She honestly thought that it never would happen again. Not until she had found that right person and actually married them.
And even with Morris just taunting her with the test results like that, it did make logical sense. She had been increasing tired over the past two weeks, and just this morning she had been complaining about the smell of the coffee before Luka left for the hospital. Sam knew the signs all too well—they were almost identical to the ones she had experienced when she was pregnant with Alex nine years ago. The only difference was, she didn't have any morning sickness. Yet.
Sam didn't know what the hell she was supposed to do. Abortion didn't cross her mind, and neither did adoption. Technically, with her salary and Luka's combined, this baby could be raised just fine. She'd be okay, and so would this baby. Yes, a lot of things would change and her relationship with Luka certainly would, but the world wasn't going to end and pigs weren't going to fly. Things were going to continue on just like they would before. She'd just be a single mother to one more child and lose a few more hours of sleep. Plus, Alex was old enough to be able to help out and—
Single mother? Sam sighed. She hadn't even bothered to think about how she was supposed to tell Luka. Would he be upset? Angry? Overjoyed? Excited? Would he never talk to her and Alex again? She knew that Luka was crazy about Alex. Seeing them together and how they reacted with each other was good enough for her. But there was a lot of doubt and fear clustered in the back of her mind that she didn't know how to deal with right now. She was still trying to figure out what her and Luka were. Well, there was one thing she knew right now. She was pregnant with Luka's baby.
"Hey Sam."
Sam shielded her eyes against the sun and smiled. "Hey Pratt. What's up?"
"Waiting on a GSW. I thought you were off today."
"I am. Just swung by for my test results."
"So what's wrong with you? Caffeine withdrawal finally catching up to you?" Pratt joked, pulling on his gloves.
Sam laughed. Practically the whole ER had caught on to how much she loved her coffee in the mornings. "Nah. I guess you could say I'm pretty healthy."
"Oh yeah. Good to hear."
"Yeah. Hey Pratt?"
"Yeah?"
Sam was about to ask him for advice, but changed her mind. She hadn't exactly been too fond of Pratt when she first started at County, but hadn't really done anything but bite his head off since then. The guy probably deserved a fair chance. "Never mind. Good luck with that GSW."
"Thanks. See ya tomorrow."
Sam smiled and turned the corner, heading towards the El.
* * * *
By two, Sam had made it to Mikey's house and was ringing the doorbell. Mikey's mother, Melissa, opened the door smiling.
"Hey Sam. Come on in. The boys just finished up playing Playstation. Alex went upstairs to grab his things."
Sam stepped into the hall of Mikey's house and glanced around. "Did he give you any trouble?"
"Of course not," Melissa laughed. "Alex, your mom's here!"
"Coming!" Alex thundered down the stairs, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. A blonde boy followed down the stairs. "Hey Mom.""Hey yourself. Hey Mikey."
"Hey Miss Taggart."
"Ready to go?" Sam asked.
"Yep. See ya tomorrow, Mikey."
"Later!""Thanks again," Sam called out over her shoulder as she ushered Alex down the driveway and towards the sidewalk.
"Anytime!" Melissa called out, shutting the door of her home.
"Did you have fun?" Sam asked, hugging Alex loosely.
"Yeah. Mikey's got the new Tony Hawk game for his PS2. It's awesome."
"Cool."
"You think we could go out this weekend and get it?"
"How about we rent it first?" Sam laughed.
"Okay," Alex agreed, smiling.
"Someone's happy. Not pissed off at me anymore?"
Alex shrugged as they crossed the street and starting climbing the stairs for the El station. "I guess not. Dad's not coming back, is he?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
Alex took a seat on the bench and Sam sat down next to him. "How come you and Dad don't get along?"
Sam sighed and watched the people crossing onto the platform. "It's a long story. We'd be here all night."
"I have time."
She laughed and smiled at him. "I know you do. You always have time for stories that involve personal lives."
"Not true. Only the ones with juicy details," Alex reminded her, grinning.
"So what are you saying? That I have a juicy personal life?"
"I dunno. Did you get in trouble at work today?"
"Nah. Luka cut me some slack."
Alex grinned. "Is he coming over soon?"
"He might stop by tonight, but you'll already be asleep."
"Can I stay up just to say hi?"
Sam shrugged her shoulders as the El train thundered into the station. "Maybe. You have school tomorrow. We'll see. We have some grown up things to talk about."
"You're not a grown up."
"Well then what am I?" Sam laughed.
"You're like…the older sister cool mom type. Mikey's mom is a grown up. She's thirty-three. You're twenty-five. I get away with more stuff with you. You're cool until like, thirty."
"Then what am I then? Uncool?" Sam questioned before stepping onto the train.
"Nah, just old."
Sam laughed and tossed her hair back over her shoulders. "Watch it buddy."
* * * *
"Hey, Luka!"
"Yeah?" Luka turned around and came face to face with Chuny. He closed his locker and spun the combination lock once, grabbing his keys out of his pocket. It was after ten, and his shift had ended twenty minutes before.
"Did you hear? It's going all around the ER."
"Hear what?" Luka asked, too tired to put up with anyone right now. He wasn't a fan of the gossip that sometimes spread around the ER, and made it a point not to interact or add anything to it.
"Sam's pregnant. Apparently someone got a hold of her test results. Isn't that great? Wonder who the dad is, though."
"Oh." He felt the color drain from his face a little bit and cleared his throat. "Yeah, I had no idea."
"Yeah, it was all over her test results like I said. Well anyway, have a good night."
"I will. Thanks."
Silently, Luka made his way out of the building and towards the parking garage. The walk took forever, and even when he had made it back home to his apartment, he couldn't stop thinking about what he had just heard.
Sam was pregnant? Was it his?
He knew he should have stopped over her place tonight.
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