Abby Lockhart

Abby Lockhart
Maura Tierney as Abby Lockhart
First appearance	November 25, 1999 (Season 6, "Great Expectations")
Last appearance	March 19, 2009 (Season 15, "Shifting Equilibrium")
Portrayed by	Maura Tierney
In-universe information
Gender	female
Title	Medical Student (2000, 2003-2004) Intern (2004-2005) Resident (2005-2008), Attending (2009)
Occupation	ER Nurse (1999-2003) Physician (2003-2008)
Spouse	Luka Kovač (husband) Richard Lockhart (ex-husband)
Children	Josip (known as Joe, son, with Luka Kovač)
Relatives	Maggie Wyczenski (mother) Eddie Wyczenski (father) Eric Wyczenski (brother)

Dr. Abby Lockhart (married name Kovač, formerly Abby Lockhart, R.N.) is a fictional medical doctor on the television series ER. She is portrayed by Maura Tierney. Abby's full birth name is Abigail Marjorie Wyczenski.

Beginnings

The character of Abby Lockhart first appears in season 6 of ER in the episode "Great Expectations," guest starring as Carol Hathaway's labor and delivery nurse. Three months later, Abby became a regular character in February 2000 as a third-year medical student beginning her ER rotation. On her first day, she meets Dr. Luka Kovač, her first teacher, with whom she will experience a number of professional and personal relationship and who will become the most important character in her long-running story. Lockhart's first months in the ER proved challenging for her transitioning from OB nursing to the ER. In her first few months, she saw Carter stabbed and another med student killed by a schizophrenic patient and also had to speak to Weaver and Greene about Carter's growing drug addiction. Although Carter is hostile at first, they become friends over the course of the next season.

Abby's medical training had gone into hiatus and she had become a full time obstetrics nurse to provide for her then-husband Richard Lockhart's medical school education, but once they [divorce] she resumed her medical training. Later on, at the start of Abby's final year of medical school, Kerry Weaver breaks the news to her that her registration for that quarter has been denied for lack of payment at the start of Season 7. Abby confronts her ex-husband to discover that he has stopped paying her tuition because he is bankrupt. She resumes her part-time OB nursing job, and soon Weaver offers her a full-time ER nursing position. Abby accepts the offer. After several generally rewarding years as a nurse, Abby got her ex-husband to sign off on a loan so she could finish medical school. While she failed her first exam to fully become a doctor, she passed on her second try, and she earned her MD in the Season 10 finale.

In the 2000–2001 season, Abby is visited by her mother, Maggie (played by Sally Field), who suffers from bipolar disorder. Abby's childhood is revealed to have been very difficult. During her childhood, she was forced to cope with her mother's erratic behavior when she was not taking her medicine. She also had to deal with her mother's long absences, and had to take care of her younger brother Eric (played by Tom Everett Scott). Eric, who has been in the US Air Force but went AWOL, was introduced later. He, too, is showing signs of bipolar disorder, but refuses to accept this.

Abby's father, Eddie, left the family when Abby was a child, due at least in part to Maggie's uncontrollable behavior. Abby reunited with her father (Fred Ward) in season 13, when he initially approached her under the disguise of being a patient named Eddie Jackson before finally revealing his true identity to her.

Throughout her stay at County General, Abby has been generally friendly and well-liked by most of the staff. She is considered open to talking and listening, yet she remains humble and cautious about her personal life. She dated Dr. Kovač and then Dr. Carter but eventually returned to Kovač, with whom she had a son. They later married. She has befriended many colleagues in the ER who have come and gone, particularly the female co-workers including Carol Hathaway and Susan Lewis, and later Elizabeth Corday and Kerry Weaver. Her closest friend became Dr. Neela Rasgotra, who graduated medical school with her and lived with her during some of Neela's hard times. She and Luka Kovač were the senior figures on the show until their departure in 2008.

The character was born January 10, 1969.

Personal life

Soon after taking the position in the ER, Abby begins a relationship with Dr. Luka Kovač. The beginning of their relationship is overshadowed when they are attacked by a mugger on their first date, whom Luka kills in defense. She and Luka stay together for about a year, but their relationship becomes more strained after the arrival of Abby's mother and the increasing closeness between Abby and Dr. John Carter, and a heated argument leads to their breaking up at the beginning of the eighth season. Despite an initial period of awkwardness and jealousy after their romance ends, Luka and Abby become good friends again in fairly short order.

Abby's next relationship is with Dr. John Carter. Abby discovers Carter shooting up on painkillers. She tells the doctors about it, and at their urging and with their help, Carter enters a rehab program. Once he returns, he sees Abby at an AA meeting. She tells him that she is a recovering alcoholic and had been sober for five years. She agrees to become his AA sponsor. Abby and Carter develop a very strong friendship. This strains her relationship with Luka.

Several months later, Abby has a particularly horrible birthday and starts drinking again. When Carter catches her having a beer, he confronts her, and she tells him not to worry about her. When Dr. Mark Greene passes away, Carter seeks solace in Abby. She returns to her AA meetings, telling Carter she did it for him, and they become a couple. Abby continues drinking, and Carter compulsively tries to "fix" her. At one point, Carter is ready to propose to Abby at a special dinner he's arranged for her, but at the last minute, he ends up putting the ring back in his pocket and though they discuss it briefly in a later episode, he never tries again.

Their relationship is badly strained when Carter's grandmother (portrayed by Frances Sternhagen) dies, and Abby's brother, Eric, conclusively diagnosed with bipolar disorder, acts out at the funeral and falls into the grave. Soon after that, Carter flies to the Congo and joins Luka, who is volunteering with Doctors Without Borders. When Carter goes to Africa for the second time (presumably to recover the body of Luka, who, in a plot twist, has not actually died), he sends Abby a break-up letter, and their relationship finally ends. Just as with the end of Luka and Abby's relationship, Abby and Carter remain close friends after a period of distance between them.

Abby briefly dates a medical student named Jake for a while in season 11, but their relationship eventually fizzles when Abby does not respond positively to Jake's desires to stay in Chicago to be with her. She also begins to grow close to Susan Lewis and Kerry Weaver.

In Season 12, Abby rekindles her relationship with Luka in the episode "The Human Shield." Initially, they decide to remain friends, but soon become lovers. Three weeks into their relationship it is revealed that Abby is pregnant. She and Luka decide to keep the baby. Luka proposes to Abby while she is pregnant, but Abby is not comfortable with the idea and was discouraged because of her past problems, and later claims she 'doesn't need a white dress' to prove she loves him. Their baby, a son called Joseph (after Luka's father, Joe), or Joe, for short (after Joe Frazier, the boxer whom Abby's long-disappeared father was a fan of) is born by emergency C-section at the beginning of season 13. Abby also has to have an emergency hysterectomy. He is premature and spends several weeks in the hospital's NICU, requiring surgery during his stay. Abby and Luka's relationship becomes strained during this period, but appear much happier in later episodes, caring for their now healthy baby boy.

Throughout Season 13, Abby is shown growing into her role as Joe's mother, first by taking time off to be with her seriously ill baby, then by participating in classic maternal activities like Mommy and Baby classes and walks in the park, and then later by gradually reintroducing herself into the ER world. Mid-season tension develops between Abby and Luka, partly as the result of Luka's apparently paranoid behavior regarding Curtis Ames, a disgruntled former patient who has sued Luka due to a stroke he suffered that cost him the use of his arm. Ames eventually breaks into Abby and Luka's apartment, and demands to see Luka. Abby tries to bargain with him, telling him that she used to be an alcoholic, and recounting an occasion where she felt as if she had hit 'rock bottom'. Luka is taken hostage, threatened and has his hand crushed by Ames, but survives his ordeal when Ames commits suicide. In the next episode, an emotional Abby asks Luka to propose to her again. She says if they got through the shooting incident and the Curtis Ames nightmare, they can get through anything - he proposes and the couple get engaged. Later Luka realises that Abby is hesitant and being 'freaked out' by planning the wedding, so he decides to prepare a surprise wedding for her. At first, she has her doubts and fears but eventually she agrees and asks one of her best friends, Neela Rasgotra to be her maid of honor.

At the end of the thirteenth season, Abby and Luka plan to honeymoon in Hawaii. However, the night before they are due to depart, Luka receives a phone call from Croatia informing him that his father is ill, so the honeymoon is put on hold until Luka can return from his urgent trip abroad. After Luka's departure, Abby along with the ER staff has a tough time with the stern and poised new ER Chief Kevin Moretti, who plans to mold the department into a more efficient and professional work environment, but Moretti quickly tells Abby he is very impressed with her work. In Season 14, Abby is struggling to deal with Luka's absence, raise Joe and work at the ER; in "Gravity", Joe is injured after falling off a jungle gym at the playground and Abby ends up falling back into drinking at the episode's end. Her drinking problem continues to escalate, and Abby realizes how bad it is in "Blackout" when she shows up drunk to a "party" in honor of Pratt and Morris passing their boards. Abby finds herself waking up at 3am in Moretti's apartment, realizing later (after sobering up at the airport when trying to find a flight to Croatia to see Luka) she slept with him.

When Luka arrives back to Chicago, he soon gets news that his father has died. Abby tells Luka to take Joe to Croatia for the funeral while she seeks help for her alcoholism. Upon her return to the ER, Abby faces the true reality of her situation; she must tell her co-workers the truth about her disease. The only negative reaction at work is from Sam, played by Linda Cardellini, who displays disgust at Abby's weakness, but the two women mend fences when Sam tells Abby she was being harsh because of her own long history of being around alcoholics who refused to clean up their lives. Luka is angry that she cheated on him and put their son's life in danger, and decides to move out of the apartment. He decides to work at long-term care facility and soon has a change of heart about Abby's mistake. Abby and Luka embrace at the end of the 14th season. Abby tells Luka how much she loves him and they kiss. At the conclusion of the 14th season, it would appear that Abby and Luka are willing to continue to work on their marriage.

At the beginning of the 15th season, we learn that Abby has sought a position at a hospital in Boston where she and Luka plan to move with their son for a new start. In the third episode, Abby's secret that she has accepted the job and resigned from County is slowly revealed to the others in the ER, although Abby asks them to keep it secret because she doesn't want it to be a big deal. Long-serving nurse Haleh Adams shows the departing Abby a closet wall where all the past doctors and employees have put their locker name tags. Abby then adds both hers and Luka's tags to the wall.

Abby finally leaves, saying goodbye to most of the staff who are gathered in the ambulance bay. She is picked up by Luka who has arrived in his car with their son.

Career as a doctor

In 2003, Abby starts her final year of medical school as newcomer Samantha Taggart replaces her as the central nurse character on the show. Towards the end of the quarter, she is told that someone has anonymously paid off the balance on her tuition. She later discovers it was Carter. On graduation day, Abby finds out that Carter's girlfriend, Kem, has suffered a stillbirth. Abby offers to stay with Carter. He is grateful, but tells her that it's not necessary. Abby goes on to graduate from medical school and finally becomes Dr. Abby Lockhart. Currently in season 14, Abby is a third year resident. She applies for an Attending position at County, but becomes frustrated by the endless delays and interviews for a position at an upscale medical facility. She gets this position, but Dr. Pratt uses his pull to get County to offer her the Attending physician—which she accepts.

In "21 Guns," the 12th season finale, a shootout occurs in the ER between the police and several prisoners who are trying to escape custody. Abby immediately drops to the floor next to the admit desk, which is the center of the shootout, and apparently suffers a couple of minor cuts due to the glass shards. While rolling on the floor to get away from the glass, her stomach slams into a metal cart that has overturned in the small space. She leaps up and begins to tend to the more seriously injured Jerry, the admission worker. In the last scenes, it is revealed that her injuries are serious, and her pregnancy is affected. She notices blood on the bottom of her jeans and faints. She leaves a hand print of blood on the window as Luka watches helplessly in the next room. He had been incapacitated and tied to the gurney by the prisoners, who had injected him with vecuronium, a drug that was intended for a patient. He had to be intubated as the drug had seriously relaxed most of his body muscles, and he stopped breathing and would have died if Sam had not defied her captors and treated Luka so he didn't choke to death. Kerry Weaver finds both Abby and Luka and gets their treatments started right away.

Towards the end of season 14, Abby applies for an attending position at County General. But under the advice of Pratt, she applies at other medical facilities and, in the penultimate episode of the season, "Tandem Repeats", accepts a job at a new, state-of-the-art hospital - only to decline the offer several hours later when she is offered the attending spot at County after all. In the end, both Abby and Luka decide it is time for a clean start and quietly leave to take a position in Boston.

Abby Lockhart's final appearance as a series regular was in the Season 15 episode 3 "The Book of Abby" when she left with Luka and her son Joe to Boston.

Abby appears once more in Season 15 in episode 20, "Shifting Equilibrium", during a phone call with Neela, who needs Abby's encouragement to leave County. Abby is seen in her new home, looking after a group of children.

References

• Biography at ER Headquarters