Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. I wish I did.
Rating: PG (mild language)
Author's Note: This story was written before "April Showers" aired.
Once upon a time, a woman named Abby worked in an Emergency Room, where she was a doctor. She hadn't always been a doctor there; five years ago, she had been a medical student and a nurse. That was when she met the love of her life, Luka. He was an attending physician there. He was wonderful to her. When they first started dating, Abby was the one who looked after his emotional well-being. Now, the shoe was on the other foot.
It had all started the day Abby got the call that her mother needed to be picked up from a hotel in Ohio, or she would be arrested. Luka had made all of the arrangements for her to get there and back. He had even asked her friend John to go with her, since he couldn't go himself. Abby and Luka had learned a week earlier that that Abby was pregnant, and although they were not married, it was a welcomed surprise. Luka knew how difficult it was for Abby to deal with her mentally ill mother, and he didn't want her to do it alone.
She and her friend John brought her mother back to Chicago after several hours of reasoning, begging and pleading with her. Abby was so glad that she wasn't alone. She would have never asked for help; she felt her mother was her responsibility. But, she needed the help. She was grateful to John Carter for coming with her, but she was even more grateful to Luka for asking him to come along. She knew she needed to ask for help more often when she needed it, especially now, for her baby's sake.
When Abby and John brought her mother, Maggie, back, Abby knew that she had her work cut out for her. Abby couldn't remember a time when her mother had been more depressed. She knew that the progression of her mother's illness- bipolar disorder- only got worse when she went on and off of her medication as often as she did. Eventually, the highs stopped being so high, and the lows got lower. But, by that time, it was too late for medication to be very effective anymore.
Luka had recently moved in with Abby, before Maggie did. He was able to help Abby supervise Maggie, but his responsibilities as an attending physician often kept him working long hours. He had come home several times, as he did today, to find Abby locked in the bathroom, and her mother locked in the spare bedroom. Abby always ran the water so no one could hear her cry. Luka only knew this because Abby told him- not because he noticed. She had told him, one night after they had made love, when they shared their deepest secrets. He had reprimanded himself many times after that for not noticing earlier. He had thought it was strange the evening that she had taken a shower in the middle of the night, and come back to bed with dry hair, but he had been too wrapped up in his own problems to notice. Now, her mother was back, and Abby needed all the support he could give her. He had sworn to himself that he would never let her feel that kind of hurt alone again.
"Abby," he called softly, knocking at the door.
"Go away- please."
"Let me in Abby. I'm not going to leave you alone."
She opened the door and turned off the water.
"Let's go into the outside hallway."
Abby grabbed her keys, in case her mother should wake and decide to barricade herself in the apartment.
"Luka, she just keeps crying and sobbing, threatening to kill herself. I think she's serious this time. I've taken everything out of the bedroom that she could possibly hurt herself with, but I... I just don't know what to do..."
Luka opened his arms and held her close.
"Abby, if she's threatening to kill herself, she's a danger to herself. We can have her placed in a psychological health facility, even if she doesn't want to go."
"I know. It's just... I've never seen her this way before. It's been all depression. She's always cycled out of the depression, into the mania. I know it's not really a better thing, but she could be so much fun... like when I was little..." she trailed off, crying.
"It's alright, Abby."
"With the baby coming, I thought it would help her snap out of it. I thought maybe she and I could be closer. I've always told myself that I didn't care about her, but I really want our baby to have a grandmother. I thought she would be so excited. She was always asking me, when I was married to Richard, when we were going to start having kids. But when I told her about the baby, she didn't even acknowledge me."
"I'm so sorry, Abby." He paused. "Do you want me to call for a psych placement?"
"I think it's time. Just let me go and talk to her. I just want her to know how much I love her."
Maggie Wycenski had snuck out of her room and crept towards the door. She stopped when she heard her daughter's voice, talking with that doctor friend of hers. She could not believe what she had heard! That little bitch, her own flesh and blood, was having her committed. She would not stand for this. She crept back into her room, and crouched behind the door, waiting for Abby.
Abby knocked softly at the door. "Mom?" She tried to open the door, but could only move it halfway.
"Mom, I need to talk to you," Abby said, as she poked her head into the doorway. Where was her mother?
Maggie jumped up from behind the door, grabbing Abby by the shoulders, throwing her face first onto the floor. Before Abby could react, her mother had her pinned on the ground, pounding her fists into her back, screaming, "You're not putting me away! I won't go!"
Luka heard the screams, and ran back into the apartment. He saw Maggie on top of Abby. He pulled her off. Maggie ran out of the apartment.
"Abby, Abby! Are you hurt?"
Abby did not respond. Luka grabbed the phone and called 911. He returned to Abby, who was starting to come around.
"What happened?"
"Lie back. You might have a couple of broken ribs, and you lost consciousness. We need to get you to the hospital, make sure that you and the baby are all right. Does it hurt anywhere?"
"It hurts everywhere. I think she threw me to the floor." She tried to muster a smile, but then sat up with a bolt. "Where is she?"
"She took off. Don't worry, the police will find her, and take her to the hospital."
"She didn't mean it. I think she heard us talking and got scared... oh!" she screamed in pain, holding just below her stomach.
"Abby, what is it? Is it the baby?"
Luka quickly checked her over, but it was too late. When he saw all of the blood, he knew that their baby was gone. There was nothing he could do to save it. The damage was already done.
********
Later that evening Abby and Luka left the OB/GYN clinic at County General, where Dr. Coburn confirmed Abby's miscarriage. She had expressed her deepest sympathies, and told them that there didn't appear to be any structural damage. If they wanted to, they could start trying again soon.
They were both devastated. In the short time that they had known about the baby, they had become so attached. They were thrilled at the prospect of becoming parents. Now, to have that taken away, was just too much to bear.
They went home in silence. They went to bed in silence. They slept in silence that night, holding each other close.
In the morning, they received a phone call. The police had found Abby's mother. She was dead. Abby did not need to identify the body, as several staff at the ER had already done so. She had been brought in, but she was long dead before arriving. She had bought a gun off of the street, and blown a hole in her head. A note was found in her pocket.
"Dear Abby,
I hid outside of your building and followed you to the hospital. I know what I did to you. I'm sorry. Please know that I love you. Please tell your brother that I love him, too.
Mom."
Luka did not know what to do. All he knew that he could do was comfort Abby. She needed him now more than she had even needed anyone before. Luka could only be there for her, to let her know that he would never leave her. He would grieve with her for their lost baby, and grieve for her lost mother, and the childhood that Abby had never had.
***********
Five years had passed since Maggie Wyzenski's death. Much had happened since then. Abby and Luka's lives had not been the fairy tale that Abby had once hoped for. There was no "happily ever after." There, in fact, was no ending at all. Luka had continued to live with Abby. Abby's emotional wounds began to heal. She went back to medical school the following fall. When she graduated, Luka was there, a smile on his face. He proposed to her that day. The following year, they became Dr. & Dr. Kovac. That became confusing in the ER where they worked, met and fell in love, but it was well worth it.
Abby and Luka had not tried to have another baby after the one that they lost. With all of the horrible things that had happened in their lives, they decided that perhaps God had felt that they were not ready to become parents yet. Perhaps they were meant to know each other better, to learn that they were each other's soul mates first.
But all of that changed about nine months ago, when Abby learned that she was pregnant again. Today, Abby and Luka became parents together. They welcomed their little girl, Sophie Margaret, into the world and into their family. Abby knew that this wasn't happily ever after, but a happy beginning to the rest of their lives.