“Oh god Luca…”  Abby shook her hand vibrating at her mouth.  The new Attending Dr. Ernesto Clemente stood on the other side of the gurney, nodded at Ro, and said to them as they traveled down to the Trauma room.

            “Okay people lets go!”  Robbi called out the orders and Inez grabbed the pulse oxygen meter and fed the IV needle into Luca’s arm.

            “Car vs. Car the other driver was DOA.”  The EMT announced and Robbi saw Abby pull Samantha away from the door and Robbi waved her in.  If she had something to say to Luca now might be the time, Kovac might not survive this.  He’d braved a war torn country but he might not make it out of this one alive.  His vitals were iffy. 

            Sam broke free, the hot tears streamed down her face, and she was slowly breaking down.  Abby watched from the other side of the door and Robbi pulled back the remains of his shirt finding a hunk of metal in the man’s side.  It wasn’t a large rod of metal but how deep in it was inside of the hunk of man was wholly other story.  She watched the pulse jumping on the screen of the monitor and Clem was busy getting a cut down on the man’s right leg to notice. 

            “Call Surgery and get the best down here then…”  Robbi was ordering as Luca flat lined just as Clem finished the cut down, his dark eyes darted up and met Robbi’s.  “*****.”  She said and jumped on the box and began CPR.  Sam moved back out of the room her hands at her mouth and right into Abby.  Haleh charged the defib machine and waited for Robbi to call for them.  

            “Come on we can’t…”  Abby began unable to say anything else she didn’t think Sam should be watching this, she had an eerie feeling that Luca wasn’t going to make it.

            “I still love him.”  She admitted through the tears and Abby forced her eyes away from the scene.  She had a soft spot in her heart for the man also. 

            “I know.  You’ll get to tell him that too, Robbi and Clem will get him back.”  Abby’s eyes swelled with tears and she heard a hard grunt from Abby as Robbi broke a rib during manual CPR.

            Samantha broke free again from Abby’s loose grasp, rushing into the room, “You can’t die Luca!  Damn you, you can’t die!  Do you hear me?  You can’t die because you DO have something to live for but you’re to damn stubborn to admit it that we already ARE your family you stubborn man!”  She yelled and Robbi looked up at Clem who was working just as hard as she was.  Haleh handed her the paddles again and she gave them to Clem. 

            “That hunk of metal needs to be removed…”  Robbi said, “Take over.”  She ordered Clem and looked at Abby.  Abby realized what she was doing and she quickly went in and donned a yellow garb, pulling out a drawer and removing surgical kits.  Neither woman said anything they just worked.  Robbi removed the set of dirty gloves and pulled out two sets of sterile gloves.

            “I got a weak pulse.”  Clem announced and surgery paged that they were going to be a few more minutes.  They were working short and were flooded upstairs as well.  Sam was shaking her head, holding Luca’s bloody hand. 

            “I’m taking it out.”  Robbi announced to him and Clem shook his head.

            “You can’t do that, we have him back.  You don’t know the extent…”

            “I know that at this angle it is pressing on his aorta.  Every time he breathes, it is slowing the blood to his heart.  He’s not taking the blood like he should, right Haleh?”  The older black nurse nodded and Robbi said double gloved and Abby watched her pushing a tray next to Robbi and Robbi met Sam’s eyes.  “We remove it or he dies.”  She said steadfastly.  “Look you can release him to me and I’ll be the doctor of record.”  She said her fingers touching the metal. 

            “And give you all the credit when you do this?”  Clem asked with a mischievous grin.  “I know where you’ve been and if you say you can, you can.  Na huh, I’m in on this one.”  He said with his usual flare.