Chapter 10: Not Really Over...

A/N: Just wanted to see where this story pans out… I may or may not update this story again… you tell me…

Slightly AU, because I don't what else to call it. ;-) Set sometime after season 8 and some episodes in season 9… Mark is still dead… And so is Romano… Susan and Abby are friends... Carter and Abby are obviously together… Luka is still brooding!Luka (or something like that)… Basically the story gets off from there…

Disclaimer: I don't own them, because if I did, you'd have already seen this story on tv… and Carby would've lived happily ever after… :P

"How is she?"

Carter snapped out of his reverie. He glanced towards the door, where Susan's voice had sounded. She stepped inside and gazed at the small figure lying still on the bed.

"Still under observation, but she's stable." His response sounded perfunctory. "No intracranial bleeding, just a simple case of concussion. They're waiting for her to wake up, perform some more tests, just to be sure. Other than that she's fine, punctured lung, broken ribs and all." He glanced at her.

"We came in as soon as we heard." Susan said, remembering the page they got a few hours earlier. It hasn't even been an hour since Abby left the two of them. Jing-Mei, being the sobered one, phoned in. The message was short and precise: their friend has been brought in, badly beaten. With no further questions, they raced back towards County.

She noted his haggard appearance. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Susan. I wasn't the one that almost got beaten up to death, remember?" Carter snapped.

Susan remained silent.

"I'm sorry," he softly apologized a second later. "Everything's just… it's just too much right now." He admitted.

"I understand," came the reply. The room was wrapped with silence once more, save for the steady beeping sound of the heart monitor.
"They finished surgery on him." Susan quietly informed him, breaking the silence. "Police are getting him into custody as soon as he wakes up."

"If he wakes up," Carter bitterly corrected. "Luka should've done us all a favor and killed that son of a bitch."

"You don't really mean that, Carter."

Yes I do." He snorted. "I wonder if the City Council knew that the taxpayers' money is being wasted to keep that bastard alive."

She worriedly glanced at the angry and broken man in front of her. "It's been a long night, why don't go rest for a while? Kerry already asked Jing-Mei to take your shift. You look like hell."

Carter turned his head, a ghost of a smirk on his face. "Look who's talking."

"That's because I was actually drunk." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Yup, and nothing can sober you up like pure, unadulterated fear can. Although I think I'll be needing that whole pack of Tylenol a little later." She told him candidly. "I'll stay here with her while you're gone."

"Thanks for the offer Susan, but no thanks," he replied politely, shaking his head. "I think I'll just stay here."

Susan let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, but let me get you some coffee at least. I was actually being polite when I said you looked like hell."

An actual small smile appeared on his face. "Thanks," he repeated.

The elevator buzzed importantly, as if signaling the arrival of its well-awaited passenger. The door slowly opened, and Susan stepped out. All eyes were on her as she strode over to the Admit area.

It was Haleh who broke the silence. "How's Abby doing?"

Susan looked at the faces in front of her. Haleh, Malik, Chuny, and even Frank were looking expectantly at her.

"She's stable, but they're still waiting for her to wake up within the next few hours. Just to rule out any brain damage." She answered truthfully.

"And her attacker?"

"Got out of surgery. They're bringing him in as soon as he wakes up."

"Damn," Malik exclaimed disappointedly. "I was hoping they'd nick an artery or something."

"They should've just taken him to Mercy." Frank barked, shaking his head. "Who knows what those additional few minutes would have done to that criminal." The meaning was not lost on them.

"I wanted to wring his neck when they rolled him in earlier." Chuny admitted darkly. "But Weaver caught me before I could remove his c-collar."

"It was a good distraction, anyway." Haleh declared.

"What'd you do?"

"I did nothing but shove his foley catheter in."

"Ouch," Malik grimaced.

"It's those little things…"

Chuny nodded appreciatively. "So that explains the yelp."

Malik turned to her. "Remind me stay on her good side."

"I can't believe Weaver dumped all these patients on me." Susan turned her head to the owner of the voice. Chen rounded the desk and set down a chart.

"Well, I personally think it's a vote of confidence for your skills. Doesn't it speak highly about her trust in you?"

"Or maybe because I wasn't the one waving around and screaming 'What happened!' and 'Where is she!' wildly over and over again."

"It was the alcohol, and it was a wise decision under my part. Otherwise, you wouldn't have a chance to show off to Weaver." She smiled slightly. People were finally having some semblance of normalcy since once of them was wheeled in their own ambulance bay. "She's fine," addressing the unasked question on Chen's face.

"How's Carter taking it?"

"Hard," Susan sighed. "He looks pretty bad."

The ambulance bay suddenly slid wide open as Pratt came in, whistling. All heads turned towards him.

"Hey, what's up?" He nodded in their direction, but stopped short when he saw their somber faces.

"Why do y'all look like that? Somebody died?" He added jokingly.

Everyone's face darkened at his last remark.

"Someone did?" Pratt quickly turned serious, if not a bit worried.

Susan rolled her eyes and addressed the others. "I'll be right back. I'm just grabbing some coffee for Carter at Doc's, in case Weaver asks." With that, she bounded towards the lounge for her coat.

Pratt's eyes confusedly darted on his colleagues, who were starting to disperse. "Hey, could someone tell me what's going on? What happened?"

Hereyes immediately fell on the sleeping figure on the couch as the door of the lounge burst open. And before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "Luka!"

He startled awake, giving a quick jerk. Removing his draped arm across his face, he rubbed his eyes, trying to remove sleep from them. "Susan," he greeted rather tiredly.

"I'm sorry, go back to sleep. I didn't mean to-" But her curiosity got the better of her. "What are you still doing here? I thought you weren't on tonight?"

"I wasn't," he answered, sitting up. Susan went on to open her locker. "I was just waiting for some news about Abby. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Oh, Carter said she's going to be fine, but they have to check if she suffered anything serious from that concussion." she grabbed her coat and slammed her locker shut. "Why don't you just go see her upstairs?"

Luka bit his, hesitation evident in his face. "Maybe a little later. Are you heading home now?" He asked, indicating her coat. "You're not on tonight, right? I heard you girls were at that bar."

"No, I'm not, but I just needed to be here." Luka smiled tightly in agreement. "Actually, I was just about to grab some coffee, for Carter. You want one before you go home?" She offered.

"Um, sure, although I'm not really heading anywhere right now. I'm actually on in a few hours. Weaver asked me to cover his shift." He explained hastily, and changed the subject. "So what's wrong with that coffee?" Referring to pot sitting at the table.

"Uh uh, don't touch that. The temp from ICU made that when she came down here earlier."

He cocked an eyebrow. "It's that bad, huh?"

"No, it's actually worse. Tastes just like mud." They both fell silent, and the mood grew serious. "Listen, you did what you had to do," Susan finally said. "I'm really glad you were there."

"Yeah, me too." He replied quietly.

Susan paused for a beat, before she started for the door. It busted open before she reached it, and Pratt came walking in.

"The nurses just filled me in," he nodded in acknowledgment to Luka. "I would have busted his ass too, man. And break a couple of bones more, just for good measure." Pratt walked over towards the table to grab a cup.

"I don't think so," Luka waved a warning finger at him. "Bad coffee." Pratt let out a groan of frustration. "But Dr. Lewis here is on a coffee run, though."

"Yeah, I work part-time at Doc Magoo's," Susan said dryly. "I usually take orders in between shifts."

"Oh, in that case I'll have one too…" He noticed her icy glare and quickly amended his words. "…please, if that's okay with you, Dr. Lewis."

She stared at him a moment longer before disappearing behind the door.

--Phone ringing--

"Hey - "

"I already told you to wait!"

"Yes, but we figured now would be the perfect time to search the place. I'm guessing it's gonna be empty for a while with the hospital stay."

"You still gotta wait. You haven't discounted the possibility of the police investigating the case." A pause. "We can't risk it."

"Well, how long?"

"Soon enough. Don't call, I will."