One week later

"I'm pretty tired of doctors thinking we work for them," Sam half yelled, half muttered as she threw her chart on the worktop at admit. "That they can tell us what to do."

She stamped a dot above one of her 'i's and the nib of her pen snapped off. She looked at it with a look of disgust on her face and threw the offending pen on the floor somewhere near the bin.

"Luka again?" She heard Abby asked and she nodded while pulling out various pens from the pen tub and forcing them back in when none of them suited her.

"What is it with his 'holier-than-thou-healing-hands'? I'm quickly getting sick of that routine." She found a pen and nodded to Chuney as she stomped her way out of admit again.

"Those healing hands are pretty good for one thing at least, huh, Abby?" Chuney teased and Abby crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it at the Hispanic nurse, who laughed in response.

Sam finally finished issuing out all the antibiotics that Kovac had ordered and she made her way into the lounge. Her initial thoughts on the good doctor had changed somewhat. Sure, he was a good looking guy but his attitude stunk beyond belief. She couldn't believe he made her do eighteen IV's in one hour on top of the others she had to do for Gallant, Pratt and Neela, just so he could get credit for discharging the most amounts of patients that day.

She marched over to the coffee maker and set it to strong.

"Hey, Sam."

Sam turned around quickly and saw Abby sitting on the sofa with her outdoor jacket and gloves on. She smiled over her surprise and greeted Abby.

"You off, now?"

Abby nodded and stood up.

"Hey, you going to the Christmas party?" Abby asked as she retrieved her bag out of her locker.

Sam thought for a few seconds before nodding.

"Yeah, but I got nothing to wear."

Abby nodded and smiled, raising her eyebrow slightly.

"Well, neither do I. What time do you get off?"

Sam looked at the clock.

"Uh... another hour."

"Okay. What would you say to some shopping later today? We could pick up some new clothes, buy a few Christmas gifts, get some lunch, what do you say?"

Sam assessed how tired she was. It was six thirty now and by the time she got home it would be about eight am. She could grab a few hours sleep, then meet Abby. God knew that she needed some new clothes and to start at least looking for Christmas gifts.

And some female friends.

"Sure. What time?" She answered with a smile and she turned around to make her coffee. She poured in lots of milk and added two sugars.

"How about one o'clock at the entrance to the plaza?"

Sam nodded and took a sip from her coffee. Aaah, just what she needed.

"See you later," Abby called as she left the lounge.

"See you," Sam said to the empty room and smiled to herself.

She'd had her doubts - after the train crash and the attitude of some of the doctor's in the place, not to mention the weather - but maybe Chicago wasn't all that bad.

"Hey beautiful, I see you went shopping yesterday. Buy anything nice?" Steve asked as he stepped into the bedroom where Sam was trying to catch some sleep before her shift started in five hours time.

Sam groaned and turned her face into the pillow, and tried to ignore Steve's attempt at seduction.

"Steve, I'm trying to sleep. I have work in like five hours and I've not had that much sleep," she informed him, her voice muffled by the pillow on top of her head.

She felt the bed dip and then Steve's light touch on her back. She pressed herself further into the bed in an attempt to rid her skin of his touch. Ever since they had moved from Ohio to Chicago, Sam couldn't bear to let him touch her. Ever since he had cheated on her with that bimbo hula dancer at the summer festival.

She felt his hot breath on her neck and smelled the faint lingering of liquor and she tugged the covers further up her back and over head. She felt the bed move again as he shifted closer to her. She rolled onto her back and stared defiantly up at him.

"You never let me touch you anymore, baby. You're not cheating on me are you?" He asked as he cupped her face in his hands and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

She sighed and rolled her eyes and tried to pry her face away from his grip.

"No, I'm not."

"Good. Because you know that I wouldn't be happy if I ever found out that you were fucking someone else, right?"

His grip on her face got tighter and Sam could feel the still tender spot on her forehead begin to ache and she nodded her head quickly, only for him to relieve the pressure there.

"Good," he said and lowered his lips to hers and crushed them together. She squirmed slightly and then he backed off. He let her head go sharply and stood up from the bed. "I'm going down to Jay's to watch the game." Sam nodded as she rolled over onto her still bruised ribs to hide the tears forming in her eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow, beautiful. I love you."

And then he was gone.

Sam tried to fall back into sleep but she simply couldn't. She looked at the clock. Three o'clock in the afternoon. Her shift started in five hours and she had only had two and a half hours sleep.

She groaned and rolled out of bed. She made her way into the bathroom and looked at her face in the mirror. Her fading bruises were still visible and she tried to wear her hair down whenever possible to hide them from patients but it wasn't always possible - especially not in traumas. Her eyes were ringed with dark circles that she could no longer pass off as bruises. Her lip still had a scab in the corner. Her cheeks now had long finger prints on them that she knew would bruise. She ran her hands down her side until she came into contact with her hip bone. She lifted up her shirt and saw the still purple bruise on her there. She closed her eyes as she pressed into it.

It was at times like these, after Steve had 'talked' to her, that she enjoyed the pain. She laughed and shook her head at her seemingly maniacal thoughts. But the pain made her feel real, reminded her that she was real.

She closed her eyes and turned away from the unfamiliar reflection. She made her way to the sofa and lay down and closed her eyes.

When she next opened them, the street outside was dark and the clock read eight seventeen.

Shit. She was late.

Just as Sam made her way to the lounge to end her excruciatingly long shift, she heard Carter call out to her to help him with the latest trauma that had burst through the door.

"My shift finished, like fifteen minutes ago!" She shouted back and kept walking.

"There's no one else here, come on!"

"Where's Abby?"

"She's up in surgery with a patient. Sam, come on!"

She sighed and turned on her heel and followed Carter into the trauma room. And then she saw Luka.

All dressed up in a fancy suit, his longer than normal hair swept to the side and looking damn fine as he inserted the buds of a stethoscope into his ears and listened to the heartbeat of the man on the bed.

He looked up and greeted her with a smile and Sam stuttered slightly when Carter spoke to her.

Assessing the man's injuries Sam listened to Carter and Kovac.

"Any pain here, sir?"

"No," the man replied to Carter's enquiry about his neck and continued his laboured breathing.

"What are you doing here today then if you're not on?"

Sam looked up to Luka and saw his eyes flick towards her and then away just as quickly. She shook her head slightly and frowned.

"I'm giving a lecture to the med students on clinical decision making without the use of ansulory tests," he replied whilst listening to the man's lungs and Sam looked up at him again before quickly looking away.

"Look towards me."

Sam picked up a few instruments and looked at the man's vitals.

"And now Doctor Kovac." There was a pause. "Any pain there?"

Sam looked up again and saw Luka's eyes on her face once more. She knew why he was looking, the dark lines across both her cheeks were rather prominent against her pale skin.

"No."

"That's pretty cool," Carter addressed Luka who then looked away from Sam.

She tried to ignore the look of worry in his eyes and also the strange sensation that look had on her stomach.

"I never taught in a classroom before," he said by way of modesty.

"Don't worry about it, you're a natural," Carter assured him and Luka smiled tightly, his eyes once again flicking towards Sam.

"Trauma apps drawn," Sam stated as she dropped a couple of instruments onto the table.

"See this is exactly what I'm talking about. All he needs is a CBC and UA," Luka said as he gestured about with the clipboard and pen.

Now Sam remembered why she wasn't having 'thoughts' about Luka Healing Hands Kovac.

"Diffuse abdominal pain: he meets trauma guidelines. I'm sending a trauma panel," she told him in her matter-of-fact tone and she saw him cock his jaw and raise an eyebrow at her.

"There's no rebound regarding. He doesn't need LFDs. He doesn't need amylase and he doesn't need typed and crossed." Sam stared him in the eye as he continued his speech and pursed her lips and raised her eyebrow back at him.

After a pause she spoke.

"Nurses have to follow protocols."

"They're not necessary," his tone was patronising.

Sam shook her head and looked back at him.

"You know what, why don't you keep your lectures for the med students cause the nurses don't wanna hear it." She grabbed the clipboard form his hands and began walking away. "I'm outta here."

She walked out of the trauma room and ignored Carter's "What the hell was that?" and the burning sensation on her back from where she knew Kovac was watching her retreating form.

Goddamit but he got under her skin.

"Here," she passed the clipboard to Chuney who had just arrived. "Trauma one."

As she left the hospital, she checked her cell phone and found that she had a new message from Abby.

She listened to the voice of the woman who had quickly become her close friend and smiled. She noted down the address she recited on a receipt from Ike's and then snapped her cell phone shut. She waited until she was strapped into her seat in her car before calling back.

"Hey, Abby, it's me Sam. Just called to say that a movie would be great. Eight o'clock at your place. Got it, see ya."

She hung up and started the engine, and drove out of County General parking lot.

As Sam climbed the stairs to Abby's apartment, she couldn't help but be impressed by the corridors. They were well maintained and had flower pots and paintings still hanging on the walls.

As she reached the door, she double checked on the piece of paper to make sure and then she reached up and knocked.

When the door opened a few seconds later, the sight was enough to send her into a premature angina attack with some hyperventilation thrown in for good measure.

"Luka?" She finally managed as her eyes slid up and down his semi-naked body.

TBC