A New Hope
Chapter Twelve
By: Lily Handle
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Author's Note: Bored, again, so hi, again.
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The waiting room of Charity's ICU was packed with the strangest assortment of people it had ever seen. Sitting in one corner was the man every hospital executive wanted to see in their office, Charles Xavier, and surrounding him were a mass of teenagers, with only three adults to keep an eye on them. When he strode through the door the group froze, but Charles took the lead, coming to a halt at the man's feet.
"Mr. Xavier, I didn't expect to see you here," Police chief Josh Masterson looked down at Charles with a slight frown, "What brings you here?"
"Dr. Chandler is under my employment, and a friend to me," Charles said, "We're waiting for news on her condition."
"How did you hear about this?"
"It was Mr. Logan here that found Dr. Chandler," Charles motioned to Logan where he leaned against the wall.
The chief turned towards Logan, frowning, "You found Dr. Chandler?"
"Yeah," Logan grunted, turning towards the police chief.
"You just happened to be near the train yard where the kidnappers had taken Dr. Chandler," Everyone could hear the suspicion in the Chief's voice, "Why were you in the train yard, Mr. Logan?"
"My bike broke down, I was looking for a phone," Logan said casually.
"The gate to the train yard was closed and locked, Mr. Logan, how'd you get in?"
"There was a missing slat in the fence line, I ducked in through there."
"That's breaking and entering, Mr. Logan."
"I'll pay for his bail, Chief," Charles said interrupting, "Do you have anymore questions for Mr. Logan?"
"I have a lot more. And when you found the doctor, did you see anyone else?"
"No one but the Doc."
"You must have broken into the office also, Mr. Logan to call an ambulance."
"Look, I found the Doc and did what I had to, to get her the help she needed, Officer." Logan growled.
"Mr. Xavier," The chief turned back towards Charles, frowning, "I'll want Mr. Logan to come down to the station to make a statement." Someone cleared their throat and everyone turned to look at the doctor standing in the doorway, "Are you Dr. Chandler's doctor?"
"Yes," The doctor took a step into the small space available in the waiting room, "What is it you need to know Officer?"
"We'll talk some where private." The chief steered the doctor by his arm away from the waiting room and out of ease dropping range. Logan growled slightly, and went back to where he had been leaning against the wall.
"Easy Logan, he's just doing his job," Charles soothed, watching the doctor talk with the chief.
"Right." Logan grunted.
"Come on, Professor," Kurt sidled up to Charles's chair, "What are they saying?"
"We'll learn soon enough, Kurt, be patient."
"Hank!" Now everyone turned back towards the door, this time the Chandlers were the ones standing in the doorway.
"Marcus, Mary," Hank stepped forward, the holo-watch concealing his identity.
"The police just called, they said they found her?" Mary asked hopefully, taking Hank's hand.
"Yes, Mary, she's alright," Hank said, leading Mary towards a seat.
"Any word on how she is?" Marcus asked, following his wife.
"Not yet," Charles moved forward, offering his hand, "I'm Charles Xavier, your daughter's employer."
"Marcus Chandler, my wife Mary Chandler." Again everyone swung their attention towards where someone cleared their throat. The chief and the doctor were back and watching everyone.
"Mr. Chandler, Mrs. Chandler, when you've finished talking with the doctor, I would like to speak with you," the Chief said and then took a step back, waiting patiently.
"How is she, Doctor?" Marcus asked, staying near his wife.
"Your daughter is fine, completely unharmed, but she is unconscious. When she came in her heartbeat was erratic, but that's leveled out and she's breathing on her own. Visiting hours start in fifteen minutes you can see her then. If you have any questions, I'm Dr. Adams, just ask a nurse for me."
"Thank you Doctor," Marcus said, "Where would you like to talk Officer?"
"You can use my office." The Chandlers rose, and followed Dr. Adams as he lead them down the hallway until they were out of sight.
"The Doc's alright," Sighed Evan, leaning back in his chair.
"But she hasn't woken up yet," Kitty said, "Professor, what's wrong?"
"It's alright Kitty, Dr. Chandler just needs time to rest," Charles calmly explained.
"Can we stay until we can see her?" Jean asked looking down the hallway, which Dr. Adams had disappeared down.
"Let her family have tonight, Jean, we'll come back tomorrow."
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Hank did visit the next day, complete with flowers and holo-watch. It was the most time he'd ever spent in one, but it was worth it. Hope looked to be asleep when he stepped inside the room, but Hank knew that it wasn't exactly like sleeping. "How is she doing today?" He asked the nurse who had accompanied him to Hope's room.
"The neurosurgeon looked her over this morning, she's making slight progress on the test, and they're going to run her up to CAT scan later today." Even though Hank was not family the staff knew he was connected to Charles Xavier and treated him the same as they would Charles.
"So, she's making a steady recovery, that good. Thank you nurse."
"If you need anything, Mr. McCoy, you know the drill." And with that the nurse left Hank alone with Hope. He was always surprised at how relaxed Hope looked, lying there her heart beat shown in a beeping monotone.
"How are you today, Hope?" Hank asked, believe the theory that unconscious people could hear what was said to them, even though they couldn't reply. "I've brought Yeats to read today." Hank settled in to read. At the end of the visiting hours Hank tucked the book under his arm, patted Hope's hand and kissed her forehead.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Hope. Be well."
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Logan didn't realize he was on his way to the hospital until he was standing in the elevator on the way to recovery. The Doc was still out cold, but she was completely stable and a bunch of other medical terms that he didn't understand. All he knew was that it was a week and the Doc was still not awake. He had halfway convinced himself to turn back when the elevator stopped, but he took that step off and started towards the Doc's room. He'd been the only one who so far hadn't visited the Doc, he'd been too busy talking with the nosy cops, then catching up with the work he'd missed, but those were just excuses. He'd been staying away just because, but now, he guessed it was time to visit. The nurse led him through the twisting maze of hallways and rooms, leading him to a corner room that was almost as large as the Doc's room back at the Institute.
"If you need anything, Mr. Logan, just press that button on the head board and someone will come to your aid," The nurse said, smiling politely. Logan felt completely out of place, looking down at the Doc. Still just acting on instinct he turned and closed the door behind the nurse.
"You know, Doc," He started, staying towards the door and away from where she lay, "Everyone's wondering when you're gonna wake up." He crossed the floor, moving to the window to look out over the sprawling city, "The squirts miss you too, just about everyone does." He ran a finger over the windowsill, and turned to look down at the Doc.
"So, when are you thinking about waking up?" The Doc didn't move and Logan sighed. He was talking to an unconscious person, what's the point? He'd been unconscious enough to know that you couldn't really hear anything, much less remember it when you woke up, but still he felt compelled to brace his arms on the guard rails to the Doc' s hospital bed and look down at her.
"Come on, Doc, the kids need you back." He reached a hand out and covered the Doc's, "I need time to figure out what's going on here." Logan stood there in silence for a while, the sighed in defeat. He lifted his hands and turned to go when a loud groan split the air. He turned back and the Doc looked at him with filmy eyes.
"Logan?"
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Author's Note: Getting tired of these pointless notes? I hope you are because I'm going to keep writing them!
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