"What is it about February in Chicago?" Sam said as she shoved her down jacket into her locker. "It's so depressing!" She dropped into a chair and began to peel the heavy socks she wore off her feet. Abby looked up from the table where she sat with a quickly cooling bowl of soup in front of her. She stirred it with her spoon and then pushed it away.
"Not hungry?" Sam asked. Abby shook her head. She pressed a hand to her forehead.
"I must be coming down with something," she sighed. Sam scrutinized her friend's face.
"Got a nice couple of circles going there under your eyes," she said. Abby smiled and fluttered her eye lashes.
"Comes with the territory," she said. "I just pulled a double and it kept me pretty busy."
"A double... again!" Sam exclaimed. "For cripes sake, Abby. Would you please think about the rest of us? Luka is going to kill us if we let you make yourself sick." Abby chuckled.
"I am off in a couple of hours and I have three straight days free of this place for a change," she said. "I am planning a long bubble bath and, at least, an entire day in bed with the newspaper." Abby sighed and stood up. She picked up the soup and poured it into the trash. Sam watched her sadly as she rinsed out the bowl and set it in the sink.
"Have you heard from him?" Sam asked.
"We talk at night when he can catch me at home," Abby shrugged. "He misses me."
"He should be here," Sam shook her head and checked the contents of her scrub pocket.
"His friend is dying. What was I going to say?" Abby frowned.
"Uh...No? Um...don't go?" Sam said.
"I'm more mature than that," Abby said as she shook her head.
"Well, there's maturity and there's ...maturity," Sam said. Abby opened the lounge door. She stuck her tongue out at Sam.
"Oh...and that was real mature," Sam chuckled. She followed Abby out in to the hallway and bumped into a gurney that was parked by the door.
"What is this?" Sam called. Malik shrugged as he walked by.
"They are pounding us here," he said. "Have to put them somewhere." Sam checked the clipboard that lay on the foot of the rolling bed. She looked up at the patient sleeping in the middle of the ER hubbub.
"Guess you gotta sleep it off before you're gone." she sighed and shook her head. She saw Abby pushing another gurney into an exam room and hurried to help her with the patient.
"Asthma attack," Abby said. "Let's get him on a nebulizer treatment right away." Sam nodded and left for the medication. Abby smiled at the boy on the bed and patted his hand.
"I'm Dr. Lockhart, Dan. We're getting you some meds. Have you used Albuterol before?" she said to the college aged student before her. He nodded vigorously. "You said you lost your inhaler?" The boy nodded and pressed the oxygen mask tighter over his mouth and nose. He was wheezing and sucking in his stomach as he struggled to breathe.
"Party..." he managed to say. "Dogs...and cats...I didn't know. I thought I could handle it." Abby nodded and listened to his chest with the stethoscope. Sam hurried in and set up the neubulizer. She handed a small box to Abby,
"I think...I scared...my...friends...," he wheezed. "My girl...will... probably be...afraid to kiss...me ...ever...again."
"She called 911 so they did the right thing," Abby assured her. She opened the box and handed him an inhaler. Dan took a deep breath and then pulled the oxygen mask away long enough to use the inhaler. Abby waited for a moment and then smiled.
"Is there someone fro the college we should call? Your parents?" she asked. He nodded and pulled out the medical alert tag from a chain around his neck. Abby took the chain and smiled.
"I'm going to give this to someone at the desk so they can contact them," she said. 'I'll be right back." Sam nodded and helped switch the breathing masks he was using.
"I bet this hasn't happened to you in a while, hasn't it?" she asked. Dan shook his head. "It's easy to forget how careful you have to be."
The desk was a mad house of activity so Abby found a free phone and dialed the number on the medical alert tag. She spoke to someone who told her that Dan's parents were already on their way to the hospital. She was writing a short summary in his file when Jerry held up a phone.
"Abby," he said. "Call for you on line four. McGill Medical Center in Montreal." Chuny looked up and met Abby's eyes as she punched the numbers on the telephone.
"This is Dr. Lockhart," she said. Abby's face went white and her shoulders sagged. Chuny stood up and moved closer to her. "Um, how long ago? Okay...yes...please transfer me right now."
"Luka and Gillian were in a car accident," she told Chuny. "Luka is being taken up to surgery...oh...yes? Can you give me any information as to his condition? What about the other passenger?" Abby's eyes narrowed and she had a hard time swallowing. Her heart was beating so fast. Chuny put her arm around Abby's shoulders. Abby smiled wanly and looked up to find Jerry and Frank watching her as well. Jerry picked up the telephone near him and dialed some numbers. He turned away to talk and then said, 'HOW much?" Frank nudged him and took a wallet out of his pocket. He handed a credit card to Jerry, who took it and began talking into the telephone again.
"What's going on?" Neela asked as she came to the desk.
"Dr. Kovac has been in a car accident in Montreal," Frank said quietly. Neela's eyes widened in worry as she moved closer to Abby.
"Yes," Abby said. "I understand...As soon as I can...yes...thank you." She hung the telephone up and sighed.
"They are taking Luka in to surgery right now," she said. "A drunk driver broadsided their car. Gillian was driving and the car hit the passenger side. She is fine."
"Oh, Abby..." Neela breathed as she hugged her friend. Jerry hung up the telephone and handed the credit card back to Frank.
"There's a flight out to Montreal in 50 minutes," Jerry said. "There is a ticket waiting for you at Air Canada check in counter...and I just called a cab." Abby nodded slowly. Chuny pulled her away from the counter toward the lounge.
"Let's go get your things together," she said quietly as she kept her arm tightly around Abby. "He is going to be okay. With everything he has been through it would take more than a mere car to knock him down."
Ten minutes later Abby was settled into a cab that was speeding it's way to the mid town airport. She was zipped into Sam's down jacket and had Neela's hat and leather mittens in her lap. Sam had taken her apartment key and promised to take care of her mail and newspapers. Neela had the foresight to immediately call for a copy of her birth certificate and a notarized emergency photo id from personnel so she could cross the border back and forth from Canada easily. Frank...crazy old Frank...had waited outside in the snow with her and tucked her into the cab when it arrived. He actually blushed and hugged her when she kissed him on the cheek.
"Bring Dr. Kovac home with you," he said. "We have had enough of this nonsense. We need him too." Abby nodded as he shut the cab door.