"Jonathan, come on sweetie, we're going for a ride." Jonathan looked up with interest. He put his toys down and got up. He had always liked riding in the car. A half our later we were on the interstate. I had made up my mind. I was going to go see Luka.
Nicole and I sat on the couch in the living room. We were watching a
movie. I sat with my arms around her, her head resting on my shoulder.
She looked up at me, her eyes conveying everything she was thinking. She
leaned in and kissed me softly on my lips. I felt a jolt go through me.
How is it that I find I love her more and more everyday?
"I love you." She said softly. I smiled.
"I love you, too." She returned the smile. She put her head back on
my shoulder and we continued watching the movie. I noticed she was restless.
I grabbed the remote control and paused the movie.
"What's wrong?" I asked her. She hesitated a moment.
"Oh, nothing... it's stupid." She said.
"No, it's okay. What is it?" She paused a moment before speaking.
"I was thinking how different our lives will be if we have children.
I'm kind of scared, about being a mother and everything. Do you think I
will be a good mother?" I smiled.
"I think you will be an excellent mother. Don't worry, all the changes
we will have to make will be worth it. When you watch your child you get
the most mind-bending feeling. You created that person; his entire life
is in your hands. Also, you learn how incredible it is to love someone
unconditionally." I watched Nicole relax.
"Thank you." She glanced over my shoulder. Puzzled, I looked at her.
"What?" She smiled.
"Aren't you supposed to be on at eight?" I nodded my head.
"Yeah, why?" She laughed.
"It's eight twenty." I jumped up. I was going to have to hurry. I quickly
kissed Nicole goodbye before running out the door.
It took me about three hours to reach Chicago. I made my way to County
General. I prayed that Luka was on tonight. I didn't know his address anymore
or I would have just gone to his apartment. I park my car and got Jonathan
out. I walked into the ER for the first time in five years. Everything
was different. They had remodeled the place; it was a lot more updated.
I looked around for a familiar face, doubting that I would find one. I
walked up to the main desk; a woman was one the phone. She motioned that
she would be with me in a moment. As I stood there waiting, someone tapped
me on the shoulder. I turned around and came face to face with Deb Chen.
"Abby?" She said, her eyes opening wide, a smile forming on her lips.
"Oh my God! How are you?" She leaned in to give me a hug. Relief flooded
me. Thank God someone I knew was here tonight. After a few moments Deb
let go, still grinning. Her eyes fell on my stomach.
"When are you due?" She asked. I smiled and laid a hand on my stomach.
"Three weeks." I told her.
"Wow, that's really soon. Where's..." Deb was interrupted by Jonathan.
"Hi, my name is Jonathan." He said, coming out from hiding behind my
legs. Deb grinned.
"Hi Jonathan. I'm Deb. How old are you?" She asked. Jonathan held up
three fingers. "You're three? Wow, that's pretty old." He nodded and smiled.
She looked at me.
"I'm guessing he's yours?" I nodded. " He looks so much like his father.
Speaking of John, where is he?" I felt my heart tug and tears spring into
my eyes. Deb noticed because she took my hand and Jonathan's and led us
into the faculty lounge. We sat down
"Abby, what's wrong?" She asked, handing me a tissue. "Is everything
okay with you and Carter?" I opened my mouth to say something but all that
came out was a pathetic sob. Deb continued. "Are you guys okay?" She paused
a moment before speaking again. "You guys aren't getting divorced, are
you?" I shook my head, trying to stop crying.
"Deb..." I began. I took a breath in trying to calm myself. "A week
ago...a week ago John was killed in a car accident." I looked up at Deb,
letting the tears fall again. Her face went from shocked to disbelief to
sadness. Her hand flew up to her mouth and I could see the tears forming
in her eyes. She got up quickly and gave me a hug. In a moment we were
both sobbing. I knew Deb and John had been very close. He used to call
her every weekend. Heck, Deb and I had been close, too. In a way, I was
starting to feel better. It was nice to have someone to cry with, someone
who was hurting like you were. Deb let go, tears running down her cheeks.
"Abby...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. God, I'm gonna miss him." I nodded.
"I can't believe he's gone. I still think this is all a bad dream,
that I'm going to wake up and it will all be over." I paused a minute.
"I know eventually I'm going to be okay, It's Jonathan I worry about. He's
so young. It kills me to think he'll grow up not knowing his father. It
kills me to think that this baby will never see John and he will never
see this baby. We were both so excited about this baby. He was such a good
father..." My voice broke on those words, causing both of us to start crying
again. We sat there for what felt like ages when the door opened. We both
looked up, startled. My breath caught in my throat. Luka was standing in
the doorway, looking between Deb and I.
I was almost running on the way to work. I can't believe I did this.
I made it to the ER in record time. Breathless, I ran through the doors
and was met with the chief of the ER, Lindsey Wright. She gave me a look.
"Dr. Kovac, you're almost forty five minutes late." It took me a minute
before I could answer; I was trying to catch my breath.
"I'm sorry, I just lost track of time." I waited for a reply. Lindsey
smiled.
"It's okay, just don't let it happen again." I grinned.
"No problem." I watched as Lindsey left. I hurried into the lounge
to get my things. I opened the door and froze. Chen was sitting as the
table, crying. Abby was beside her. I looked over at Abby, then Chen. It
looked like both of them had been crying. What happened? Why was Abby here?
Why was she crying? I stood there silent. I noticed a little boy sitting
on the couch with a book. He looked like Carter. He had to be Jonathan.
I knew I should say something instead of standing there like a mime. I
cleared my throat.
"Abby, what are you doing here?" I asked. She looked up at me. She
looked awful. She stood up and that's when I noticed she was pregnant.
She walked towards me.
"John was killed in a car accident." I felt like someone had knocked
the wind out of me. I watched as fresh tears started rolling down her cheeks.
My first instinct was to wrap my arms around her and that's what I did.
I could feel her body tremble as she cried. I didn't know what to say,
so I didn't say anything, I just kept my arms wrapped around her. "I'm
sorry I just showed up like this, I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't
stay at the house, everything I look at reminds me of him." I hated seeing
her like this, in so much pain. She doesn't deserve this. Nobody deserves
this.
"I know how you feel." I whispered to her. For once, I truly knew how
she felt.
