Chapter 5 - Please Wake Up
By the end of the week, it had become brief routine conversation. "How are they?" and "Any news?" were the questions asked. The news about Alex encouraged smiles but news about Dr. Kovac made people shake their heads with concern. It seemed Alex was doing better every day and Luka was slowly slipping away.
He walked into the room and saw Sam hunched over the bed holding Luka's hand. She was asleep. In the other room the nurses was checking on Alex who was also sleeping. John quietly removed the chart at the foot of Luka's bed and studied it. Luka only regained partial consciousness twice since his surgery and was comatose.
He carefully stepped closer to him. John didn't like what he saw. Luka's face was grey and he was still on the ventilator. His leg seemed to be healing, though. Carter felt for a distal pulse. "Good," he thought it was somewhat strong and the swelling and the incision on his leg was not as bad as he thought it would have looked.
He checked under the bandage on Luka's forehead. He was shocked to see the length of the gash. It was closed with 22 stitches but it too looked good.
"Buddy, you need to wake up. If you could survive 3 weeks in the Congo with Malaria with no meds, no food and very little water you can wake up now," he whispered and put his hand on Luka's shoulder. He replaced the chart and was about to leave when Sam stirred.
"Dr. Carter?" said Sam rubbing her eyes.
"Hey Sam. And please, call me John or Carter like everyone else. How are you doing?"
"I'm not so sure. Everything is still so unreal to me,"
"I hear Alex is doing well. I was just about to have a peek at his chart,"
"The doctors expect him to make a full recovery," she said with a smile.
"Luka's injuries are healing well," Carter tried to sound optimistic.
"Yeah, they are but you saw the chart ... he needs to wake up," she said dismally.
Carter drew closer and hugged her. Sam burst into tears.
"I don't want to lose him! ... I can't!" she sobbed.
"You won't. We won't let that happen. He'll wake up. Keep talking to him. Everyone's going to come up and bug him so he has to wake up if he wants to get rid of us," He could see that Sam didn't feel any more confident by his comment.
"Look Sam, he was hit head on by 4x4 and he's still here. He was in the Congo for 3 weeks with Malaria and he'd been in a war. He's still here. He's been mugged and he totaled his car. Still here. I don't think we can get rid of him so easily. He's very tough,"
"What if this is the last time? What if this is too much?"
"This isn't too much. He lost his family. I think that was the worst one. Now he's got you and Alex and you're going to help him get better," Carter glanced at Luka. "He was hit hard. He's badly injured and it's going to be a hard fight for him. It's only been a week. He hasn't gotten any worse,"
"He needs to get better,"
"Yeah, he does. And, he might have complications but we'll deal with that if it happens and he'll get through it,"
"You sound so sure," sniffed Sam.
"I am," Carter smiled and shook his head. "We weren't the best of friends, you know. But ... all that changed in Africa. When my grandmother died ..." Carter sighed. "I was having a hard time after she died. I needed to do something different with my life but I didn't know what I could do. Luka picked up on my vibe and knowing things were iffy with Abby ... one day he just simply said I should go with him to Africa; do some good. I eventually joined him and I wasn't so sure what I'd gained from going there other than fear ... having a gun to my head and all. Anyways, when I heard that Luka was dead, I went back without a thought. Africa changed our relationship ... opened my eyes. He was my friend and I was going to bring his body back for a decent burial if it was the last thing I did. Then by some miracle his life was spared and I found him. He wasn't supposed to die then and he's not supposed to die now. Gotta have faith Sam. You and Alex mean the world to him. Help him get better," He gave her shoulders a squeeze. "I've gotta go. I'm going to check on Alex and I'll see you later, okay?"
Sam nodded and looked at Luka. He hadn't moved in days. It didn't seem like he was improving, but Carter was right. It certainly wasn't the worst thing that had happened to him.
"Luka? Hon? I hope you can hear me. Thanks for saving Alex and me. But you have to do one more thing for us. You have to wake up. You need to fight this, okay? I'm here and I want you back. I miss looking at those big blue eyes so come on, wake up okay?"
Luka didn't open his eyes but he had heard what she had said.
By the end of the week, it had become brief routine conversation. "How are they?" and "Any news?" were the questions asked. The news about Alex encouraged smiles but news about Dr. Kovac made people shake their heads with concern. It seemed Alex was doing better every day and Luka was slowly slipping away.
He walked into the room and saw Sam hunched over the bed holding Luka's hand. She was asleep. In the other room the nurses was checking on Alex who was also sleeping. John quietly removed the chart at the foot of Luka's bed and studied it. Luka only regained partial consciousness twice since his surgery and was comatose.
He carefully stepped closer to him. John didn't like what he saw. Luka's face was grey and he was still on the ventilator. His leg seemed to be healing, though. Carter felt for a distal pulse. "Good," he thought it was somewhat strong and the swelling and the incision on his leg was not as bad as he thought it would have looked.
He checked under the bandage on Luka's forehead. He was shocked to see the length of the gash. It was closed with 22 stitches but it too looked good.
"Buddy, you need to wake up. If you could survive 3 weeks in the Congo with Malaria with no meds, no food and very little water you can wake up now," he whispered and put his hand on Luka's shoulder. He replaced the chart and was about to leave when Sam stirred.
"Dr. Carter?" said Sam rubbing her eyes.
"Hey Sam. And please, call me John or Carter like everyone else. How are you doing?"
"I'm not so sure. Everything is still so unreal to me,"
"I hear Alex is doing well. I was just about to have a peek at his chart,"
"The doctors expect him to make a full recovery," she said with a smile.
"Luka's injuries are healing well," Carter tried to sound optimistic.
"Yeah, they are but you saw the chart ... he needs to wake up," she said dismally.
Carter drew closer and hugged her. Sam burst into tears.
"I don't want to lose him! ... I can't!" she sobbed.
"You won't. We won't let that happen. He'll wake up. Keep talking to him. Everyone's going to come up and bug him so he has to wake up if he wants to get rid of us," He could see that Sam didn't feel any more confident by his comment.
"Look Sam, he was hit head on by 4x4 and he's still here. He was in the Congo for 3 weeks with Malaria and he'd been in a war. He's still here. He's been mugged and he totaled his car. Still here. I don't think we can get rid of him so easily. He's very tough,"
"What if this is the last time? What if this is too much?"
"This isn't too much. He lost his family. I think that was the worst one. Now he's got you and Alex and you're going to help him get better," Carter glanced at Luka. "He was hit hard. He's badly injured and it's going to be a hard fight for him. It's only been a week. He hasn't gotten any worse,"
"He needs to get better,"
"Yeah, he does. And, he might have complications but we'll deal with that if it happens and he'll get through it,"
"You sound so sure," sniffed Sam.
"I am," Carter smiled and shook his head. "We weren't the best of friends, you know. But ... all that changed in Africa. When my grandmother died ..." Carter sighed. "I was having a hard time after she died. I needed to do something different with my life but I didn't know what I could do. Luka picked up on my vibe and knowing things were iffy with Abby ... one day he just simply said I should go with him to Africa; do some good. I eventually joined him and I wasn't so sure what I'd gained from going there other than fear ... having a gun to my head and all. Anyways, when I heard that Luka was dead, I went back without a thought. Africa changed our relationship ... opened my eyes. He was my friend and I was going to bring his body back for a decent burial if it was the last thing I did. Then by some miracle his life was spared and I found him. He wasn't supposed to die then and he's not supposed to die now. Gotta have faith Sam. You and Alex mean the world to him. Help him get better," He gave her shoulders a squeeze. "I've gotta go. I'm going to check on Alex and I'll see you later, okay?"
Sam nodded and looked at Luka. He hadn't moved in days. It didn't seem like he was improving, but Carter was right. It certainly wasn't the worst thing that had happened to him.
"Luka? Hon? I hope you can hear me. Thanks for saving Alex and me. But you have to do one more thing for us. You have to wake up. You need to fight this, okay? I'm here and I want you back. I miss looking at those big blue eyes so come on, wake up okay?"
Luka didn't open his eyes but he had heard what she had said.