Disclaimer: 20 chapters later and I still don't own ER…crap!
Chapter 20 " Atlanta"
"You have a big day ahead of you" Greene said as he turned of the light and they all returned to sleep.
During the night Luka had woken up twice more from the nightmares but now was resting peacefully. Mark Greene awoke before anyone else in the room, it was still dark inside the room as the curtains had been pulled shut but a haze of light had crept over the top, Mark got up and went into the bathroom where he changed into a fresh pair of clothes. When he came back out Carter was sitting up in bed rubbing his eyes and yawning before he noticed Mark's presence.
"Hey, did you get a good night sleep?" Mark asked as he sat down on the bed again to tie his shoes.
"Yeah, it was okay" and as an afterthought he added "A lot better than Luka I suppose" and as he was saying this he looked in the direction of Luka and saw how he turned over in bed before becoming still again.
"Yeah, we should let him sleep a bit longer, wake Peter up and when he is finished using the bathroom then Luka can" Mark said as he put the clothes he had on yesterday back into his bag. Carter grabbed his clothes and walked into the bathroom and re-entered the room ten minutes later while pulling on his watch,
"It's
6.00am now, what time do we have to be in
Atlanta?" Carter asked as he sat back down on the bed.
"We have to be there by 1.00pm, and it's only a few hours from here so we should be okay for time" as Mark was saying this Benton had woken up and was now sitting up in bed with his feet over the side,
"Good morning" he said as he rubbed the side of his face and noticed the stubble that was rough under his palm, "I'll go get ready" and he walked into the bathroom.
Benton had been in the bathroom about five minutes when Luka turned over in bed and stretched before he opened his eyes, and as soon as he did he clamped then shut straight again as the dim light caused a thunderous booming in his head. He opened his eyes slowly and sat up at a much slower pace and shivered at the temperature of the room and wrapped his arms around himself at an attempt to keep warm.
"Hey man you okay?" Carter asked when he seen that Luka was quite pale,
"Yeah, just tired" Luka said his speech coated with his accent. Just then
Benton came out from the bathroom and sat down on the end of the bed that Luka was sitting on,
"So, did you get back to sleep okay?" Benton asked when Luka lifted his head, and noticed how Luka seemed to stare through him for a moments before answering and how his voice cracked slightly when he spoke, "Yeah, it was worse the first time…I should get dressed" he said quickly and grabbed his clothes and walked into the bathroom and shut the door tightly behind himself.
Once he got inside he let out the breath he did not realize he had been holding. He quickly changed into his pair of black jeans that had dried overnight, and a grey t-shirt that Benton gave him, as his shirt was still too wet, that was too long and wide and made his weight loss more apparent. He walked back into the main room and quickly put on his shoes while sitting on the edge of the bed and got a nauseas feeling in the pit of his stomach when Mark stood up and said, "Okay, are we ready?"
Luka and Carter both walked over to the car to wait until Benton and Greene paid for the room. Luka was leaning back on the car with his arms wrapped around himself shivering, having no coat as it was still in the back of Greene's van, and trying to get rid of the feeling of terror that he had. Carter stood beside him with his coat buttoned up and his collar turned up to protect his neck from the cold wind that was blasting in there direction. He noticed how Luka seemed to be bent forward slightly and was taking slow breaths as if he was trying to calm himself down,
"Hey man, are you okay?" Carter asked and Luka just nodded his head slightly before replying, "Yeah, just feel a bit sick" before straightening up slightly, followed by a rasping cough and even more shivering. About two minutes later both Benton and Greene returned to the car, and Luka was sure no one was more grateful to be getting into the van when Mark turned the ignition and the heater came on. Luka reached into the back of the van and pulled out his coat and pulled it on before resting his head on the back of the chair and closing his eyes; he was exhausted but could not get to sleep because of the ever persistent tremble that ran through his entire body. Carter was now sitting in the back of the van as Benton had got into the front seat before he had a chance. Carter looped his fingers together and cracked them, the sound quite loud in the silent van apart from the drone from the engine. Luka gave up trying to get some rest and just stared out of the window, his eyes were unfocused as he was not seeing what was outside of the window, he tried to stop the memories from coming but no matter how hard he tried he could not get the image and the sounds of the building being hit by that artillery shell, the cries and screams that surrounded him. He was broke out of his past when he heard a voice that sounded very far away calling his name, and when the think fog that clouded his mind cleared he recognized that it was Mark Greene's voice, and that he sounded very worried.
"Luka...Luka?" Greene had pulled over to the side of the road and was now turned around in his seat and could see how Luka was staring out of the window, his eyes unfocused, face pale, his knuckles white from clenching his fists, and his whole body was trembling. Suddenly Luka's eyes refocused and he looked down at his fist for a moment before flexing his fingers, "Luka, are you okay?" Mark said as he reached a hand and laid it on Luka's forearm, and Luka just nodded slowly, but did not look up.
"You look pale, do you feel nauseous?" Mark said his hand still on Luka's arm, feeling the ever persistent tremble that traveled through him,
"I'll be okay" Luka said very quietly, followed by a cough that Mark knew sounded very much like a chest infection, and gave his arm a squeeze before turning back into the front of the van, "Just tell us if you feel sick and I'll pull over".
Luka looked back out the window, but this time images of bombed building's and screaming people did not fill his mind, but new worries of what it would be like when he got to the clinic, what it would be like, and when he returned to County would people treat him differently, and the thought that scared him the most, would he ever get better.
The trip to the clinic had been quiet, each of the occupants lost in their own private thoughts and worries, so when 2 ½ hours later they were driving up the driveway of the clinic they all seemed surprised at how quick it took to get there. Greene parked the van in a space that was quite close to the entrance as there were not many car's there.
"Luka, me and you will go and get you signed in, I just need to fill in some paperwork" Greene said as he took off his seatbelt and Luka opened the back door and got out while crossing his arms across his chest to keep the cold out. He followed Greene to the clinic, and was always about two steps behind as he was not exactly apprehensive about the whole idea. Greene opened the door and let Luka enter in front of him and was glad to be greeted by warm air. Greene walked over to the seating area with Luka and sat down as there was someone at the admit desk already. Greene turned in his seat and saw how Luka was leaned forward with his head in his hands,
"I'm sure it will be okay, don't worry" Greene said as he patted Luka's back and got up and walked over to admit….
YEAH! The story is finished, please review and tell me what you think, and if you have any ideas for the sequel, "A new day, A new dawn".
