TITLE:  In the Midnight Hour
AUTHOR:  Ellen Hursh
RATING:  PG-13
KEYWORDS: KW/LKo romance; angst; character death; unabashed artiness;
blah blah blah agonycakes
LAST EPISODE SEEN:  "A Thousand Cranes"
TIMELINE:  "The Crossing"
ARCHIVE:  If you must.
DISCLAIMER:  ER and all its characters belong to Warner Bros.  No
infringement of their copyright is intended.  This story was written
for the enjoyment of "ER" fans everywhere, and may be downloaded for
your own pleasure.
SUMMARY:  Hursh gets a little artsy-poo.
SPOILERS:  Some for "The Crossing"
PREVIOUS INSTALLMENTS:  Home and Dry; And Miles to Go Before I Sleep;
Through the Hourglass; Jupiter Aligns with Mars; Shopworn; Come as You
Aren't; Out and About; Up in the Air; Serpent's Tooth; Thanks a Lot!;
Shall We Dance?; Yes, Sir, That's My Baby!; Yule-Tied; Should Auld
Acquaintance; Running with Scissors; Six White Flags Over Chicago;
Sea Change; My Time Coming; Can't See the Forest for the Trees; Boys'
Night Out/Girls' Night In; Peace of My Heart

PREVIOUSLY, ON MY-ER:  Luka and Bishop Stewart battled over health
care issues, including the latter's right to be treated - or not - as
he chooses; after Stewart left against medical advice for an ordination,
Luka went after him and brought him back to the hospital after the
ceremony; after snow prevented them from getting to the courthouse,
Luka and Kerry were married by Stewart from his ICU bed.


I'm gonna wait 'til the midnight hour
That's when my love begins to shine
	--Wilson Pickett

In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer you know I'll take you there
	--Madonna	


He wearily listened to a patient's heart. "I think it's only bruising in
your chest," he informed the man, "but I want to put you on an EKG just
to be sure." He paused before he got up, gathering his strength, then
stood slowly, using the man's wheelchair for support. He saw Kerry
coming back down the hallway toward him, from one of the trauma rooms,
and he felt a little better already.

"What happened to your hand?" He blinked in confusion until she pointed
to the bandage on his right hand. Oh... *that* hand.

"Cut it at some point when I was working on patients in the field." He
correctly guessed what she was about to say. "And yes, I've had my
tetanus updated." He bent down and kissed her, then put an arm around
her and leaned against her with a little sigh. "I'm definitely gonna be
ready to sleep, by the time I get home. You get off about midnight or
so?"

"Mm-hm. I'll try to be quiet when I come home." He gave her an
unmistakable look.

"No. Wake me, please." She looked up at him, and blushed at the slow,
lazy smile on his face. "How... uh... how did we do tonight? With the
train wreck victims?"

"Not bad, all things considered. We only lost two. Malucci's working on
the girl who caused the wreck--"

"Yeah, I saw her in the field. Unbelievable!"

"We're gradually dealing with the rest of the patients... fortunately we
haven't had much else to worry about. Go on home. I'll see you there
later."

He went outside - it was snowing again. Fortunately the snow had waited
until everybody had been dealt with in the field. The ambulances were
still coming, though... he paused, out of the way, and watched them roll
in. Listened to the warble of their sirens. He shook his head... he
couldn't go home just yet.

He went back inside, and crossed to the elevators after checking to make
sure that everything was still under control; he wasn't sure whether or
not he was disappointed to see that it was. One of the elevator doors
opened, and Abby stepped out. She was still on her pedes rotation, but -
because of her dual status as student and nurse - she'd been pressed
into service tonight as a general dogsbody, running errands and messages
between departments and helping out wherever she was needed in the midst
of the chaos.

"How is she?"

"Doing a lot better now, after the latest round of terbutaline." He
flinched away from her as she suddenly moved towards him... but she had
only done so to brush some snow from his coat.  "Sorry about that," she
told him, and smiled sheepishly. He acknowledged her apology with a
quick, puzzled nod, and got in the elevator.

Father Joe was sitting outside the room, and looked up as Luka
approached. "How is he?"

"He's been waiting for you," the priest said with a bemused shrug.

"Oh." That was the only thing Luka could think of to say, aside from a
quickly muttered "Thank you," as he entered Bishop Stewart's room.

"How's Kerry doing?" Luka shook his head in exasperation at the bishop's
stubbornness.

"She's well. You, on the other hand... your sats are still dropping.
We'll have to intubate soon."

"No." The refusal was maddeningly gentle... seemingly designed to
infuriate Luka.

"You don't care that you'll die without it?" Again, that sad little
smile.

"I care. You know that. What I don't want is to spend the rest of my
life with a tube in my throat. I'm *done*. I'm ready to go."

"Maybe *I'm* not ready for you to go, you stubborn old goat!" He hadn't
intended to say that aloud, and winced as the words came out. Stewart
just smiled weakly at him.

"I've been holding on, waiting for you to come up here. I *am* stubborn,
y'see."

"Waiting for me?"

"Yes. You know why." He gestured at the chair by his bed, and Luka
reluctantly sat down.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd Confessed... he'd attended the
occasional service, here and there, including that *very* memorable
Easter Mass with Kerry, but never anything more. He'd felt enough like a
liar and a fake, taking Communion, that he couldn't go on and do the
rest of his duty. Their hospital chaplain had been killed early in the
siege, and the opportunity hadn't come again until... afterwards. But
his faith had deserted him, by the time he'd been in that hospital bed.
Or rather, he acknowledged, he had simply misplaced it.

* * *

    Seven hours earlier...

Jing-Mei frantically pursued Luka and Carter, who were en route to the
elevators. "But there's no attending on duty!"

"I know, Jing-Mei. Kerry's on in about a half hour. Until then, you're
holding up the fort. Call in Dr Dennison if you have to. C'mon, Carter."
Elizabeth joined them on the roof; Luka wasn't sure it was a good idea
for her to come along, as close as she was to her due date, but he'd
already heard that she was sensitive to suggestions that she couldn't do
her job because of her condition.

The helicopter ride was quiet; they already knew what they were going
into: a commuter train had derailed after its brakes had malfunctioned
trying - unsuccessfully - to keep from hitting a car stalled on the
tracks. The other hospitals in the area were sending doctors, too, so at
least the three of them wouldn't be swamped. Luka was the first to spot
the wreck from the window of the helicopter, and he felt his stomach
tighten. It was a familiar, though unwelcome, sensation - he'd felt like
that for three straight months, back in '91 - and he tried to
concentrate on taking slow, deep breaths. There was a little <thump> as
the helicopter landed, and the three doctors got out and hauled out
their gear, crouching as they proceeded, to duck under the rotors.
Elizabeth stumbled behind him with a low cry, and he turned without
thinking to catch her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I think so. I- I must've just slipped on some ice." She massaged
her back, and answered his questioning look with a little shrug.
"Really. I'm okay." He rather thought they'd be *more* okay with a spare
surgeon along, but he was *not* about to say so in front of Elizabeth.
"Where's the crush case?"

"This way." He kept a protective grip on her elbow as he led her, and
noticed that she didn't object to the support for a change.

"Dear god," she mumbled as she saw the man whose legs had been pinned by
the car of the train.

"I'm going to check on the driver of the car. Are you all right to
continue?"

"Yeah. Go on," she assured him, and watched him sprint to the remains of
the automobile. He wasn't really one of her favorite people, and she
certainly wouldn't ever trade Mark for him, but she had to admit that
the man had a very nice bottom. She smiled at that thought - she wasn't
*really* being disloyal to Mark: she was engaged, not *dead*, after all!
- and bent to examine her patient.

* * *

Luka joined Carter at the car that had stalled on the tracks - or what
was left of it - and wondered that the driver had survived the crash. If
he - no, *she* - had been driving something less sturdy, there would
have been barely enough left of her - even with the derailment - for
identification. As it was, he thought he could see that the young woman
was breathing shallowly; he reached in and carefully touched her throat
to check for a pulse, and nearly jumped when she groaned. "Madam, can
you tell me your name?"

"I thought it'd be quick," she complained blearily.

"Do you know the date?"

"It was s'posed to be painless," she continued, either ignoring or
unaware of Luka's questions, and his gut tightened further. *Not* an
accident, then.

* * *

He passed the site where the man's legs had been crushed, just as
Elizabeth cried out, and told Carter to go load the woman into an
ambulance. "What's wrong?"

"I... I think I'm having contractions." Even if the fear hadn't been
plain in her voice, the fact that she was saying anything at all was an
indicator that something was wrong. He recognized a doctor from Mercy,
and waved him over.

"Steve! Do you have any surgeons here that you can spare?"

"Sorry, Luka. This was the only surgical case we knew anything about,
and we were told that County had it covered. Guess not, huh?" Luka
rolled his eyes as Steve moved on to the next victim - the guy was a
good doctor, but a... a... doofus.

Elizabeth groaned as she curled around herself. "Go ahead, say it,
Luka."

"Say what?"

"Say what you're thinking: that I should never have come into the field,
in my condition!" It *was*, in fact, precisely what he'd been thinking,
but he wasn't about to admit it.

"I was *concerned*, yes, but there was no reason to think you might have
a problem," he insisted quietly but firmly. He looked around, and
spotted Carter. "Carter! C'mere! You were a surgical intern, right?"
Even in the reduced light, he could see the younger man blanch.

"Y- yeah. But that was three or four years ago."

"Elizabeth has to go back, and none of the other hospitals sent
surgeons. She's already begun the amputation, so you're going to have to
finish." Carter was doing an excellent imitation of a goldfish, opening
and closing his mouth, with his eyes huge in fright. "You're all we
have."

"But--"

"You assisted on amputations during your internship, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but that was just *assisting*! I can't--" Carter's voice had
become squeaky with panic; Luka hoped he wasn't going to have to *slap*
the man.

"You have to. He's going to bleed to death before we can get another
surgeon out here. Here." He handed Carter his cell phone. "Call County,
get someone to talk you through the procedure. Do it. *Now*!" He turned
away to escort Elizabeth to the helicopter before Carter could protest
again.

Okay... I can do this, I can do this, Carter thought frantically, and
flipped open the phone. He didn't recognize the voice that answered, but
he was handed over to Dr Benton. He heard the cool, deep voice of his
former teacher, and decided that he might actually be able to do this
after all.

* * *

Somehow, Benton managed to coordinate talking Carter through the
amputation with working on his own patient. They should give me a damned
medal for this, he thought as he was leading Carter through tying off
the saphenous. And a medal for the kid holding the phone to my ear, he
belatedly added.

* * *

Shannon glanced dully through the open door at the bed where the man's
body lay. A monitor announced the lack of a pulse in a shrill monotone,
until it was shut off. "Is he dead?"

"Yes, he is."

"Oh." Kerry was unnerved by the lack of reaction in the girl's voice -
she'd said it as unemotionally as someone else might say "Please pass
the salt." Was *this* the kind of world she and Luka were going to be
bringing a baby into, where some messed-up teenager could affect - and
end - lives, and not even show any concern for the consequences of her
actions?

"Chief?" Dave had entered the room, and was already donning gloves; he
looked eager to tackle yet another trauma, and Kerry smiled. Sometimes
his enthusiasm was annoying, but other times - like now - she
appreciated it. "Need any help in here?" She drew him aside, away from
Shannon, so that they could speak privately.

"Sure. I'd like you to finish with her injuries, suture her cuts, and
make sure Psych comes down to assess her." He glanced over at the girl.

"Psych?"

"Yes. She was trying to kill herself when the train derailed, trying to
brake in time to keep from hitting her car."

"Gotcha, Chief." She limped out with a final word of thanks as Luka
finished examining a patient in the hallway, and joined him as he headed
for the board to erase one more name. She hadn't noticed, earlier, that
his right hand was wrapped in a bandage, and she reached for it
gingerly.

"What happened to your hand?" He shrugged.

"Cut it at some point when I was working on patients in the field." He
smiled, and somehow anticipated what she was about to ask him... was she
*really* that predictable? "And yes, I've had my tetanus updated." He
bent down and kissed her, then put an arm around her and leaned against
her with a little sigh. "I'm definitely gonna be ready to sleep, by the
time I get home. You get off about midnight or so?"

"Mm-hm. I'll try to be quiet when I get in."

"No... wake me, please." She looked up at him, and blushed at the slow,
lazy smile on his face. "How... uh... how did we do tonight? With the
train wreck victims?"

"Not bad, all things considered. We only lost two. Malucci's working on
the girl who caused the wreck--"

"Yeah, I saw her in the field. Unbelievable!"

"We're gradually dealing with the rest of the patients... fortunately we
haven't had much else to worry about. Go on home. I'll see you there
later."

  * * *

"Lily, can you get me some more lidocaine? I'm gonna need some more to
finish the suturing."

"Sure, Dave." He looked up briefly from Shannon Wallace as Lily left the
room, then bent back to his work. Attempted suicide... amazing.
According to Dr Kovac (or "Mr Chief", as Dave had laughingly called him
only *once*) she'd been driving a big tank of a car when she parked it
on the tracks - hadn't she ever heard of jumping directly in front of
the train, or parking a little tin can of a car instead? Might've been
*easier* for everybody, if she had.

"Ow! Stop it!" Shannon jerked her arm away as he tried to prepare the
next area for cleaning in anticipation of Lily's return; he had
forgotten that he shouldn't be anywhere near her when there wasn't
anybody else in the room. As it was, Lily returned in time to witness
Shannon's cry of pain and withdrawal. Dave looked up at Lily, and
shrugged.

* * *

Abby checked the fetal monitor, and smiled in relief. "You're going to
be fine, Dr Corday. Just try to take it easy for the rest of your
pregnancy." Just then, the door flew open, and Dr Greene hurried in. He
spared a quick "hello" for Abby, but she could tell that his attention
was focused solely on Dr Corday. She wasn't offended - her job as an OB
nurse was to help women during labor, but her job tonight with Dr Corday
had been to help *prevent* that labor from continuing. She was just
happy that she'd succeeded. She left the room, and looked over her
shoulder at them on her way out the door.

"Guess you *have* to slow down now, huh?" Mark was trying to joke with
her, Elizabeth knew, but she hated being slowed down *this* way!
"C'mon," he wheedled, "it won't be so bad. You can keep me up to date on
all my favorite soaps!" She had to laugh at that - it was a weak,
half-hearted laugh, but Mark was encouraged by the sound.

"*You* watched soaps while you were home? Weren't you the one who said
they were dreadful, the very worst examples of television melodrama?"

"Well... yeah. But that was before the big scandal with little Isaac and
JT being switched--" She arched an eyebrow at him, and he shook his
head. "Okay... I dropped the remote and didn't have the energy to
retrieve it when the soaps came on."

Abby was paged back to the ER when she'd only taken a few steps away
from Dr Corday's room, and she hurried to catch an elevator that was
just about to close. Luka was waiting in front of the elevators when the
door slid open, and she could see that he'd been outside... when had it
started snowing again?

"How is she?"

"Doing a lot better now, after the latest round of terbutaline." She
impulsively reached forward to brush the snow off his lapel, only
realizing her faux pas when he flinched away from her, and she smiled
sheepishly at him. "Sorry about that," she told him, and noted the nod
she got in response, as he got in the elevator. He looked preoccupied,
and didn't respond to her quick "Good night!" She glanced up at the
numbers over the door, and watched as the car stopped at the ICU floor.
Strange... who could he be going to see up there? Oh well... there was
still the matter of that page. She was kept busy the rest of her shift,
and didn't think about it again for the entire time.

Abby had already fetched her coat out of her locker, and was heading for
the door when she saw Dr Weaver in her own coat. "Heading home?" Dr
Weaver glanced up, startled by Abby's question.

"Yeah."

"Hey, I think Dr Kovac may still be up in the ICU. Maybe you can catch
him."

"Oh... thank you." The last she'd known, Luka was on his way home, but
she had a pretty good idea who he was visiting up there.

Even if she hadn't been there the previous week, for their wedding, it
wouldn't have been difficult to find Bishop Stewart's room - the priest
hanging around just outside would have been a pretty major clue. She
peeked through the window and saw Luka in earnest conversation with the
bishop, and smiled hesitantly at the priest. "How is he?"

"You're Dr Kovac's wife, aren't you?" Normally she would have been
offended to have been dismissed as somebody's wife, rather than
acknowledged as a doctor - and department chief, at least for the next
few months - in her own right, but she was too concerned about Luka to
think about it.

"Yes. Bishop Stewart married us just last week."

"Oh, congratulations. You two make a very nice couple."

"Thank you. How is the bishop doing?"

"The doctors don't expect him to last much longer, I'm afraid. He's had
his last rites already, and he's hearing your husband's confession. He's
a *very* stubborn man," the priest said with a little laugh. Kerry
wasn't sure which of the men in that room he was referring to, but she
knew that "stubborn" was a good way to describe at least one of them!
Probably both of them, considering that Luka had groused about the
bishop to her more than once. She looked through the window again for a
moment, then turned away again - she wasn't Catholic, but she knew a
private ritual when she saw one.

"Yes... that he is," she finally said.

  * * *

He stayed with Stewart to the end, taking the man's hand in his at the
very last, and - after using his stethoscope to verify lack of a pulse -
gently removed the nasal cannula and switched off the monitors. Then he
noted time of death in the chart, initialed it, and pushed the call
button just before he reached for his coat with a weary groan at the
thought of just how late- er, *early* it was. Dawn, symbol of new
beginnings, of new life. God, Luka, he thought muzzily, get some sleep
before you get *totally* fucking mystical!

He was startled to open the door and find the priest still there... with
Kerry asleep next to him with her head in his lap. "Um..." the priest
helpfully said, misinterpreting the befuddled look on Luka's face. "We
had a very nice chat, and then she got tired. I know it would have been
better to just let her have the entire bench, or found her someplace to
lie down, but--"

"Okay, okay," Luka broke in. He belatedly realized that the priest had
been overexplaining, and shook his head. "I have to talk to the ICU
nurse, so Kerry might as well stay where she is, for now." He reached
down with his uninjured hand, and gently stroked her cheek.

* * *

"Hey, beba." She shook her head groggily, and blinked.

"Hi." Her voice was gravelly with sleep. "I didn't mean to fall asleep,"
she told him with a shy little smile.

"I know." He hesitated a moment. "I had no idea you were out here."

"I didn't want to intrude." He stared at her in amazement.

"I wouldn't have minded *you* coming in the room." She reached up, and
brushed some hair out of his eyes.

"Yes, you would. I don't know what you and the bishop were doing in
there, or what you were talking about, but it looked like something
private... like the sort of thing a man doesn't even share with his
wife."

"Have I told you lately that you are an incredible woman?"

"Not lately, no."

"Well, you are. You know that Carol looked a little - no, a *lot* - like
Danijela?"

"I guessed that from the picture, yes." Luka sighed, and settled back
against the wall, next to her.

"I had a little crush on her for a while. Only a *little* one," he
emphasized when he saw the dejected look on her face. "Do you know what
ended the crush for me, though?"

"No, what?"

"I, uh, performed a blessing on a dying patient. I went in to treat
her," he assured Kerry, "but she saw my black clothing and assumed I was
a priest."

"A perfectly understandable mistake," she replied solemnly, barely
managing to hold back a grin.

"Mm hm. Anyway, Carol came in while I was talking to the woman and stood
there watching and listening. It's part of why I switched from English
to Latin and Croatian: she was watching something that was none of her
business."

"So even though she looked like Danijela, you, uh, fell out of crush
with her?"

"Fell out--? Yes, I like that. 'Fell out of crush.' Exactly."

"When was this?" Kerry knew she was probably stirring up things that
were best left alone - as though *that* was something new for her! - but
she wanted to make *sure* that things in that department were all
settled.

"Hm... about a week before you fired me, I think." He said it casually,
without rancor, but Kerry reeled back as though he'd struck her with his
hand instead of his words.

"I..." He shrugged.

"It's okay. I was upset at the time, that you wouldn't even look at me,
but I got over it." He laughed. "I kind of *had* to get over it, after I
found myself in love with *you*!" She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Well, thanks!"

"Hey, I'd never thought of you as my type. I was... well... used to my
type being women like Danijela, or Carol, or Nadira: tall, dark, robust,
rather than short, pale, slender redheads with an attitude."

"Attitude?" He shrugged.

"I like it, actually. Kinda sexy." He slanted a sidewise glance at her,
and she could see how weary he really was. "Ready to go home?"

"Yeah." She stood up, leaning on her crutch to lever herself up, but
gasped suddenly, and sat back down, wide-eyed.

"What is it, is your leg--"

"No. I'm not sure...oh. Oh!" She opened her coat, peremptorily seized
his hand, and put it on her belly. He started at the insistent motions
he felt under his hand, and smiled - uncertainly at first, but then his
face lit up.

"Oh, hey! Do you want me to get you a wheelchair, to take you to the
car?" She smirked at him.

"Are you going to be like this for the next five months?" He returned
the smile sheepishly.

"Probably I will."

"I can tell this is going to be a *very* long five months."



POST-OPERATIVE NOTES:

"Dogsbody" doesn't mean what it *looks* like it means. :-)


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