Sam was too busy being captivated by her husband holding his child in his arms to notice that Ray had walked in with his rather airy and cold white, lab coat wrapped tightly around him. He'd mentioned not being able to show up because of an 18 hour shift he hated working, and it was driving Sam to her worries from his eyes already seeming to be baggage acclaimed. She'd worked with Ray for a little over 4 years and she'd never seen him short of bags below his eyes, after all, he was one of the closest things to a brother she had anymore.
Ray reminded her of her little brother so much, being stuck between boys was always a challenge for her when it came to having someone to play with, but those years were behind her. His reminder of her little brother Scott reminded her of how her life had moved on without them – without her parents and brothers – but she couldn't bring herself to seek them. She'd settle for what she had.
Sam smiled at the pair, rubbed Luka's back affectionately, and walked back to the table.
"Dada!" Lana seemed to shout out to the entire room, making Luka's whole body tingle from head to toe, and she reached out to cup his cheeks. He hadn't heard her speak to him in what seemed like forever, and it made him smile wide until the corners of his mouth seemed to touch his eyes. "Thirsey."
So, her English wasn't perfect, but she was only 2 – he was surprised she was even speaking at all.
"You're getting so big," his voice was soft and barely audible, lifting his index finger and dragging it down the length of her face as he shuffled his feet towards the table full of his co-workers and friends. He watched her as she giggled lightly and squished his cheeks together, her tiny hands cold against his flushed cheeks. "And your daddy misses you."
He felt guilty and stupid because he had left her birthday present at home on the kitchen counter, and it made his body ache unconditionally to be so absentmindedly. He felt that he was being that much of an ass and a horrible father to just forget something like his daughter's birthday party, but, then again, he wasn't even the one told about it – his wife was the one that was technically invited. He went on to ignore it, but it was getting out of hand.
"Everything all right, Luka," Abby asked, a bit of a smirk on her face.
"Yeah," he nodded, brushing his thumb across his daughter's unsuspecting cheek. He grinned when his thumb brushing across her cheek sent her into a fit of giggles, not realizing just how much it tickled the soft, baby skin. "We're perfectly fine."
He was too busy focused on his daughter to take into consideration Abby's condescending tone as though he was incapable of taking care of their child. What did she think? That he was some kind of walking, Croatian, baby idiot?
"Can I hold her?"
Neela's voice broke Luka's concentration on Lana as his gaze went to her, nodding his head slowly. He stepped around the table as he leaned down and passed her off to Neela, seeing just how excited Neela got while holding the child. He guessed that Neela spent more time with his child then he got to – his limit had seemed to be set to 30 minutes by her mother's protectiveness.
"I just came by to tell Lana happy birthday," Ray smiled at the little girl as he ruffled the hair on top of her head, "but I really need to get back over there. It's just me and a bunch of interns."
Ray smiled smugly as his eyes lingered on Lana, almost as though he were hiding something that no one else in the room could possibly know, sparks flying through the air as Luka grew strangely annoyed by his resident. He offered Abby a smile as he reached out and lightly touched her elbow as everything in him crumbled, and he leaned forward to press his lips against her soft cheek. Parting quickly, he gave her a wink.
He looked over at Sam and Luka, noticing a distance between them that he wished he didn't see, and offered them both a nod of acknowledgment. His eyes shifted back to Abby and traveled slowly from her to Neela – he looked so hurt when he looked at her, like he'd wasted a lifetime on something that hadn't been worth it. He seemed like a broken soul whenever he looked at her.
"Good night guys," he ripped his gaze from watching Neela as he turned on his heel, seeming to make a mad dash for the door. He opened his palm and pressed it open hard, the door almost hit a rather tall, blonde man in the face who became immediately angry, but Ray continued to hold the door open for the man. "Sorry."
He muttered quietly before he took off to cross the street, disappearing into the creases and folds of the night.
"Shit."
Alex heard his mother mutter from across the room, and he looked up from aiming to shoot quickly as he heard the distress in her voice. He was mad at his mother for grounding him for some allegedly stupid reasons, but anytime he heard that tone in her voice he got concerned. He discarded everything else around him to turn his attention to his mother.
He looked at her and squinted devilishly from across the room, catching his mother's face going pale as she took a step back. Her eyes were locked fiercely in the direction of the door, and his eyes followed the direction she was staring only to see a sight that he had never wanted to see again. He dropped the pool stick onto the table and balled his fists up at his hips.
Michael Gallant looked at the boy, and yes he was still a boy – much too young – with question in his eyes upon seeing him seem to explode from the inside out.
The man seemed to hop in his step as he approached Alex's mother with heavy steps, the destination clearly a goal that he was going to achieve whether anything was standing in his way or not. Alex wasn't sure the feelings that he had welling up inside him looking at this man; anger and maybe even hatred seemed to win out, but he wasn't sure whether he still loved and cared for this man who had given him nothing but broken promises. Alex knew one thing; this man was everything short of a father.
Steve looked like he'd been hit by a truck and run over by all 18 or so wheels; jail had done him no good in making him look his 37 years, and maybe more. His blonde, curly hair was longer and disheveled as it stood up in the back – this man could hardly be recognized any more without his one piece jumpsuit. He was wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a blue jean jacket – the mixture of all 3 colliding with the light blue in his eyes until they seemed almost gray. There was something different about him, as though he'd managed to get off scot-free in a jail full of man hungry men.
"Hello, Sammie," he muttered gently, ignoring the tall man standing slightly behind her with his jaw locked and his eyes cold. That man hated him, he could see it the Croatian's eyes, but he didn't care because nothing would ever stand between him and his family. "I haven't heard from you in a while."
She looked at him hard with narrowed eyes, she absentmindedly pressed her hand against her stomach as she stepped back and she was brought to a halt as she ran into Luka's hard chest. She wasn't scared of him, not anymore, but she also didn't have anything to say to him any longer – she'd stand silent until he walked away. She didn't know that her husband was standing tall behind her, giving her ex-boyfriend a warning glare.
"Right," Steve sighed with a nod after he ripped his gaze away from Luka's warning glare, the man was intimidating, Steve realized for the first time. He'd never been scared of Luka; he never had the chance to be when he was high – he always had that fearless quality at those times. "Where's Alex?"
"What are you doing here, Steve?" Luka asked with anger obvious in his voice, breaking the tension between the three, and he fought back a smirk as he watched Steve take a fearful step back. "If you're here to cause trouble, don't bother. We're not in the mood."
"I'm just here to see my son."
Luka laughed lightly in the back of his throat as he shook his head, pulling his closed fists up and pressing them into his hips. He couldn't believe that Steve thought he could walk in after 2 years and still consider himself Alex's father – he hadn't written a short letter since Alex had visited him in Colorado. His gaze got narrower, and Steve got lucky that Alex seemed to rush over and step in between his mother and Steve.
"What are you doing here?"
Alex's voice seemed just as angry as Luka's except Alex pressed his palms against his father's chest to push him away, immediately feeling the eyes of his father burn into the back of his skull. He wasn't a little boy anymore, it was time for him to show to his father that he can't hurt him or control him like he had once. He was going to show his father that he was better than him, and would never be like him.
"Don't you…"
Steve trailed off as his anger was slightly detected in the back of his throat, and he noticed Alex's face turning red. The boy had a temper that he'd never been given a chance to see, and the first time was always the worst. Hatred burned deep in the boys eyes, making Steve ball his fists up in his pockets on instinct.
"No, don't you," Alex stepped forward into his father, his elbow ramming hard into the hard chest of the man in front of him. He was pulling his strength from a deep down place he never knew that he had, and he wouldn't let his father win this one out. His father hadn't been there for him like Luka had, he'd been locked up – he was a criminal – and Alex glanced back at Luka over his shoulder before looking hard at his father. "You're not a father, you're someone's bitch."
"You do have a little mouth on you, boy," Steve's eyes narrowed at Alex as he spoke to him through clenched teeth.
Alex had hit a nerve, he could tell, and he wasn't sure what to expect from this man next. He knew this man's feelings weren't hurt as much as he was getting angry, and he couldn't imagine what the man was going to do next. It reminded him of when he was little and Steve hit his mother, only this time he was almost standing eye to eye with this man and could make a difference against his size.
"Why do you hate me so much?"
Like you care, Alex smirked.
"Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you to make you treat me the way that you do?" Alex's voice was angry as he furrowed his eyebrows and pushed his lips tightly together, covering his stomach with his hand. He had a shooting pain in his gut that he'd force himself to ignore, the pain was from separating himself from what he'd always believed as a little kid. "It wasn't me that ruined your life."
"Yes you did," Steve laughed venomously as he shook his head.
Alex didn't think twice; he didn't look over his shoulder at his parents; he didn't care who was watching because he knew by then that everyone had to be.
He looked at Steve with such hatred, like a mask was covering his eyes and making him blind to the figure standing before him, and he knew that he was better off. He balled up his fist as tightly as possible and cocked his jaw. He exhaled a sharp breath that had to whip Steve back to reality, the man before him looking at him as he shook with anger.
He pulled back his arm and threw his fist into the lucid jaw of the stranger, his knuckles rubbing roughly against the stubble between fleshes clashing together. He remembered discreetly for just a moment what it had been like reading the comic books and the villain getting punched, the 'pows' and 'whams' sounding out across the page in bold letters, and his mind reacted in unison with those noises as his fist crushed into the boney jaw. His fist stood still as the face flew backward, the devilish grin painted across Steve's face almost sending Alex to pounce on him.
Sam paused as her entire body began to feel weak, seeing her son stand up for himself against the one person she'd fought against all along, and she covered her mouth. She could feel her stomach churn like butter, working the insides until it was solid and dysfunctional, and she could almost feel it rising up the back of her throat as though it was burning her from the inside out like acid. She had no strength left within her, as though Alex had taken all of her inner being and used to his advantage.
"That's enough," Luka practically shouted as he saw Alex step forward again to possibly stick it to Steve again, reaching forward to clutch Alex by the waist. He didn't know why he was stopping Alex, he'd only dreamed of clobbering himself all too many times but never actually following through. He pulled Alex's back into his chest and wrapped his arms around the torso of the growing boy, keeping him from advancing further on his father. "You can't do this, Alex."
"He deserves it! He's an asshole!"
"Don't be like him," he whispered gently into his stepson's ear, his eyes drifting down to Alex's hands as he tried to pry himself from Luka's arms. Alex winced miserably as he pushed off with his thumbs, and Luka noticed the difference in his hands. "You're body can't take it."
System overload.
"What? The good doctor doesn't want to fight?" Steve laughed with an open mouth, showing that he'd bit his tongue and his teeth were slowly being surrounded by blood. How could he still speak with his tongue nearly into two pieces? "Should I be surprised?"
Luka slowly released Alex and stepped between him and Steve, unwilling to let this happen now – in this time and in this place. He could feel Steve thrive on the moment from behind him, finding it sickening to see anyone catch their thrills from being beat up on by the son. Luka was, once again, playing the role of the savior between the two of them. Luka turned sharply on his heel, Alex's breathing shallow and quick from behind him.
She swallowed hard into the back of her throat to keep it from coming up.
"You know what they do to pussies like you in jail?" Steve smiled grotesquely, his blood ridden teeth showing through his slightly parted lips, and his tongue darted across his lips. He licked his dry lips as he smoothed his bloody tongue across it. "They make them their bitch."
Steve stepped forward and caught Luka by the front of his shirt, clutching it tight as he pulled Luka forward. He grinned with a hard stare, pleased with Luka's discomfort, and the distinct smell of blood drifted up Luka's nostrils. Blood began to ooze down his chin, and he swallowed hard to attempt at getting rid of some of the blood.
Luka's eyes were narrowed tight in the direction of this – this thing, he wasn't even close to being a man, maybe a demon but he was no man – and his teeth clenched tightly as he lifted his hands to the man's chest. It was probably just the kind of thing that someone like this demon creature in front of him would get off on, but his palms flattened at against his chest as he forced the weight of his upper half against his arms. His thumbs pressed into Steve's collar bones, knowing that the glint in his eyes was a look that he never wanted to see again.
Steve was right – screw being polite and keeping from making a scene.
It was anger, hatred that made Luka step back and rip himself from Steve's grasp, and his hands finally replaced where Alex's had been on the man's face as he held the man in place by the front of his t-shirt. His fist pounded into Steve's face over and over until he heard the faint crack through the silence of the room, making him suddenly stop and drop Steve to the floor. The thud echoed against his feet, hearing Steve push himself and spit the blood out onto the floor.
That grin was still painted across his face – he was definitely getting off on this.
The vomit crawled up the back of her throat, but she swallowed it back as her son turned towards her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He buried his face into her shoulder as he struggled to control his breathing, and he deeply inhaled when he felt his mother slide her arms around his torso as though she was the stranger he never knew he needed. She couldn't see, but she knew about the other side of her son.
The huddled mess on the floor was like a sickness, beaten and broken.
It was like a sickness that would never go away.