Luka paced up and down the living room. He was waiting for Sam, they were going out with Susan and Chuck, Alex was staying at a friend's house. He put his hand into his pocket and felt the square velvet box that was there. It had taken him a long time to find the perfect ring for Sam, but he eventually found it. It was just a bit out of his price range, but she was worth it! She wasn't too happy when he came home three hours after he had left; she had pretty much been ignoring him since then. Not that he blamed her, but he was sure that everything would change after tonight. He had it all planned, first they would have dinner at the restaurant with Chuck and Susan, and then he was going to take her for a walk along the riverside and propose to her there. He was so nervous; he couldn't remember being this nervous proposing to Danijela. Sam entered the room behind him; he could hear her soft footsteps on the carpet. He turned around and looked at her. She looked beautiful. She was wearing a black dress with high heeled sandals. He would never tire of looking at her.

"Um, Luka?" Sam asked

"Yeah," he answered, doing his best to focus on what she was saying and not on how much he wanted to kiss her.

"Could you zip me up?"

Sam turned around so her back was facing him and he walked over to her. He zipped her up and his hand lingered on her shoulder. His hand moved slowly down her arm and he bent down and kissed her neck before whispering in her ear.

"You're beautiful"

Sam shivered slightly as he whispered those words. Suddenly all the problems they were having were forgotten as she turned around and kissed Luka. She had caught him off guard at first, but when she started to move away he put his arms around her waist and pulled her in for more. The kiss was tender at first, both unsure of what they other was thinking and not wanting to overstep the boundaries. It soon got more passionate, it had been too long since they were like this. Sam was the one to finally pull away; she loved this man so much that it hurt sometimes. One kiss and she was almost ready to forget everything they had been going through. As she stood there looking at him she knew that to do that would be a mistake. She didn't really know this man; he refused to let her in.

Luka looked at the woman that he loved. She looked so sad right then. He brushed a strand of her hair out of her face.

"What are you thinking?"

"I was thinking that if we don't leave now we'll be late!" Sam answered. She couldn't tell him the truth that she was thinking of leaving him. Now was not a good time for that discussion.

"You're right! This is Susan and Chuck's first night out with adults, we shouldn't leave them waiting."

Neither of them moved. They just stood where they were, each consumed with their own thoughts. Luka eventually took Sam's hand and started moving towards the door.

"Come on, we'll be late!"

Sam smiled and followed him out the door.

They made it to the restaurant in record time; they were only five minutes late. The car ride over had been hell, neither of them had said a word for the whole journey. It was easier to talk once they were with Susan and Chuck though, with them they could pretend that everything was fine.

After they finished the main meal, Sam and Susan made the customary trip to the ladies bathroom. Once inside, Susan turned to Sam and asked her if everything was ok.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because," answered Susan, "you and look have barely looked at each other all night. Given the fact that when you're together you're always at least holding hands, I'd say that something is wrong."

Sam looked at her friend, and the tears starting falling from her eyes.

"Oh God, Sam, how bad is it? Did you have a really bad argument or something?"

"No, to do that we'd actually have to talk. He never tells me how he's feeling, he never shows emotion. I feel like I don't know him anymore."

"So the counselling didn't help then?"

"No, I think we talk less now." She paused before adding, "I'm thinking of moving out."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can't go on like this. I don't want Alex to have to live with the two of us ignoring each other. It's not fair on him."

"But he really likes Luka; do you think he'd be ok with it?"

"I've already talked to him about it, he says its fine. He and Luka haven't really been getting along since Steve came back. I feel like everything is falling apart Susan, and I don't know what to do!"

Sam sits down on in one of the toilet cubicles and cries, the tears now falling fast. Susan kneels down in front of her and puts her arm around her.

"I'm sorry; this is supposed to be your re-introduction to the world of adults. The last thing you need is someone crying, I'm sure you get enough of that at home."

"Well, Chuck can be quite emotional at times."

"He is one of a kind," Sam laughed.

"That he is." Susan answered. "You ready to come back out?"

Sam is about to answer but she suddenly goes very pale and ends up throwing up in the toilet. Susan quickly grabs her hair out of her face and then helps Sam walk over to the sinks.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, it's been happening to me a lot recently, I think it's just due to stress."

"Have you been having any other symptoms?"

"I've been really tired and my emotions are all over the place, but like I said, it's just stress. Things aren't exactly the best at home."

"Have you missed a period?"

"I can see where you're going with this and no, I took a test a few weeks ago and I'm not pregnant!"

"Ok, but I still think you should get checked out."

"You doctors never stop working, do you?"

"No, we don't. I'll leave it for now, but tomorrow I'm going to check you out myself and if you try to get out of it, I'll get Morris to do it!"

Sam shudders at the thought.

"Those two have been gone a while" Chuck remarked, as he and Luka sat waiting at the table for the girls to come back.

"You know what women are like. They're all the same, even in Croatia."

"Yeah, it's just another one of those things. Women, huh? You can't live with them and you can't live without them"

"It's true. On that subject, I'm going to ask Sam to marry me."

"Wow! Congratulations"

"Hey, she hasn't said yes yet."

"Like there's any doubt that she will!"

"Well, I'll find out later."

"You're asking her tonight?"
"Yeah, I have the ring and everything. I'm going to ask her after we leave here."

Their conversation was quickly stopped as Susan and Sam came back to the table. Sam was just about to sit down when she suddenly felt like the room was spinning, the last thing she heard was Luka asking if she was alright as everything went black.

Luka immediately got up from where he was sitting and went over to where Sam was lying unconscious on the floor. He was vaguely aware of their waiter coming over to see if they needed any help, most of his attention was focused on Sam. Susan told the waiter that she was a doctor and she'd yell if she needed anything and she knelt down beside Luka. Luka was just frozen, unable to move, to do anything. He felt powerless. Sam was just lying there, she looked so pale and so frail and there was nothing he could do. He knew he should be able to help her, he was a doctor after all, but his emotions took over and he was just frozen. It was the worst feeling in the world. All he could do was sit there. He was thankful that Susan was with them, she just got straight to it. She checked Sam's pulse and then went on to revive her. After what to Luka felt like a life time, Sam woke up. She was a bit disorientated but otherwise she seemed fine. They decided to take her to the ER to run some tests and make sure she was fine. Susan agreed to drive Luka and Sam in her car while Chuck would follow in Luka's car. Susan and Chuck went to sort out the bill while Luka helped Sam gather her things and go. Her legs felt like jelly and she found it hard to get her balance when she tried to walk so Luka carried her out to the car park.

She was unconscious again by the time he got to the car park. On his way to Susan's car he overheard Susan and Chuck talking.

"I feel sorry for Luka, I hope Sam's ok. This has pretty much ruined the evening for them two."

"You know something, Chuck, I can tell. What is it?"

"I really shouldn't tell you"

"Come on, I'm your wife, it's ok to tell me. Besides, I have ways of making you talk."

"Ok, Luka was going to propose to Sam tonight"

"Oh my God! This is not good"
"What's not good? What do you know?"

"Sam is planning on moving out."

Luka had heard enough. He looked down at Sam, his Sam and held her as tight as he could for fear she'd leave right there and then.