Leo Part III
Luka Kovac ( couch_tomato) wrote in open_to_trauma,
@ 2004-05-18 23:43:00
Kim comes to Chicago
Luka waits by the United baggage claim, hoping he'll recognize Kim. He'd thought of making one of those signs with her name on it, but then he'd feel like a taxi driver or a hotel employee or a neglectful relative, and plus they've both at least seen pictures of each other. He's scanning the crowd as he paces around, and he narrowly misses running into a man carrying a large video camera. He's momentarily distracted and for the first time notices the unusual amount of media personell milling around the baggage claim. He absently wonders what celebrity is on this flight, then turns his attention to the first passengers who have begun heading for the claim area.
Then he sees her, her dark curly hair unmistakeable. He begins moving towards her, his hand halfway up in a wave, when he realizes that all the media are moving in the same direction. He hears her name being called, and suddenly realizes that she is the celebrity. "Oh, god," he mutters, exasperated, wondering if she'd anticipated this. He pushes his way past the WGN news team and sticks his hand in the air, waving, glad for his height. He catches her eye finally. "Kim!" he shouts, a bit pleased that he's the only one around using her first name.
kim_watkins
2004-05-18 21:37 (link)
The flight was unbearable simply because it didn't transport her instantly to Leo's side. Trey called mid-flight and expressed regret that he wasn't with her, but he understood her need to leave right away; she didn't tell him that she didn't want him there. Or that she could barely think of him or anything else, only Leo.
The woman next to her was obviously listening to the conversation because as soon as Kim was off the phone she started talking. "I've heard about your boy, it's so wonderful he was found," etc etc. And yes, it was wonderful, but Kim found herself reluctant to talk about it with a total stranger. But she hadn't brought a book or anything else to distract herself, so she talked to the woman. If nothing else being a lawyer had taught her how to hide her true emotions when she needed to.
On the ground it seems to take forever before she can get off the plane, and then another forever to make her way to baggage claim where Luka is waiting. She's making her way down the stairs when she sees them, or they see her; she isn't sure which happens first, but suddenly she knows what it must feel like to be a celebrity. Her name becomes a cacophony as they rush at her, and all she can do is try to push through them, wishing they'd left her enough room to use her tae kwon do on them. She scans the crowd, searching for that one familiar face, and then she sees him. My, he's tall. When he says her name her face breaks into a smile of sheer relief.
"Luka, hi!"
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couch_tomato
2004-05-18 21:58 (link)
He's relieved when she recognizes him, and he grins back at her, ignoring the reporter who instantly turns to him and starts firing questions when he realizes the two know each other. He pushes his way through the crowd to Kim and his first instinct is to shake her hand; after all, they've never officially met. He almost laughs then, because a handshake seems so inappropriate, given the situation. He puts a hand on her shoulder, then pulls her in for a hug. "Sorry about all these reporters," he says softly, "I had no idea anyone else knew."
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kim_watkins
2004-05-18 22:04 (link)
Kim hugs him back. "It's not your fault. They always seem to find out somehow. I bet someone on the plane called them or something. A woman was talking to me about it after I talked to Trey. I don't really mind if they know so much. Part of me wants the world to know. But the rest of me... I just want to see Leo."
She pulls away and looks behind them at the baggage claim. "Shit. I have to get my bag. If it didn't have Leo's favorite teddy bear and book in it I might just say let's forget it and go. I don't want to wait."
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couch_tomato
2004-05-18 22:17 (link)
He nods, understanding, then leads her towards the baggage claim. "What does it look like? One advantage to being tall, I can spot it and we'll be out of here soon." He nudges a man out of his way, feeling rude but more feeling the urgency to get Kim back to County and together with Leo again.
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kim_watkins
2004-05-18 22:45 (link)
"It's kind of green with pink and blue flowers. My mother gave it to me for Christmas a couple of years ago." She glances around at the reporters still trying to get close to her, microphones just inches from her face. "I'm going to have to talk to them at some point. I'll do it right before we get in the car... or something."
The truth is, she wants to scream at them, or at anything in general because the tension has built up inside of her almost to an unbearable point. Leo. She's so close to Leo.
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couch_tomato
2004-05-18 22:51 (link)
"Green with pink and blue flowers..." he repeats it as he scans the luggage slowly moving around the carousel. He spots her bag as it comes out and tries to push his way to the edge. "Excuse me, please..." Politeness does not work. "Excuse me," he says, irritated, finally shoving his hand between two other passengers to grab the handle of her bag. He pulls it off the carousel, accidentally banging it into the legs of a woman standing too close. "Sorry," he mutters, distracted.
He makes his way back to Kim and holds the bag up triumphantly. "Should we get out of here?" He glowers at the reporters in her face. Let's just get her to Leo, who cares about your stupid news reports, he thinks. "You don't have to talk to them if you don't want to," he whispers in her ear.
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kim_watkins
2004-05-18 23:06 (link)
"I know, but it's best to appease them. Not that it will. With my luck they know where Leo is and they'll be waiting for me there too. But I am not talking to them there. I just want to see him."
She holds onto his arm as they start walking, if anything to keep from being separated by the reporters who still shove against them. "What does he look like, Luka? Did Roger hurt him? Does he look like he got enough to eat?"
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couch_tomato
2004-05-18 23:32 (link)
He leads her through the airport to the door he came in. "He has a bandage on his head and a cast on his leg. We don't know how much of it, if any, was from Roger. He's been asking for hamburgers and milkshakes and so far all we're giving him is jello, and he's dehydrated, but we've been giving him fluids." He delivers all this information in a low voice, hoping the reporters won't hear until the hospital can release an official statement. He looks at Kim. "He looks pretty good, considering. Pale, and he's very tired, but that's to be expected."
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kim_watkins
2004-05-18 23:56 (link)
She can't help but nearly cry as she listens, and presses her hands to her cheeks in an effort to keep the tears at bay. "Oh God. I can't believe it. I can't believe he's actually here. He's alive. I know most non-custodial kidnappings don't end up in death but Roger... after what he did to me and Jordan, and he was on drugs... I just didn't know. Oh God, I can't wait to see him."
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couch_tomato
2004-05-19 00:05 (link)
He squeezes her arm a bit in comfort, nodding. "I'll drive fast." He gives her a quick grin as they reach the car and he swings her bag into the back seat. "You going to talk to them now, or do you just want to go?" He inclines his head at the reporters who are waiting just a few feet away.
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kim_watkins
2004-05-19 00:16 (link)
Without answering him with words, she whirls to face the reporters, her expression fierce. "My son Leo was found this morning, and he's going to be okay. However, my ex-husband Roger, to my knowledge, is still out there, though I'd imagine he'd try to put as much distance between himself and this place as possible now. Please be on the lookout for him. I want him caught. I want him to pay for this. Thank you."
She turns back to Luka. "There. Let's go."
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couch_tomato
2004-05-19 00:29 (link)
Luka steps back from her a bit as she speaks, impressed at the conviction in her voice and the ferocity on her face. He nods at her as she turns back to him, grinning slightly. He unlocks her door and opens it for her, then goes to the driver's side and gets in the car. "Okay. Next stop, Leo." He pauses. "I'm so happy for you, Kim. I really am." He turns the key in the ignition and pulls quickly out of the parking lot; now that they're out of the airport all he can think of is getting her to Leo quickly.
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kim_watkins
2004-05-19 00:46 (link)
She watches the city of Chicago flowing past her window without really seeing it. "There aren't enough words to thank you for all you've done, Luka. You and... everyone. This has been such a hard time for me and... well, I've already told you how much it means to have your support. But now all of this, going out of your way. It's just..." She stops, on the verge of being overcome by emotion.
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couch_tomato
2004-05-19 01:04 (link)
Luka shrugs, a little embarrassed. "It's..." he chokes on saying it's nothing, because obviously it's not. "It's...what friends do."
He wants to say more, he wants to say that this has been good for him, a kind of penance almost, in a sense saving one family when he couldn't save his own, but of course comments like that would be inappropriate and met with uneasy silence and he shouldn't burden her with that right now anyway. So he sticks with the half-truth, the friends comment, and smiles weakly as he drives.
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kim_watkins
2004-05-19 01:21 (link)
"Friends. Yes." She recognizes the impending awkwardness and doesn't want to put him through that. She returns his smile and begins to rummage in her purse, then suddenly stops. "Oh, damn. I threw away my cigarettes back in Boston. Because of that vow I told you I made to myself. I only started smoking again because I just needed something to try and relieve the stress, and I didn't want to turn into a drunk. But now I don't need to smoke because they found him. Leo. They found him."
She's dismayed to feel her control snap but it does, and the only thing she can do is cover her face with her hands as the tears come.
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couch_tomato
2004-05-19 01:34 (link)
He's not sure how to react when she starts crying, and he settles for reaching his right hand over and awkwardly patting her back, rubbing small circles and murmuring to her, much like he remembers doing for Jasna when she woke up from a nightmare. He thinks this must be for Kim like waking up from a nightmare, and he lets her cry.
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kim_watkins
2004-05-19 02:02 (link)
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make things uncomfortable for you. I promised myself that I wouldn't cry in front of you or anything because I didn't want... I mean because I know you've been through some terrible things yourself. I just didn't want to bring up any bad memories for you or anything." Now she rummages in her purse desparately for a tissue. "I'm not usually like this, this emotional. But I guess you know what it's like when it just feels like you're being stretched thinner and thinner and you don't know if you can take it for a single moment longer."
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couch_tomato
2004-05-19 02:29 (link)
"No, no, please don't be sorry." He sighs guiltily. "You have every reason to be emotional, to cry." He sees her rummaging through her purse and he reaches to the back seat, handing her a small handful of paper napkins. "Sorry, that's the best I can do."
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kim_watkins
2004-05-19 02:47 (link)
"Thank you. That's good enough. I guess part of it is ever since you called me I've been running around, getting ready to leave, thinking about all the things I needed to do. And now that I'm just so close to him... it's just hitting me all over again, only now I have time to really think about it. And I'm almost there."
There is some part of her that feels bad for talking about this with Luka, a man who will never have the chance to see his children alive again. But at the same time she can't help it, and hopefully some of the happiness she feels he will feel too.
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couch_tomato
2004-05-19 02:59 (link)
He nods as she's talking, but keeps his eyes trained on the road. He's angry at himself for not being able to feel completely happy. He's angry that he actually feels jealous of her, of the fact that she gets a reunion out of this ordeal.
He really is genuinely happy *for* her, though, and he's able to move his eyes to look at her. "I really am happy for you, Kim. For you and Leo." He hopes she can believe him, because the last thing he wants is for this to become about him instead of about Kim and her son.
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kim_watkins
2004-05-19 03:15 (link)
"I know you are, Luka. I don't doubt that. But I also know this has to be hard for you. I'm sure I'd feel the same way if our roles were reversed. I wouldn't be able to keep myself from wondering why I couldn't be the one who got to see my child again. I'd wonder why some people got to be happy while I still had to suffer. Don't worry, it's normal. I'd do the same thing just when I saw mothers with their children at the grocery store. I'd look at them think Why do they get to be with their babies and I don't? And of course there's always Why me? God, I don't know how many times I thought that."
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couch_tomato
2004-05-19 10:43 (link)
He's afraid he's gripping the steering wheel too tightly, and he desperately hopes she doesn't notice. If he's not careful this will turn to be all about him, and he has to avoid that at all costs. When he can speak again, he does so, hoarsely. "Not all memories are bad. They all don't hurt. I'm okay." And it really has nothing to do with what she's just said but he can't bring himself to admit to all that, not yet.
He glances over at her, clearing his throat, changing the subject. "Almost there." He nods to the lights of the hospital ahead of them.
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kim_watkins
2004-05-19 13:04 (link)
"Oh..." She drops the napkins into her lap and sits up straighter, her heart beginning to pound wildly. "Oh, son of a bitch, look. The goddamn press is there too. It figures they'd know. How did they find out? Fuck it, I don't care." She also doesn't care that at the moment she's swearing like a sailor in front of Luka. "I've already given them a statement, they can choke on that. There's no way I'm stopping to give them another one. If any of them try to get in my way this time I really will whip out my tae kwon do on them. Just to warn you."
She looks over at him and grins, because she can't help it now.
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couch_tomato
2004-05-19 15:13 (link)
Luka pulls into the ambulance bay, not really caring at the moment that he's not supposed to park there. Her excitement is contagious, and he turns to grin at her, too. "Let's just make a run for it and hope Kerry's right inside and will beat off the press with her crutch, okay? Leave your bag here; we can get it later." He opens the door and waits for her to do the same, rounding the front of the car so he can lead her into the hospital, away from the reporters and cameramen.
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kim_watkins
2004-05-19 16:59 (link)
She's more than ready and jumps out of the car as soon as he has the door open. The reporters here are just as bad as at the airport, maybe worse. Kim is used to fending them off to some degree given some of the high-profile cases she's had as a lawyer. But it's never been quite like this. It helps to have Luka there, and she tucks her head down and holds onto him, content to let him do most of the work for now.
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couch_tomato
2004-05-20 00:06 (link)
Luka puts an arm around her, more to shield her from the reporters than anything else, and hurries her into the hospital, hearing the doors slide shut behind them. He spots Frank at admit. "Frank, don't let the reporters in here, okay?" He turns to Kim. "Frank used to be a cop; he'll love that job." He glances at the board to remind himself what room Leo is in and leads Kim to his door. He nods at the cop positioned at the door. "This is his mother, so she's good to be in here." He smiles at Kim. "Here you are."