8 months previous

Samantha Taggert groaned as she rolled out of bed. The heating in the apartment had broken down again and the frosty Chicago air hit her semi-naked body as the sheet fell from around her body. She looked back to the other occupant of the bed and shook her head slightly. He still stunk of alcohol from his drinking binge the night before.

She shook her head and glanced at the clock: 0545. She had forty five minutes before she had to leave. Her first shift at the Cook County General Hospital started that day and she had absolutely no intention of being late.

She bustled into the bathroom, limping slightly from the jarring in her hip from where Steve had accidentally pushed her into the dining room table. She looked down and saw a large purple bruise forming around the bone. She winced as she prodded it and decided against any further aggrevation on that part of her anatomy. She turned the shower on and felt the tepid water - with no heating, she doubted there would be any hot water - but it was warm enough for her to cleanse herself quickly.

Shedding her large T-shirt, she stepped under the weak spray and wet her hair and body. After what felt like three minutes, the water ran cold and Sam stepped out, groaning again as the chill air hit her. Quickly, she dried herself off and stepped into the bedroom again.

Going to her drawer she pulled out fresh underwear, her new blue scrubs and a long sleeved blue top to wear underneath.

She made her way to the kitchen where she flipped the switch on the kettle and flopped onto one of teh dining room chairs and sighed. The whole table was covered in beer bottles from where Steve and his mates had drank until the early hours of the morning, playing music loudly, laughing and watching various different porn movies - all the while, Sam had been trying to catch at least a few hours sleep before her shift started.

She was shattered.

Her whole body ached in a way that could only possibly be induced from tiredness - apart from her hip of course - and she felt as though she would not make it through the day. The kettle whistled and she made her coffee.

Looking out the window, she saw that the ground - and her car - were covered in what seemed like a foot of snow and more was quickly gathering on top of that which already laid there. She'd take the train to work - it was only a few minutes of a walk away.

There was no way she was driving in that.

Luka Kovac sat straight up in his bed as his alarm beeped loudly in his ear and yanked him out of yet another fractured dream of his family. Sweat glided down his back and the sheets below him were soaked from where his body had been laying. The sheets were a tangled mess around him and he thanked whoever was listening that Abby had not taken him up on the offer to move in with him. It simply would not be fair for her to be woken up because of his frequent dreams. Abby would want to talk and that was part of his life that he most certainly did not want to talk about.

Dragging himself from the bed his bed, he stumbled into the bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror: dark, tired eyes stared back at him. He rubbed his face and looked at his watch: 0545. God, but did he need a long lie.

Deciding to jump in a quick shower, he shed his boxers and T-shirt and stood under the thundering pressure of his shower. He scrubbed at his skin with a bar of soap, to ensure that every remnant of his dream was off him and then stepped out and dried himself.

He made his way into the bedroom and pulled on a pair of fresh boxers and pulled out his green scrubs and a long sleeved gray top to wear underneath. He made his way quickly into the kitchen and looked at the clock: 0600. He had time for a coffee. Flipping on his kettle he looked around the room and his eyes fell on a photograph of him and Abby that had been attached to his fridge with a magnet. He walked over to it and smiled, taking it down from its resting place: it was from last years christmas party (the annual event of the year, which was coming up in under a month). He wore a Santa Hat and a goofy grin while Abby stared at him, with a tinsel halo flying around above her head Sorry, but it's a jibe at 'Fear's "Are you an angel come to take me to heaven?".

The kettle whistled and he dropped the photo on the bench and rushed over to the bubbling kettle and made his coffee.

Looking out the window, he saw the ground covered in almost a foot of snow and saw that more was still falling. He groaned as he sipped his drink and decided to take the El.

There was no way he was taking his Lexus out in that.

TBC