Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to Lifetime Television.

Chapter 7: LU ON THE WARPATH

Lu slowly opened her eyes and glanced around the room, trying to focus on her surroundings. As her eyes began to focus, she suddenly noticed the clock on the wall.

10:30am.

"What the...?" Lu threw the blanket on the floor and bolted across the room, pulling the door open with force.

"LANA!" Lu stormed out of her office and to the reception desk, where Lana was working on the computer.

"What's the matter, Kid?" Lana asked innocently, knowing perfectly well what Lu was going to say.

"What do you mean what's the matter? Lana, do you know what time it is? I missed chat room. I missed patients. How could you let me sleep? What do you think my patients thought when I just didn't show up?"

"Calm down, Girl." Lana said. "Your patients didn't show up because I called them and asked them to reschedule. And as for the chat room, I went in to talk to you and found out from the ladies that you never showed up, and I got worried. I found you asleep in your office. So I cleared your morning schedule. You needed to sleep, Lu."

"Lana, I know you mean well..." Lu started, but Lana interrupted.

"Listen, Kid." Lana walked around the desk and put her arm around her friend. "You don't need to be Wonder Woman M.D. You don't need to wear yourself out like this, Lu. Your boyfriend is missing. You're scared and hurting. You won't even admit it to yourself. You just pretend that nothing is wrong, that nothing is out of the ordinary here. You won't talk about it. Just like when Mickey died. You kept everything bottled up inside. You wouldn't talk about it. You wouldn't take time off work. And you did the same thing after you were...raped." Lana whispered the last word. Lu bit her lip. She knew Lana was right. But it was her way of dealing with things, she told herself.

"Lana, I can't help it. That's how I deal with things...I work." Lu defended herself.

"Lu, you spend all your time taking care of your patients. For once, please take care of yourself. If not for yourself, then for Jonas. He loves you, Lu. If you keep this up you are going to wind up sick yourself. Then how do you think that man is going to feel?"

"Lana..." Lu started, then paused.

"Your schedule is clear until 1:00. Go grab a shower and a bite to eat." Before Lu could answer, her pager went off. Lu glanced at it.

"Gotta go, Lana. It's the ER." Lu turned and ran down the hall towards the ER, glad for the chance to get away from Lana.

"Girl, you're going to kill yourself if you keep this up." Lana said as Lu hurried down the hall. With a wave of her hand, Lu disappeared into the ER department.

Lu poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at her desk. Thursday morning had quickly turned into Thursday afternoon. Between the ER and her own patients, she had kept very busy, not taking time for a break, and trying to stay away from Lana. She knew that Lana would only continue to lecture her and try to get her to slow down and rest. But she couldn't slow down. Keeping herself busy had kept her mind off Jonas. But now, thoughts of him filled her mind. Where was he? What had happened on his flight to Rio earlier that week?

A light knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Yeah?" The door opened and Lana stuck her head in.

"Lu? Can we talk?" Lu sighed.

"Lana, we've already talked. And I really don't feel much like talking right now. It's been a long night, and it's been an extra long day."

"Then how about I talk and you listen?" Lana asked. Lu took a deep breath.

"Fine." She said, knowing that no matter what she said, Lana was going to say what was on her mind.

"Lu, do you remember when you treated a patient of Dr. Campbell's and she died?" Lu nodded. She remembered it well.

"And do you remember why Dr. Campbell accused you of giving the patient to much medication?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" Lu asked.

"She accused you of over medicating her because of the fact that you had been up all night for all night clinic, and you were totally exhausted. It would have been easy to make a mistake."

"But I didn't make a mistake, Lana. We found out that the girl was taking drugs and they didn't mix well with the meds I gave her."

"That's not the point, Lu. The point is that right now you are totally exhausted. I know you've hardly eaten or gotten any sleep this week. Your eyes are bloodshot and you look like you could collapse any minute. You won't hardly even take a break. I'm sorry, Kid. But I gotta say this. If you keep this up, you are going to make a mistake. You're going to give someone the wrong medication. You cannot effectively treat patients when you are in this shape. And I think you know that. If you keep this up, you will find Dr. Jackson forcing you to take a leave of absence. Now I am pretty sure that you don't want that to happen again, do you?" Lu slowly shook her head, thinking back to two years earlier when she had been forced to take a leave of absence following her rape because Dr. Jackson, the Chief of Staff, had felt that she was unfit to continue caring for her patients. She had been angry, and had begun a downhill spiral that had threatened to destroy everything she had worked so hard for. Lana was right. If this continued, Dr. Jackson would insist that she take a leave of absence.

"You're right, Lana." Lu said softly. "But my patients need me to be here. I can't just leave them high and dry. You know that." Lana sighed. How could she convince her friend that she needed to think about herself first for a change.

"Lu, I know you care about your patients. I know how much they and the clinic mean to you. And that is how much you mean to me. You don't like to see your patients hurting, and I don't like to see you hurting." Lu leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, fighting the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Lana continued.

"Lu, please for once in your life, think about yourself. Put yourself first. You always do what is best for your patients. Now is the time you need to do what is best for yourself...take the rest of the day off. And maybe tomorrow too. Go home, get cleaned up, eat, get some sleep."

"Lana..." Lu started, but Lana interrupted.

"Girl, if you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for Jonas. I know you don't want him to come home and see you like this. That man loves you, Lu. He..."

"She's right, Lu." A voice interrupted. Lana and Lu turned to see a young man standing in the doorway.