Part Nine

 

Author’s Note: In this installment, I have chosen to include some of the “themes” if you will from “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” I want to include the interaction between Luka and the bishop and elaborate on Luka’s feelings. I also didn’t like how TPTB worked the episode. So, I’m changing it around a bit. So, don’t get mad at me when I use that as part of my story.

 

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Since New Years, Luka and Harmony’s relationship had been becoming more and more involved. Luka had even moved in with Harmony. The news of the relationship spread like a wild fire threw the E.R. In a couple of weeks, most every member of the staff knew the relationship was getting fiery.

 

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“What did you do to your hair?” Malucci asked one day when Harmony and Luka came into the doctor’s lounge.

 

Harmony laughed. “I cut it, it was getting too long to manage,” she explained, running her hand through it involuntarily. She began to put on her lab coat.

 

Carter came in. “Hi guys,” he said. “I want you all to meet my friend, Kathryn Ryan.”

 

Harmony extended a hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Harmony Morris. Are you getting a job here?”

 

Kathryn laughed. “No, I’m in the Airforce. I got transferred here.”

 

“Really?” Harmony asked. “One of my brothers is in the Airforce, he’s in Mongolia right now.”

 

“Wow. What’s his name? I might have met him.”

 

“Jake.”

 

“Kat, this is Dave Malucci and Luka Kovac,” Carter said suddenly, trying to save his friend from Harmony’s incessant prattle.

 

“Nice to meet all of you,” Kathryn said.

 

Harmony smiled, thinking she had found another friend.

 

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“Mind if I sit down?” Harmony asked Kathryn. They were in the cafeteria.

 

“Sure.”

 

“Carter just dump you here?” Harmony asked, beginning to peal a banana. 

 

“Nah, I wanted to see what John does, so I stayed here. But them he got into a big… What do you call them?”

 

“Trauma?”

 

“Trauma. That’s right. There was some major accident, and he got sucked into it. I haven’t seen him since, and I got hungry so I came here,” Kathryn explained.

 

“Yeah. So, where were you stationed before you got transferred here?” Harmony asked.

 

“Botswana.”

 

“I did my residency in Kenya. Isn’t that funny?” Harmony said, laughing at the irony.

 

“Odd,” Kathryn agreed. “Have you been here long?”

 

“No, I came here…” Harmony counted off the months on her fingers. “Five months. How long have you know Carter?”

 

“God, my entire life. His dad and mine made some business venture before we were born. Our families have been friends ever since,” Kathryn explained.

 

“Wow,” Harmony said, tossing the banana peel in a near by trashcan. “Where did you grow up? I lived in Tucson.”

 

“New Orleans,” Kathryn replied.

 

“I have a sister who lives in New Orleans. She owns a French Café.”

 

“How many siblings do you have?”

 

“Fourteen.”

 

“Incredible. I have two, and they drove me crazy.”

 

“I only lived with a few of them. Most of my siblings had left by the time I was born. But I got passed around a lot during the summers. I hardly spent anytime in Tucson during the summer.”

 

“Are you the doctor who talked to John about the attack?” Kathryn asked.

 

Harmony nodded. “Yeah. It’s sad. He’s so young to be experiencing such pain.”

 

Kathryn shook her head in agreement. “Sometimes I feel that I don’t know him. He’s so evasive sometimes. I wish there was something I could do for him.”

 

“I haven’t know him long, but I think he’s handling this very well,” Harmony said. “Of course, others have told me that he’s good at hiding his problems. I do worry about him from time to time.”

 

“All the time. And with Valentine’s Day coming up… I came to visit in April. He was so messed up. One night he came home and he was absolutely stoned. God, I was so scared. No one else was up in the house, and I didn’t want to get him in trouble, so I didn’t call the EMTs. Oh god, I’ll never forget that night.”

 

“Have you been back since then?” Harmony asked, intrigued.  

 

“In September, I flew in for a weekend, and I stopped by. I got on the same night that he got back from Atlanta. He was still kinda messed up but a whole lot better.”  

 

One of the med students, Lanai Tucker, walked up to their table. “I’m sorry to bother you Doctor Morris, but I have to things for you.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“First, Doctor Kovac would like you to check on this patient for him. Here’s his chart.”

 

Harmony took the chart. “Is he still in trauma?”

 

“Yeah, they’ve been shocking that poor girl’s heart for over an hour. And second, I was wondering if you could get me a date with Doctor Malucci.”

 

Harmony grinned. “I’ll see what I can to, Lanai. Thank-you.”

 

“Are you and Doctor Kovac dating?”

 

“You might say that,” Harmony said with a grin. “I’ve got to go. Would you like to get together tonight? I could invite some of my other friends if you want to meet some other people. “

 

“That would be nice,” Kathryn said, smiling.

 

“See you later, Kathryn.”

 

“Call me Kat.”

 

“All right, Kat.” Harmony grinned again, and left the cafeteria.

 

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Harmony stepped into the exam room. The patient was an older man.

 

“Uh, I already have a doctor seeing me,” the man said.

 

Harmony smiled. “Doctor Kovac has been delayed by traumas and has asked me to check on you. I’m Doctor Morris,” she explained.

 

“Nice to meet you.”

 

Harmony open up the chart and found a note scribbled in Luka’s handwriting: 

 

Thanks. I love you.

 

Harmony giggled to herself and tucked the note into her pocket. “So, you are a bishop, right?” She didn’t really trust Malucci as a source.

 

“Yes. Are you Catholic?”

 

“I am. And, for four years I lived in Rome and attended mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. My apartment looked out on the square. The bells kept me on time. It was so lovely…” Harmony thought back to the many happy times she had had in Rome. Then she sapped back to the present. “I’m sorry. Enough of that. So, how are you? Feeling any pain?”

 

“None to speak of.”

 

“Good. Does Luka have you on any medications?”

 

“Luka?” the bishop looked at her, a bit confused.

 

“Doctor Kovac, excuse me.”

 

“He’s putting me on a drug if I use a cane. I don’t remember the name.”

 

“Okay, I’ll ask him. Any questions before I go?”

 

“One. Is Doctor Kovac Catholic?”

 

Harmony’s eyes darkened and her smile vanished. “He told me you might ask that question. In truth, I don’t know.”

 

“His soul seems to be tortured.”

 

“There are many tortured souls seeking sanctuary in this hospital,” Harmony said, her tone grave.

 

“I have seen many tortured souls in my time, Doctor Morris.”

 

“As have I. But sometimes, it’s hard to tell.”

 

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A couple hours later, Luka returned to check on the bishop.

 

“Can I go yet?”

 

“You’re all clear by me,” Luka began, “but I need to get you cleared by Doctor Morris as well. You can go ahead and get up.” He left.

 

“God, finally I get to see you,” Harmony exclaimed catching sight of Luka.

 

“Sorry, I’ve been busy.”

 

“Gee, you’re animated today,” Harmony commented. “How’s the bishop doing?”

 

“Pretty good. I just need your stamp of approval before we can release him.”

 

“Okay. I’ll see you around.”

 

“Are you getting off the same time I do?”

 

“Yeah, but don’t wait around for me. Kat, Selena, Katelyn, and I are getting some dinner.”

 

“All right.”

 

Harmony went back into the exam room, only to find that the bishop wasn’t there. “He’s gone,” she said to Luka.

 

Luka knit his brow. “I told him he needed your signature to leave.”

 

“Kovac, they need you in trauma two. The drunk driver.”

 

Luka nodded and turned back to Harmony. “I’ll keep my eye out for him.” He ran to the trauma room. There he found the bishop giving the last rites to the man. Luka turned to Lanai. “Tell Doctor Morris, that I’ve found the bishop.”

 

Lanai nodded and left. She filled Harmony in on what was happening.

 

“Okay.”

 

“Here’s his chart,” Lanai said.

 

Harmony took it and thanked the student. Lanai ran back to the trauma room. Harmony signed her name at the bottom of the chart.

 

Within a few minutes, Luka was back, wearing a look of deep anger on his face.

 

Harmony, who knew the story of the crash, smiled weakly. “You going to be okay?” she asked softly.

 

“Yeah, I’m more put out at the bishop than the driver at the moment.”

 

This was a bit shocking to Harmony, who knew how Luka felt about having to take care of people who caused pain on others. “What do you mean?”

 

“He was administering last rites to that man.”

 

“Well at lease the guy knew what he did was wrong.”

 

“Yet he was even around when that little girl died. He says ‘god’ was there.”

 

Harmony remained silent, not wanting to upset Luka anymore.

 

“Did Lanai give you the chart?”

 

“Yes, I signed him out.”

 

Luka nodded. “I think I’m going to head home, okay?”

 

“Yeah. Do you want to take the bug?” Harmony always referred to her car as ‘the bug.’

 

“Nah, you might need it tonight.”

 

“Okay, I’ll see you later.”

 

“Hands Up!”

 

The voice caused Harmony to jump. “Real funny Malucci!” she yelled.

 

“Morris, it ain’t me,” Malucci said.

 

Luka glanced around. “Oh my god,” he muttered. “We have a gunman in here.”

 

Harmony reacted quickly. She ran as fast as she could to the phone. Bullets ricocheted here and there as the assailant tried to stop her.

 

“Was she a track star?” Malucci whispered to Luka.

 

Luka didn’t respond, he was too busy watching Harmony, involuntarily praying that she would make it to the phone.

 

“What the…?” Haleh asked as Harmony whipped by her in the hall.

 

“Gunman,” Harmony muttered.

 

“What?!”

 

“Haleh!” Carter pulled the nurse down behind a counter as the attacker ran by.

 

Harmony reached the phone, but before she could place the call, the phone was shot to bits. She groaned, trying to get to admit desk. She knew her cell phone was sitting next to the computer…

 

“Harmony, watch out!” Carter yelled. But it was too late, the assailant had hit his target.

 

Harmony fell to the ground, as Malucci and Carter ran to catch the shooter. Luka hurried over to her.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, I think he missed or shot blanks,” Harmony said, trying to catch her breath.

 

“Why would he shoot…” Luka stopped as three drops of Harmony’s blood hit his sleeve.

 

Harmony groaned and leaned forward, vomiting blood. She looked at her hands. “Oh my god,” she muttered. She vomited again, this time even more violently. Abby and Kerry just stood there watching with transfixed horror.

 

Luka glanced up briefly and caught sight of the bishop. “Where is your god now?” he asked with a mixture of anger and triumph. There was no god; no god could let this happen to Harmony. To him. “Are you just going to watch, like you ignored that little girl today? Are you going to watch the one think that makes my life worth living suffer? Does your god only care about those who have hurt others?”

 

“Luka…” Harmony began. “Luka, stop.” Her voice was filled with pure terror, and the hand that he now held quavered with trepidation. Her breathing was quickened and labored. Her blue turtleneck was now covered with blood, and her skin was deathly pale.

 

“Doctor Kovac…” the bishop’s words were cut off by Harmony coughing up more blood.

 

“Just go,” Luka said in a tone that was rough, stiff, and horribly cold. He glanced back down at Harmony who was shaking with consternation. “Shhh, It’s going to be okay,” Luka whispered, hardly believing his own words. He pealed off her blood soaked lab coat. “Just lie down,” he instructed, placing her head on his knee. “Abby, get a gurney!”