Disclaimer : I own nothing, guys at WB and NBC do. I just borrow to have fun…
"So how was your little chat with Abby last night?" As soon as he saw him, Frank called Clemente over.
"No big surprise. She told me that she wouldn't go out with me again. I pressed her to figure out what Kovac had said. That got her a little nervous. At the end she told me that he had nothing to do with her decision." The doctor smiled at the memory.
"So if not Kovac, what was her reason for refusing a guy like you?"
"This place is a rumor mill and she didn't want one to start about her..."
"Ouch! Too late... There are things that can't be stopped." Haleh chuckled.
"So what are you going to do now?" Frank pushed.
"Well I can still flirt with her a little bit and I think a little talk with Kovac is mandatory."
"You sure like to live dangerously. I would be careful if I were you." Jerry had remained silent during most of their previous exchanges, but he felt the urge to warn the doctor.
"What? Are you afraid he'd hit me?" Clemente cockily asked. Frank shook his head.
"It's your call. Do whatever you feel comfortable with."
"I will. Just watch me." Having spotted Luka nearby, he resolutely went to him.
"Jerry, it's useless to warn him. The guy just won't listen. And I don't want to miss all the fun." Frank leaned back and readied himself for the confrontation to come.
"Kovac, can I have a word with you?"
"I'm busy. Is it urgent?" Frustratingly for Victor, he barely lifted his eyes from the chart he was holding.
"No, it's not. I guess it can wait as it's private." He paused awaiting a reaction from Luka. After receiving none he continued. "It's about Abby." As soon as her name was pronounced, Luka looked at the other doctor.
"What is there to talk?"
"Maybe we should go somewhere more private."
"I don't see why we should. There is no reason why I should discuss Abby with you." He showed his lack of interest in the discussion by walking away. Clemente turned to Admit and emphatically shrugged. Frank motioned him to follow Kovac.
"Really? Well maybe I see a reason."
"Like what?" Luka turned to face him.
"You told her to stop seeing me. You badmouthed me." Clemente decided on a more aggressive approach.
"I did not. She makes her own decisions." Luka wondered where this nonsense discussion was leading to.
"But admit it, you didn't want me to go out with her." The other doctor's calm was slowly getting on his nerves. What did he have to do to force him to react.
"This is not a discussion I want to have with you here." He looked around and finally noticed that their conversation was attracting a lot of attention in ER.
"So let's take it elsewhere." Clemente pushed again.
"No." He resolutely shook his head, again ready to walk away.
"You're just so full of bull, Kovac. You don't even have the guts to say it out loud." That final attack made him stop. He turned once again to face Clemente.
"Okay, let's go to Sutures 1." They walked there in silence. Everyone's gazes were on them as they entered the small room.
"So..." Clemente had hardly got the word out, that Luka pushed him against the wall, out of sight of prying eyes.
"What is this about? I just don't get you. You make a scene almost in the middle of ER." His frustration was patent. Luka looked at the smaller doctor trying to assess the reason behind his outburst.
"You keep pushing me down. You do it here at work, you do it in my private life. Do you enjoy that? Your life must have been very boring before I came along." Clemente slapped Luka's hand away and straightened his lab coat as he spoke.
"I didn't do a single thing about you and Abby."
"Yeah, tell that to someone else." Pretending disbelief, he decide to push Kovac a little more.
"Now listen to me. I didn't do anything. I didn't have to. You just never had a chance with her."
"That's because of you." He pointed his finger at Luka.
"Yeah than maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Just accept it."
"Why don't you just admit that you want her for yourself?"
"That's none of your business, Clemente. Just let it go. As shocking as it might be, not every woman falls for you." As he finished his sentence, he turned and went for the door.
"Same goes for you, Kovac."
"We'll see." A small smile graced his lip and with those last words, Luka left the room.
"So how was your little conversation with Kovac? Did he say anything interesting?" As soon as the doctor was back, Frank and Haleh bombarded him with questions.
"No, he didn't." At first, he had thought this confrontation would be fun, but Kovac's attitude and answers had just annoyed him. Abby had played the game and fallen into their little trap, Luka was another story.
"Come on." Haleh pressed.
"Just told me I never had a chance with Abby and that I'm not irresistible!" Irritated he drummed on the desk, looking for a way to calm himself.
"What a shock that must have been!" Inez chuckled as she eyed him. That couldn't have been good for his ego.
"Inez!" Frank warned.
"Yeah well, I already voiced my opinion on this matter." She looked sternly at the older man and winked at Haleh. The other nurse coughed to cover her laugh.
"I can tell you, that he is pretty sure that he'll get the lady at the end. What a pretentious prick!" He slammed his hand on the counter.
"Inez, one doesn't hit a man who is already down." The young nurse snorted and left Admit.
"What was that about, Frank?" Clemente wondered, finally noticing the little exchange.
"Ah, you don't want to know..." The clerk simply shook his head and pinched his lips to quench a smile.
"What happened today? Clemente and Kovac were at each other's throat the whole day. I thought they had finally gotten a little friendlier. And suddenly hell breaks loose." Ray angrily punched the keyboard of his computer. Being constantly in the middle of two arguing Attendings had been a pain. He checked his watched and cursed when he realized that his nightmare could possibly last another hour and a half.
"Really? I haven't noticed anything." Abby was checking the blood results of her latest patient.
"Don't tell me you haven't at least heard them? Abby, how can you possibly have missed the yelling? It started this morning in Sutures and now I expect one to stab the other with a scalpel."
"Well I heard some loud talks but no real yelling. I guess they're just a little overdoing it. It's probably going to calm down, once we know who becomes the new ER chief."
"No yelling? You need to have your ears checked." Sam answered in passing.
"When will we know?"
"In two days. Be patient, Ray. You're almost there."
"Okay I have to ask. Were you joking when you said they behave when you're around?" He smiled, ready for the joke to come.
"No they are civil, wouldn't call it friendly though..." Still reading, she tried to keep this conversation to a minimum.
"Does it have something to do with the fact that you dated both?" This comment finally got to her.
"I never dated Clemente. We went out once. That doesn't qualify as dating." She swore for the last time, that she would never get herself in a situation like this one. Were they all going to remind her of this one evening with Victor?
"He dined and wined you! That qualifies as dating." He reminded her. "So how did you do it?"
"Do what?" She wondered.
"Stop the yelling?"
"I had a talk with one of them two weeks ago."
"A talk? And that was enough? You must be very persuasive." Abby felt herself blush.
"Yeah I guess..."