"Well, would you look at that!" Greg Pratt said as he gestured toward the elevator doors. Luka was making his way toward the desk with a cane. His cast had been replaced with a less cumbersome leg brace.

"You are definitely on the mend there, man!" Pratt said as he exchanged high fives with Luka and headed toward one of the exam rooms. "Glad to see you back!" Luka grinned and then turned to Abby, who was standing across the desk from him.

"So, what did ortho have to say?" she asked.

"You were right about that baseball career thing," he shrugged and then added with a sly grin, "They put me on a physical therapy schedule and okayed a 'slight range of motion' that would be...safe." He winked seductively at her and turned around to make his way carefully through the busy corridor toward his office. Abby watched him as he stopped along the way to speak to people, to sign an offered chart and to laugh. She blinked back the tears that began to form in her eyes. Was it truly possible to care about someone as much as she cared about him? She'd never felt that before. She had to stop short and take a deep breath because it actually hurt.

Alex was waiting for them when they reached Luka's loft at the end of the day. He dropped his books on the couch and headed right for the computer station.

"Ho...wait," Luka said. "Homework first."

"This IS my homework," Alex insisted. Luka shook his head. Alex grimaced and went back to his backpack. He pulled out a Math textbook and sat down at the table. Luka opened the refrigerator and took out an apple. Alex looked up and caught it as Luka tossed it to him. Abby was caught a little off guard at the familiarity that was apparent between the two of them. She'd forgotten that it hadn't been that long ago that Alex...and Sam...had been living in this very place with Luka. She almost envied Alex having someone like Luka in his life at this age. How different things might have been for her if she'd had someone that she could have counted on when she was thirteen. Instead she'd spent that year covering for Maggie and taking care of Eric. That had been a horrible time for them and her face burned remembering. She was startled from her thoughts as Luka touched her cheek gently. He looked at her worriedly.

"What are you thinking?" he asked quietly. Abby shook her head.

"I'm just tired," she sighed. Luka took her coat off her shoulders.

"Go take a nap," he said. "I'll deal with Casanova here and fix something for dinner." Abby glanced down at the brace on his knee.

"It's nothing," Luka insisted. "It's my turn to take care of you." Abby sighed and kissed him.

"Thank you," she whispered and traced his smile with her fingers. She went into the bedroom and stretched out on top of the bedspread.

When she woke up later she'd been covered with a light blanket. The room was dark except for a single candle that burned on the bedside table. She stood up and pulled the blanket around her shoulders and extinguished the candle's flame. She wandered out into the livingroom and Luka looked up from his seat on the couch where he'd been reading. His leg was propped up on the coffee table which had also been set for her dinner.

"Feeling better?" he asked as he held out an arm. Abby sat on the couch and snuggled next to him. Luka sighed and set his book aside. He held her close and they sat quietly for a long moment.

"You missed some firecrackers while you were sleeping," he said. "Alex...forgot...to tell his mother he was coming here after school."

"Fireworks...," she corrected him and grimaced. "Ouch. Was Sam angry?"

" I...uh...think so,"Luka chuckled. "He won't be coming around here for a while."

"I like him," Abby said. "He's tough."

"Like you?" Luka asked. Abby tipped her face to look at him.

"Yeah..." she grinned. "Sometimes life will do that to you."

"Hungry?" he asked.

"Is there any doubt?" Abby rolled her eyes. Luka reached forward for the covered plate on the table and Abby pressed him back onto the couch. She took the cover off a plate of sliced cold cuts, boiled eggs, cheese and fruit. She looked at him disappointedly.

"Any chance that I could get a good old fashioned steak around here sometime? Like with this huge baked potato?" she groaned and settled back under his arm with the plate in her lap.

"Tomorrow," Luka laughed. Abby smiled and slipped a piece of cheese in her mouth. She looked up and lifted a strawberry to his lips. Luka's eyes were dark as he watched her eat her dinner. He played with the hair that fell across her shoulders.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked quietly. "This afternoon...before you took the nap?" Abby looked up for a moment, thinking.

"Oh," she said. "I was thinking about my life when I was thirteen." Abby shook her head.

"We were finally living in this rental house in Minnesota." she said. "Maggie had lost her job again and couldn't pay for her medication...not that she was good about taking it anyway...but needing the money didn't help." Luka stroked her head gently.

"It's a wonder I managed to pass in school that year," Abby shrugged. "Maggie would have us up all night long pacing and crying and trying to hide us from something only she saw." Abby fed him another strawberry.

"Then she would sleep so hard during the day that I could get Eric on the school bus where he'd fall asleep," she sighed. "But, it would start all over again...every night." She looked at him and smiled.

"We were both so terrified that someone would find out and come to take us away," she said, "you know... separate us from each other... that we were perfectly behaved students."

"No one ever knew..." her voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Luka whispered and kissed the top of her head. Abby smiled and shrugged.

"It's not your fault," she said. "I was thinking that Alex was lucky to have you in his life right now." Luka rubbed his face with his hand.

"I'm not so sure that Sam would agree with you," he sighed. "She accused me...us...of trying to take him away from her." Abby frowned.

"Maybe I should talk to her," she said. Luka grimaced and shook his head.

"Not a good idea, Abby," he said. "Not right now."

"But..." she said.

"Not now..." he repeated and bent to kiss her gently. Abby's hand slipped up to his neck and she held him close as they kissed again.

"I have other things on my mind..." he sighed heavily as he slipped his hands inside the warm blanket cocoon she had wrapped around her. Abby chuckled and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. Neither of them noticed when the plate slipped off her lap and fell to the floor.