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Post by suzanne on Oct 28, 2008 20:07:51 GMT 10
Chapter 1 Abigail Lockhart couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. The Chief had called her into her office for a meeting, and she could not fathom what it was about. She hadn’t made any major mistakes lately, at least none that she was aware of. She hadn’t gotten into any arguments, and she had not been caught doing the naughty naughty in any room whatsoever, on-call or not. Which is why she walked up to Louise’s desk with slight trepidation. “Dr. Lockhart, hi. The Chief will be with you in a second, ok? She’s just finishing up a phone call,” the secretary addressed her. Abby nodded her thanks and took a seat in one of those extremely uncomfortable plastic hospital chairs that had been placed opposite of Louise’s desk against the wall. She had never taken the time to look around this office, usually just passing it on her way into the Chief’s. Now, with some time to spare, she noticed that three of the walls were painted a slight beige colour, while the one facing Louise was held in a warm chocolate brown. There were a couple of paintings and some pots with bamboo and another tree type that she had no clue about. Recognizing the bamboo was already an achievement and about as far as her botanical knowledge went. She had never understood people’s fascination with plants. Yeah, they were nice to look at, but as far as she was concerned, that was about it. Maybe she should broaden her vegetation-horizon one of these days. She’d heard of an amazing atrium at one of those 5 hotels in town. Maybe she could have a drink at the bar while looking at the greenery? Her undoubtedly significant thought-process was interrupted by a knock on the door, then someone entering. Said person quickly glanced at her. “What’d you do?” Luka said. She glared at him. “Nothing. What are you doing here?” Louise interrupted them. “Dr. Kovac, I’m glad you could make it in time, I know you just got out of surgery. The Chief will be with you guys shortly.” No sooner than the words had left her mouth, the door to Dr. Kerry Weaver’s office opened. “Drs Lockhart and Kovac, I’m glad you’re both here. Please come in.” Abby followed after Luka, closing the door behind her. They took their respective seats next to each other, looking up at their boss curiously. From the look on his face Luka obviously didn’t know what this was about either. A somewhat comforting thought. “Doctors, I’m sorry for calling this meeting at such short notice. Let’s make it quick, ok? I’m sure you’re both wondering what I wanted to see you about…,” she paused. After getting a quick nod from both of her residents, she continued. “As I’m sure you know, all of our interns get two weeks off after finishing their internship, before their residencies start, right?” Again, affirming gestures from her doctors. “Well, the reason we couldn’t give all of you that exact timeframe off is really the same as always. Since the new interns are not coming in until later, we’re usually seriously understaffed, and this year was no exception.” She looked up from her files, and had to keep a grin from forming when she first saw recognition and then a slight hint of dread reflected on both of their faces. Yeah, she guessed, they knew what was coming. “So, to make a long story short, it’s the end of January now and your mandatory time off is long overdue. You know those days have nothing to do with your vacation, so I kind of have to force them on you now. We have a review coming up with the hospital execs and everything has to be in order, so…congratulations! Starting tomorrow, you’re life no longer revolves around work for a while…”.
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Post by baboune51 on Oct 28, 2008 22:46:44 GMT 10
great start ! I love your fic suzanne !!
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Post by lkaljk (Ebba) on Oct 28, 2008 23:15:38 GMT 10
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Post by shelby on Oct 29, 2008 7:46:51 GMT 10
great start!! Are Abby and Luka dating yet? Or is that yet to come.......
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Post by suzanne on Oct 29, 2008 9:31:15 GMT 10
All will be revealed in the next few chapters!! Thanks for the comments so far guys!! Suz!!xoxo
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lubylover4life
Junior Luby
"Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this"
Posts: 18
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Post by lubylover4life on Oct 29, 2008 9:42:09 GMT 10
ooooh great start! ...they have to be a couple!
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Post by suzanne on Oct 29, 2008 19:21:11 GMT 10
Chapter 2 They both stared at her in shock, saying nothing. “Try not to show your excitement” she joked, knowing how they felt. At that stage, every day spent not working felt like a lost opportunity to learn. She still remembered her first year of residency like it had been yesterday. “But Chief…” Luka started, but was interrupted instantly. “There aren’t any ‘buts’ here, Dr. Kovac. Trust me, I’ve heard them all. Go update your interns and colleagues on your patients and get out of here.” Abby herself was too shocked to come up with anything at all. Two weeks off!! With Luka!! What the hell was she supposed to do with herself? She realized her fellow resident had stood and she did the same. She quietly thanked Dr. Weaver because it was the polite thing to do, and started towards the exit. They had almost made it out the door when they heard their boss’s voice again. “Oh, and Lockhart, Kovac…” They turned around. “Don’t even think about coming as close as the parking lot of this hospital. If I hear or see you sneaking around, there will be consequences. There is work and insurance related issues to consider here that cannot be ignored. Are we clear?” “Yes Ma’am.” “Absolutely.” Mumbled at the same time, but it was good enough for her. She just hoped she had gotten her point across. Stressed and overworked employees never were an asset to any company, and her hospital was no exception. They might not have agreed to need that time off, that much was clear, but she knew from first-hand experience what could happen if you just kept on going without ever stopping. And she did not wish that on anybody. They walked through the office and into the hallway. After closing the door to Louise’s office, both Luka and Abby kind of stood there, not sure what to say or do, for that matter. Finally she looked up at her friend and colleague and voiced what he was obviously contemplating. “And now what?”
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Post by lkaljk (Ebba) on Oct 29, 2008 19:48:15 GMT 10
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Post by baboune51 on Oct 29, 2008 19:51:40 GMT 10
Only freindly !
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Post by shelby on Oct 31, 2008 6:36:06 GMT 10
2 weeks off with Lukahhhmmmm........
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Post by suzanne on Oct 31, 2008 8:26:19 GMT 10
Chapter 3 It was only Tuesday, and Abby was going stir crazy. It was the evening of her third full day off, and logic told her that she could not possibly bake any more. Not only did the kitchen look like a small chocolate factory. She had also turned the pantry and dining room into every pastry lover’s dream as well as every dentist’s nightmare. However, she wouldn’t have minded any distraction right about now because so far, she and Luka had managed to not see much of each other. Not necessarily because they were trying to avoid one another for any reason. At least she didn’t think so. It was more their daily routine that had prevented much contact up until now. She had taken the opportunity she had been presented with to catch up on some much needed sleep, hardly ever getting up before noon. By the time she got up he was usually at the gym. In the afternoons, so far she had gone shopping twice and even managed to go for a walk yesterday when the sky had cleared for a couple of hours. She had almost taken the bus to that atrium-hotel, but then found that she couldn’t be bothered. Next time she was going to pass a garden-center she’d just buy some pretty looking flowers. That would do. When she had gotten home those nights, Luka had usually been in the process of getting ready to go to Ikes. She had declined his offer to come with him every single day, feeling that she spent enough time in that bar as it was. Pondering her current situation, she was kind of glad that up until now she had not been forced to spend a lot of time in Luka’s company. Things between them were good, but the fact remained that they had never really discussed her little tryst with Carter again, and she knew that Luka had been bothered by it. She was worried that it might come up if they had too much time on their hands and were not busy discussing patients or hospital gossip. Abby herself had filed that episode of her life under “back in the day, when I was young and stupid”. Only she hadn’t been that young, and it hadn’t happened that long ago. But it was the sentiment that mattered, right? As for any other men in her life, Luka was pretty much her only constant at the moment, and that was dangerous for many reasons. Number one…they had gotten closer again over the past few months and, with the exception of a few topics, were able to share their daily life without holding back. Number two…she hadn’t had sex - good sex anyway - in a long while, and with her roommate being as hot as always, there were no guarantees that she wasn’t just going to jump him one of these days. Number three, and the most critical in her opinion…she could not stop thinking about him at all whatsoever lately. What was he doing, thinking, where was he going… She refused to believe that she had started to 'like him' again, so she would have to start figuring out what else that meant.
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Post by baboune51 on Oct 31, 2008 22:06:53 GMT 10
Abby has to stop thinking and boring !
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Post by suzanne on Nov 1, 2008 3:52:14 GMT 10
Chapter 4 Luka sat at Ikes, nursing his second drink. No one else was there yet and the bartender himself was busy, so he was left to ponder what to do with the rest of his ‘vacation’. Oh the irony of it all. Every person other than himself, he was sure of that, would have jumped at the chance to take two weeks off from work. But what spelled relaxation for others instilled a sense of anxiety in him. He had never been the type to sit still and do nothing. Back in the day, doing nothing had meant being at home, and home had meant bigger problems than he cared to ever get into again. So he had become a relatively active kid, hanging around the streets getting into all kinds of trouble. Thankfully even back then, he had been smart enough to know the difference between heavily frowned upon and plain out illegal and therefore had walked the thin line with care. Needless to mention that his ‘friends’ from back then were not in his life anymore. Through college, most of his time was spent training and wrestling and sleeping with as many girls as he could get. Surprisingly, those women were not in his life anymore either. Oh well…he hardly remembered any of their names. In med school, for the first time in his life, he had focused all of his energy on studying. A few people that he had crossed paths with during that time he was still in touch with, although he could count them on one hand. In the past few years, with moving to a different city and having as hectic a schedule as he did, there was barely any time to eat and sleep, much less time for forming new friendships. There was Susan of course. Even though they didn’t talk much in general and even less about their feelings in particular, he knew the doctor was someone he could count on. They had more in common than first met the eye, and he was glad they shared this ‘secret bond’. It made living with her uncomplicated and fun. Then there was Abby of course. A couple of months ago he had resigned himself to the fact that he still had feelings for her. There was just no way of turning those off, no matter how hard he tried. Not even that cheating son of a bitch Carter had helped matters. So his new strategy on this specific topic was to just ignore it. Eventually, he reckoned, he would be able to move on. When? No idea, but in the meantime, he would act it. Put on a mask and pretend. At least his childhood had taught him something. He had no idea how much time had passed, but Susan and Neela interrupted his musings by sitting next to him, each with a shot of tequila in hand, babbling on about their day. His long-awaited distraction for the evening had arrived.
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Post by baboune51 on Nov 1, 2008 4:17:48 GMT 10
poor Luka
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Post by suzanne on Nov 2, 2008 2:25:06 GMT 10
Chapter 5 When Luka got home later that night he found Abby sitting in front of the main computer in the den, surfing the net. She didn’t turn around when she heard the door click shut. She did, however, acknowledge his presence. “You’re back early. Didn’t have fun at Ikes?” He hung his jacket on the coat rack and took off his sneakers. “There’s only so much fun you can have at Ikes’. Especially when the others feel the need to share all of their amazing cases and procedures.” She stared at the screen absently. “Who was there?” He raised his eyebrows. “Seriously?” That got her to turn around in her black, oversized swivel chair. He was standing in the living room, in between the couch and TV, so she looked up at him. Exasperated, she began. “Luka. I have nothing to do. I have no friends outside of the hospital. I’m bored. So do me a favour and entertain me with stories of our co-workers, if nothing else.” Instead of paying any attention to her request, he walked into the kitchen. She looked after him. A few minutes later however, he returned with two bottles of beer, handing one to her before sitting down sideways on the sofa, one leg up, one arm resting casually on the backrest. Her eyes prompted him to speak. After studying her for a moment he did just that. “Neela and Ray were at it in the on-call rooms again. Rumour has it they got caught four times today! I didn’t know Ray had it in him! I asked her about it too, but you know her. Wouldn’t give up the juicy details. Not sure what the deal was. Couldn’t have cared less either.” He took a sip. Abby still looked remotely interested, so he continued. “Susan and Carter were playing darts.” He waited for her reaction. Nothing. Good. Even though no one knew for sure, the widespread opinion of the majority of county staff was that the situation between Susan and her roommate had moved past the platonic stage. There was no proof though, and he had never heard Abby’s take on it. He still hadn’t gotten over the fact that she and Carter had slept together, and the last thing he would want to deal with was jealous Abby. Especially if it was over another guy. “Nurse Carol got totally smashed at her birthday party last weekend and apparently…” “Let’s go to Miami,” Abby threw in suddenly. He did a double take. “What?” “Let’s go to Miami,” his roommate repeated, as if it was the most natural suggestion in the world. Her changes of topic sometimes were mind-boggling. “What are we going to do in Miami?” “What are we going to do here? At least there, the weather’s better…Plus, I’ve never been.” He couldn’t really argue with that, could he??
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