Disclaimer: Applies as usual…darn

Chapter 19 "Talking"

"Well goodnight" Carter said with a slight chuckle before also succumbing to his exhaustion before Greene and Benton also lay down and turned off the light and the room was plunged into darkness.

All the occupants in the room had been sleeping peacefully for about an hour or two when suddenly Luka started to toss and turn on the bed, pushing the blanket down slightly and muttering in Croatian. All of a sudden Benton was woken up by the fuss that Luka was making and he turned over and saw how several beads of sweat had formed on Luka's brow; and he was about to wake the young doctor up when Luka shot upright in the bed with a gasp and started breathing heavily, his eyes unfocused and staring at the wall in front of himself. Peter knew that Luka must have had a horrible nightmare and must be very confused and scared so he pulled him into a hug and waited for his breathing to return to normal and he had calmed down, and could not help feeling even more concerned when he felt how Luka's bone's prominently through the thin scrub top.

With all the noise in the room both Carter and Greene were woken and Greene turned on his bedside light and saw that Peter was sitting up in bed and Luka was sitting beside him, his knees drawn to his chest and his arms pulled tightly around him. He also noticed how his breaths seemed to be shallow as if he was trying to keep control before he let out a sigh.

Luka shot up in bed and could not stop the shaking that was taking over his entire body. He felt himself being pulled into an embrace and stayed there for a few moments before pulling away, and wrapping his arms tightly around his legs just as the light was turned on. He knew now that they would want to know if he was okay, and if they could do anything to help, and they had helped so much already even if he did not want them to at first.

"Hey man, are you okay?" Carter asked cautiously knowing that this must all be hell for Luka.
"Yeah…it's just…" Luka couldn't get the words past the lump in his throat no matter how hard he tried, his voice coming out in a horse whisper, and seeing this Greene decided that he would try and help, "Nightmares?" and with a small shake of his head Luka spoke even quieter than before, his voice choking with emotion and his accent thick, "No…memories" before his ran a shaky hand through his hair.
"Is this the first time this has happened?" Greene asked with hushed tone "No, I've had them for…since they died really" Luka said and all three men could not suppress the pang of pity they felt towards Luka; Benton because he knew his world would fall apart if he lost Reece, Greene because Luka was so young and had experienced so much pain that he could not even compare too, and Carter because all his life he had been sheltered and never knowing what real loss was, once thinking it was if you lost your favourite cuff-link. "Is that how you got those scars on your back?" Carter asked remembering the night he and Abby went to Luka's hotel room. Peter sent Carter a fiery glare.
"Yeah, when I went to the apartment…there was lots of rubble, I must have hurt my back trying to get to them" Luka said and then shut his eyes tightly as the memories invaded his conscious mind, a tremble spread through his thin form. Noticing this Benton laid a hand on Luka's back and could feel the tremble only ease slightly,
"You should try and get some rest" Benton said while patting Luka's back gently hoping that it would make him feel better,
"I've tried but I never do" Luka said feeling dejected but unable to stifle a yawn, exhausted because of the memories that he had to relive every night.
"Maybe you should try, talking about it might have helped" Greene said hopefully and could not stop the small smile that came to his face when Luka nodded slightly and lay his head back down on the pillow, pulling the blanket up to his shoulders.
"You have a big day ahead of you" Greene said as he turned of the light and they all returned to sleep.

Next Chapter is my last chapter BUT I am going to write a sequel to look out for it kiddies!