As much as Max Goodwin loved fixing the problems that came his way each day, mornings were definitely the best part of his day. There was a routine: he and Luna got up, she threw a sizable amount of whatever new food he attempted to feed her at him, and, if there was still time, they played. Then they got ready for the hospital, walking through the city, she giggled at the 'puppies' in the neighborhood, he got coffee for himself and Aunt Helen, and their friends at the hospital greeted them on her way to 'school'. Parting with his daughter was usually the only part he didn't like, but sometimes, if there was time, she got to show Aunt Helen what she'd learned since the last time she'd seen her second favorite person. She didn't seem frightened by anything: true, she wasn't really a fan of cats yet, but big dogs didn't scare her and she loved people watching. She even seemed to thrive on the chaos that was the emergency department.
That morning, though, was an exception. Luna started crying the minute they arrived at New Amsterdam, not loudly, just fussing, like she could sense something was wrong and her world was about to change, again, not for the first time in her short life. Max put the coffees down on the desk and turned his daughter where they were facing each other.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" She wasn't wet and she'd actually eaten her new food as well as the old standby that morning so she couldn't possibly be hungry. She'd slept all night, a rarity for her, and she'd been happy before setting foot inside the hospital. Nothing was making sense for his normally happy little girl to be so miserable.
He scanned the emergency room department; nothing seemed out of the ordinary that would have frightened her. It was weird that Helen wasn't coming in or already waiting for them, talking with Lauren. Lately, more and more, they seemed to be arriving at the same time. He shook his head to try to clear it of memories he'd rather forget, memories of the day that Georgia died. He remembered seeing Bloom, as he did that day, and Georgia had been with him.
"Helen," he whispered her name, his heart in his throat. He remembered losing her, not being able to find her, and how scared he'd been. That was silly. Just because Luna was crying didn't mean anything had happened.
"Max." Lauren Bloom discreetly walked over to him, a limp still evident even after surgery and therapy. "How can I help?" He looked lost, shaken, something she'd only seen once since she'd known him.
"Has Sharpe arrived?" He asked, trying to maintain professionalism, but the truth was that line had been crossed many times between himself and Helen, so much so that it was more a blur than a true actual line anymore.
Lauren shook her head. "No. I came in an hour ago and I haven't seen her. It's not like her to be late, but maybe she just got held up?" She noticed Luna. "What's wrong, kid?" Lauren asked gently, stroking her downy blonde hair.
This was ridiculous, to have a panic attack in his own ED just because Luna was crying and Helen was a few minutes late. There was no evidence that it was more than that, but something wouldn't let him take it at face value and get on with his day either. He seemed to be stuck, unable to go back to the happiness of the morning, unable to go on with his day until he saw her with his own eyes. He pulled out his cell phone to call her when the door to the stairwell opened up.
"Help!" One of the new doctors, one he couldn't quite name yet, yelled into the open room.
Max stepped forward, saying his signature, "How can I help?"
"There's a lady, one of the doctors. I think she fell down the stairs." Two medics, Lauren, and Max all stepped forward nearly at the same time, the medics bringing a gurney too, and the stairwell became packed, too much for Max to see, especially when Luna began to wail.
Max stepped outside, back into the ED, and he heard Lauren's gasp, then the change in her tone as she gave orders, quick, efficient, but a fear there too that might actually match Max's own. The one thing he didn't want to see right then was the one thing he saw, his best friend, his better half in almost every sense of the word, crumpled on the gurney. He could only guess the injuries she might have as he looked at her broken body and then instinctively turned Luna's face towards his chest so she couldn't see her beloved aunt.
Iggy Frome seemed to appear out of nowhere behind him, taking Luna as expertly as he dealt with his own children, rocking her gently even as he asked, "How can I help?"
"Kapoor. Get Kapoor." Max knew they would need their friend; he was the best neurosurgeon in the state, let alone the city. He could see the blood matting Helen's dark hair even from where he stood. She was still and her eyes were closed. For a moment, he thought he'd lost her too.
"Done. And I'll take care of Luna until the nursery opens up. Does she have any family?" It dawned on Iggy that he should know that. Until today, he'd thought they were close enough, more than colleagues, friends, but what kind of friend wouldn't know that?
Max shook his head. "Just me. Just us." He wasn't sure at that point and time if he met the makeshift hospital family that he'd acquired or himself and Luna as the us.
"Okay. Go. Go with them," he said before turning his attention to comforting Luna.
Max followed Lauren, taking over duties a nurse might otherwise have done, washing Helen gently so that they could see the damage. "Kapoor's coming."
Lauren nodded. "She'll need X-rays, but her hand is definitely broken. She seemed to land on her hip and hit her leg. Maybe that's all the injuries. We won't know until we get some scans started."
"Do whatever you have to do. We'll make it work."
"We have to figure out…" Lauren stopped and then started again, looking up at Max, finally getting him to connect with her instead of Helen. "She goes up and down those stairs a thousand times a day, Max. I don't think she slipped."
"Meaning…?" His brain seemed to have simultaneously stopped and gone on overdrive at the same time.
"Meaning anything. Meaning maybe she got dizzy, maybe she passed out, maybe…"
Max shook his head. "Operate on the assumption that she fell. If it's anything more, you should see it in the tests." He had a nagging feeling that he didn't want to consider at the moment.
"You know I love her. She's like my sister. She'd do anything for her patients. I'm not saying that it did happen. I'm saying it could have happened."
"I know what you're saying. And for right now, we operate on the assumption that she fell. We do whatever it takes to get her better." Max said, firmly, trying to still that nagging voice in his head that said maybe Lauren was right.
"How can I help?" Vijay Kapoor asked, Iggy having somewhat filled him in when he called.
Lauren took over talking with the other doctor, leaving Max to try to block out his thoughts. He could see Helen sitting beside him, holding his hand, as clearly as he'd seen Georgia earlier that year.
"Go check on our girl," Helen said gently. "She needs you, Max."
"And then?" He focused on the one holding his hand, talking to him, reassuring him, not the one still on the gurney.
"Run this hospital. You've told me often enough that it doesn't run itself." She smiled again and he wondered how when all he wanted to do was find a place to curl up and cry.
"I can't leave you."
"You won't. You're here. I know you're here. All you're doing is letting Lauren and Vijay do what they're supposed to do. It's not like before. It's not like that, Max. I'm here. You won't leave me and I won't leave you, yes?" Max nodded, somehow managing to go track down Iggy and his daughter.