Heat

A/N: This chapter was a secret even to my sister who begged me to tell her Sam's fate… I wrote two versions, each with different conclusions, but I decided on this one. Hope you like it ;) Sorry for concentrating mostly on Sam and Luka in this chapter and for the length...

Hehe, last chapter was called 28 Bodies, and I had 28 Replies all together :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not a sausage. Except of course any characters you don't recognize.

-

Luka could smell the familiarly horrible cleaner usually associated with hospitals. He could hear the sharp beeping of machines and he could just about feel the arm draped across his back. The soft warmth of fluffy sheets pillowed his tired head, the seat beneath him barely stopping him from flopping onto the bed he was already leaning on. Tears pricked at his eyes all over again as he tried to work out how he could have possibly fell asleep after what had just happened in that very room.

He looked up; two soft brown eyes only just open meeting his. I could have sworn I closed them, he thought, beginning to get a little freaked out over the dead glare in Sam's almost closed eyes. It was then that he realized something was wrong with the scene around him. Instead of the long, lifeless tone he'd expected, the machined beeped steadily every few seconds. Two tired eyes opened just a little more.

"Luka?"

His head tilting up, Luka took a deep breath, trying to decide whether what he was seeing was real. Sam's partly burnt face had no expression, and her voice wasn't recognisable as her own, but sure enough, it was her. He noticed the smallest things, like her hair almost all being straight apart from one strand near the front, and the small speckle of blood that was on her forehead. Pulling himself from under her arm, which had been the only movement she could master, but had meant she was closer to him, Luka took hold of her hand and sat upright.

"You fell asleep," Sam spoke slowly and quietly from the smoke she'd inhaled, and the lack of energy she had flowing through her body, "Glad you're awake,"

Luka smiled, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You looked peaceful," She swallowed.

Still shaken from what must have been a dream, he remembered what the last thing Sam had said before 'dying'. Maybe it had just been a really bad dream, or maybe it was some sort of sign. Either way, he found himself asking.

"Did you want to tell me something?" He gripped her hand tightly without even intending to, "You know you can tell me anything,"

Sam looked like she was thinking, her eyes closed. Slowly, they opened again and she blinked a few times, "Sorry, I needed to rest them,"

Nodding sympathetically, Luka pulled the stool round further so he was closer to her. He worked with people with various tubes and machines connected to them every day, but for some reason, this was different; weirder. Since she hadn't said anything, Luka guessed there was nothing he needed to hear. He was wrong.

"There is one thing,"

Intrigued but slightly scared, he nodded, looking directly into her eyes, seeing the pain deep within them. He wanted to make it all go away. It was so hard to see someone usually so strong being so weak. Noticing her hand move slowly towards the jug of water by the bed, Luka picked it up and poured her a glass. Gratefully, she swallowed as much as she could whilst he held it to her mouth.

"I was saying… one thing…" She paused, swallowing the last drop of water slowly, "I love you,"

Luka breathed out a sigh of relief, and leant over to hug Sam gently, "I love you too,"

-

"The police are currently looking into the cause of the fire, though they have confirmed that the source was the Family Room of the ER. Body count so far is 29, including 3 members of staff. People around the area have already started laying flowers and cards in the road for family, friends and even complete strangers who's lives were taken in today's fire. We'll be back with more news on this tragedy as soon as we get it,"

Dubenko watched as another family came to put down a bunch of tulips, tears streaming down their tired faces. He had nowhere to go. Anyway, somebody needed to stay around the hospital and listen out for news, and he'd decided that someone would be him. If anything important happened, he could phone Kerry or someone and tell them, and he'd arranged with Abby that she would phone if anything happened to Lucy, Susan, Frank or Sam.

Thinking about Abby, he was glad she had been helped out of the fire safely, and that she was okay now. Since he'd come to the hospital just a few months ago, he'd managed to get a friendship started between the intern and him, at least he hoped he had. She was brighter than she let everyone think.

"You're not home?" Pulled out of his thoughts, Dubenko looked up, seeing Kerry stood there.

"I thought you left to go to the other hospital?"

Kerry smiled, taking a seat on the bench next to him, the fire-fighters and police finally securing the hospital directly in her eyesight. Carefully putting her crutch on the ground, she shrugged, "They don't need me. After all, I only come in once or twice a month,"

"It's terrible isn't it?" He looked at the line of flowers and teddy bears again, "So many lives lost, just because someone felt the need to set the hospital on fire. Whoever it was, I hope he burns in hell,"

Taken aback by Dubenko's words, Kerry frowned. He was a smart guy, and for some reason she hadn't expected him to say something like that, though it was exactly what she had been thinking. She felt there was something she should do, but she hadn't a clue what. The troubled face of a teenage boy looked over at them sitting on the bench, and soon he was standing in front of them.

"Are you doctors?"

Slightly surprised at the question, both Kerry and Dubenko nodded. The boy, who had short blonde hair and a freckly face, reminded Kerry of someone, but she wasn't sure who, or even if she wasn't imagining it.

"My parents and my little sister died in that fire," He sniffed, holding back the tears, "My Grandparents where driving me over here when we heard it on the news. The firemen brought out their bodies just now. I… did you see them?"

Not understanding why he was telling them all this, Kerry's face softened, "What's your name?"

"Kyle… Kyle Janney,"

She vaguely remembered seeing a mother and her daughter come into the ER, and she was pretty sure they're last name was Janney. The boy looked at her, hope obviously in his eyes, "Did you see them? I just want to know what it was like…"

"They didn't feel a thing, I assure you," Dubenko jumped in,

Kyle shook his head, "He did. He must have,"

"Who did?"

His eyes less hopeful and more determined, Kyle brushed the tears away from his face, still shaking his head slightly. Anger was plastered across his face, "My father. My father killed my mom and Liliana,"

-

A/N: I know, I know, very confusing… it'll make sense later on I promise. Hope you liked the chapter, please continue to R&R, though I won't be holding back chapters if you don't ;)