The sky was bright and a pure white layer of clouds had been overshadowed by rogue, gray snow clouds all throughout the horizon. Massive white snowflakes fell from the sky in thick sheets and easily covered everything they touched under a pristine layer of white. The trees, houses and powerlines was sheathed in a thick layer of ice that glistened in the natural light that struggled to pierce through the thick cloud cover overhead.
Hank let out an annoyed sigh as he drove through the snowy streets of Ann Arbor with Connor at his side as his only passenger. The early fall snowstorm had rocked the lower half of the state in the middle of the night, which in turn had caused the city to enter a level one snow emergency as schools and small business were closed for the day. Unfortunately the mandatory meeting that Hank and Connor had been so graciously assigned had gone on as scheduled, which of course meant after the meeting was over the duo had the chore of returning to Detroit by traversing the snow and ice slicked roads leading back to their home forty-eight minutes away.
As the car idled at a red light Connor glanced out his window and watched as a group of school children gathered in a large park and began building snow forts, snowmen, pulled around their sleds and began picking sides for a snowball fight. As the playful fight began between the two teams Connor's L.E.D. flashed from blue to yellow with curiosity. The unusual display taking place elicited a chorus of laughter and shouting from the participants which contrasted against the seemingly violent nature of the game.
"Those children are fighting with one another, but they seem to be enjoying it." Connor observed with a tangible confusion in his voice as his L.E.D shifted back to blue. "I don't understand this custom. Is it normal?"
Hank turned his head to look out Connor's window for a moment before he stared back through the front windshield waiting for the light to turn green. "It's called a 'snowball fight', Connor. Kids have them all the time."
"Why? It seems violent, unpleasant and unnecessary to be willingly struck with spherical projectiles of ice and snow."
"It's just what kids do, Connor. I can't explain it." The light finally turned green and Hank pulled through the intersection as he followed the directions on his G.P.S. back to Detroit.
"Did you participate in snowball fights as a kid?"
"...Yeah, I did."
"Did you knowingly-"
"Connor, stop!" Hank sounded annoyed and ready to snap. The outburst had caused Connor's L.E.D. to flash from blue to yellow in surprise as he turned to look at Hank with thick guilt in his eyes. "I can't explain every little damn thing humans do, alright? Humans are just fuckin' weird, there's nothing more to it!"
"...I'm sorry, Hank. I'll stop asking questions." Connor's L.E.D. transitioned back to blue after he apologized and he silently resumed staring out his window as he took in the sight of the new city that he had only seen for a few hours that day. "I didn't mean to irritate you."
The offense in Connor's voice struck a nerve with the detective and he immediately felt like an ass for barking at the deviant android. "...No, Connor. I'm sorry." Keeping his left hand on the steering wheel Hank ran his right hand through his gray hair in building distress. "I didn't mean to yell at you. You didn't say anything wrong."
"It's okay."
"I just... I hate winter." Hank seemed to glare through the building snow as the windshield wipers pushed it aside in rhythmic swipes over the glass. "It's cold, everything is gray and dead, people get sick, people get hurt because of all the fuckin' ice and cold, the roads become..." It was to painful to continue his original train of thought. "Everything just gets worse."
"I understand." Connor knew that Hank had his own very good reason for hating the season and he didn't need to explain it. It was during the winter that Hank had tragically lost Cole in the car accident. "You don't have to justify your emotions. I'll be quiet, now."
"Don't." Still feeling like a jerk Hank urged for Connor to not be silent. "Don't go quiet on me. Like I said, you didn't do anything wrong."
"...Perhaps some music then?" Connor suggested casually as he turned on the radio and found the first channel playing heavy metal music. Turning up the volume to an audible degree Connor sat back against his seat and folded his hands together neatly over his lap. "We'll also be able to monitor the weather reports this way."
Hank briefly glanced over at Connor, noting the deviant android's perfect posture and stoically unreadable face before returning his full attention to the road stretching out before him.
The falling snow was as obstructive as it was thick. The roads were becoming increasingly slick with building grease and ice causing Hank to slow the car's speed to keep it from skidding out of control, or slipping into the opposite lane of traffic. As the snowstorm continued to rage on the radio station cut away to an emergency broadcast bulletin regarding the weather.
'As of 02:43pm the counties of Oakland, Washtenaw, Wayne, Monroe, Lenawee and Hillsdale are now under a level two alert advisory until 08:00pm tomorrow night. Repeat, level two alert advisory until 08:00pm tomorrow night for-'
"Shit." Hank turned off the radio and let out a deep sigh of building frustration. "We need to get home. There's no fuckin' way we'll find a hotel in this weather."
"The most direct route home is also our current route. And at our current rate of speed we should reach home in approximately two hours, nine minutes."
"Fantastic. Wonder how many idiot drivers are going to be on the road tonight?"
"...Including us?"
"Smartass."
Connor's L.E.D. flashed yellow again as he tapped into the emergency broadcast channels to keep track of the dangerous weather while also keeping apprised of the road conditions as the weather continued to worsen at a steadily increasing rate. Reacting quickly Connor made the necessary adjustments to the G.P.S. to keep them safe and on track.
"Hank, the expressway has been closed due to the dangerous weather. I have uploaded an alternate route to Detroit."
"Son of a- Alright, fine..." Hank noted the change of direction and drove accordingly. "As long as we get home."
The time ticked by sluggishly as the car slowly inched toward the city through the building now and ice. Barely able to see the road before him Hank slowed even further as the car turned onto a somewhat desolate road in favor of the detour that the G.P.S. was guiding him along. Trees sheathed under thick layers of piercing snow and ice lined the road with an ominous presence as the storm strengthened with each passing minute. The dark clouds overhead began to thicken as the snow fell in massive sheets that practically blinded Hank as he attempted to drive through the snowstorm.
Hank took a deep breath and focused on his driving. The day was eerily reminiscent to the horrendous night that Cole had been killed in the car accident. It was snowing, and ice covered everything it touched. Another driver just trying to get home had lost control of his vehicle and had struck Hank's own car causing it to roll twice before coming a stop on its side. Hank had fractured a couple ribs, but Cole had suffered internal injuries from physical trauma to his chest and abdomen.
It easy enough to patch up Hank's injuries, but for Cole it was a special case. He needed emergency surgery to stop the internal hemorrhaging, but the only emergency surgeon on call was high out of his mind on 'red ice'. The attending android medic had done their best to keep Cole alive on the operating table until another surgeon could've been located, but it was too late.
Cole didn't survive the surgery.
A rogue tear began to roll down Hank's face as the detective stared through the snowstorm brewing all around the car.
"Hank?" Connor interrupted Hank's intense concentration and dark thoughts with a gentle voice. "Are you alright?"
Too preoccupied with his own inner darkness that consumed his mind Hank didn't hear Connor's voice.
"Hank?" Connor tried again and put his hand to Hank's shoulder to try to get a response. "Are you-"
As soon as Connor's hand met his shoulder Hank shrugged it off bitterly and quickly wiped away the tear on his face with a quick wipe of his right hand before returning it to the wheel. "What?"
"You seem distracted, if not emotionally-"
"I'm fine." Hank blurted angrily as he tried to brush off the incident as nothing more than fatigue. "Just tired."
"Do you want me to drive?"
"No, no. I got this." It wasn't that Hank didn't trust Connor to drive through the storm, it was that he still didn't fully trust himself after the accident. He needed to do this, he needed to drive in order to prove to himself that the accident truly wasn't his fault. "I'm fine. Really."
"...Very well." The deviant android ran a scan over Hank's body and noted that the detective was exhibiting all signs of emotional distress; elevated heart rate, increased blood pressure and an increase in his norephinephrine levels indicative of stress. "If you get too tired I-"
"I know." Needing to focus on the storm Hank snapped again as he tried to concentrate on the road. "I'll tell you."
Resuming his quiet disposition Connor returned his focus back to the road ahead of the car, and actively scanned the passing environment. The severe cold of the storm had caused significant damage to the aged and poorly maintained wooden power poles the lined the road, the same could be said for the roads ravaged by unpredictable and extreme weather changes. Slick muddy surfaces now coated in ice made the roads more difficult to navigate and the harsh blowing wind only added an unnecessary level of difficulty to the journey home.
Hank was the one to finally cut through the dense silence as he eyed the fuel gauge warily and noted the remaining distance recorded on the G.P.S. screen on the dashboard. "How far away are we from the city?"
"In distance or time?"
"Time."
Connor's L.E.D. blinked yellow for only a second before he replied. "Forty-two minutes, twelve seconds."
"Great..."
The glowing L.E.D. in Connor's right temple only had the chance to resume its standard blue color for a few blissful seconds before it returned to yellow as his scanner detected a dangerous collapse over the road just a few yards ahead. A power pole that had rotted to the core had snapped under the mounting weight of the building ice and the pressure of the gusting wind. As it fell it collided with two surrounding trees suffering from root rot forcing the trees to snap and crash over the road creating a massive, impassible barricade of nature.
It was a domino effect of heavy lumber as the surrounding trees and power poles snapped, falling in a cascade of timber and ice all around the road behind the wall of billowing white snow.
Before Connor even had the chance to make a comment about the catastrophic conditions a tree collapsed over the road directly in front of the car with a thunderous 'crash'. Hank attempted to stop but the slick conditions proved the effort to be in vain and the car slid around uncontrollably despite Hank's skill at attempting to keep the car stable.
In a matter of seconds the car slid on its four locked wheels along a streak of muddy ice directly toward the large obstructive tree over the road. The out-of-control vehicle struck a blind pothole hidden beneath a thick layer of snow. The impact of the front tire against the deep, unforgiving pothole caused the car to tilt and the ice forced the off balance vehicle to slip entirely onto its side as it continued to slide toward the tree. The car rolled over four times before coming to crushing halt against the side of the tree on its roof in a chorus of crunching metal and shattering glass as time itself seemed to suddenly stand still.
The afternoon sun had given way to the evening, but the storm continued to rage on without any sign of slowing or stopping. Snow, ice and wind proceeded to howl as the storm quickly buried the wrecked vehicle under a layer of contrasting pure white. Blackness encompassed the two occupants of the now wrecked vehicle as the horrific crash took its toll on them in the same merciless fashion of the car.
A strangely familiar and pained groan was enough to pierce through the darkness of Hank's mind as his consciousness returned.
Hank was greeted by a throbbing pain in the left side of his head and his left shoulder as the blackness in his vision began to steadily brighten. The sickly sweet taste of blood was present in his mouth causing him to swallow in an attempt to remove the foulness, but all it did was upset his stomach. A massive cut was running along the left side of his face starting from his hairline and stretching down across his face toward the bridge of his nose. Numerous smaller cuts marred his face, neck and hands with small bits of glass fragments that stung at him mercilessly with each movement he dared to make.
Letting out a weak groan of pain Hank found the strength to speak. "...C...Connor?"
No answer.
As Hank opened his eyes slowly he became aware of the blistering cold wind stinging at his face and his hands as he laid on his pained left side atop the ice laden roof of his own car. The front windshield had been shattered and allowed the wind to freely blow through the car, and with it came the very snow and ice that had caused the accident itself. It was then Hank realized the vehicle was upside down, and that the older seatbelts had broken from the binds during the accident allowing both Hank and Connor to fall free after the car landed on the roof.
Pushing himself upright on his right hand, his palm becoming agonizingly speckled with fragments of glass, Hank looked about the carnage of the wrecked vehicle. His eyes fell onto the rapidly blinking red L.E.D. of Connor who had been rendered semi-unconscious by the accident. The deviant android was laying on his back, left arm draped over his stomach and the right arm stretched out at his side. There was a massive blue stain of Thirium spreading over the center of his shirt under his arm, and along the roof all around the injured duo.
As Connor let out a gasping cough Hank saw the small specks of Thirium that escaped the android's lips in tandem with the painful sounding breaths that were frighteningly weak.
"...C-Connor?" Hank dragged himself toward the deviant android with his forearms and came to a rest beside his injured friend. Reaching his hand up to Connor's neck Hank pressed his fingertips down against the side of the deviant android's throat and registered a weak, rapid pulse. The deviant android was still breathing, but each breath he took was slow, deep and strained. "...Connor?"
Numerous cuts left deep blue bloody wounds over Connor's face and neck, but it was the already massive and still growing blue stain over Connor's abdomen that drew Hank's full concern.
"Connor?" Hank tried to get the wounded deviant android's attention again as he awkwardly shifted his weight so he could balance on his knees while inside the upside down car. Moving his hands to Connor's abdomen Hank pushed aside Connor's arm and peeled back the lapels of the gray jacket then pulled open the stained fabric of the white shirt beneath. A massive shard of jagged glass had become embedded in Connor's left side creating a gaping, bleeding wound that nearly gushed Thirium with each deep, slow breath the deviant android took. "Connor?!"
Pressing his hand down against Connor's abdomen and chest near the injury Hank was met with a groan of pain from Connor. Palpating the wound in the abdomen with a careful touch the deviant android's brown irises slowly reappeared as he began to regain consciousness.
"Connor? Look at me!" Hank urged as he put his other hand to the side of Connor's bloody face gently. His skin was already dangerously cold, like that of a corpse. "You're going to be okay, son. I'm going to get you through this."
"...H-Hank..."
"I'm here, it's okay." Hank pressed the palm of his hand firmer against Connor's cheek to try to give the deviant android some modicum of comfort. "I'll get you some help."
"...I... I already called... 911." Connor weakly stated and licked at the drying blue blood that had stained his lips from his earlier weak cough. "...Might take... a m-minute... to get here..." Reaching up his own trembling, bloody hand Connor grabbed onto Hank's left shoulder lightly, causing Hank to wince a little under Connor's palm. "...You're injured."
"I'm fine, kid. It's just a cut."
"...Your shoulder is... p-partially... dislocated." Connor noted with a brief but effective scan. "Two fractured ribs..." Connor was losing strength quickly as he spoke and diagnosed Hank's condition. "...H-Hyporthermia setting in. Low blood... pressure..."
"Connor?" Hank didn't like the way Connor was breathing or the way his speech was slurring. Grabbing the deviant android's blood covered hand from his shoulder Hank held it just a little too tightly to try to cause enough pain to keep Connor alert. "Connor, talk to me. How badly are you injured?"
Connor's breath stuttered and he let out a groan of agony and his red L.E.D. began to blink rapidly as a series of warnings flashed in Connor's visual sensors.
"Connor! Come on, keep focused!" Hank squeezed Connor's hand even tighter as he raised his voice. "Connor! You're injured, stay awake and tell me what's going on!"
"...M-My internal... Thirium filter..." His eyes began to drift shut as low-power mode took over his system and he fought to override it.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Hank patted Connor's cheek just hard enough to rouse the android without hurting him. "Stay awake! Talk to me! What about your Thirium filter? What is it?"
"It..." Connor took a deep shuddering breath and winced as the motion caused the glass embedded in his side to shift uncomfortably. "It filters the... Thirium in my system... as it cycles. It... isolates impurities... cleans the Thirium. Like a... human's liver... detoxing the blood."
Hank's eyes went wide at the revelation. He didn't need to be a technician to know that any biocomponent that filtered his blood was designed to hold a lot of that very same blood. If the biocomponent had been compromised by the glass and was now leaking then that meant Connor was at risk of bleeding to death within a matter of hours, maybe minutes.
Keeping calm Hank remembered his emergency training and proceeded to give the deviant android the most effective first aid that he could.
"How do I stop the bleeding?" Hank pleaded, but Connor was beginning to close his eyes again and Hank firmly squeezed his hand in return. "Connor?!"
"...Ap-Apply pressure to the wound." Connor suddenly snapped back to the waking world. "I... I will cease my... respiration program."
"Whoa, that breathing thing you do keeps your temperature normal, and it's FREEZING right now. Can you afford to risk it?"
"I... I have... no choice." Connor's other hand made a move for the glass in his side but Hank caught his hand and pushed it back from the wound. "I can't... breathe without... disturbing the... glass."
"Connor, I hate the idea of you NOT breathing."
"...S-Sorry Hank. It's... necessary."
Pushing the macabre image of a breathless, bleeding corpse from his mind Hank returned his full focus back to Connor and to the potentially lethal injuries that had plagued the deviant android's body.
"Okay," Hank shook his head a little, the pain returning to his skull from the motion. "so how do I apply pressure to your wound without touching or removing the glass?"
Connor's struggling breathing stopped entirely and his head began to loll limply to the side against Hank's hand.
"No, no, no." Hank patted Connor's cheek again. "Do NOT fall asleep, alright? How do I apply pressure without hurting you?"
Snapping his eyes fully open Connor locked onto Hank's face, his L.E.D. flashing red quickly before settling back into a steady pulse. "...M-My jacket."
"Your jacket." Parroting Connor's words Hank looked down at the gray garment. "Okay, I can work with that."
Using a gentle motion Hank slipped his hand under Connor's head and neck to lift the deviant android upward then slipped his other hand to Connor's shoulder to pull his right arm from the sleeve. Repeating the action for the left arm Hank was able to free the android's limbs from the garment before pulling the jacket out from beneath Connor's body.
Tucking the jacket around the massive shard of glass Hank was able to control the flow of blue blood and keep it from spurting out of the wound, while also keeping the snow and ice from entering the wound itself. Placing his palm down against the jacket Hank began applying additional pressure to help stem the bleeding further.
"Connor. St-Stay awake, okay? I don't want you to f-fall asleep on me." Hank was beginning to shiver as the cold cut through his bloodied skin and shock was beginning to set it. His own voice was beginning to shake with the cold, but he was determined to help Connor survive. "Stay with m-me."
"...I'm... cold."
"I know son, I am t-too." Hank looked around hoping to see something, anything he could use to keep Connor warm. With nothing at his immediate disposal Hank pulled himself a little bit closer to Connor hoping that maybe they could conserve heat even though the two were already suffering ill effects from mild hypothermia. "Help will be here, s-soon."
"...Sleep."
"No, Connor!" Hank rebuttoned Connor's white shirt in a desperate bid to keep the relentless cold at bay. "Don't fall asleep!"
"...Tired."
"Stay awake."
"...Lost... too m-much... blood."
Hank shook his head and looked down at the Thirium stained jacket and noted that the lost blue blood had already coagulated from the combination of cold, applied pressure, and the now lack of motion disturbing the glass shard.
"The bleeding has s-stopped. You sh-should start feeling better in a few minutes."
"...No." Connor's L.E.D. blinked red rapidly then slowed to a lethargic pulse again. "...There's another... w-wound."
Hank's eyes went wide again as he looked over Connor's body and tried to find any additional bleeding aside from the small cuts all over the deviant android's face, neck and hands. Running his hands gently over Connor's chest and abdomen, Hank checked for any sign of internal hemorrhaging or broken biocomponents but there was no additional damage that Hank could find.
"Connor, I can't find any other injury."
"...N-Not internal..."
"Not internal." Hank whispered as he then checked over Connor's arms and found the two limbs to still be intact. Rocking back awkwardly on his heels Hank ran his hands down Connor's legs only to freeze when his hand touched Connor's Thirium drenched right knee and the deviant android let out a deep groan of pain. "Sorry, sorry!"
"...M-My leg."
"I know, son. I'm going to l-look at it." Pushing himself back away from the crumpled front of the car Hank managed to position himself right next to Connor's legs, and rolled up the the blood saturated denim from the affected limb. The damage beneath wasn't something that Hank was expecting. "Shit..."
"...It hurts."
Connor's right knee was smashed in at a painful angle that severed numerous Thirium lines running down his entire leg. The lines were bleeding steadily causing Connor to lose more Thirium as he bled uncontrollably.
"I need to tie a tourniquet." Hank crawled back up toward Connor and put his cold hand to the deviant android's shoulders and loosened the black tie before slipping it from around Connor's neck. "Good thing you wear this damn, ugly thing. It c-comes in handy from time t-to time."
Connor managed to smile weakly as Hank took the tie and returned to tending to his broken knee.
"This is going to hurt, I m-mean... more than it already d-does." As much as he hated to do it, Hank warned Connor as he wrapped the tie around Connor's leg just above his mangled knee, and pulled the fabric tight. "I'm sorry in advance, b-by the way!"
Fighting the urge to kick Hank away from his leg Connor bit at his lower lip with a deep groan and endured the pain while Hank tied off the tourniquet. Once pulled tight it succeeded and stopped the excessive bleeding from the damaged Thirium lines exposed in his leg.
"I'm sorry."
"...s'okay." Connor slurred weakly as his eyes began to close again from pain and exhaustion.
"Connor? Connor!" Hank scrambled back up toward Connor's face grabbed onto the deviant android's shoulders to shake him awake. It was then Hank noticed something unsettling beneath the white fabric of Connor's shirt that still concealed the upper part of his chest. The damaged part of Connor's body that Hank had subconsciously chosen to ignore. Was something... moving? "What the fuck?"
With a gentle tug Hank opened the remaining fastened buttons of Connor's shirt and pulled the fabric apart to expose the left side of his damaged chest.
"Connor... Oh god."
The glass had torn through the central left side side of Connor's chest down toward his abdomen, and left a massive wound in its wake. In the process of cutting through Connor's body the glass had completely torn a portion of the white plastimetal frame that protected the deviant android's chest away from his body, and left his Thirium pump; his heart, completely exposed.
The motion that Hank saw beneath the fabric was the steady beating of Connor's unprotected heart.
Hank stared at the beating heart as if in a trance at the sight of the dark blue pump thrumming slowly, now suddenly audibly, in an attempt to keep Connor alive. The beats were sluggish, almost as if in a constant struggle to cycle the dwindling blue blood still in his system. Hovering his hand over Connor's exposed heart Hank resisted the urge to rest his touch against the beating biocomponent out of fear of accidentally hurting the deviant android.
"Please, son." Hank begged desperately as he returned his focus to Connor's face and rebuttoned the shirt in an effort to keep the heart protected from the relentless icy cold. "Stay awake."
"...tired..."
"Please. Just try to keep awake." The pleading in Hank's voice was as painful as the very wounds he was trying to ignore as he fought to keep Connor alive. "Try, that's all I ask. Try."
"...trying." Connor's eyes remained shut but he kept making the effort to open them up once more. "...I'm trying."
"Talk to me, kid. Ask me all the questions you want!" Hank nearly begged with an emotional tone of voice. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier, I was just being a dick! Forgive me for snapping at you, I didn't mean to do it."
"...No need to... f-forgive you." The deviant android stated without hesitation. "It's okay... I know you... have your... reasons."
"You were asking about why kids play in snowball fights earlier, right?"
"...Y-Yes."
"The reason kids do that," Hank shivered violently as he fought back against the cold by huddling down closer toward Connor. "is because it's fun. Plain and simple. It's a fun game. I used to have snowball fights with Cole once he was big enough to throw 'em at me. We had fun... Together. I miss it."
Connor's red L.E.D. began to pulse slower as he reflexively swallowed almost like he was trying to speak, but his voice failed to respond.
"Connor?" Hank pressed his fingers to Connor's neck but couldn't register a pulse. Holding his breath Hank lowered his head down to Connor's chest, careful not to put any pressure on the beating biocomponent as he was too afraid to look at the possibly stopped heart. He exhaled hesitatingly as he heard the slow thrumming of the android's heart still beating in his chest. "Come on, you have to keep your eyes open." Hank straightened up again and put his hand under Connor's hair to cradle the android's head up from the cold, metal roof carefully. "Please."
Connor's eyes remained shut as his head lolled unconsciously in Hank's hand. As his body became limp and heavy under Hank's grip the detective was overwhelmed with brutally vivid memories of the accident that had taken Cole's life.
Pressing his fingers to the side of Connor's freezing neck Hank's eyes went wide with fear as he failed to detect even the faintest of a pulse. Almost daring himself to check Hank lifted up the fabric of Connor's shirt to look down at his exposed heart and immediately felt the chill already creeping up his spine intensify as he stared at the stopped, now red tinted heart beneath.
"Not like this, Connor." The bold detective defied loudly. "I'm NOT going to let you die like this!"
Holding his breath Hank placed his hand down over Connor's heart and slowly applied pressure until he saw the stopped heart compress entirely under his palm and between his fingers. Without the firm white plastimetal frame of the chest to limit Hank's strength or movements the detective was able to easily and manually compress the heart and force the freezing Thirium in Connor's lines to resume circulation throughout his body just by squeezing his heart with a controlled pressure.
"Come on, kid! P-Please, you need to stay with me!"
The red tint of Connor's heart faded slowly and returned to a blue coloration as the Thirium began to cycle once more, his heart beating on its own again at an unnervingly slow rhythm between Hank's fingers and against his palm.
"That's it..." Hank encouraged as he pulled his hand out of Connor's chest and replaced the fabric over the exposed heart to protect it from the snow and cold. "Just stay w-with me for a little while longer. Okay? Don't... Don't give up!"
Staring at Connor's face Hank swore the deviant android's facade suddenly changed to that of Cole for the briefest of seconds. The same dark hair, the pale, cold skin and even right down to the motionlessness of Connor's body as he laid dying in the wrecked frame of the car right before Hank's eyes.
"No..." Wrapping his other arm beneath Connor's body Hank lifted the deviant android up and held him against his chest. Running his hand through Connor's thick, dark hair Hank found himself fighting the urge to shed tears he had long since repressed with alcohol and isolation. "Cole! Son! Please... Stay with me! I won't lose you again."
Hank felt the warm tears on his face quickly freezing over as the blizzard outside bombarded the smashed car mercilessly. Refusing to let Connor go, refusing to leave the deviant android to die in the cold or bleed to death. Alone and determined to survive Hank endured the lethal cold that damaged his nose, his ears, his fingers and was beginning to injure his hands as nasty frostbite ate away at his heat deprived flesh.
Closing his own eyes Hank held onto Connor as tightly as he could while his own breaths began to gnaw at his chest, as the fractured ribs and partial dislocation of his shoulder pained him considerably while he held Connor in his arms. With each escaping breath Hank felt his body becoming fatigued and colder to the point of numbness in his extremities. Shivering noticeably the detective embraced his fallen partner's body, his son, while awaiting the slow and inevitable creep of death to benevolently put him out of his misery.
"Do you r-remember the night you found me at the b-bar?" Hank asked aloud, believing that in some way Connor could still hear and understand him. "I was d-drunk and trying to get d-drunker. When I saw y-your face I thought I had f-finally gone crazy."
Stifling a sob Hank cleared his voice ignored the stabbing cold that was actually killing his hands. The sun was beginning to set and the already dark sky darkened even further as the cold intensified with a horrid vengeance.
"The w-way you looked... The way y-you looked at me, it was like s-seeing Cole all grown up and b-back from the dead. I just... I just couldn't t-take it. The sight of y-you. It was like f-fate itself was mocking me."
Trembling violently Hank huddled over Connor's body protectively as he spoke to the dying deviant in his arms softly.
"You two h-have the same hair, the same d-dark eyes, the same f-fair skin and freckles... Hell, you t-two even have the same damn smile. It w-was like seeing the p-past and the f-future all at once. It s-scared me."
Connor never said a word as Hank supported his broken body and tried to keep him sheltered from the fatal cold that swirled around them.
"Connor... I'm p-proud to call you my son." Hank whispered in a quaking voice as the wind masked his words behind deafening howls. "The n-night you broke into the h-house, you found m-me at my worst. B-But you didn't judge me. Y-You chose to h-help me even after I t-tried to push you away. I... I told you I w-wanted to kill myself b-because of my past, and instead of t-trying to lock me away or c-convince me to see a shrink, y-you just gave me the t-time I needed t-to think." His hand continuously rubbed through Connor's hair as he spoke. The detective forced his voice to steady out of sheer force of will. "I... I realized that if y-you, someone who w-was programmed to be a cold, h-heartless machine could l-learn to think, to f-feel, to live... Then m-maybe I could learn to live again, too. You s-saved my life that night, and then you gave me something to live for."
Strength ebbing away Hank leaned forward as he continued to hold Connor, his arms trembling and his grip loosening but never letting go.
"I know I've never said it to you before, and I'll be damned if I let you go without saying it now: I love you, son."
Darkness encroached over the detective's vision as his eyes slowly closed and he collapsed in an unconscious heap inside the mangled wreck of the car with Connor still cradled protectively in his arms.
The snow fell from the sky in white sheets as the sun set in the horizon giving way to utter blackness along the icy, desolate road.
Strange voices spoke all around Hank as he felt a building warmth radiating over his body. The rhythmic sound of beeping filled his ears as the heavy haze that hung over his consciousness began to lift steadily, and he became aware of something pressed against his upper lip under his nose. Weakly Hank tried to clench his hands into fists but there were thick bandages surrounding his fingers making the effort impossible. There was a slight sting radiating from the bend in his right arm and a sling around his left arm that had kept the entire limb completely immobile against his chest; a chest that felt like it was being crushed and burned at the same time.
Lifting his right hand upward from his side to investigate the bandages Hank felt a soft hand press against his forehead as his eyelids were lifted open gently one at a time.
"Lt. Anderson?" A gentle feminine voice called his name as she shone a light into his eyes one at a time to check his pupils. The doctor was a woman in her forties with long raven hair pulled back into a tight bun and chocolate brown eyes watching him through black rimmed reading glasses. "Lt. Anderson can you hear me?"
Hank's vision began to clear steadily allowing him to focus on the face of the doctor leaning over him. "...Y-Yeah... I can hear you."
"I'm Dr. Swanson. You're in the hospital just outside of Romulus." The doctor confirmed as she pocketed the light and released her hand from Hank's forehead. "The fire department rescued you and your android six hours ago. We've been treat-"
"Connor!" Hank bolted upright in the bed causing the cardiac monitor recording his heart rate to suddenly screech as his heart raced with panic, the jerking motion nearly pulled the I.V. line from his right arm in the process and made his damaged ribs sear in pain. "Where's Connor?!"
"Who's-"
"The android! His NAME is Connor!"
"Lieutenant," Dr. Swanson put her hands on Hank's shoulders to push him back down against the bed to try to keep him calm. "he's right here. Look."
"Here? In the hospital?" Hank watched as Dr. Swanson pulled back a privacy curtain that was dividing his bed from the one to his immediate left. "...Connor."
Connor was motionless in the bed, his jacket and shirt had been removed and there were heavy white bandages wrapped around his chest over his heart and all around his abdomen. The massive glass shard had been removed from his abdomen but the internal damage had yet to be repaired. His right leg was propped up slightly with a splint and additional heavy bandages to keep his knee stable until it too could be repaired.
"I don't understand. Why is he here instead of a facility?"
"The roads are too snowy to take him to a facility." Dr. Swanson explained coolly as she checked Hank's cardiac monitor and his subsequent recorded vital signs. "The hospital was the closest and safest place for the both of you until the storm passed."
Hank tried to get up again, his bandaged hands struggling to pull at the wires connected to his chest and the nasal canula under his nose.
"Lieutenant!" Dr. Swanson held him back again as a young female nurse with short blond hair, blue eyes and purple colored scrubs entered the area . "Please stay still! Your android-"
"My name is Hank," the detective sneered as he glared bitterly at the doctor keeping him from going to Connor's side. "and his name is Connor. He may just be an android to you, but to me he's family."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."
"Fuck that! He needs help! Do it!"
"We know he needs help," Dr. Swanson released her grip from Hank's shoulders and took a step back. Taking her stethoscope from around her neck she took the opportunity to listen to Hank's chest; she listened to his racing heart and gasping breaths. "we've done everything we can but we don't have any technicians employed in the hospital."
"No one here can help him?"
"Not at the moment, no."
"Then let me help him."
"Hank, you're suffering from hypothermia, frostbite to all of your fingers and your toes, you've suffered two fractured ribs, a partial dislocation to your left shoulder and the exposure to the cold has resulted in lower lobe pneumonia developing in both of your lungs. You also have a concussion from a hairline fracture to your frontal bone of your skull just over your left orbit."
Hank reached his bandaged hand up and felt the fresh stitches in his swollen skin over his face just above his left eye. "I can still help him."
"You're a technician?" She asked as she replaced her stethoscope around her neck. "Your badge and your personal I.D. confirms you as a police lieutenant in Detroit."
"I've spent enough time with androids, and have patched Connor up more times that I can count-" Hank's eyes squeezed shut tightly as the throbbing in his skull returned while his blood pressure began to rise quickly. "Fuck. ...My head."
"Easy." Dr. Swanson soothed as she ran her hand over his gray hair kindly. "I'll call a technician so they can talk me through the procedures over the phone, while you get some rest, okay?"
"Abby." Hank instinctively felt for the card with Abby's number written on it that had been tucked into his coat pocket since the day she had given it to him, but he was no longer wearing his coat; only a white hospital gown and pale blue scrubs for pants. With his coat nowhere to be found Hank began looking around only to have a loud ringing erupt in his ears and he began to lose consciousness. "My coat!" Hank fought back against the darkness just long enough to get the information to Dr. Swanson. "Call... Abby. She's his... technician."
Falling back against the thick pillow on the bed Hank was lost to the blissfulness of unconsciousness once more.
The storm had at last subsided and the roads were being steadily cleared as the damage by the storm was cleaned up throughout the morning hours. Numerous buildings had lost power due to downed powerlines, while many homes were left without heat or running water. Schools had remained closed as were all small businesses, but all other services were now operational.
Hank wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious, but he was sure how much his head was killing him. It was worse than any of his previous hangovers, even during his darkest of days before Connor helped him to sober up. Glancing about the dimly lit recovery room Hank's eyes instinctively fell upon the bed to his left where Connor was still laying, but this time he too was attached to a cardiac monitor that displayed a weak, slow heartbeat; but no other discernible vital signs to be mentioned.
"Connor..."
Hank sat up in his bed again, but much slower than before to ensure he didn't get dizzy or pass out again from pain. With a graceless hand Hank pulled away the nasal canula from his face and the I.V. from his arm. The removed line causing blood to flow freely from the open vein as he then pulled the sensors from his chest, which of course caused the attached cardiac monitor to sound off with a loud shriek. Ignoring the noise Hank swung his shaking legs over the edge of the bed and stood up warily as he trudged over to where Connor was laying.
Two cardiac sensor pads were lined up side by side in the center of Connor's chest and tucked beneath the bandages that concealed his previously exposed, beating heart. Connor himself seemed somehow pale from the massive Thirium loss causing his artificial skin to function at a lower capacity. The lack of respiration made Hank's mind focus on the prospect of death looming over the deviant android's entire being as he waited for some sign of life still residing inside of Connor.
Dr. Swanson and a nurse rushed into the room only to find that the cardiac arrest they had anticipated was in fact their patient walking around without medical clearance to do so. Once the adrenaline wore off the doctor proceeded to deal with Hank and the nurse went about her usual rounds.
"Hank!" Dr. Swanson scolded as she went to his side to support her unsteady patient as he leaned over Connor's bed. She saw the blood flowing down Hank's arm from where he had torn from the I.V. from the vein, and pressed a clean bandage from her lab coat pocket against the bleeding mark "Please, you need to rest before you make yourself worse."
"How is he?"
Letting out a defeated sigh Dr. Swanson put her hand on Hank's right shoulder and arm to keep him as still as possible as he looked down at Connor's expressionless face with utter despair in his blue eyes.
"We managed to contact the technician you spoke of, Abby Grayson," Dr. Swanson replied calmly and honestly. "and she was able to guide me over the phone as best as possible with basic care. The problem is he's suffered internal damage to the biocomponent she called his 'Thirium filter' and it needs immediate repair. We don't have the tools or the proper training to perform such a procedure on him from here."
Just as there was no surgeon available to operate on Cole then, there was no technician available to repair Connor now. Hank's heart tightened in his chest as he watched Connor's face change to Cole's face in another flash of a haunting memory from the night Cole had died.
"No. It's happening all over again." Hank pressed his bandaged right hand to Connor's cheek as he watched the red tinted L.E.D. flickering randomly and dimly in the deviant android's temple. "...Not again."
Dr. Swanson heard the comment and was intrigued by the melancholy statement. "What's happening all over again?"
"You can't just let him die." Hank's proclamation was as heartbreaking as it was determined. "Please. You have to at least try to help him."
"Hank... No one here is qualified to-"
"Please!"
Dr. Swanson's hand dropped from Hank's shoulder to his arm as she rubbed it sympathetically. "...I can't. I'm sorry."
Hank's head bowed down, his face hidden behind his gray locks of hair as he leaned over Connor's bed and stared down at the deviant android's face through tear filled eyes. Staying at Hank's side Dr. Swanson motioned for the nurse to grab the nearby chair pressed up against the wall and to bring it over for the detective to use as he stood next to Connor's bed.
"You need to rest." The patient doctor encouraged as she slid the provided chair up behind him. "Please, sit down."
After pushing Hank down into the chair Dr. Swanson drew the privacy curtain around the bed to shelter the duo from prying eyes and left the two detectives alone for the rest of the late night, and all through the early morning. Slipping his bandaged hand under Connor's limp, cold hand Hank tried to hold onto it as tightly as he could, but the burning sting at his fingertips and radiating numbness in his palm made the effort feel hollow. It felt like he was in a dream and unable to make contact with anything in the real world.
"Hold on, son."
A tear ran down Hank's face as he felt a persistent chill run up his spine and settle into the depths of his heart as he remembered the devastating loss of Cole in full detail; the smell of the hospital astringents, the disinfectants, cleaners, latex gloves was all the same. The sound of the cardiac monitor beeping in perfect rhythm with Connor's too slow heartbeat, the sight of the various machines used to keep the dead alive for just a little bit longer in a futile attempt to delay the inevitable was far too similar and haunting.
"I can't lose you, too."
Hank held onto Connor's hand as tightly as possible as he silently wished, maybe even prayed, for some kind of miracle to save Connor's life. Refusing to leave the deviant android's side for even one minute Hank found himself drifting in and out of a light sleep as he stayed with Connor, just as Connor had stayed with him for all those hours that blended into days when his heart nearly gave out after being poisoned.
And when he was sick with the flu, or dealing with a hangover and his withdrawal. And when he had been shot and clinging to life himself...
"Hold on, son." Hank kept repeating the mantra to himself as if it could actually have an effect on the events yet to come. "Hold on."
Stifling a mild cough that had settled into his chest throughout the night Hank just stared unblinking at Connor who was as weak and lifeless as the dead winter snow that covered the city.
Dr. Swanson pulled back the curtain quietly and returned her hand to the detective's shoulder. "Hank? Someone is here to help Connor."
"Wh-What?" Hank turned his head quickly and instantly regretted the abrupt motion as it caused his entire skull to swim in agony. "What're you talking about?"
Abby stepped through the curtain with her emergency satchel slung over her shoulder and honed in on the dying deviant android quickly. Pressing her fingers against the side of Connor's neck she registered his pulse, confirming the readout on the cardiac monitor, before opening the satchel to fish through the supplies and equipment she had brought with her from Detroit.
"Abby!?" Hank looked as though he had seen a ghost while the dedicated technician began fussing over Connor. He watched her like a hawk as she pulled out her audioscope and listened to Connor's chest, while also peeling back the bandage over his chest to look at his beating heart directly. "How did-"
Dr. Swanson tightened her hand on Hank's shoulder to reassure him. "She just got here. Come on, let her-"
Abby turned around quickly and locked onto Dr. Swanson with alarm in her hazel eyes. "You're a surgeon, right?"
"Yes I am. What's-"
"Good, because I'm going to need your help."
"I'm not-"
"I know you're not a technician, that's why I'm here." Abby stated with an urgency to her voice. "I need to get Connor on an operating table now if I have any chance of saving him."
Hank tried to stand up but Dr. Swanson's hand was enough to keep the weakened detective seated while he was still recovering from his injuries. "What's happening?"
"His Thirium filter has been completely compromised and he's bleeding internally. If I don't stop the bleeding and replace his lost Thirium then he's going to fall into insipid shock and shutdown in less than forty-five minutes."
From beneath her hand Dr. Swanson felt Hank tense up and knew that her presence wasn't a request, it was mandatory.
"Alright, let's go."
Dr. Swanson released her grip on Hank's shoulder while simultaneously unhooking the cardiac monitor from Connor's chest. Working with Abby the two women rolled the gurney that Connor was already laying on out of the room and down the corridor to enter the emergency O.R. for the life-saving repairs that were almost thirty-six hours overdue.
Feeling useless Hank watched with a heavy heart as Connor was wheeled out of sight and into emergency surgery. The nurse who had been helping Dr. Swanson take care of Hank once he had been admitted as a patient walked over to the detective. It was a little unusual, but felt necessary as she wrapped her arm around him to give the detective a supportive hug before she coaxed him into standing up from the chair.
"Please, Lt. Anderson. You really need to rest so you don't get any worse."
"...What could be worse than this?"
"I can't answer that, and I'm sorry you're both going through this."
"Yeah... So am I."
Reluctantly but tiredly Hank allowed the nurse to return him to his bed to allow her to change the bandages protecting his frostbitten hands, and to restart the I.V. that had been giving Hank fluid and antibiotics before he had ripped the line out. Breathing deeply and slowly to ease the pain in his chest courtesy of the double lung infection that he had so foolishly allowed to flourish by moving about, and by ripping out the I.V., Hank just stared up at the ceiling with a somber focus.
"Lt. Anderson, you need to eat something." The nurse encouraged as she finished wrapping up his hands gently, and making a note in his electronic chart. "I could bring you something from the cafeteria if you'd like."
"...That's okay. I'm not hungry."
"Well, you should eat something anyway. I'll bring you a cup of jello, that way when Dr. Swanson checks on you she'll be happy to see you're at least making an effort to cooperate. "She smiled sweetly before tagging on a friendly jest. "At least a little."
"...Thanks."
Letting out a weak groan of pain Hank leaned back against his bed and pressed his arms against his chest to try to quell the burning pain of his fractured ribs as he fought the urge to cough and exasperate the injury. Glancing out the nearby window Hank watched as the streets surrounding the hospital were cleared away for the second time by plows, and the drives around the hospital were salted to keep any ice from building or returning to the property.
"Here you go." The nurse left the recovery room and returned very quickly with a cup of red jello and a plastic spoon for Hank. "Don't worry about actually eating it. I know it's difficult to eat when you don't feel well, or are worried half to death."
Giving the nurse a faint but appreciative smile Hank watched as she peeled the lid from the small plastic cup and placed it on the nearby table with the spoon next to it.
"I'll be back in a few minutes to see how you're doing."
Making a halfhearted attempt to eat the offered jello Hank absentmindedly dug the spoon into the red tinted gelatin and scooped up a tiny amount onto the tip of the spoon, only to let it slide off back into the cup. Fussing with the spoon and the jello like a little kid playing with their food Hank just stared blankly at the gelatin while he impatiently awaited an update on Connor.
A soft 'thud' filled the room as a gurney was rolled through the door and back into the recovery wing with Connor still laying unconscious atop it. Hank's head turned to the bed and spotted the deviant android laying just as still as he had been, but with fresh bandages over his body and his artificial skin wasn't as pale.
Abby and Dr. Swanson guided the gurney back to where it had been while the two orderlies wheeled the repaired deviant android into the recovery ward.
"Connor?"
There was a pouch of Thirium hanging from an I.V. pole attached to the upper left corner of the gurney and a Thirium line had been inserted down Connor's throat. Massive white bandages were wrapped over his abdomen again, but the white plastimetal of Connor's own skeletal frame had been replaced over his chest protecting his heart once more. The artificial skin had yet to regenerate over his chest, but at least his heart was safe.
However the deviant android still wasn't breathing; he was too weak to initiate his artificial respiratory program.
"Abby," Hank raised his voice as the technician hooked Connor up to the portable android cardiac monitor she brought from Detroit in favor of the human cardiac monitor. "how is he?"
"Holding on." Abby confirmed with a sincere smile. "He lost three and half pints of Thirium and his Thirium filter needed to be replaced, but fortunately Simon had managed to properly reproduce compatible replacement biocomponents for both Connor and Markus in the event of an emergency. I also had to rebuild his right knee, but it'll be good as new in a few days."
"Will he...?"
"I don't foresee any complications, Hank. Try to relax." Abby encouraged as she placed a cooling blanket over the android's body to keep him from overheating while his self-healing program initiated at full power. "I know it won't be easy, but be patient."
Hank just stared at Connor with a stern gaze.
Why wasn't he breathing? The damage had been repaired, he had received more blood, he had a noted heartbeat on the monitor and he was stable. Why couldn't Connor just take one breath?
Abby gently brushed the stray lock of dark hair that always hung down in Connor's face aside as she checked the now steady pulse of the still red tinted L.E.D. in his temple. Satisfied that Connor wasn't in any immediate danger Abby walked away from the lone deviant android patient and approached Hank with a motherly discipline as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the cup of jello.
"I know you didn't eat any of that." Abby stated with a scolding, but light tone. "We've been through this before, you can't starve yourself and expect anything good to come from it."
"...Aren't you a little young to being using the 'mom voice' on me?"
"Aren't you a little old to need me to use the 'mom voice'?"
Hank smirked at the retort as he resumed fussing with the jello. "...I guess I should thank you for driving out here just to help Connor. I don't know of any other human who'd risk their own life for an android."
"Well, it wasn't exactly a risk for me to drive to the hospital after they finally plowed. But I appreciate your sentiment."
Hank let out a pained sigh and set aside the jello. He simply had no appetite and the very idea of eating threatened to upset his anxious stomach.
Dr. Swanson walked over to Hank casually to begin a quick examination of her most stubborn patient. As she pulled the penlight from her pocket she saw Hank already flinching in anticipation of the bright light that would be shone directly into his eyes.
"Still have a nasty headache, huh?" Dr. Swanson needlessly asked as she checked Hank's eyes. "I'll get you something for the pain. AND... if you cooperate with me I'll get you a wheelchair so you can sit with Connor while you heal."
"You have a deal." Hank readily accepted as he put his right hand over his eyes to block out as much of the light as possible. "...Don't be afraid to hold back on the painkillers."
Holding a small bag of ice to his face and the side of his aching head Hank let Dr. Swanson wheel him over to Connor's bedside to stay with the deviant android until Connor either awoke at last, or shutdown entirely. Hank of course was hoping for the former over the latter of the two options, but a lifetime of dealing with the turbulent masses of people who would elicit chaos, violence and pure hatred from seemingly nothingness had left him pessimistic, if not completely cynical.
The numerous personal tragedies he had endured only left him with the faintest glimmer of hope to cling to.
Abby checked the cardiac monitor and noted Connor's current heart rate as stable and nearing an optimum rate. With his Thirium volume now fully restored to one-hundred percent Abby used a firm but careful pressure as she pulled the Thirium line out of Connor's throat and lightly closed the deviant android's jaw by pressing her palm up against his chin as Connor rested.
"He'll be alright, Hank." Abby stated in a sweet tone as she studied Hank's demeanor intently. "Just give him more time to heal."
"Connor stopped breathing because of his injury. Why isn't he breathing now?"
"His system has to recalibrate after the biocomponent replacement. The lost Thirium and his self-healing program takes a lot of power to activate. Don't worry Hank, once he has the energy to spare he'll start breathing again. Until then, we'll keep the cooling blanket over him so he doesn't overheat."
Pressing her hand to Hank's good shoulder as she walked away from the gurney Abby tried to remain upbeat and optimistic for Hank's emotional sake, but deep down she was worried about Connor as well.
"Come on, kid. You need to be okay." Hank whispered as he lowered the ice from his head and stared at the bag with frustrated loathing. "...I hate the cold."
Grabbing onto Connor's arm with his bandaged hand Hank let out a weak sigh as his chest gnawed at him, pleading him to lay down and stop moving around so much until his fractured ribs could finally heal.
"As much as I wish I had the chance to properly say goodbye to all the people in my life that I lost; Lucas, my grandparents, my mom, my dad, Barbara, Cole... I just can't bring myself to say it to you. I hate to break it to you Connor, but right now I need a drink. I'm ashamed to admit but I won't deny it either; you don't keep secrets from me and I won't keep secrets from you."
Connor didn't budge even as Hank spoke to him and held onto his arm.
"You're too damn strong to just up and die on me, son. I know that you're far more stubborn and resilient than any man I've ever known, and when I say man I don't mean you as a deviant compared to a human, I mean an actual man. It takes someone with tremendous courage and a big heart to take all the risks you take just to protect other people. It isn't fair that you should have to die because I was being too much a self-centered jackass to admit..." Guilt stole Hank's words for only a moment. "Damn it, Connor. You should've been driving. You wouldn't have hit that fuckin' tree and we wouldn't be in this mess right now!"
Hank leaned back against the wheel chair and clutched his left arm tightly around his chest to stave off the pain that had built up in his chest as a result of his sudden emotional outburst.
"You can't even breathe now because of me."
Taking a moment to recompose himself Hank steadied his voice once more.
"I just... I just needed to prove to myself that the accident that killed Cole wasn't my fault. That there was nothing I could've done differently to save him from death. In the end all I did was prove to myself that I'm a world-class asshole! I may have killed you just to try to make myself feel better, and I know," Hank rubbed his bandaged hand against his eyes as he fought the urge to completely breakdown and sob. "I know you can hear me. Please, son, forgive me for doing this to you. I just need you to forgive-"
Connor suddenly took in a deep gasping breath that caused his entire chest and abdomen to rise and then fall before he settled into a calm breathing pattern that settled solely in his chest. The white bandages over his torso remained pristine and white despite the unexpected movement, which meant his wound hadn't reopened and was healing properly.
No internal bleeding. No complications.
Hank was at a loss for words as he watched life return to the deviant android. The red L.E.D. finally transitioned back to a yawning pulse of yellow in Connor's temple as his ventilation biocomponents resumed full function.
"...Connor?" Hank leaned forward and waited for any additional response from the android, but there was nothing more. For now the resumed breathing would have to suffice and it was enough to bring a fleeting grin to the detective's face "I knew you were too strong to just roll over and die like that."
Patting Connor's arm lightly Hank felt a tremendous weight lift from his heavy heart as he stayed by his adopted son's side.
"Stay with me, kid. I'm not ready to say 'goodbye' just yet."
Patient and accommodating Dr. Swanson allowed Hank to stay next to Connor as long as the detective kept the I.V. in his arm and didn't walk around causing physical exertion on his still healing body. Unwrapping the bandages from around Hank's hands the kind doctor examined his fingers and fingertips and happily noted that the severe frostbite had begun to heal with no sign of lasting damage to his skin or the nerves beneath.
"Can you flex your fingers for me?"
Hank cooperated and slowly flexed the fingers on both hands into tight fists then relaxed them once more, extending his fingers out as far as they could go.
"Any pain or limitations in your dexterity?"
"No. My skin feels dried out, but it doesn't hurt."
"Nurse Armstrong confirmed the same for your toes last evening. You're lucky that you didn't suffer any permanent injury from the cold."
"Yeah, 'lucky'."
Dr. Swanson gave Hank a slight shake of her head as she pressed her stethoscope against his chest to resume the examination. "Take a deep breath for me."
Remaining cooperative, and annoyed, Hank breathed deeply and waited for the doctor to finish listening to his lungs, and his heart. The cool metal of the bell moved over his chest as he breathed steadily as instructed.
"Congestion is beginning to lessen. You'll need to stay on the antibiotics until your lungs are fully cleared." Draping the stethoscope around her neck Dr. Swanson gently checked the numerous stitches snaking down Hank's face for any sign of infection or a popped stitch. "Laceration is healing well. How's your shoulder and your head?"
"Shoulder's fine. Head still fuckin' hurts."
"Not surprised. Hairline or not, you still fractured your skull." Turning her attention to Connor laying quietly in the bed next to Hank, who adamantly refused to leave the deviant android alone, she smiled faintly. "I've never operated on an android before. He's very... human."
Hank didn't say anything, just stared at Connor as he lightly placed his unwrapped right hand down on the deviant android's arm once more. For the first time since the car accident Connor's skin didn't feel icy cold or dead. It was warm like a living, breathing person once more.
"I'm going to bring you something from the cafeteria," Dr. Swanson stated with a firm tone as she walked away from the two detectives under her care. "and you're going to eat it. Abby informed me you have a nasty habit of not eating when you're stressed out."
Ignoring the comment Hank kept his focus on Connor as he awaited any response from the recovering deviant android. It had been almost a full day since the emergency operation that repaired his damaged Thirium filter and saved his life, and it had been an additional six hours since Connor started to breathe on his own. But the lack of awareness was just as disturbing as ever.
"I wonder what kind of shitty food it is they keep trying to shove down my throat?" Hank tried to joke but bowed his head a little in grief. "Can't be worse than that fast food you keep me from eating."
"...If you don't eat ...they won't let you leave."
Hank's shoulders visibly stiffened as he recognized the voice and tightened his hand on the deviant android's arm. "...C-Connor?"
Brown irises fluttered open as the deviant android finally regained full consciousness. Letting his eyes drift down from the blank white ceiling overhead to where Hank was sitting beside him Connor gained his bearings. Lifting his head up slightly from the pillow Connor gave Hank a weak smile. "...Hi, Hank."
"You..." Overwhelmed by emotions; relief, fear, joy... Hank had a hard time find his voice again. "You really need to stop scaring me like that!"
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Scaring you."
Hank laughed a little at the silly comment while Connor took the statement literally. "...Well, it's my fault." The gruff detective replied somberly. "I shouldn't have been driving."
"It was an accident." Connor sharply retorted to keep Hank from beating himself up. "The roads were going to be equally as dangerous for me as they were for you."
"But you-"
"Stop blaming yourself, Hank." Now it was Connor's turn to be the one to offer Hank words of consolation. "Self-pity does not suit you."
"Connor, I fucked up royally. I almost got you killed because-"
"Because you were driving on treacherous roads. I could've just as easily gotten into an accident as well." Connor sat upright slowly, his free arm wrapping around his abdomen protectively as he moved to reassure Hank that he was in fact alive and going to be okay. "The accident was not your fault. Neither of the accidents were your fault."
Hank just stared blankly at Connor for a moment as he so desperately wanted to believe what he was being told, but the part of his heart that was irreparably broken refused to accept it.
"You said that I gave you a reason to keep to living." Connor asserted in a soft tone as his L.E.D. cycled from yellow to blue while he spoke. He had heard everything Hank told him when they were trapped in the car after all. "and I want to help you live a happy life. Part of that happiness comes from you being able to allow yourself to be happy."
"...You heard me? What I said-"
"I don't need to forgive you, either, Hank." Connor interrupted firmly to stop Hank from kicking himself any further. "You did nothing wrong. But you do need to forgive yourself."
Hank tried to pull away from Connor but the deviant android's hand quickly wrapped around Hank's arm and pulled him back toward himself.
"I had to learn to forgive myself after Lucas died, and now I want to help you learn how to forgive yourself over what happened to Cole."
"Connor, it's not-"
Sliding off the edge of the bed Connor knelt down beside the wheelchair, his repaired knee protesting from the exertion and applied weight but it didn't faze him as he wrapped his arms in a tight hug around Hank; holding him in an unyielding embrace, mindful of Hank's still healing fractured ribs.
"It's going to be okay... dad."
Unable to withhold it any longer Hank reciprocated the hug and buried his face against Connor's shoulder as he began to weep, and finally come to terms with himself after the horrific night that had left a permanent black scar over his heart. Connor held onto Hank while the detective sobbed quietly against him and let go of the crippling pain that he had harbored within himself for years over misguided guilt and self-loathing.
As Connor's hand reached up to press against Hank's head and run his fingers through the detective's gray locks and empathetic tear began to roll down Connor's face as he remembered the pain he had felt when he lost Lucas, and knew how much Hank had been hurting for all these years over the loss of Cole.
The big difference was when Connor lost Lucas he had Hank there to comfort him, when Hank lost Cole he had no one.
Hank had been left entirely alone to wallow in darkness and grief.
Until now.
"We're family."
Two additional days passed before Hank was cleared to be discharged from the hospital, while Connor was cleared just a few hours after he regained consciousness. But like Hank had refused to leave Connor alone in the hospital, Connor refused to leave Hank alone. Electing to wait at the hospital and even humored Abby by allowing her to help him 'rehab' his rebuilt knee during his additional time spent as a patient. The deviant android made great strides toward a full recovery and as a result Hank too made an impressive improvement in his own health.
Once discharged from the hospital Abby drove the two detectives back to Detroit rather than having the duo hail an autonomous taxi. Connor's knee had healed considerably but it was still sore causing the android to slightly limp as he walked. Hank's left arm was still in a sling to lessen the strain from his left shoulder while the muscles and tendons healed without surgical intervention. The sling also lifted enough pressure from Hank's upper body to help his fractured ribs heal easier.
"Are you sure you two don't want me to stay with you?" Abby asked as pulled up the drive to drop the detectives off at their house. "I don't mind."
"You've done more than enough for us, Abby." Connor smiled as he helped Hank to climb out of the backseat of the small blue car. "Thank you."
"Okay, but if you need some help just call! I'll be at New Jericho Tower."
"We will." Connor promised as he watched the car back down the drive before helping Hank to enter the house through the backdoor. As he unlocked the door Sumo happily plodded over to the two detectives waiting to be pet before slipping out the door and into the snowy backyard. "I'm glad Chris was able to check in on Sumo for us."
"Yeah, Chris is a real good guy." Hank agreed as he watched Sumo trotting happily through the fresh white snow. "We should do something nice for Chris."
Connor was about to close the door when he noticed that it was beginning to snow again. Stepping back outside he limped a few paces into the backyard to call for Sumo, but the dog was too busy rolling around in the fresh pure snow to pay his owners any mind. "Sumo, come."
Hank followed after Connor and stared up at the sky as the snow began to fall in heavy, white flakes all over the city. "At least the snow waited for us to get home before it hit us again."
Connor patted his leg as he took a knee in the snow to try to coax Sumo into coming over to his hand. Sumo himself was digging something out of a deep snowbank by the fence that lined the rear of the property and trotted over to Connor to drop it down in front of him.
"Sumo will come back inside when he's ready. Big idiot loves the snow for some reason." Hank stated as he turned to look at the driveway where the car should be. It was kind of sad to see it open and empty. "Tomorrow we'll go find a new car. Two cars in less than two years, wonder if they'll give us a discount?"
"I doubt it." Picking up the object that Sumo had retrieved from the snow Connor recognized it as Sumo's green fetch ball.
Wisely he tossed it inside the house through the still opened backdoor to lure the dog back inside playfully. As Sumo rushed past Hank's leg inside the house the detective turned to give Connor an approving nod, all the while Connor's L.E.D. blinked blue rapidly as his palm fidgeted with the snow under his grasp.
"That was pretty clever! What made you-" Hank turned around in time to receive a clump of fresh white snow against his right shoulder as a snowball exploded into a burst of smaller flakes all over him. "Hey!"
"What?" Connor just stood his ground while giving Hank a sly smirk and feigning innocence as he discreetly formed a second snowball in his hand behind his back. Feeling an odd sense of humor and mischief Connor was unable to stop himself from smiling at the detective. "Something wrong?"
Sumo bounded back into the backyard with the green ball in his mouth eager to resuming playing the game, completely oblivious of Connor's previous actions to amuse himself.
Hank brushed the snow from his shoulder and gave Connor an odd glance. "Did you really just throw what I think you threw?"
"I don't know." Connor teased as he revealed the second bigger snowball from behind his back. "Did it look like this?"
"Hey!" Hank raised up his arm to block the second snowball and hide his laugh as it exploded against his right forearm. "Seriously?!"
"You were right, Hank." Connor couldn't stop himself from smiling even broader as snow clung to Hank's coat and hair. "Snowball fights are fun."
Reaching up awkwardly with his hand Hank brushed away the remaining snow from his shoulder as he stared at the amused smirk on Connor's face. Yet again Hank could've sworn it was Cole smiling back at him, the sincere smile of an innocent soul behind the empathetic, soulful brown eyes.
"Alright, you wanna' play?" Hank taunted with an amused grin as he slowly bent down with his one good hand and formed a pathetic looking snowball of his own. "You're going down!"
...next story...