Song: Kelly Clarkson - Stronger
Because let's face it - Hannah is awesome ;P
With thanks to the wonderful Primevalfan32, kat183, Xx Smiley90 xX and xOnceEAgainx. Your feedback keeps me nagging myself XD
I'm sorry this chapter took so long - my own nephew arrived a few months ago and he's been keeping me busy! Sorry xx
Serendipity
"People pay the doctors for their trouble; for their kindness they still remain in their debt." ~ Seneca
1O
Her hands expertly probed the gashes. She glanced sideways at the pieces of flesh lying in their iced container and calculated her options.
"It's doable." The men watching her had gawked. Staring at her incredulously.
"Are you ready?" Hannah asked the three surgeons waiting behind her. They offered jerky nods. "Have her forearm ready."
"I'll only have 6 hours, maybe less." She'd informed the medical team in front of her, watching her tidy up the sliced limb. "It was a clean enough cut but too much time has been wasted."
Picking up a scalpel she began to retrace the previous surgeon's stitches.
"Are you sure about this?" Becker had asked, once she stepped out of the crammed room and into the outdoors for some air. She paused, staring vacantly upwards for a moment.
"No." She answered honestly. "But if I think about it too much then I'll run and hide in a corner somewhere and she'll only have one arm for the rest of her life."
Her mind took everything into consideration; tendons, ligaments, nerves, bone, blood vessels. As much as reattachments on TV shows made it look like a simplistic procedure the reality was very different. She kept a close eye on the monitor and the amount of blood already staining her gloves. The minister's wife would need a transfusion, maybe two, depending on how quick she worked.
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For a reason that escaped him, Becker found himself nervous. Not because he'd spoken to Mira, Hannah's sister, on the phone and she was currently on route via a taxi. He was nervous for his girlfriend currently trying to sow a severed limb back on. Although Hannah herself hadn't seemed to be nervous, there was a definite glint of worry in her eyes and she'd been absent minded when speaking to anyone. He suspected she'd been too busy mentally running through the impending procedure. To make matters worse, her father was a 'good friend' of the minister's and had evidently decided to 'make this his business'. As Lester had put it, Becker was more inclined to share Connor's opinion that he was 'sticking his nose in where it suited him'.
Hannah had ran her hands through her hair twice, something Becker knew was frustration. Impending parental problems aside, the hospital should have contacted her sooner. The procedure would have been less complicated. He'd watched her pace then halt abruptly to stare out of the window as they waited for the minister and her father to arrive. She'd itched to be in surgical scrubs and get on with it. With mastered professionalism, she'd managed to smother her impatience when greeting the politicians. She'd shook his hand, plastered on her perfected countenance of calm, and quickly explained what she planned to do.
He didn't think he'd ever admire anyone else more.
"Excuse me?" A tap on the shoulder accompanied the voice. Becker turned and found a petite chestnut haired woman looking back at him with a very familiar pair of blue eyes.
"Mira." He voiced out loud, to her confusion.
"Guilty." She half-laughed, raising a hand to shoulder level.
"Sorry, I'm Becker, Hannah's-" Recognition flickered across her face and she flashed him a broad grin, offering a hand.
"Boyfriend!" She finished for him, laughing - a laugh that was strikingly similar to her older sister's. He smiled as she gestured for them both to sit on one of the three seaters in the hospital waiting room. "So you managed to crack the ice princess, I salute you Captain Becker, many have fallen victim to frost bite but I gather you thawed it out. Though I suppose endurance would have been part of your soldier training." She chuckled softly.
"Your sister is very special. How was your flight?" Mira opened her mouth to reply, her eyes straying to the entrance of the room and her posture instantly stiffened. Becker followed her gaze and watched Paul Moore approach.
"Mira Jane! I thought I heard your voice." His daughter rose and greeted him with a formal peck on the cheek. "Ah and you've been introduced to Hannah's colleague, Captain Becker." Colleague. Both the soldier and Mira picked it up instantly, he noted her sideways glance in his peripheral vision, but neither commented.
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At half past six, Dr Hannah Moore emerged from inside the operation theatre, her limbs aching with fatigue and in need of a long hot shower. But she still had one more thing to do before she could climb into Becker's car and sleep the journey to her brother's.
She rounded the corner into the waiting room and froze. The blonde had forgotten he was here. She was certainly not in the mood to play nice or be 'civil' as Mira often pleaded with her to be. Her tired eyes could still make out the discomfort his presence was inflicting on her sister and boyfriend. Becker was politely answering his questions whilst her sister helplessly listened, occasionally inferring where she could.
"Becker is Head of Security at the ARC facility." She was saying when Hannah arrived.
"Oh? Well Hannah's always known how to pick her friends. But I can't help but wonder why you're here?" Hannah felt her patience wan. Sighing, she reined in her shortened temper before crossing the remaining distance to them.
"Because he's my boyfriend, Dad. I'm surprised you don't know that." She sent him the fakest sweet smile she could muster before turning to the minister who had quickly got to his feet upon seeing her. "Minister, I am pleased to report the operation was successful. Your wife's arm has been correctly reattached and she is currently in the recovery room where she'll be closely monitored tonight. We'll know in the next couple of days if her arm will return to its full functionality but for now, at least, we can be certain that her circulatory system is working and that the necessary blood flow is being met." She forced a smile as the older man took her hand and shook it with as much gratitude as his social constraints allowed.
"Mira, Becker. I'll be five minutes." Turning she prepared to leave the room but her father's voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Excellent work, darling. We'll see you in the morning, I presume, for an update?" One, two, three. Hannah soothed her sudden flare of annoyance and gave, yet another, forced smile.
"No, Dr Ray is taking over. He'll be here tomorrow to give you a full report." Don't do it, old man. Don't do it.
"Another doctor?" You couldn't resist could you? She could see where this was going before her father had even spoken his next words.
"Dr Ray is a highly trained physician." She all but ground out. The Minister's concerns were beginning to inflate, Hannah read it in his expression - the result of her father's interference.
"But not the main surgeon on this operation." You bastard.
"It isn't necessary for me to be here tomorrow morning, I'll return in the day after to evaluate the progress. Until then I have other matters to attend to."
"I'm sure Mr Lester can-."
"It's not work commitments. As you would well know if you bothered to contact us on a regular basis." She heard Mira murmur her name but ignored her and pressed on. "Daniel's baby was due today, it was a difficult pregnancy for Serena. I was supposed to be there but instead this was a more pressing priority. Now, however, the patient is no longer in any critical danger and so I will be going to my family."
"Perhaps, Dr Moore, you should remember who your present company is." Her father coldly reminded her. Hannah saw red.
"Mr Garrett is a good friend of yours, I'm sure he'll be aware of your negligence. Remember to send a card, Mr Moore." She all but spat his name before turning sharply away and swiftly leaving the room.
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"I'm sorry." Hannah's soft voice reached Becker's ears, some hours later. After a phone call to their brother, Mira had learned that Serena still hadn't had her baby and the doctor's were going to induce her in the morning. The trio had trudged to their hotel and, after talking constantly for two hours (really, Becker couldn't understand how women never ran out of things to say), they'd exchanged goodnights and Mira had parted to her own room. Now, the Captain turned to find the doctor leaving the en suite. Her hair still damp and with a towel wrapped round her slim figure she hovered between the two rooms, only allowing a brief moment of eye contact, before moving to her travel bag to extract her nightwear.
"What for?" He asked softly, sitting on the edge of the bed as she busied herself.
"For my dad. I'm sorry you had to deal with him." He paused, assessing the situation. Hannah had always been evasive when it came to her family. Today's brief insight had shed a small amount of light. The absentee father, in the flesh.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She froze, slowly turning to face him.
"Do you have questions?" She asked after a stretched silence of simply staring at each other.
"You don't have to answer." She didn't reply and he took this as his cue to continue. "What happened, Hannah?" The doctor shifted on the spot for a moment before making a decision and lowering herself onto the bed beside him.
"Well, as you're aware, my dad wasn't the most faithful husband. And he wasn't a decent father figure either, not by miles. After fifteen years of trying to win his approval and be acknowledged I gave up. My siblings never have - Mira still tries to please him wherever she can - but I see him for what he really was. The day that he crashed my fifteenth birthday party I knew he was the biggest bastard to ever be a politician. His present was a certain child named Belinda. My half sister. We knew he was a sleezy bastard, but to actually see solid evidence in the shape of another human being." She paused, shaking her head as angry tears pricked her eyes.
Becker sat, completely still. His brain struggling to process this information. How could that man- that man he'd made civil conversation with a matter of hours ago - be capable of such appalling behaviour. Hannah blinked away the salty moisture and swallowed, pressing on.
"And the reason... the reason for him introducing us was because Irene, Belinda's mother, had died and he needed someone to take care of her." There was a lot of situations that Becker had guessed were to come from Belinda's appearance in Hannah's life. But that one had failed to cross his mind. He wasn't exactly sure how to process it either. "My mother was an amazing woman. An amazing woman. She somehow found it in herself to agree. Essentially, what it all comes down to it is that my father's an arsehole and my mother was clever enough to marry him when she got pregnant. He can be charming when he wants to be and romanced her but when she found out she was carrying Daniel she went to his parents. It was an incredibly smart move, they're traditionalists - marriage was the solution. Fortunately for us it also meant that we he left us she had enough money and rights to sustain us all comfortably. I suppose that's the real reason he took any kind of interest in us - we were an investment if nothing else." She finished, taking a deep breathe and squeezing her eyes shut.
Her nose was fizzing as she struggled to suppress the bitter disappointment and heartache of her childhood. In the end she sighed, forcing a wan twitch of her lips.
"Life's a bitch, isn't it?" Becker offered her a warm smile, his hands cupping her face.
"Hannah Moore," She raised her gaze to meet his. "You are one of the most amazing people I have ever met. What you did today was incredible and thank you for letting me into your world." She gave a wobbled half laugh, two perfect tears leaking from her eyes and rolling lazily down her cheeks. He brushed them away with his thumbs before shortening the distance between them and capturing her lips in a kiss. He broke away, smirking at the moan in protest. It quickly turned into a sigh of content when his mouth began to brush along her neck. His hands found her shoulders and he guided her to be lying fully on the four poster before pressing her gently back onto the mattress. Hovering over the top of her, he trailed kisses down her neck to her chest. With teasingly soft movements his fingers ran along her thigh, under her the creamy fabric encasing her and slowly unwrapped her body.
She never realised how sore her breasts were until he started massaging them, she curved into his touch and moaned when his mouth captured one perked bud. He lifted his lips for a brief moment, his breath tickling the smooth skin and sending excited pulses across her, to appraise his prize. Her fingertips tracing his jaw captured his attention. With a vaguely wicked glint in her eye she lifted her right leg and ran it up through his and rubbed against his crotch, removing his shirt in the process. He inhaled sharply, as she continued whilst her hands stroked his torso before removing slipping his trousers from him. Her fingertips brushed the edge of his boxers but he flattened himself against her, clamping her hands on either side, to stop her provocation. Tonight was all about her. He'd already decided that the minute she stepped back into the room with just a single flimsy piece of material. Besides, after today's performance she deserved it. His lips wandered southward and she pressed her head back into the sheets as they found her entrance. After sleeping with her for 3 months he had quickly learned all her 'spots' and very soon she lay panting. His lips and tongue caressing her folds. He raised his head and smirked. Her eyes narrowed half heartedly.
"Smug man." He chuckled, running his fingers along her curves and enjoying her shivers. She scowled and he chuckled again, capturing her lips in a heated kiss. She wasn't sure when he removed his under wear but she felt him at her opening a second before he plunged into her. Caught off guard she gasped into the kiss. The gasp was shortly replaced with a moan as his thrusts quickened and he sunk deeper inside of her. Her nails dug into his back and urged him on. She moaned his name and he whispered her's back into her ear. Inhaling the familiar scent of her hair. They climaxed together, as they always did, as if they were somehow made for each other with their almost synchronized compatibility. He remained inside her for a moment, resting his head in the crook of her neck as they attempted to control their breathing. He raised himself up, pressing a kiss to her temple before rolling of her. She pressed into his side and he held her close, pulling the sheets over their bodies.
"Thank you." She murmured, her blue eyes twinkling at him. He smiled softly down at her, his brown eyes warmly regarding her.
"You're welcome." He replied gently, kissing her forehead. He watched her close her eyes and listened to breathing steady, tickling her back as she drifted off to sleep. His Hannah. His Hannah Moore.
In one day he'd found the person he admired the most in the world. And he'd found the one he hated the most. His arms tightened instinctively round her at the thought of Paul Moore.
Shaking off the thought, he lifted his hand and knocked off the light switch beside the bed.
He'd protect her for every inch he was worth. And the times she got hurt, he promised to be there to patch her up again.
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Okay I was naughty and did proof read this but a. i have an assignment due tomorrow that I still haven't done.. oops! and b. I was just dying to post this so i bit the bullet and did it! Hahaha! Hope you liked :D Obviously there's more to Hannah that we'll find out later but for now I think this chunk of history is enough.
SKV XX