Luka Kovač quotes from E.R.

Luka

Pretty scary, huh?

Dave

Yeah, pretty scary.

Abby

I was complaining about my day.

Romano

Luka? What is that, Croatian for "lucky"?

Luka

No, Luke.

Romano

You sure?

Luka

Yeah.

Carol

Did you grow up in the city?

Luka

No, near the coast.

Carol

Is that where you were during the war?

Luka

No. Then we were in Vukovar. Small apartment, didn't have much money. We kept the children in all the time for safety. They would get crazy, what do you call it...?

Carol

Cabin fever.

Luka

Yeah... I was going to the market to...not for much, some cheese and bread... and they were climbing all over me. "Please let me come, let me come." And the answer was the same as always, "No, it's not safe." My wife stayed with them.

Carol

Luka...

Luka

No, it's OK. I was only maybe, uh, 50 meters away when I heard the whistle in the air. An artillery shell hit the building. (pauses) It's already done now. People rebuilt all during the war. One day you're sitting at a café, the next day it's bombed, and the day after that, they begin to build! That's what you do. Something happens, you rebuild, you go on. (pauses) We should probably go. Your mother will think you've gone joy-riding.

Carol

I have to go find out.

Luka

Find out what?

Carol

If he's still in love with me... because... I'm still in love with him. I am. I've been in love with him since I was 23 years old. He's everything to me. He's my life. I feel complete when I'm with him and I feel empty when we're apart. He's the father of my children... and he's my soulmate.

Luka

[about the E.R.] It's really not so bad down here, Abby.

Abby

Oh, yeah? Compared to what?

Abby

Um...I was just thinking, ahh...I was just wondering, if you wanted, maybe we could, um...

Luka

We could, what?

Abby

Go out sometime.

Luka

Oh, you mean, um, like a date?

Abby

Uh, yeah, that's sorta what I was thinking.

Luka

I just don't understand, first you were at four, then you were at six.

Abby

That's because I scored very quickly. You're a bad sport.

Luka

I can't handle losing to a girl.

Abby

Oh, God.

Luka

I'm kidding. I actually enjoy losing to you, Abby.

Abby

Good, that's much better.

Luka

Stop spinning, stop spinning!

Abby

It's all in the wrist.

Luka

I think I pulled a muscle.

Abby

I think we should take a break.

Luka

Draft please, Abby?

Abby

Club soda.

Luka

Okay. So next time, I choose the sport maybe something more civilized? There's a pool table in my hotel.

Abby

Your hotel?

Luka

Yeah. I don't own it. I just live there.

Abby

You live in a hotel?

Luka

Yeah, as a doctor. I take care of the tourists. They give me a break on the rent.

Luka

No! It's a good deal! Maid service, laundry, amenities.

Luka

No, no! It's great. You'll have to come see it.

Abby

Your hotel room.

Luka

Yeah. I mean, I mean no. I mean yes. I mean... I'd never ask such a thing from a lady. Especially after just one kiss.

Abby

[grinning] No, I should hope not.

Luka

[Luka kisses Abby] Of course, that makes it two.

Abby

Luka, wait!

Luka

What?

Abby

Wait a minute! Don't walk away! Where've you been?

Luka

Abby, please.

Abby

I'd.. I...I wanna help. Just talk to me.

Luka

There's nothing to say. O.K? [leaves]

Luka

I thought you quit.

Abby

I did. And then my mother showed up.

Luka

So any fool can get into Heaven if he's scared enough to say he's sorry right before he dies?

Bishop Stewart

Dr. Kovac, everyone deserves to be comforted in their darkest hour.

Luka

Too bad you weren't there to comfort the little girl he killed.

Bishop Stewart

I didn't need to be. God was there.

Luka

Was he?

Luka

How long have you been having trouble breathing?

Bishop Stewart

I'm just... gathering my strength.

Luka

We have to go to the hospital.

Bishop Stewart

Pretty, isn't it? The snow. So much beauty.

Luka

Where's the phone? I need to call an ambulance...

Bishop Stewart

-No, please, I only need a minute.

Luka

You're dying!

Bishop Stewart

Evidently. As I was sitting here, I was reminded of the night I chose to become a priest. I'd been struggling with it for a long time, several years. Anyway, that night, I couldn't sleep so I got up and went out for a walk in the woods behind my father's house. It was snowing like it is now. I don't have any idea how long I walked but, at a certain point, I suddenly realized I didn't know which way to go. I'd gotten lost, I was frightened. As I looked up into that dark night, He came to me. I saw all those millions of snowflakes drifting down toward me, so still... So peaceful... Perfect. And I was filled with the love of our Lord, Jesus Christ like pouring wine into an empty glass. I'm afraid I may have wasted my life. For some reason I never accomplished the things that I should have, what God wanted of me and now I'm frightened... I'm afraid of dying. There, I said it. I am afraid to die.

Luka

We have to go to the hospital.

Bishop Stewart

[quoting Psalm 23] "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leaders beside the still waters..."

Abby

Penny for your thoughts.

Luka

[chuckles] Pardon?

Abby

It means, what are you thinking about?

Luka

Nothing, really...I was thinking about the Bishop.

Abby

...Making love with me makes you think of a priest with lupus? [they laugh] You watch me when we make love.

Luka

You're beautiful.

Abby

What was her name?

Luka

Who?

Abby

Your wife.

Luka

...Danijela.

Abby

Did you love her very much?

Luka

...Yeah.

Abby

I'm glad.

Randi

How'd your personality test go?

Mark

I scored somewhere between serial killer and talk show host.

Luka

I thought they were memory tests.

Mark

That was Monday.

Carter

What's next? Rorschach? Spelling bee?

Mark

Swimwear competition, sudden-death Twister. Who knows? Maybe a chili cook-off.

Bishop Stewart

How long do I have?

Luka

Maybe hours.

Bishop Stewart

Then I'd better hear it now.

Luka

Hear what?

Bishop Stewart

Your confession.

Luka

Bishop, I don't think...

Bishop Stewart

That's what you came here for, isn't it?

Luka

I wanted to check on you.

Bishop Stewart

You're searching for your faith. You think you lost it, but you only buried it. It's never left you. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. May God, who enlightens every heart, help you to know your sins and trust in his mercy.

Luka

Father, I, I...

Bishop Stewart

Luka, your heart is burdened. Talk to me. Let me take that burden with me.

Luka

I don't know, I, uh, lost my family. Danijela, my wife, she wanted to move out of Vukovar but I had to finish my internship and soon it was too late, it wasn't safe to move. I was going to get some supplies and ai made them stay behind. I was just crossing the street when the mortar shell hit the apartment building.

Luka

So, I went out to get some supplies... I made them stay behind. I was just crossing the street when a mortar shell hit the apartment building. [throws up his hands in a gesture of finality]

Bishop Stewart

Go on.

Luka

I ran inside, there were my neighbors, hurt, bleeding, dying. I passed them by. I had to get to my family. A piece of shrapnel had torn into Danijela's spleen, and she was bleeding to death. When I turned back to my daughter, she wasn't breathing. I lost the pulse but, as long as I kept doing CPR and breathing for my daughter, I thought she had a chance. I could only pray that someone would get there to help. If I"d picked up Danijela at that moment and gotten her to the hospital she could have had surgery, you know? She could have lived but I couldn't leave my little girl. I waited and prayed. I prayed someone would come.

Bishop Stewart

[quietly] And no one came.

Luka

No one came. I called out for hours as I sat there, breathing for her, doing CPR. [pause] I finally had to stop, from exhaustion. I lost them all.

Bishop Stewart

You couldn't sacrifice the one, to save the other. Even if you had, you'd still blame yourself.

Bishop Stewart

These things can't be explained. Why it happens, the Providence of God, and the mysteries of life and death... are the very fiber of our faith. [pause] They were gifts, of love and life. You are a gift of love and life. Don't turn your back on them. God, Father of all mercies, through the death and resurrection of your only begotten son, has reconciled himself to the world and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins through the ministry of Holy Church. May God give you pardon and peace and I absolve you of all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.