![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
huntersglenn.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ship_manifestoTitle: Take Two Doctors and Call Me in the Morning
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
huntersglenn
Spoilers: Up through the season 10 episode "White Guy, Dark Hair"
E-mail: huntersglenn@yahoo.com
Personal website: http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Boutique/7087/
Author's Note: I'd like to thankmonack and shedevl54 for their editing assistance and support. I truly couldn't have done it without your help.
(Take Two Doctors and Call Me in the Morning)
When I was presented with the opportunity to write about the pairing of John Carter and Luka Kovac from the NBC series "ER," I quickly found myself stumped on just why I like the pairing. To be truthful, I'm mostly a John Carter fan. I've been writing (by myself and with co-writers) John Carter (he'll be referred to as "Carter" for the rest of the essay because that's the way he's generally address on the show) based fanfiction and slash fanfiction since 1999. In all that time, I've never really sat down and thought about why I liked John Carter with any particular person, be it a het or slash pairing, and I can honestly say that there isn't yet a One True Pairing for me where Carter's concerned. Sometimes a pairing will jump out at me, begging to have a story written for them, and sometimes I get a story idea for Carter and then have to think about who to pair him with before writing the story, but I never have put a lot of thought into what makes a coupling click. My first Carter/Luka story was written in December of 1999 (at that time, the two characters had only been in one real scene together, and that was in the Thanksgiving episode "Great Expectations"), so, I had no on-screen interaction between them to inspire me, but inspire me they did. The pairing has gained some new fans since the end of season 9, and that's mostly based on what happened to the two men when they were both working in the Congo. But, as I said, my infatuation with the pairing dates much earlier, and that makes it a bit more difficult to find canon scenes that can back my love for the couple.
Now I find myself having to think about why they inspired me and why I like Carter/Luka as a couple, and it scares me a bit. A part of me wants to just say that, hey, it's two hot guys, what more do you need? But that's not a good answer, even if it IS true. I thought about comparing Carter/Luka to the commercials for Kellogg's Applejacks cereal, where the kids are asked why they like the cereal and they look at the questioner as if the person has grown two heads, and then respond that they "just do."
But again, that's not the kind of answer that's going to make anyone want to rush out and read any Carter/Luka stories or watch the show to see for themselves if there's chemistry between the two men. I sent out desperate requests to fans of the pairing, asking why they liked the pair together, and in reading their answers (a big thank you to those at the ERROS yahoo group and the LJ community![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
luka_carter for their assistance with this) and replying, I came to realize just why I like them as a couple.
In short, they're soul mates, as my icon indicates. The two men come from different countries and have taken drastically different roads to get to where they are in life, but within their souls, they're very similar. For those who aren't fans of the show or who have only started watching it in the past few years, a bit of history might be helpful (and with their personal histories, the two characters share another common bond – the fact that the writers for the show have changed the past for each one, and for no good reasons that I could ever see. So, if you used to watch the show and then stopped, then some of the "facts" might now be different to you).
With the show now in its 11th season, I find it a bit difficult to summarize Carter's history because he's been a part of the show since the first episode, and there's a lot of ground to cover.
Let's start with the basic facts: Born June 4, 1970, presumably in Chicago, Illinois, Carter has brown hair and brown eyes. At over 6 feet tall, he has a slender build that doesn't get overly muscular, even when he works out.
Born into a wealthy family, Carter should have had an easy life, but tragedy visited the family when Carter's brother Bobby died from leukemia not long after being diagnosed with the disease. The loss of Bobby was difficult for Carter's parents, and they became distant toward him, a fact that had him later telling his mother that when Bobby died, he not only lost his brother, but his mother as well. Still, despite the emotional detachment of his parents, an easy life still could have been Carter's if he had chosen to follow the course that his family had chosen for him – that of joining the family business. Instead, impressed and touched by the attitudes of the doctors who had cared for his brother, Carter decided that he wanted to help people.
Without his family's backing, Carter had an uphill battle to achieve his dream, and by the time he graduated from medical school with a career as a surgeon ahead of him, Carter's family had more or less resigned themselves to the fact that he was going to be a doctor. During his year as a surgical intern, Carter began to realize that he wanted to experience more interaction with his patients, and he felt that while he could be a "good" surgeon, he could be a "great" doctor in the ER. This change in his specialty put Carter at odds with his mentor, Peter Benton, and also with his family, who wanted him working in a more prestigious field and not in the emergency room of an inner city hospital. Carter is presently working as an attending physician in County General hospital in Chicago, and seems content with his career choice.
Getting to the point of contentment didn't come easily though. Along the way Carter has encountered personal loss – the death of his brother at a young age, the drug overdose and near death of his cousin, Chase; the death of his medical student, Lucy Knight when she was stabbed by a patient; Carter's own stabbing injuries, sustained at the same time that Lucy was injured; Carter's addiction to pain killers and subsequent rehabilitation; having his mentor, Peter Benton, leave the hospital and Chicago; the divorce of his parents, the death of another mentor, Mark Greene, the deaths of his grandparents, and lastly, the death of his unborn son and apparent breakup of his relationship with Kem, the mother of his son. Many of these tragedies were compounded by the fact that Carter felt responsible for them. He had known that his cousin was using drugs and didn't tell the family. Then when Chase was brought in with a drug overdose, Carter treated him, and he kept working on Chase despite the fact that Chase had been without oxygen for a long time. Chase lived, but suffered brain damage as a result of the drug overdose, and ended up living in a nursing home/rehabilitation center because the brain damage left him unable to read or write, and also with difficulty walking. Carter also felt responsible for the death of his medical student, Lucy Knight, feeling that he didn't listen to her closely enough while she was treating Paul Sobriki, the patient who stabbed the both of them.
The death of his brother hit Carter especially hard, and not just because they were both children at the time. After Bobby died, Carter's parents, most especially his mother, became distant, so much so that when Carter was stabbed, they didn't show up in Chicago until three weeks later. Granted, he'd told them that he was fine, because he didn't want them to worry, and they took him at his word. Still, it hurt him that they didn't come sooner, and it wasn't until his parents were divorcing that Carter was able to admit that to his mother.
"I didn't spend much time thinking about how your brother's death effected you. I didn't spend much time on anyone…I told him he'd get better…He died believing me."
"No. He was pretending for you. That was another one of our secrets. I was supposed to not let you be sad. I was supposed to make you forget; to make you happy. He made me promise to make you happy. I'm sorry, Mom."
Carter and his mother talking about the death of his brother, "A Simple Twist Of Fate"
Despite these personal tragedies, Carter has stood strong, not letting the tragedies rule him, but instead allowing them to help define his character. The closest that he's come to being ruled by a tragedy was when he turned to painkillers to help him handle his emotional and physical pain after the stabbing. After a stay in rehab and one relapse, Carter has managed to stay clean, going to NA and AA meetings when he's run into situations that he can't handle. Carter has grown stronger over the years, able to handle crisis after crisis, yet retaining his inherent belief that people are generally good.
Courtesy of the show's writers, change has been rife in Carter's family. At first, Carter had many cousins, aunts, and uncles, and a sister. Carter's name was simply John Truman Carter and his father was named Roland. Later, Carter's cousins would disappear, as would his sister, and cousins Chase Carter and Doug (last name presumably Nichols) appeared and disappeared from his life as well. Bobby has remained as Carter's brother, although it's no longer a given that Bobby was the older brother, as first mentioned back in season 1. Along with his changing family, Carter's name has changed, not once, but twice. It first went from being John Truman Carter to Jonathan Truman Carter, III, and then to John Truman Carter, III. His father Roland became Jack Carter, and his grandfather, who started out as Jonathan Carter, died as John Truman Carter. At the time of his grandmother Millicent's death, the only family shown was Carter and his father (his mother, Eleanor, is still alive, but wasn't at the funeral).
During the course of the show, it was revealed that Carter went to a boarding school, and when not there, was mostly raised by his "Gamma" Millicent Carter. From the very beginning of "ER," it was apparent that Carter had a need to please his superiors, and over the years he actively sought the approval of his parents, but most especially the approval of his father and grandfather, approval that he hardly ever received. Carter's need to be worthy of the men in his family easily transferred to his professional career, with Carter always reacting with immense pleasure when his efforts were praised, and saddened when he thought he failed to live up to the expectations of others.
"For three years, I did everything you asked of me, and more! I deserve your respect because I earned it."
Carter to Benton, "When The Bough Breaks"
Carter also has a special rapport with children and the elderly, interacting easily with both age groups. He even missed his graduation ceremony from medical school because he was keeping a young patient company. His affinity for children can probably be explained by the fact that even though he's an adult, he misses his brother quite a bit, and since his brother and he were children when Bobby died, Carter finds it easy to relate to children. As for his respect and gentleness with the elderly, that can be explained by the fact that the most important and influential person in Carter's life was his grandmother, Millicent, who he unabashedly called "Gamma." Even though Carter spent more time with his father in the years after his parents divorced, it wasn't until Carter's unborn son died that he and his father were truly able to connect, and that was mostly due to the fact that they'd both lost a child and had finally found common ground.
"You don't owe them anything. You don't have to prove anything. You have a beautiful spirit. I've seen them drive that spirit out of you."
"Gamma, I'm going to be fine. I promise."
An exchange between Millicent "Gamma" and Carter, "Benton Backwards"
From Croatia, Luka Kovac came to the show at the beginning of the 6th season, and over the past five years, we've been told and shown bits and pieces about his life. Again, we can start with the basics that we know. He has brown hair, hazel eyes, and is 6 feet, 4 inches tall. He has a large build, and big feet. Not just long feet, but wide feet (no jokes about how the size of a man's feet can determine the size of something else. On second thought, this is about sexual chemistry, so…). Luka's wife, Danjiela, was his girlfriend through most of his teen years, and they lost their virginity to one another on their wedding night. He and Danjiela had two children, Jasna and Marko. Luka and his family had been living in Vukuvar, Croatia during his intern year, and he decided to remain in the city even though Danjiela wanted to leave. It didn't take long before they were trapped in the city as the Serbian forces besieged Vukovar.
One day, Luka went to go to the market and was barely away from their apartment when a mortar shell hit the building. When he rushed back inside, the first thing that Luka saw in the apartment was Marko's bloodied and lifeless hand – the rest of Marko's body was buried under fallen debris. His wife and daughter were still alive, but just barely. As Luka told a bleeding Danjiela that Marko was dead, he realized that Jasna wasn't breathing. Luka had two choices then – perform CPR on Jasna and call for help, hoping that someone would come, or he could take Danjiela out of there so that her wounds could be seen to and her life saved. Luka stayed in the apartment, working on Jasna for hours, even as Danjiela lapsed into unconsciousness and died. When Luka left Vukovar, he did manage to salvage from the apartment a photograph of Jasna and Danjiela, taken on Jasna's 4th birthday. Luka has no pictures of Marko, but he told Carol Hathaway that to see Marko, all he has to do is close his eyes, and he's there, face and hands all covered with chocolate ice cream.
"If I'd picked up Danjiela at that moment and gotten her to the hospital, she could have had surgery, she could have lived. But I couldn't leave my little girl."
Luka to Bishop Stewart during his confession, "The Crossing"
At some point, Luka immigrated to the United States, working for temporary agencies, and filling in at various hospitals as needed while he moved around the States. He does have family in Chicago (cousins), but they were only mentioned in season 6 and have never been heard from since then. Luka has mentioned his father, who at one time was a railroad conductor (and paints now that he's apparently retired), his brother, and his grandfather (who was a farmer). We don't know if Luka's brother, mother or grandfather are still alive, nor have any names been given for his relatives. Luka's father is still living, as we were shown that in the season 10 episode "Now What?" when Carter is trying to track down Luka's father over the telephone, but can't find the man since he doesn't know his first name.
From the very first time that we see Luka, we see that he's a compassionate doctor and he also has a special way with children, most likely borne from the fact that he lost his own children when they were still young. Despite being married at a young age, Luka most likely had an easy time of it with medical school, at least that's the impression given in the season 9 episode "Things Change." In that episode Luka and an old friend, Gordana, are reminiscing about their medical school days with more lots of laughter. Things didn't become tough for Luka until Croatia claimed its independence and he found himself and his family stuck behind the battle lines in Vukovar. Still, despite the loss of his family, Luka kept on going, and, through the years, whenever events have transpired that would break most people, Luka has bounced back. Yes, he's scraped rock bottom on more than one occasion, but he always picks himself up and keeps on going.
"It's what you do. Something happens, you rebuild. You go on."
Luka to Carol, "The Fastest Year"
Luka is stubborn, and has often butted heads with his colleagues where a patient is concerned. He has often persisted in doing what he thought was right for his patient, a trait he shares with Carter. There have been times, though, when Luka has made value judgments, such as one time when he didn't want to give a kidney to a patient whose blood tested showed positive for cocaine use. We've also seen Carter making value judgments, but much earlier in his career.
Like Carter, Luka's past has been altered by the writers. At one point in season 6, he spoke of his family being taken away and killed, but then later that season he told Carol about how their apartment building was hit by enemy fire and his family was killed. In season 8, we're told that Luka and Danjiela married young, but then in season 9, we're told that while in medical school, Luka was sharing a place with two other medical students, which he wouldn't have been doing if he had a wife and child at home.
While preparing this essay, I watched a lot of old episodes, and there were quite a few of them that centered on Carter and Luka, using the two to illustrate whatever point that the writers were trying to make. Some times it would be differing viewpoints, and sometimes it would be plots in similar veins. At first, there weren't many scenes between the two – the writers were pushing Luka to be a romantic interest for Carol and he had most of his screentime with her. The few scenes that Carter and Luka do have together are strong scenes, and they work well with one another. There are many times when Luka has praised Carter's work, and Carter reacted by positively basking in the glow of the praise. Later, their relationship changes into one that's almost antagonistic, thanks to Abby Lockhart (who ended up dating and breaking up with both men).
"I would never touch Luka's cookies."
Carter to Nicole, Luka's latest girlfriend, "Never Say Never"
However, even their antagonism is intense, and reminiscent of a father/son battle – "I'm his supervisor" versus "He needs to understand that I know what I'm doing." It's not until season 10 that Carter and Luka start to become friends as opposed to being simply colleagues, and that friendship builds to the point where, when Carter thinks that Luka is dead at the beginning of season 10, he risks his own life to return to Africa just to retrieve his body. Luckily, Carter ends up retrieving Luka, and Luka even kisses him in appreciation of all he's done. Yes, it's just a kiss on the cheek, but it's a kiss, and us slashers take every bit of kissing we can get, just as we were all sure that their sword fight and coming to blows in the season 8 episode "Secrets and Lies" led to a later bout of enthusiastic lovemaking and/or just raw sex.
"Don't do anything stupid."
"Like what?"
"Like get yourself killed."
Carter to Luka in "Kisangani
"Wait, wait, wait. You're gonna go back there?"
"Yes."
"Why?
"Because I left him there."
"Where?"
"The clinic in Matenda. I should have stayed."
Carter to Abby after learning that Luka is dead, "Now what?"
As a couple, all of those antagonistic glances can be turned into glances of thwarted longing. In fanfic, Luka's need to be protective melds nicely with Carter's need to please an authority figure. Luka's perceived European aura comes up against Carter's apparent naiveté. Luka's need to learn to go and not hold tightly onto someone he loves mixes well with Carter's desire to show that he's more than capable of handling things. Carter can sometimes act in childish ways, and Luka's maturity is there to keep a rein on that, even though Luka knows the value of having a good time. Both men have tasted tragedy, and have picked themselves up and kept on going. Physically, Carter seems to be the frailer of the two, with Luka being a good physical match with his taller stature and heavier build. Emotionally, Carter is probably the stronger of the two, as he has a more talkative nature than Luka, and doesn't hold his emotions back as much as Luka does with his own emotions.
"My family died during the war in Croatia…so I came to America. I had a relationship with someone I cared about, which I then ruined, so I started looking for the answers in the wrong places, you know, like sex, drinking, living fast. Killed a patient I should have saved, then I almost killed a medical student in a car crash. So I woke up one morning and everything I thought I had was gone. Gone or broken . So, what do you have for that?" Luka to a hospital psychiatrist, "A Thousand Cranes"
For both men, relationships with women have been shaky and not always fulfilling. Over the years we've watched as Carter has been involved with women who end up breaking up with him, usually breaking his heart in the process, and we've wanted him to find "true love." He even confided to Lucy, his med student, that he wanted a lasting relationship, but felt clueless about how to have one. At one time, it seemed that Abby Lockhart would be that person, but their relationship also came to a bitter end. Carter's latest relationship has been with Kem, and the death of their unborn son has apparently driven her away. As for Luka, we know that he truly loved Danjiela, and we don't know anything about his love life between the time of Danjiela's death and his appearance on the show. His infatuation with Carol ended when Carol returned to Doug Ross, his own romance with Abby ended badly, and after that he threw himself into a series of short relationships, mostly with women that he couldn't get closer to even if he wanted to, such as Gillian, the French-Canadian nurse that Luka met in the Congo.
"I keep my love life out of the work place, thank you very much." Carter to his colleagues when one of them was trying to set him up on a blind date with someone from another department, "Responsible Parties"
A discussion about Carter and Luka wouldn't be complete without mentioning Abby Lockhart and the role she played in their lives. She was Carter's friend while being Luka's lover, and she would often confide in Carter about her and Luka's relationship, a habit that made Carter uncomfortable because he felt he was falling in love with Abby. When Luka and Abby broke up, Luka did so with the declaration "Carter can have you!" Carter and Abby didn't get together immediately, though, and as a result of that, Abby and Luka were able to keep their friendship alive. Once Carter and Abby were a viable couple, Luka seemed supportive, even though at the time, he was going through a dark phase of his life, seeking out prostitutes for companionship and as substitutes for professional therapy. After Abby and Carter broke up, Luka didn't see Carter again until Carter returned to Chicago with his pregnant girlfriend Kem, even though it was mentioned that the two men were communicating on a regular basis (It's also worth noting that Luka was just as surprised by Kem's appearance in Chicago as the rest of the staff. Apparently, Carter had forgotten to mention Kem to Luka). Luka and Carter were then able to forge a real friendship, building on the first steps that they'd taken shortly before they both went to Africa on a medical mission.
During season 9, Luka began to talk with Carter about the volunteer work he was doing with the World Medical Group, and encouraging Carter to volunteer as well. At that time, Carter was dating Abby, and she didn't like the idea of Carter going anywhere dangerous. Despite his initial enthusiasm for volunteering, Carter appeared to back down on wanting to go, possibly because of Abby's displeasure over the whole idea. After the death of Carter's grandmother, he found it difficult to face work and each day, and when Luka called to see if he could help with getting another doctor sent over, Carter jumped at the opportunity to go. He'd been in the Congo for about 6 days before he saw Luka again, and for the rest of the episode the two men continually learn new things about each other. Luka watches sympathetically as Carter and the head doctor in Kisangani operate on a rebel soldier, and his look of sympathy turns to one of concern when the soldier is dying and Carter refuses to give up on the man. The look in Luka's eyes is very similar to one he gave Carter years earlier, after Carter had witnessed one of their patients being shot in the trauma room. It's a look that very plainly says that he'd hug Carter if he could.
Later in the episode "Kisangani," rebel soldiers, who are clearly angry that the doctors have treated a government soldier, visit the clinic where Carter and Luka are working. When a gun is held to Luka's head, Carter clenches his eyes shut, unable and unwilling to witness Luka's death. When there's no immediate gunshot, Carter opens his eyes, and this time he keeps looking at Luka. A few moments later, it becomes Luka's turn to have to watch as a gun is held to Carter's head, and there's fear, worry and concern in Luka's eyes. The rebels don't shoot the doctors, but they do shoot the government soldier, and Carter has an uninterrupted view of this happening. He cringes and has to close his eyes against the scene, and all the while Luka is watching him, knowing that this is killing Carter inside because Carter, like himself, can't stand the loss of life. He knows that their work in Africa and the things that Carter is witnessing are changing Carter, but the look in Luka's eyes is definitely that of a person who wants to comfort the other, and shield him from the changes that are happening.
I wish I had one particular moment or episode that I could use to illustrate why I feel that Carter and Luka are perfect for one another, but as I mentioned earlier, I've shipped them since Luka's first appearance on the show. I can however, recommend that you go back and watch the episodes from the season 6 premiere to the most current episode. At some point you too will find yourself pulling for Carter and Luka to get together. It might be during season 6, or it might not be until the end of season 9. Either way, you won't regret taking the time to watch the two on screen together, even when they're competing with one another (the sword fighting scene in "Secrets and Lies" from season 7 is wonderful to watch).
When it comes to fanfiction for the pairing, there isn't a lot out there. The "ER" slash fanfiction community isn't a large one, but within it, the Carter/Luka pairing has been a popular one for m/m slash. Enjoy:
Look for the stories "To Dream, Perchance to Love," "Hearts in Darkness," "For Such As These," "Crossroads," and "Summer In the City," by Kathryn "Prozac" Parsons, "The Bar," by Elamae, "Consequences," by Julie, "Falling" by Skyark, and "Ghost Of Christmas Present," "Desperate Vigil," "The Beauty and His Beast," "Sign Your Name," "Dr. Kovac, I Presume," and "Dreams in the Mist" by Cathy Roberts, "The Eternal Quadrangle," by Scott J. Welles and Cathy Roberts, and "Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes," by MonaCK and Cathy Roberts at the ER Realm Of Slash (ERROS) fanfiction site:
http://www.errealmofslash.com/
There are two Carter/Luka stories at the Fan Fiction Of Destina Fortunato, "Into the Wild" and "Incarnate:"
http://www.lyricalmagic.com/
There is also the story "Medical Attention," by Rina76 at http://adultfan.nexcess.net/aff/
If you get a message that the site does not exist, just keep trying. They've been having some problems with the site lately.
At the LJ communityluka_carter, you'll find the story "Smoke, by Zauberer (posted on May 22, 2004)
And I can't end this without adding a quote from one of the other characters on the show:
"You know who's got it all figured out, I think? Homosexuals. No, I'm serious, just listen to me. There's two guys living together, toilet seat is always up, channel is always on ESPN. You can drink beers in bed and leave your clothes on the floor. I'm telling you, gay cats got it good!" Greg Pratt to Carter, "A Boy Falls From the Sky"
Author:
huntersglennSpoilers: Up through the season 10 episode "White Guy, Dark Hair"
E-mail: huntersglenn@yahoo.com
Personal website: http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Boutique/7087/
Author's Note: I'd like to thank
monack and shedevl54 for their editing assistance and support. I truly couldn't have done it without your help.(Take Two Doctors and Call Me in the Morning)
When I was presented with the opportunity to write about the pairing of John Carter and Luka Kovac from the NBC series "ER," I quickly found myself stumped on just why I like the pairing. To be truthful, I'm mostly a John Carter fan. I've been writing (by myself and with co-writers) John Carter (he'll be referred to as "Carter" for the rest of the essay because that's the way he's generally address on the show) based fanfiction and slash fanfiction since 1999. In all that time, I've never really sat down and thought about why I liked John Carter with any particular person, be it a het or slash pairing, and I can honestly say that there isn't yet a One True Pairing for me where Carter's concerned. Sometimes a pairing will jump out at me, begging to have a story written for them, and sometimes I get a story idea for Carter and then have to think about who to pair him with before writing the story, but I never have put a lot of thought into what makes a coupling click. My first Carter/Luka story was written in December of 1999 (at that time, the two characters had only been in one real scene together, and that was in the Thanksgiving episode "Great Expectations"), so, I had no on-screen interaction between them to inspire me, but inspire me they did. The pairing has gained some new fans since the end of season 9, and that's mostly based on what happened to the two men when they were both working in the Congo. But, as I said, my infatuation with the pairing dates much earlier, and that makes it a bit more difficult to find canon scenes that can back my love for the couple.
Now I find myself having to think about why they inspired me and why I like Carter/Luka as a couple, and it scares me a bit. A part of me wants to just say that, hey, it's two hot guys, what more do you need? But that's not a good answer, even if it IS true. I thought about comparing Carter/Luka to the commercials for Kellogg's Applejacks cereal, where the kids are asked why they like the cereal and they look at the questioner as if the person has grown two heads, and then respond that they "just do."
But again, that's not the kind of answer that's going to make anyone want to rush out and read any Carter/Luka stories or watch the show to see for themselves if there's chemistry between the two men. I sent out desperate requests to fans of the pairing, asking why they liked the pair together, and in reading their answers (a big thank you to those at the ERROS yahoo group and the LJ community
luka_carter for their assistance with this) and replying, I came to realize just why I like them as a couple.In short, they're soul mates, as my icon indicates. The two men come from different countries and have taken drastically different roads to get to where they are in life, but within their souls, they're very similar. For those who aren't fans of the show or who have only started watching it in the past few years, a bit of history might be helpful (and with their personal histories, the two characters share another common bond – the fact that the writers for the show have changed the past for each one, and for no good reasons that I could ever see. So, if you used to watch the show and then stopped, then some of the "facts" might now be different to you).
With the show now in its 11th season, I find it a bit difficult to summarize Carter's history because he's been a part of the show since the first episode, and there's a lot of ground to cover.
Let's start with the basic facts: Born June 4, 1970, presumably in Chicago, Illinois, Carter has brown hair and brown eyes. At over 6 feet tall, he has a slender build that doesn't get overly muscular, even when he works out.
Born into a wealthy family, Carter should have had an easy life, but tragedy visited the family when Carter's brother Bobby died from leukemia not long after being diagnosed with the disease. The loss of Bobby was difficult for Carter's parents, and they became distant toward him, a fact that had him later telling his mother that when Bobby died, he not only lost his brother, but his mother as well. Still, despite the emotional detachment of his parents, an easy life still could have been Carter's if he had chosen to follow the course that his family had chosen for him – that of joining the family business. Instead, impressed and touched by the attitudes of the doctors who had cared for his brother, Carter decided that he wanted to help people.
Without his family's backing, Carter had an uphill battle to achieve his dream, and by the time he graduated from medical school with a career as a surgeon ahead of him, Carter's family had more or less resigned themselves to the fact that he was going to be a doctor. During his year as a surgical intern, Carter began to realize that he wanted to experience more interaction with his patients, and he felt that while he could be a "good" surgeon, he could be a "great" doctor in the ER. This change in his specialty put Carter at odds with his mentor, Peter Benton, and also with his family, who wanted him working in a more prestigious field and not in the emergency room of an inner city hospital. Carter is presently working as an attending physician in County General hospital in Chicago, and seems content with his career choice.
Getting to the point of contentment didn't come easily though. Along the way Carter has encountered personal loss – the death of his brother at a young age, the drug overdose and near death of his cousin, Chase; the death of his medical student, Lucy Knight when she was stabbed by a patient; Carter's own stabbing injuries, sustained at the same time that Lucy was injured; Carter's addiction to pain killers and subsequent rehabilitation; having his mentor, Peter Benton, leave the hospital and Chicago; the divorce of his parents, the death of another mentor, Mark Greene, the deaths of his grandparents, and lastly, the death of his unborn son and apparent breakup of his relationship with Kem, the mother of his son. Many of these tragedies were compounded by the fact that Carter felt responsible for them. He had known that his cousin was using drugs and didn't tell the family. Then when Chase was brought in with a drug overdose, Carter treated him, and he kept working on Chase despite the fact that Chase had been without oxygen for a long time. Chase lived, but suffered brain damage as a result of the drug overdose, and ended up living in a nursing home/rehabilitation center because the brain damage left him unable to read or write, and also with difficulty walking. Carter also felt responsible for the death of his medical student, Lucy Knight, feeling that he didn't listen to her closely enough while she was treating Paul Sobriki, the patient who stabbed the both of them.
The death of his brother hit Carter especially hard, and not just because they were both children at the time. After Bobby died, Carter's parents, most especially his mother, became distant, so much so that when Carter was stabbed, they didn't show up in Chicago until three weeks later. Granted, he'd told them that he was fine, because he didn't want them to worry, and they took him at his word. Still, it hurt him that they didn't come sooner, and it wasn't until his parents were divorcing that Carter was able to admit that to his mother.
"I didn't spend much time thinking about how your brother's death effected you. I didn't spend much time on anyone…I told him he'd get better…He died believing me."
"No. He was pretending for you. That was another one of our secrets. I was supposed to not let you be sad. I was supposed to make you forget; to make you happy. He made me promise to make you happy. I'm sorry, Mom."
Carter and his mother talking about the death of his brother, "A Simple Twist Of Fate"
Despite these personal tragedies, Carter has stood strong, not letting the tragedies rule him, but instead allowing them to help define his character. The closest that he's come to being ruled by a tragedy was when he turned to painkillers to help him handle his emotional and physical pain after the stabbing. After a stay in rehab and one relapse, Carter has managed to stay clean, going to NA and AA meetings when he's run into situations that he can't handle. Carter has grown stronger over the years, able to handle crisis after crisis, yet retaining his inherent belief that people are generally good.
Courtesy of the show's writers, change has been rife in Carter's family. At first, Carter had many cousins, aunts, and uncles, and a sister. Carter's name was simply John Truman Carter and his father was named Roland. Later, Carter's cousins would disappear, as would his sister, and cousins Chase Carter and Doug (last name presumably Nichols) appeared and disappeared from his life as well. Bobby has remained as Carter's brother, although it's no longer a given that Bobby was the older brother, as first mentioned back in season 1. Along with his changing family, Carter's name has changed, not once, but twice. It first went from being John Truman Carter to Jonathan Truman Carter, III, and then to John Truman Carter, III. His father Roland became Jack Carter, and his grandfather, who started out as Jonathan Carter, died as John Truman Carter. At the time of his grandmother Millicent's death, the only family shown was Carter and his father (his mother, Eleanor, is still alive, but wasn't at the funeral).
During the course of the show, it was revealed that Carter went to a boarding school, and when not there, was mostly raised by his "Gamma" Millicent Carter. From the very beginning of "ER," it was apparent that Carter had a need to please his superiors, and over the years he actively sought the approval of his parents, but most especially the approval of his father and grandfather, approval that he hardly ever received. Carter's need to be worthy of the men in his family easily transferred to his professional career, with Carter always reacting with immense pleasure when his efforts were praised, and saddened when he thought he failed to live up to the expectations of others.
"For three years, I did everything you asked of me, and more! I deserve your respect because I earned it."
Carter to Benton, "When The Bough Breaks"
Carter also has a special rapport with children and the elderly, interacting easily with both age groups. He even missed his graduation ceremony from medical school because he was keeping a young patient company. His affinity for children can probably be explained by the fact that even though he's an adult, he misses his brother quite a bit, and since his brother and he were children when Bobby died, Carter finds it easy to relate to children. As for his respect and gentleness with the elderly, that can be explained by the fact that the most important and influential person in Carter's life was his grandmother, Millicent, who he unabashedly called "Gamma." Even though Carter spent more time with his father in the years after his parents divorced, it wasn't until Carter's unborn son died that he and his father were truly able to connect, and that was mostly due to the fact that they'd both lost a child and had finally found common ground.
"You don't owe them anything. You don't have to prove anything. You have a beautiful spirit. I've seen them drive that spirit out of you."
"Gamma, I'm going to be fine. I promise."
An exchange between Millicent "Gamma" and Carter, "Benton Backwards"
From Croatia, Luka Kovac came to the show at the beginning of the 6th season, and over the past five years, we've been told and shown bits and pieces about his life. Again, we can start with the basics that we know. He has brown hair, hazel eyes, and is 6 feet, 4 inches tall. He has a large build, and big feet. Not just long feet, but wide feet (no jokes about how the size of a man's feet can determine the size of something else. On second thought, this is about sexual chemistry, so…). Luka's wife, Danjiela, was his girlfriend through most of his teen years, and they lost their virginity to one another on their wedding night. He and Danjiela had two children, Jasna and Marko. Luka and his family had been living in Vukuvar, Croatia during his intern year, and he decided to remain in the city even though Danjiela wanted to leave. It didn't take long before they were trapped in the city as the Serbian forces besieged Vukovar.
One day, Luka went to go to the market and was barely away from their apartment when a mortar shell hit the building. When he rushed back inside, the first thing that Luka saw in the apartment was Marko's bloodied and lifeless hand – the rest of Marko's body was buried under fallen debris. His wife and daughter were still alive, but just barely. As Luka told a bleeding Danjiela that Marko was dead, he realized that Jasna wasn't breathing. Luka had two choices then – perform CPR on Jasna and call for help, hoping that someone would come, or he could take Danjiela out of there so that her wounds could be seen to and her life saved. Luka stayed in the apartment, working on Jasna for hours, even as Danjiela lapsed into unconsciousness and died. When Luka left Vukovar, he did manage to salvage from the apartment a photograph of Jasna and Danjiela, taken on Jasna's 4th birthday. Luka has no pictures of Marko, but he told Carol Hathaway that to see Marko, all he has to do is close his eyes, and he's there, face and hands all covered with chocolate ice cream.
"If I'd picked up Danjiela at that moment and gotten her to the hospital, she could have had surgery, she could have lived. But I couldn't leave my little girl."
Luka to Bishop Stewart during his confession, "The Crossing"
At some point, Luka immigrated to the United States, working for temporary agencies, and filling in at various hospitals as needed while he moved around the States. He does have family in Chicago (cousins), but they were only mentioned in season 6 and have never been heard from since then. Luka has mentioned his father, who at one time was a railroad conductor (and paints now that he's apparently retired), his brother, and his grandfather (who was a farmer). We don't know if Luka's brother, mother or grandfather are still alive, nor have any names been given for his relatives. Luka's father is still living, as we were shown that in the season 10 episode "Now What?" when Carter is trying to track down Luka's father over the telephone, but can't find the man since he doesn't know his first name.
From the very first time that we see Luka, we see that he's a compassionate doctor and he also has a special way with children, most likely borne from the fact that he lost his own children when they were still young. Despite being married at a young age, Luka most likely had an easy time of it with medical school, at least that's the impression given in the season 9 episode "Things Change." In that episode Luka and an old friend, Gordana, are reminiscing about their medical school days with more lots of laughter. Things didn't become tough for Luka until Croatia claimed its independence and he found himself and his family stuck behind the battle lines in Vukovar. Still, despite the loss of his family, Luka kept on going, and, through the years, whenever events have transpired that would break most people, Luka has bounced back. Yes, he's scraped rock bottom on more than one occasion, but he always picks himself up and keeps on going.
"It's what you do. Something happens, you rebuild. You go on."
Luka to Carol, "The Fastest Year"
Luka is stubborn, and has often butted heads with his colleagues where a patient is concerned. He has often persisted in doing what he thought was right for his patient, a trait he shares with Carter. There have been times, though, when Luka has made value judgments, such as one time when he didn't want to give a kidney to a patient whose blood tested showed positive for cocaine use. We've also seen Carter making value judgments, but much earlier in his career.
Like Carter, Luka's past has been altered by the writers. At one point in season 6, he spoke of his family being taken away and killed, but then later that season he told Carol about how their apartment building was hit by enemy fire and his family was killed. In season 8, we're told that Luka and Danjiela married young, but then in season 9, we're told that while in medical school, Luka was sharing a place with two other medical students, which he wouldn't have been doing if he had a wife and child at home.
While preparing this essay, I watched a lot of old episodes, and there were quite a few of them that centered on Carter and Luka, using the two to illustrate whatever point that the writers were trying to make. Some times it would be differing viewpoints, and sometimes it would be plots in similar veins. At first, there weren't many scenes between the two – the writers were pushing Luka to be a romantic interest for Carol and he had most of his screentime with her. The few scenes that Carter and Luka do have together are strong scenes, and they work well with one another. There are many times when Luka has praised Carter's work, and Carter reacted by positively basking in the glow of the praise. Later, their relationship changes into one that's almost antagonistic, thanks to Abby Lockhart (who ended up dating and breaking up with both men).
"I would never touch Luka's cookies."
Carter to Nicole, Luka's latest girlfriend, "Never Say Never"
However, even their antagonism is intense, and reminiscent of a father/son battle – "I'm his supervisor" versus "He needs to understand that I know what I'm doing." It's not until season 10 that Carter and Luka start to become friends as opposed to being simply colleagues, and that friendship builds to the point where, when Carter thinks that Luka is dead at the beginning of season 10, he risks his own life to return to Africa just to retrieve his body. Luckily, Carter ends up retrieving Luka, and Luka even kisses him in appreciation of all he's done. Yes, it's just a kiss on the cheek, but it's a kiss, and us slashers take every bit of kissing we can get, just as we were all sure that their sword fight and coming to blows in the season 8 episode "Secrets and Lies" led to a later bout of enthusiastic lovemaking and/or just raw sex.
"Don't do anything stupid."
"Like what?"
"Like get yourself killed."
Carter to Luka in "Kisangani
"Wait, wait, wait. You're gonna go back there?"
"Yes."
"Why?
"Because I left him there."
"Where?"
"The clinic in Matenda. I should have stayed."
Carter to Abby after learning that Luka is dead, "Now what?"
As a couple, all of those antagonistic glances can be turned into glances of thwarted longing. In fanfic, Luka's need to be protective melds nicely with Carter's need to please an authority figure. Luka's perceived European aura comes up against Carter's apparent naiveté. Luka's need to learn to go and not hold tightly onto someone he loves mixes well with Carter's desire to show that he's more than capable of handling things. Carter can sometimes act in childish ways, and Luka's maturity is there to keep a rein on that, even though Luka knows the value of having a good time. Both men have tasted tragedy, and have picked themselves up and kept on going. Physically, Carter seems to be the frailer of the two, with Luka being a good physical match with his taller stature and heavier build. Emotionally, Carter is probably the stronger of the two, as he has a more talkative nature than Luka, and doesn't hold his emotions back as much as Luka does with his own emotions.
"My family died during the war in Croatia…so I came to America. I had a relationship with someone I cared about, which I then ruined, so I started looking for the answers in the wrong places, you know, like sex, drinking, living fast. Killed a patient I should have saved, then I almost killed a medical student in a car crash. So I woke up one morning and everything I thought I had was gone. Gone or broken . So, what do you have for that?" Luka to a hospital psychiatrist, "A Thousand Cranes"
For both men, relationships with women have been shaky and not always fulfilling. Over the years we've watched as Carter has been involved with women who end up breaking up with him, usually breaking his heart in the process, and we've wanted him to find "true love." He even confided to Lucy, his med student, that he wanted a lasting relationship, but felt clueless about how to have one. At one time, it seemed that Abby Lockhart would be that person, but their relationship also came to a bitter end. Carter's latest relationship has been with Kem, and the death of their unborn son has apparently driven her away. As for Luka, we know that he truly loved Danjiela, and we don't know anything about his love life between the time of Danjiela's death and his appearance on the show. His infatuation with Carol ended when Carol returned to Doug Ross, his own romance with Abby ended badly, and after that he threw himself into a series of short relationships, mostly with women that he couldn't get closer to even if he wanted to, such as Gillian, the French-Canadian nurse that Luka met in the Congo.
"I keep my love life out of the work place, thank you very much." Carter to his colleagues when one of them was trying to set him up on a blind date with someone from another department, "Responsible Parties"
A discussion about Carter and Luka wouldn't be complete without mentioning Abby Lockhart and the role she played in their lives. She was Carter's friend while being Luka's lover, and she would often confide in Carter about her and Luka's relationship, a habit that made Carter uncomfortable because he felt he was falling in love with Abby. When Luka and Abby broke up, Luka did so with the declaration "Carter can have you!" Carter and Abby didn't get together immediately, though, and as a result of that, Abby and Luka were able to keep their friendship alive. Once Carter and Abby were a viable couple, Luka seemed supportive, even though at the time, he was going through a dark phase of his life, seeking out prostitutes for companionship and as substitutes for professional therapy. After Abby and Carter broke up, Luka didn't see Carter again until Carter returned to Chicago with his pregnant girlfriend Kem, even though it was mentioned that the two men were communicating on a regular basis (It's also worth noting that Luka was just as surprised by Kem's appearance in Chicago as the rest of the staff. Apparently, Carter had forgotten to mention Kem to Luka). Luka and Carter were then able to forge a real friendship, building on the first steps that they'd taken shortly before they both went to Africa on a medical mission.
During season 9, Luka began to talk with Carter about the volunteer work he was doing with the World Medical Group, and encouraging Carter to volunteer as well. At that time, Carter was dating Abby, and she didn't like the idea of Carter going anywhere dangerous. Despite his initial enthusiasm for volunteering, Carter appeared to back down on wanting to go, possibly because of Abby's displeasure over the whole idea. After the death of Carter's grandmother, he found it difficult to face work and each day, and when Luka called to see if he could help with getting another doctor sent over, Carter jumped at the opportunity to go. He'd been in the Congo for about 6 days before he saw Luka again, and for the rest of the episode the two men continually learn new things about each other. Luka watches sympathetically as Carter and the head doctor in Kisangani operate on a rebel soldier, and his look of sympathy turns to one of concern when the soldier is dying and Carter refuses to give up on the man. The look in Luka's eyes is very similar to one he gave Carter years earlier, after Carter had witnessed one of their patients being shot in the trauma room. It's a look that very plainly says that he'd hug Carter if he could.
Later in the episode "Kisangani," rebel soldiers, who are clearly angry that the doctors have treated a government soldier, visit the clinic where Carter and Luka are working. When a gun is held to Luka's head, Carter clenches his eyes shut, unable and unwilling to witness Luka's death. When there's no immediate gunshot, Carter opens his eyes, and this time he keeps looking at Luka. A few moments later, it becomes Luka's turn to have to watch as a gun is held to Carter's head, and there's fear, worry and concern in Luka's eyes. The rebels don't shoot the doctors, but they do shoot the government soldier, and Carter has an uninterrupted view of this happening. He cringes and has to close his eyes against the scene, and all the while Luka is watching him, knowing that this is killing Carter inside because Carter, like himself, can't stand the loss of life. He knows that their work in Africa and the things that Carter is witnessing are changing Carter, but the look in Luka's eyes is definitely that of a person who wants to comfort the other, and shield him from the changes that are happening.
I wish I had one particular moment or episode that I could use to illustrate why I feel that Carter and Luka are perfect for one another, but as I mentioned earlier, I've shipped them since Luka's first appearance on the show. I can however, recommend that you go back and watch the episodes from the season 6 premiere to the most current episode. At some point you too will find yourself pulling for Carter and Luka to get together. It might be during season 6, or it might not be until the end of season 9. Either way, you won't regret taking the time to watch the two on screen together, even when they're competing with one another (the sword fighting scene in "Secrets and Lies" from season 7 is wonderful to watch).
When it comes to fanfiction for the pairing, there isn't a lot out there. The "ER" slash fanfiction community isn't a large one, but within it, the Carter/Luka pairing has been a popular one for m/m slash. Enjoy:
Look for the stories "To Dream, Perchance to Love," "Hearts in Darkness," "For Such As These," "Crossroads," and "Summer In the City," by Kathryn "Prozac" Parsons, "The Bar," by Elamae, "Consequences," by Julie, "Falling" by Skyark, and "Ghost Of Christmas Present," "Desperate Vigil," "The Beauty and His Beast," "Sign Your Name," "Dr. Kovac, I Presume," and "Dreams in the Mist" by Cathy Roberts, "The Eternal Quadrangle," by Scott J. Welles and Cathy Roberts, and "Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes," by MonaCK and Cathy Roberts at the ER Realm Of Slash (ERROS) fanfiction site:
http://www.errealmofslash.com/
There are two Carter/Luka stories at the Fan Fiction Of Destina Fortunato, "Into the Wild" and "Incarnate:"
http://www.lyricalmagic.com/
There is also the story "Medical Attention," by Rina76 at http://adultfan.nexcess.net/aff/
If you get a message that the site does not exist, just keep trying. They've been having some problems with the site lately.
At the LJ community
luka_carter, you'll find the story "Smoke, by Zauberer (posted on May 22, 2004) And I can't end this without adding a quote from one of the other characters on the show:
"You know who's got it all figured out, I think? Homosexuals. No, I'm serious, just listen to me. There's two guys living together, toilet seat is always up, channel is always on ESPN. You can drink beers in bed and leave your clothes on the floor. I'm telling you, gay cats got it good!" Greg Pratt to Carter, "A Boy Falls From the Sky"
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}