friendship, which 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 a few weeks after she was attacked, he confronts her, and she tells him not to worry about her. When Dr. Mark Greene passes away at the end of season 8, Carter seeks solace in Abby. She returns to her AA meetings, telling Carter she is doing it for him, and they are a couple throughout season 9. Abby continues drinking on occasion, however, 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 puts the ring back in his pocket; although they discuss it briefly in a later episode, he never proposes again. Their relationship is badly strained when Carter's grandmother (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, Carter flies to the Congo and joins Luka, who is volunteering with Doctors Without Borders. On his return, Abby is extremely hostile towards him for leaving without explanation. When Carter goes to Africa for a second time 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, especially when Carter returns to Chicago with his pregnant girlfriend Kem. Abby briefly dates a medical student named Jake in season 11, but their relationship fizzles when Abby does not respond positively to Jake's desires to stay in Chicago to be with her. She also begins to grow closer in her friendships with Dr. Susan Lewis and Dr. Kerry Weaver. While she is not especially close to Sam Taggart, they are usually on good terms. Dr. Lucien Dubenko, Chief of Surgery, is attracted to her for some time, but Abby does not return his affections, seeing him as just a friend. Nonetheless, Lucien remains rather protective of her for several seasons. In season 12, Abby rekindles her relationship with Luka in the episode "The Human Shield" when her attempt to vent her frustration at him turns into a kiss and