"Have a good lunch?" Frank asked as Sam and Luka wandered quietly back into the ER.
Luka had not spoken much since his initial sentence and Sam could not help the intense worry that graduated through her. His eyes had become clouded and distant as he sat next to her, slowly rearranging his clothing as she did the same, her worried eyes very rarely leaving him.
"Shut up, Frank," Sam shot and glared him down as he raised his eyebrow at her.
"You two have been popular since you took your break," he continued and Sam looked up at him again as she slowly raised her hand to her neck and began rubbing, imagining that she was rubbing her aching knee. "There was a guy looking for you, Sam."
She waited for more of an explanation but when she received none, she raised her hand in front of her face and motioned for him to continue. She could see Luka glancing up and down the corridor as though he did not know where he was. When he turned his head away from her, her eyes automatically widened as she saw the red mark at the base of his neck. She reached out and grabbed onto his hand, causing him to turn back to her with a frown on his face. She simply shook her head and smiled tightly.
"Big guy… uh… well, I don't think 'big' covers it: absolutely huge. Would take you out with one punch, Kovac." Luka smiled sarcastically and turned his head back down the corridor. "It took me about half an hour to figure that out what he said but he told me to tell you that he'd see you tonight,." he finished and pointed to Sam with his pen.
Luka looked at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her cock her head to the side and frown. He had meant to ask her about the interaction with the surgical medical student that had taken over his trauma earlier that day but had become somewhat… distracted. And now, he realised that maybe he should have asked her; after Frank's description, he knew exactly who it was that had been looking for Sam.
He let go of Sam's hand, reached up to his hairline, and wiped at the fine film of sweat that had appeared there. He felt drained, suddenly. Drained and tired.
It had been so long since he had heard Mirjana's voice – almost fifteen years – and it had sent chills down his spine hearing it, knowing that something must have been wrong.
"It's your mother, Luka, she's dying."
Very few scarier words had been uttered to him. Sighing heavily he shook his head and turned back to Sam who had now stepped up to admit and was conferring quietly with Frank.
"Luka?" Her voice sounded as though it wasn't the first time he had said her name and he looked at her with his eyebrow raised. He hated seeing her looking at him like that: with pity filling her features. "Frank just said someone was here looking for you," she repeated and he looked to Frank.
"Tall, dark hair, Croatian…"
"Mirjana…" he muttered and looked to Sam who was now looking at him in the manner that he had been looking at her when Frank had told them about Beckett looking for her.
"She's staying at the Hilton, said she was going to try and ring your cell phone," Frank told him, his voice carrying none of its' usual cynicism.
"Yeah, I spoke to her," he mumbled quietly and dropped his head slightly so he wouldn't see the look Sam was sending him.
He pivoted on his heel and walked towards the lounge, hearing Sam following him. He pushed the door open and let it spring back, almost hitting Sam in the face.
"Luka, are you okay?" He heard her ask as he moved towards his locker.
He didn't answer her as he spun the dial to the correct code and then flung open his locker door, resting his cell phone on the shelf at the top, glancing fleetingly at the few pictures he had taped on the inside of the door: he and Carter; he and Sam; his mother; Dani and the kids.
"Luka?" She said, more forcefully this time and grabbed onto his elbow to pull him around, but he remained rooted to the spot, his head disappearing into the metal cabinet.
"I'm fine," he almost spat, his voice echoing off the hard metal.
"You're not acting fine," she insisted and held onto his arm, her grip loosening around it. "Luka… please."
He turned to her then and stared at her, biting his lip, looking at her feet. He blinked, slowly, and looked up at her face.
"I'm fine," he lied and brushed past her, leaving her standing, looking into his open locker.