A house for us.

Luka was often found muttering in Croatian as he tried to deal with his pain. He was in his sixth month of physical therapy and the road was long and hard. His collarbone was healed and the cast removed from his left arm which was slowly regaining its strength. His leg was still in a cast and was still very painful but he never quit working on it. When he wasn't in the gym with the therapist, he was there on his own taking one painful step after another. If he was watching television he was doing exercises to strengthen his arm.

The day he began to put weight more of his body weight on his leg, Carter stopped by to give him some news on the renovations. His own therapy rushed back to his mind, as he saw Luka, sweat pouring off him as he struggled to step on his right.

"Ahhrghhh! Damnit!" followed by more expletives in Croatian.

"Dr. Kovac, take a break and we can work on this tomorrow," urged Mary, his therapist.

"No, I can do it! Let me just try once more," he quipped back at her.

"Okay, but take it slowly," she insisted.

More grunting. More growling. More incomprehensible swearing, but he took two steps on that leg. That prompted smiles form the therapist, Luka and Carter, who began to applaud.

"Hey Mary," Carter greeted her.

"Hey, Dr. Carter. You look great! Can't even tell you were in my torture chamber," she said smiling.

"What can I say Mary. You're the best! How's our patient here?"

"Well it's hard to say who growls the loudest between the two of you, or who swears more but he's quite the fighter. He'll be walking down the aisle by June," she said grinning. She praised Luka's efforts and headed home.

Carter sat next to Luka who was still huffing and puffing and soaked from the workout.

"Looks like you're coming along well,"

"Yeah," huffed Luka. "But as you say here, in America ... it's a bitch!"

"How's the pain?" asked Carter

"Terrible," responded Luka.

"Yep, I remember. What about the pain killers?"

"At the end of the day it's tough. I can go most days without taking full doses but some nights when I'm just watching television or reading, there're these sharp piercing pains in my leg that just get the better of me. It helps when Sam's there because she does a lot of massage and I get a lot of relief from that,"

"I'll bet," said Carter with a strange expression that made both men laugh.

"So, how's my house?"

"Well, I'm off and I'm starving so why don't I tell you all about it over dinner?"

"Okay. Just give me a few minutes to get cleaned up," replied Luka.

They went to what Carter called a 'roomy' restaurant. He told Luka that after he was stabbed and was in a wheelchair, he made his "gamma's driver bring him here just so he could get through the aisles and fit at the table with ease. Luka appreciated the space and the meal.

"So ... I'm going to take you to your house tonight!" said Carter as he put his lips to the frosty mug of beer.

"How? I can't get in there," asked Luka.

"Well, I had the scaffolding guys do me a favor,"

"A paid favor no less," Luka replied "What have you paid for now?"

"Umm," he said downing the rest of his beer "I had them put up temporary ramps so I can wheel your sorry ass in there,"

"Again ...EXPENSIVE!" Luka smirked.

"Again...I know somebody who knows somebody. Besides, the house is at this point where you need to see it and decide if it's up to your liking. And look who's talking expensive. That is an amazing house!"

"Well it's no Carter mansion but yeah, it put me back a few," grinned Luka proudly. "You see, when I came to Chicago, I heard that there was this family, the Carter's, who had all these big companies and real estate and their stock was doing really well so I invested in them and well, Carter, you paid for my house," he chuckled.

"Well I'm happy to have helped with such a great project. We should go see it now," said Carter as he motioned for the check. The waitress came over and Luka put his hand over the bill.

"No, this is on me. Let me treat you for a change," he said.

They arrived at the house and Carter eagerly wheeled Luka up the ramp and into the house. The lower floor was done and it was perfect. The living room, dining area and kitchen was all one open space now, like at Luka's loft, except that it was twice the size. The bay windows were put in and the kitchen bay window looked out onto deck and back lawn. Off to the left they were almost done with the study. The shelves were built into the wall and it was quite masculine. It looked like a doctor's study. There were three bathrooms and they were still under construction as were two of the three rooms upstairs. The master bedroom was magnificent. It looked onto the driveway. It had a wonderful window seat, tons of closet space, an ensuite bathroom with a tall man's tub and a shower stall. It was a bright room and was as he imagined except for one thing.

"What about the door that connects to the nursery?" he asked Carter, as he eyed the blueprints. "You see right here?" he pointed it out to him.

"Oh, they forgot about that but when I spoke to the foreman he assured me they're going to have that put in," Carter was smiling.

"Did you say nursery? Isn't Alex a bit old to be in a nursery?" he teased.

"No, we want him close at all times," Luka shot back with a smile. The smile turned into a blush. "A man can hope ... right?"

"I don't think you'll have to hope. She's nuts about you and I can see you with your own kids with Sam," said Carter, giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"I want to adopt Alex, John. What do you think?"

"I think they'd be honored. I'm happy for you man. You deserve happiness and I wish you guys just that for the rest of your lives,"

"Everyone gets their chance ... seems like a got it twice,"

"I hope I get another chance like you did. You're lucky," said Carter, brooding a little.

"Well, I hear lots of people get together at weddings," he said while Carter chuckled at the comment. "Don't laugh. I'd like you to be my best man. All those women will get a good look at you. You never know!"

"I'll have to see if what you say is true then when I am your best man next June," Carter accepted.

Later that night, he glanced over at Sam sleeping in his bed and he smiled with satisfaction. The pieces of the puzzle that was his life were finally coming together.