POCKET CHANGE
by Sharon R.
Chapter Twenty-One
Welcome to Chicago
The hustle and bustle at County General's ER was about par for a Saturday morning. When the phone rang, Randi picked it up, pissed that she had to cover Jerry's shift while he was on vacation.
"ER." She popped her gum between breaths. Abby was just finishing her night shift and getting ready to leave as she racked up the charts at the other end of the desk area.
"Yeah, but she's with patients this morning. I can take a message."
"Is this Dr. Kovac?" She nearly swallowed her gum as she quietly quizzed the party on the other end of phone."
"Wow, it's great to hear your voice."
"Dr. Weaver is here. You want me to tell her you're on the phone?"
"Okay. I can keep a secret."
"I'll tell her it's Dr. Lawrence." With great swiftness, Randi put Luka on hold and walked over to Kerry who was at the board.
"Um, Dr. Weaver. There's a phone call for you."
"I told you, Randi, take a message. I'm too busy this morning to deal with administrative stuff."
"Um, it's Dr. Lawrence."
"Gabe Lawrence?" Last she knew he was in the second stage of Alzheimer's.
"Yeah. He, ah, wants you to take the call in the lounge. Line three."
Kerry took no time getting to the lounge and picked up the phone. Behind her, Abby came in and started changing out of her lab coat.
"Gabe?"
"Luka! Is Carter with you?"
Abby's focus immediately changed to Kerry.
"When?"
"Is he in serious condition?"
"Okay. I'll take care of it. I'll have an ambulance meet you. I'll call his family."
"Well, alright, I understand."
"That's no problem. Luka, I'm glad to hear that you're coming home."
Kerry hung up and sat still taking in what she had just heard and breathing relief after the weeks of worry the staff had been through.
"That was Luka?" Abby butted in, startling Kerry.
"Abby! Ah, yes, but he doesn't want anyone to know. They are on their way and he wants it kept very quiet." Kerry stumbled, having just discovered that Abby was there the whole time.
"They?"
"Yes, Carter too. But…"
"Are they okay?" Abby's emotions finally softened as her worry over their disappearance and then kidnapping became worry over their health.
"Carter needs medical attention, I'm guessing they both do. They're coming here at about," Kerry looked at her watch, "one or two o'clock."
Abby nodded her head looking at her own watch, making plans.
"But, Abby, he doesn't want to see you. Not even his family. Not just yet. I'm sorry. They've, well, you've seen the news from the Congo, and they've been…." Kerry wasn't good at this, "… he has to take the steps himself. He'll see you when he's ready. But first things first. Let's get them healthy. Okay?"
Kerry got up and left leaving Abby by herself.
(Lyrics to a few lines of Let Me Fallsung by JoshGroban and written by James Corcoran and Jutras Benoit previously properly attributed, deleted as per new regulations by site administrators 5/3/05. The complete original text of Pocket Change can be found at LUKAFIC)
As Kerry walked back to the admit desk she heard the television news anchor blaring from the normally muted TV.
"…. were reported to have been released by rebel troops sometime yesterday…"
The staff was crowded at the front of the desk looking up at the wall mounted set. When Luka's and Carter's staff ID photos, pictures the news agencies had used almost daily since the kidnapping, were finally capped next to the anchor, the staff erupted in thunderous cheers and applause.
"Luka Kovac, a native of Croatia, and John Carter, both physicians at Cook County General Hospital's emergency department had been volunteering their services in the war torn Democratic Republic of Congo before being kidnapped twenty-nine days ago.
A new picture brought the celebration to a halt as the staff let their triumphant fists fall from the air and hushed their voices. The grainy photo was disturbing, showing a thin and bloodied Luka, obviously aiding a frail Carter into an airplane.
"Seen here at an undisclosed location prior to leaving the African continent, the details of the doctors' return to the states has not yet been released. However, a source at the state department has confirmed that Kovac and Carter are, indeed, in the hands of American officials and are being flown to Germany to receive much needed medical treatment."
"Did you see the news, Dr. Weaver?" Randi quietly asked her. "When are they getting back here?"
"Soon. Keep things quiet, Randi," Kerry mumbled to her on the sly. "Let's get back to work, people."
Skirting around a myriad of questions from the staff, Kerry escaped into the quiet of the elevator on her way up to notify Romano and Anspaugh of the phone call.
By mid afternoon things had quieted down in preparation for the inevitable Saturday night crunch. It was a good time for some staff to take breaks. Kerry had briefed a few of the doctors and nurses, keeping them to a promise of secrecy. The ambulance backed in the bay, the first to get out was Luka who stopped to take in the warm Chicago afternoon with blue sky all around.
"Luka? What's wrong?" Kerry was the first outside.
"No rain." He smiled at Kerry.
"Well, that's good. Because it rained almost the whole time you were gone."
"Yeah, it sure did."
Carter's gurney was pulled out and the group headed into the ER. They all tried to look happy as they greeted Luka and Carter for the first time in weeks, but their stark, thin frames, battered clothing and bodies was more than they had prepared themselves for. After the initial "good to see you" and "welcome home", not much more was said. Not far behind, two men in business suits ran after them right into the trauma area where Dr. Romano headed them off in the doorway, turning his back on the two.
"Well," he glanced back and forth between Luka and Carter, "I see Batman and Robin have returned to the bat cave. Dr. Weaver and I will take Carter. Susan, you and Gallant can see to Luka's needs next door."
"We need to talk to these two doctors." The larger of the strange men announced.
"Really?" countered Romano. "And who are you two jokers?" His dwarfed size compared to the government officials' was misleading at best.
"We are with the State Department. Seems the doctors bypassed the planned stop in Germany. And you are?"
"You can call me Alfred. Now get out of my cave." Romano slammed the double doors in their faces before turning his attention to Carter.
Next door Luka sat on the examining table while Susan looked him over and Gallant took his vitals.
"So what were you doing in the Congo?" Susan awkwardly asked while checking his head wound. She knew what he was doing there and what had happened but just couldn't come up with anything else to ask him.
Luka looked down and smiled. "Just trying to keep the change from making the hole in my pocket any bigger than it already is, I guess."
"Huh?" It was never meant for Susan to understand, but it gave Luka encouragement. "We need to have plastics take a look at this. It looks like it has been a few days since it happened. I'd also like to get some IV fluids and antibiotics on board."
Luka wasn't paying attention as he looked through the window at Carter who sat up on the bed between the other nurses and doctors. He wasn't saying much at all as the doctors and nurses bustled around him getting vitals, hooking up his IV line to new fluids, drawing blood and generally talking over him. It reminded Luka of how Mbuto stood like a statue among the chaos of the war around him. Numb.
"Dr. Lewis," Randi popped her head in the door, "there's a call for you at the desk. Said it was very important."
"Okay. I'll be right back." After Susan left, Luka slipped off the table and into the trauma room next door.
"John, we need to get your shirt off so we can start another line, okay?" Kerry's gentle attempts to get him to undress were met with a halting Carter who tried to get a word in edgewise among everyone who was tending to him. Lilly had to maneuver around Romano and Weaver to replace the O2 mask that the paramedics had put on him with a nasal cannula.
"I… I can't."
"Haleh, lets prep him for a central line. I'll call the pharmacy and order a hyperalimentation after I see his labs." Kerry could feel Carter's ribs through his shirt. "How's your appetite? Nauseus?"
Carter nodded. "Yeah, but…"
"We'll need a urine sample, Dr. Kildare. Can you give us one?" Romano was the same callous man.
"I… um, not yet, but…"
"Oh, for crying out loud. Come on Carter, we've all seen it before. Off with the shirt." Romano was busy ordering x-rays and lab tests. The last thing he needed was a modest patient. "Arms up."
Carter cleared his throat. "I really…" He just gave up trying.
"Let's add an All-in-One, get some calories into you." Kerry moved behind Carter.
"Robert?" Kerry motioned for him to come to the head of the bed where she had lifted Carter's shirt in the back. The two gazed at the multitude of bruises, scars and open, oozing wounds, some infected that covered his back. Even Romano was taken aback as he looked away, closed his eyes and sighed.
"You'll have to cut the shirt off." Luka had come into the room through the adjoining door. He looked at Carter for permission to speak for him. Carter nodded once. "He can't lift his arms over his head yet. They…" He paused to pull from himself the last bit of strength to describe what he would just as soon forget, and dropped his head down, focusing on the floor. "They… uh… " With all eyes on Luka, he suddenly felt self-conscious about describing the hell Carter had endured while he sat with Jules being brainwashed with food and water. "One of the things they did was to hang him by his arms."
His head still hung low, Luka lifted just his eyes to hopefully meet up with Carter's. But as the staff silently went back to work on their patient Carter sat motionless as he cracked a half smile of humiliation.
There was no need to explain further as his shirt was carefully cut away. Some pieces had to be removed from within the wounds themselves. Although they had treated wounds far greater in severity, their personal connection with Carter made this trauma particularly upsetting. Lilly had to turn away to regain her composure. Haleh flushed and then hooked up fluids to the line Luka had originally started on the jet. Nobody talked. They were afraid to hear any more, not wanting to see the pictures in their heads that Luka had just placed there. Carter remained in his position at the mercy of the people around him. Something he had become accustomed to.
"Is there anything else we should know?" Kerry quietly asked Luka.
"He had seizures, bad ones. Grand mal. Could have been from head injuries, but just as easily dehydration." Carter was glad he didn't have to talk about it. "And he was severely beaten in the torso. They really spared no part of his body."
Nobody wanted to say it, but they all wondered how Carter could have taken such a beating but not Luka. The smell of body odor, urine and general filth was overwhelming, and in the aseptic environment of the hospital it was all too obvious to Carter and Luka.
Haleh finally put her hand on his leg and gave him one of her rare but brilliant smiles. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I want to get cleaned up." Carter broke his silence.
"John, we need to get you to CT." Kerry, Betadine swabs in hand, was about to start the central line when he pushed her arms out of the way.
"Please."
"This can wait a little longer," Robert allowed, "I'll get someone to help you."
Haleh helped Carter into a clean hospital gown trying hard to divert her eyes from the obvious marks of torture he had brought back with him.
"No, I just want to be alone."
"John," Kerry was soft spoken, "you can't do this alone."
"I'll go with him." Luka stepped back into the other trauma room and grabbed a wheelchair.
Together with Carter and the IV pole, they wheeled down the hall to the room that had the shower, Romano close behind. Luka didn't waste time getting there. It was going to be hard for them to be a part of civilization again.
"I guess we missed a lot while we were gone." They both laughed at their inside joke as a one-armed Romano held the door open.
"Seems you two are hot items. Keep it short," Romano barked.
With his head bowed, Carter couldn't resist. "Jebac majke." Luka gave him an ataboy on the back as he stifled a laugh.
"I heard that," yelled Romano as the door swung closed.
The door between the dressing area and the shower room had a window in it so Luka parked Carter on a shower chair with his back to it just in case. Malik motioned to him through the window as he put down clean towels and gowns on the bed in the outer room. Luka carefully removed the hospital gown and then went to work on the pants. What didn't fall off in pieces remained behind attached to the makeshift waistband Carter had re-tied on the airplane.
"It will be okay, Carter. We made it too." Luka took the showerhead and started washing, the chest first then the shoulders. Carter could at least manage the washcloth. The warm water was nice, and blended well with the silent tears that came from nowhere.
Luka stepped in front of Carter to work on his hair when he saw Abby in the window. With her one hand to her mouth, the other on the glass, she stood with the look of shock and repulsion as Carter's back was bared to her from the bottom up. She and Luka shared secret looks outside of Carter's view then she motioned to her side. There standing at the door were Carter's parents. Luka nodded at Abby and she opened the door for John's father. When he reach his son in the chair, Luka handed over the showerhead and quietly left the room.
Mr. Carter picked up where Luka left off, John cradling his aching arms to his abdomen like a newborn baby. John felt a familiar hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his father. "Your mother is here too, outside." He motioned to the door where John's mother stood with the same expression Abby had had. When her eyes met her son's she subtly kissed her fingertips and placed them on the glass between them.
By the time Luka made it to the hallway, Abby was gone. He wanted to talk to her. Suddenly Susan, wearing trauma gear - yellow gown, eye shield, gloves and mask - came from behind with a wheelchair, Malik in matching attire behind her. She pushed Luka into the chair and threw a surgical mask at him.
"Here, put this on."
"What are you…?"
"Shush, just do it!" As soon as she said that, the two suits appeared.
"Dr. Kovac, we have to talk to you. It's a matter of great importance."
"Stay back," Susan yelled, "this man has a rare tropical disease. Very contagious."
"What?" The men took a few steps back. "But, we have to…"
"Dr. Malik will tell you all about it, but you can't be near the patient."
With that, Malik stepped up and ushered them down the adjoining hallway to Sutures. As they walked away from them, Luka could hear Malik playing the game with the government men. "You see, External Occipital Protuberance disease is very rare, extremely contagious, and found only in Africa. You should check with the CDC for the morbidity rate. Just how close did you get to them?"
Susan took Luka to the elevator. "Sorry, but they are quite persistent. By the way, I took a call for you from someone named Sean." This perked Luka up. "He said to tell you that he found your package and that he gave it to tumor to take care of. Is that right?"
This was great news for Luka. "Toomay," this brought a long lost smile to Luka's face. "Her name is Toomay and that is very right. Could you please tell Carter?"
"Here we go." Susan wheeled Luka onto the maternity floor. "I thought you could get a good private shower up here. Got your own room with some scrubs waiting."
She went as fast as she could just in case the suits were behind her. As they passed the nursery, Luka reached out to the glass window and asked her to stop. He just wanted to see the newborns with the healthy bellies and feisty attitudes. Some crying as they awaited their mother's nourishing milk, others sleeping peacefully.
Peace.
THE END