Chapter 13: "Questions and Answers"
"Hold that in place, we're getting the helicopter back to County" Benton said as he took Luka's arm and pulled him in the direction of the helicopter, as Luka was getting pale and Benton did not need him passing out.
Luka was holding the pressure bandage in place while Benton dragged him to the helicopter, leaving no room for disagreements. Benton pulled the door open and got inside, holding the door open until Luka got in and shut it after him.
"County General" Benton said to the pilot and grabbed hold of the door as it took off.
"The wound doesn't look too bad, might not even need that many stitches" Benton said expecting to get some sort of response from Luka, but he just nodded his head and starred out of the window.
10 minutes later they were at County, the door being opened for them before they both jumped out, shielding their eyes from the dust off the roof being blown by the propellers spinning wildly, before coming to a stop.
Luka and Benton took the elevator down to the ER, and when the doors opened Kerry Weaver had been waiting to get on.
"Why are you back so soon?" Kerry asked before she saw that Luka was holding his side, "Did you get hurt?" Kerry said as they all walked into exam 2.
"It's nothing" Luka said as he sat down on the gurney in the middle of the room, still holding the bandage to his side, the blood nearly soaked right through.
"One of the bullets grazed his side, might only need a few stitches" Benton said as he and Kerry put on a pair of latex gloves. Kerry lifted the bandage off to show blood still oozing from the wound, but much slower than before, "It won't need stitches, just cleaned and a dressing put on," she looked up at Luka, "You were very lucky" she scolded him as if he were a child, before replacing the bandage.
"Kerry can I speak with you outside for a moment" Benton said, reinforcing his statement by glaring at Luka.
"Sure, we'll be back in a minute" Kerry said as she patted Luka on the shoulder and then followed Benton outside.
"What do you need to talk to me about Peter?" Kerry said while crossing her arms over her chest.
"This is sorta hard to explain…when the gunman shot over at him, I went over to see if him and the patient and nurse were okay, but when I went over he was talking in Croatian, he kept saying three names, when I ask him to speak English he told me, 'I couldn't save them', he went to get up and he only noticed then he got hurt" Benton said, while looking between Kerry and exam 2.
"Okay, we'll talk to him about it after, first we need to take care off that wound" Kerry pushed open the door of the trauma room and went over to one of the drawers and got out the equipment she needed, Benton followed her in and stood by the end of the gurney.
"You'll need to lift your shirt up so I can put the bandages on" Kerry said as she set the roll of bandages down on the metal tray. Luka lifted up his shirt and Kerry started to clean out the wound, causing Luka to groan in pain.
"There it's cleaned, just need to put the bandage on now" Kerry said as she started to wrap the bandage around his waist. When she noticed that there were several scars on Luka's back, "Peter could you help me with this" she said, giving him a look that meant she didn't want him to argue to just get the hell over,
"Sure" Benton said, slightly confused, but then realised why when he saw the numerous scars.
10 minutes later Kerry was finished putting the dressing on, and had everything cleared away. Luka got off the table when Kerry interrupted him,
"Oh, I nearly forgot, you'll need a new shirt" Kerry told Benton to go and get him a scrub top, and Benton only obliged thinking that Kerry might question him now.
"Luka, Peter told me that when he went over to see if you were okay, that you were speaking in Croatian, and when asked to speak in English you told him, 'I couldn't save them', who couldn't you save?" during the time that Kerry was saying this Benton had re-entered the room and handed Luka the scrub top.
"It doesn't matter now" Luka said as he pulled on the scrub top, being careful not to let them see the marks on his arms, "I need to get back to work now"
"I don't recommend that you work when you just hurt yourself" Kerry said but was brushed off by Luka, "If I get to sore, or I can't work, I'll tell you and go home", with that Luka left the room and went over to admit, and lifted up a chart.
30 minutes Later
Luka was just finishing with a patient in curtain 3 when he noticed that his hands were shaking,
"You okay, Luka?" Abby said as she put her hand on his arm and noticed that his whole body was shaking.
"Yeah, I'm just cold, call surgery down for Mrs Simmons here" Luka said as he signed the chart and left the room briskly.
Shit! Between that flashback and avoiding Weaver and Benton I forgot all about getting my next dose. Luka thought as he went into the drug-lockup and slipped a vile into his trouser pocket. He walked to the suture room, glad to find it empty and shut the door behind himself. He walked to the far side of the room and got out a syringe and clean needle, and measured out carefully the dose he needed, which was easier said than done his whole body shaking. He tied the tourniquet tightly around his arm, waited for the vein to show and slowly pinched the needle into his skin, before pushing the needle and feeling the drug going into his veins. He quickly threw the needle into the sharps box and put the vile into the bin. He sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. His head shot up when he heard a knock on the door, followed by Benton's voice asking to come in.
Luka didn't have time to answer before Benton opened the door, and stood there,
"Do you need the room?" Luka asked hoping Benton would leave soon because he felt as if his stomach was going to empty itself again.
"No, I needed to ask you something actually" Luka was sure that he was going to ask him about what he said today at the school and was sure he was going to vomit now, "Mrs Simmons will need surgery, but, there isn't a O.R free so you need to administer IV fluids until we can take her in about an hour or so…it's still pretty backed up from this morning" Benton said and Luka just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Benton then left the room and Luka followed him out and made it to the men's bathroom just in time to empty his stomach, glad that no one else was there.
Should have taken compasine Luka thought ironically.
PLEASE R&R
