In Her Eyes
Susan sat, her back against the wall in the now empty trauma room. Bloody gloves and bandages surrounded her and she pulled at her soaked scrubs. The air she breathed was stale with a small metallic taste of blood. Her usually beautiful blonde curls were now matted and slightly red. She hadn't bothered to clean herself up since she left Abby's apartment. She knew she probably looked like a psychopath with all of the blood-stains on her scrubs and body. That didn't matter. The events of the night were replaying over and over in her mind and she couldn't make it stop. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Abby lying on the floor bleeding to death or Sam getting hit, harder and harder. She saw herself hitting Richard with that liquor bottle and the pure murderous intentions she had. Susan couldn't even feel the tears flowing down her face. In that fateful moment, she didn't care about the outcome of her actions. All she knew was that she would keep hurting him until he couldn't harm Sam, Abby, or anyone else.
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Susan had rushed into County with Weaver and Neela to the trauma room. She hurried around the room, hooking Abby up to so many machines and tubes. They had to intubate her and after a grueling half-hour, Corday took her to the OR. Susan stood in the room silently, not looking at anyone, tears streaming. Her tears were making trails, cleaning the blood in streaks. She felt Chuny's hand on her shoulder and she flinched. She could almost feel the look of concern radiating from everyone's eyes directed towards her and she hated it. She just wanted to be alone with her own thoughts. Weaver's voice was distant, "Susan, are you alright? I'll get you some clean scrubs."
Susan didn't acknowledge that she had been spoken to, she just stared at the ground not moving. A barrage of questions were thrust upon her as two police officers entered. Susan looked up and anger shined in her eyes. They looked down at their little notebooks and asked, "Was this the man who assaulted Abby Lockhart and Samantha Taggart?" He held out a picture of Richard and she just couldn't stand it anymore. She saw Weaver's wide eyes as she gritted her teeth. Weaver put a calming hand on Susan's arm as a warning, but it didn't work.
"Go away! Leave! And stay out!" Her yell was raspy and extremely loud, while her face was dark red in fury. It quieted the entire room. While she was fuming, Chen hastily pushed the cops out of the room and closed the door. Susan was thankful to Chen for taking them away, but now she really did want to be alone. She felt irritation rising at the figures still in the room, and she fought the urge to scream at them as well. Susan controlled her anger, holding her breath and trying to stop the tears. She guessed that Weaver knew what she wanted, as they were all reluctantly leaving, glancing back, making sure Susan was alright.
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Now, she sat in the trauma room by herself, listening to the chaotic ER. Her pulse had slowed down, but she was still breathing hard. Sam was unconscious with a major head injury, broken ribs, and multiple facial fractures. This was a horrible situation. As she calmed down, a thought popped into her head. 'Luka'. Dread rose in her chest as she thought of how she would tell him. Her mind was wavering upon whether she should call him or not, but in the end, she decided she had to call him. She had this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach as she picked up her phone to dial Luka's number. Her breaths were shallow and her fingers shook.
"Hello? This is Susan." Her voice was small and apprehensive.
"Hey. I know. I have your number." Luka chuckled deeply through the phone.
"Where are you? Are you almost in Chicago?" Susan was afraid of the answer.
"Um...Actually I am pulling up beside County. Is Abby around?" Luka sounded excited to be back and to see Abby. The pit in Susan's stomach got even deeper and she whimpered slightly.
"Will you meet me in the bay?" Desperation filled her tone. There was a long silence.
"Yeah...sure. What's wrong?" Luka wasn't sure what was going on with Susan and was hesitant. She stood up and bolted out of the double doors, heading to the bay. She walked out of the automatic sliding walls of glass and to Luka, who was sitting on the bench just outside of the entrance. Susan was lucky that he waited outside.
He looked up expecting the usual serene or serious, professional Susan and got a big shock. Susan walked across the concrete with blood-soaked scrubs and blood-stained skin. Luka's eyes were wide and he stood, his brows together, looking her up and down. "Uh...Susan? What the...?" His Croatian accent grew stronger. Susan's eyes were dead. There was no spark or happy emotion. He cocked his head to the side slightly and questioned her with his dark eyes. She sat on the bench, inviting him to do the same. He reluctantly obliged.
"We found out what really happened to Abby." Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper.
"What?" He raised his voice and his eyes were wild.
"She told us that Richard beat her when he was drunk." She paused before she went on. She heard Luka gasp. "Sam and I told her to stay with us. She left before we could convince her. She didn't want to put us in danger. We ran after her to her apartment." There was a silence and she saw Luka's livid expression. "When we got there...it was too late. Richard was running around, really drunk and we went to Abby. Sam ran to the other room with Richard...and..." Susan paused, clearing her emotion filled voice. "She threatened him, but he went crazy. He started beating her as well...I....I hit him from behind and knocked him out." She closed her eyes, not wanting to see his reaction.
There were tears of anger, fear, and pain welling in his eyes. They sat in silence with Luka's labored breathing. "Is she...?"
"She is in surgery. I'll take you up there." Susan got up and Luka followed her with haste.
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Meanwhile, in surgery, Corday and Neela worked tirelessly to save their colleague and friend's life. They were working on repairing the damage to her liver and kidneys. This was going to be a very long, grueling surgery.....
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Thank you all very much for the wonderful reviews! I am currently wondering exactly what is going to happen next...but I have an overall idea. :D If anyone has any suggestions, they are very welcome. :) Thanks! Please Review! --soccergirlmich--