Hit & Run

Chapter 4: 24 hours

She didn't know when she felt asleep. All she knew was that she woke up in the same chair she was sitting the day before, surrounding by the same beeps and noisy machines. She hardly opened her eyes. She felt so sleepy again. She turned her head and saw someone moving in the room. She jumped, being scared to see someone when she was expecting no one.

"Don't jump for me! You must be Chris? I'm Tabitha!"

Chris nodded, still sleepy. She rubbed her eyes to open them and got up from the chair. She was all numb. She looked for a moment to this tall, athletic, black woman turning around Jim's bed, making sure everything was in order. Chris couldn't explain why but this woman had something reassuring.

"Is he ok?"

"Ok is a big word. But he's alive! And he's breathing correctly. His heartbeat is good. I'd tell he's happy you're here…"

Chris gave her a faint smile. "No really, Chris. I can call you, Chris, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Chris was surprised by Tabitha's directness. In a good way. It was refreshing to have someone who was so frank.

"Not gonna lie when he arrived yesterday in the ER, the doctors thought he was gonna die. He was in poor shape. His heart stopped twice. Once in the ER, one in the OR."

Chris swallowed hard. "Please don't stop… I need to know…"

"Your friend is a tough one. He survived twice. Even a third time because the EMT guys told me his heart stopped at the place of the accident. When Dr. Paulsen ended the surgery, he told us, his condition was so severe, he didn't know if he would make it through the night. And look it's already noon!"

"Already?!"

"You slept like a baby this morning. We let you. You have been through hell too. You got a commotion, stitches and bruises all over your body. You deserved to rest! By the way, don't move, we have saved you a food tray! You should be hungry as you didn't something since yesterday."

"A little… But don't mind about me I can…"

"You can nothing. You stay with your friend, you make him feel better and right now that's all that matters."

She came back with a tray that she put on the little table near Chris. "If you need anything, let me know."

"Thanks Tabitha."

Tabitha nodded at her and closed the door behind her. Chris waited for being alone to fling herself on the food. She was so hungry. She enjoyed the food even if it was hospital food. She just needed to take strength before this afternoon. She knew everyone will come to see Street, to take news and she didn't know if she was ready to confront all those people around her.

She took back the tray to the nurses's station. Tabitha was not there. For a moment, Chris panicked a little.

"You should be Chris?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Maria. Tabitha told me about you. Please give me the tray. You need something else?"

"Oh, no, no. thank you. You have already done enough." She walked back to Jim's room. Nothing had changed. Nothing except for her belly that had stopped growling. She sat in the chair and took Jim's hand. They both needed to reload the battery before what was waiting for them in the afternoon.

[…]

Deac came first, then Hondo and Luca. Luca had made a little bag for Street. Some clothes, pics and a pair of slippers. It seemed ridiculous when he thought about it but he had the impression to be feel useful.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Luca. You ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. And you?"

"As good as we can… Any news?"

"No… Waiting for the doctor to have news. Any news from Chris?" Deac asked concerned.

"No… None since she went to see Street in the ICU yesterday." Hondo answered.

They sat, nervous about what Dr Paulsen was about to say to them. Tan arrived a little later. His mom needed him at the last minute, he explained. "Don't worry, the doc is still not here."

Victor nodded and sat next to his friends. This waiting was unbearable. Dr. Paulsen arrived thirty minutes later.

"Mr. Harrelson, I presume?"

Hondo got up from his chair and shook the doctor's hand. "Yes, that's me. And that's Deacon, Tan and Luca. We are Street's friends and teammates."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Dr. Paulsen, Mr. Street's surgeon. Sorry to meet you under this tragic circumstances. Let me tell you about your friend's condition. "

Deac, Hondo, Tan and Luca took a deep sigh. The truth hour was there and they didn't know if they wanted to know.

"Your friend's condition is severe. He made three cardiac arrests. One at the accident place, one when he was in the ER and another one when he was in the OR. Fortunately, we were able to reanimate him each time. I was afraid of how the first 24 first hours after her surgery would be. I talked a lot about this with Mrs. Alonso yesterday. She offered to stay the night with Mr. Street not to let him alone. Which was a very good idea because he spent a quiet night."

The four boys let out a sigh of relief. Street did it through the night. "That's my boy!" Tan yelled in the waiting room.

"Yeah, yeah, it's good but it doesn't mean your friend is out of this. He has a long way in front of him. And it starts with him waking up."

"So he's still in a coma?"

"Yes. And machines help him to breathe. He's been through a big trauma. He had an internal bleeding. A pneumothorax. His two legs are broken and he has broken ribs. We were able to fix all this but Mr. Street's body is traumatized. He needs to rest and him being in a coma is the only way his body has found to answer the traumatism. It could take a couple of days, weeks before he wakes up…"

Dr. Paulsen saw the four men being disillusioned. One second earlier they were happy their friend made it through the night and now they had to deal with the fact he could not wake up for a long time.

"Does Chris know? And Molly?"

"Mrs. Hicks left in a hurry yesterday, I didn't have time to explain to her everything in details. But Mrs. Alonso is aware of everything. As I told you, she stayed for the night with Mr. Street. She's still here actually."

"That seems like her. Always there for a friend." Luca concluded, aware of the special connection Chris and Jim shared since forever.

"Would you like to see Mr. Street?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course, we all want this." Hondo answered preoccupied. Tan, Deac and Luca nodded just behind him.

"Ok, so follow me. Just warn you: one person at a time and no more than fifteen minutes."

"Ok… Can I get the bag with me? Just some stuff for Street, you know."

"Of course, it's a really good idea to bring familiar stuff for him here."

Dr. Paulsen walked with them up to the nurses's station. "And here we are. Here is Tabitha, our nurse in chief. She'll explain to you everything you need to know. I let you here. Need to see my other patients."

"Thank you, Doc." Deac told to Dr. Paulsen before he got out of the ICU.

"So gentlemen, who wants to go first? While you decide, I go to see Mrs. Alonso to tell her, you're all here."

Maria walked up to the room and opened slowly the door not to scare Chris.

"Hey, Chris. Your friends are all here."

Chris moaned thanks before getting up from her chair. She quickly did her hair, wiped her tired eyes and got out in the corridor. She didn't like this but she needed to show her friends and teammates she was OK. This is why they wanted to see anyway.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Chris!" Luca ran to her and hugged her strongly. He was quickly imitated by Deac, Tan and Hondo.

"How are you?" Tan asked first.

"Are you OK? You look tired." Luca continued.

"Hold on, hold on, guys. Let her breathe!" Hondo eased. Chris slightly smiled at her boss to thank him. She was overwhelmed by all their questions. She needed sometimes to proceed all of this.

"Thanks guys, I'm Ok. Just a little headaches and some dizziness from time to time. But nothing serious."

She fidgeted her hands, she was embarrassed to talk about her conditions when Street was fighting for his life just a few meters from here.

"So you must be Mr. Street's friends and colleagues. Nice to meet you all, I'm Tabitha, nurse in chief here. I guess, you all want to see your friend today?" She winked at Chris. She had come to her rescue.

"Of course." The three men faltered.

"So let me explain to you some rules. Miss Alonso, you can take some times outside as you already know all of this." She gave her big eyes. Chris went back to Jim's room to take her jacket. She really needed some fresh air.

"I'll be back, Long Beach. Won't get rid of me so easily." She told him as she brushed his hand with her fingers. "Just need to get out for the others come and see you. Will tell you about the weather after that." She pressed his hand in hers, one last time before leaving the room. She didn't like to let him alone but she needed to right now.

Chris got out the room and waved at the boys waiting to enter. She ran in the corridor to vanish from their field of vision as soon as possible. She loved being alone. She was not the talkative kind, even less now. She got outside, walked across the road and reached the little park Jim could see from his room. She found a bench and sat there, looking at the kids playing and people walking.

They had no idea what was going on in her life right now. She envied them. She would have loved being so peaceful, so carefree at the moment. Guiltiness was growing inside her, day after day. She knew she was the only person responsible for Jim's condition. She could feel this feeling growing inside her, inside her mind, inside her body and eating her all up.

"May I sit with you?" She jumped, going out of her reverie. Deacon was just in front of her.

"Yeah, yeah…" She moved to let him more place.

"You OK, Chris?"

"Mmmm, yes, just tired and my head is aching, that's all."

He remained silent, seated near her, looking around as she did. He knew she was in a bad place but she wanted to hide it at all costs. It was her style, her personality. She didn't like to show her weaknesses in front of the others. But he also knew that now she needed to talk.

"Just went to see Jim. He's in a pretty bad place but the doc told us he had gone through the night mostly because you didn't let him down. That's great."

She nodded, hiding her face with her hair she had kept untied for the occasion. He kept talking. She needed to break to get better or at least to apprehend the situation the best possible. Deac knew Street and Chris were very close. From the day they met. He had witnessed how she had fought for Street to be reinstated in SWAT after he badly messed up because of his mom. He knew they were sharing a special connection, the kind of connection you couldn't explain. Just like the one he shared with Annie.

"It's ok if you break, Chris, you know… I mean we are talking about Jim… He's one of us, he's our teammate, our colleague, our friend, our brother. He's not someone random…"

He could see her swallow hardly. She was sobbing in silence. He put his hand over her shoulder. He could feel she was breaking little by little. After long minutes, she turned to him. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, her eyes were red. She had finally broken.

"What if he dies, Deac?"

"What if he doesn't? What if he fights like hell? Look the doctor was not confident he went through the night and he did it. Chris, you need to keep faith."

"Where was faith where he was hit and run instead of me?"

"Chris, this is fate. You can't control this. This is why life is surprising. In good and bad ways. You need to remain optimistic and to fight for him. He's gonna need you… His best friend to get through this. It won't work if you keep blaming yourself…"

Deac saw she closed again. He had tried. She needed to know she was alone in this. He came closer and embraced her. Even if she fought at first, she let him do it afterwards. She needed this hug. She finally let her emotions out. She cried for long minutes in Deac's arms, her head rested on his shoulder. She sobbed. He let her. And as only answer, he embraced her stronger.