Part 1

The Mill Street bar had never seen so many white coated doctors
enter at one time. It was indeed popular for the Kingdom Hospital
staff to pop in during break for a tiny nip, but never all at once as
if none of them had anything better to do. It was not until the
bartender had served up the first round of drinks that the staff
at "MSB" noticed the famous artist Pet... No, it was impossible. It
had to be a look alike, or a wannabe. Peter Rickman was in a
coma, "totally gorked" according to Nurse Von Trier, who herself
popped in for a drink no less than 5 times a week (or whenever she
came out of a fainting spell). The staff tried to go about their
business but couldn't help but keep one eye on the ensemble.
When the group had finished their first round, Peter called the
waiter for another round. When he showed up carrying on a tray, an
assortment of the finest wines, martinis, and liquors in Lewiston,
Peter could not help notice the strange way the waiter looked at him.
Inside he was laughing, outside he said "What, haven't you ever seen
an artist in a bar before?" The waiter quickly served the drinks and
walked back to his co-workers, totally baffled. The group laughed
hysterically and Chris tipped her chair over, Hook grabbing her just
before it fell with a bang to the floor. Perhaps it was the
excitement of what they had just accomplished, but they didn't seem
to be "holding their liquor" to well. Bobby got up to use the
restroom only to walk into a giant statue of the bar's founder Jacob
Miller. Peter was busy drawing on Nat's face with a marker he had
found in his pocket all the while she was busy alternating between a
mudslide and a pina coolada. Lona, who wasn't used to having more
then one drink, had collapsed on the table and was snoring loudly,
making Elmer giggle lovingly. In fact, the only person who seemed to
be sober was Mrs. Druse who was staring at the group with a
reprimanding eye. After round 4 or so, Hook excused Chris and himself
giving the excuse that they "had business to tend to", sending Chris
into a fit of giggles as they swayed out of the bar each supported
only by themselves. "Mind the cars as you cross the street dears"
Mrs. Druse called behind them, and then turned, tutting loudly at
Bobby and Otto who at the moment were crawling underneath the table
trying to pick up an ice cube. "Honestly" she sighed...

Part 2

The party lasted long after Hook and Chris has departed, and
by the 6th or so round, even Mrs. Druse couldn't refuse. Since Bobby
was to drunk to drive and she didn't have a license (meaning she
would definitely not be going home tonight unless she took a cab
which she hated.) she figured there was no reason to stay sober any
longer. So, for the first time in her ghost filled life, Mrs. Eleanor
Druse got wasted. Bobby had never been so proud.
2 am closing time at the Mill Street bar came and went and
still the group drank on. The ensemble, in fact were so drunk that
they didn't even know where they were...nor did they care. All minus
Lona, (who had woken up, taken another drink, and promptly collapsed
and was now curled up under the table snoring.) were prancing about
the bar acting like wild animals. Mrs. Druse was dancing on the
table, Bobby and Otto were singing a song that nobody could
understand and that went something like this...

"Twinkle, twinkle little bars, hiccup have a drink and you'll go far
in the morning or at noon, hiccup drunken men are sure to swoon
Twinkle, twinkle little bars, have a drink and you'll go faaaarrrrrr!
hiccup"

And after singing the song for the tenth or so time they started to
scream the chorus of "Lucy in the Sky" ... how fitting!
The staff was growing quite impatient, and despite there efforts of
absolutely refusing anyone another round, (not that any of them
noticed) their guests just would not leave. Eventually, (since they
were closed the next day anyway) they just gave up, hired someone to
spend the night curled up in the staff room (to make sure they did
not get into the alcohol supply, or cause to much damage) and just
let the "hyenas" sleep it off on the floor of the bar, or wherever
they happened to drop.

Part 3

Hook woke up in a start at noon the next afternoon, flipped around and was surprised to see that both him and Chris were completely in the nude. As far as he remembered there had been no sex the previous night, and had spent a casual evening at "THE BAR?!... acck no wonder!" he started, scaring Chris awake. "O-M-God! What's wrong?!" she asked "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you..." Hook said, "you don't remember coming here do you?, 'cause I mean, last I checked we were at the bar having a casual celebration with the others." Chris thought for a moment "No, come to think of it, I guess we ended up having more drinks then anticipated, looks like we had a bit of fun afterwards though..." she said gesturing to the clothes strewn about the floor. "... to bad we don't remember it though." Hook nodded laughing and sprawled across the bed only to jump back up again, catching sight of his clock. "Accckkkk! We are soooo late for work!!!" He and Chris scrambled off the bed grabbed their clothes and dressed in a hurry, running as fast as they could to Hooks' golf cart. In the confusion of the moment, Hook had forgotten to zipper up his fly (which actually for him was not unusual), and Chris had put her lab coat on inside out. "God, we are in soooo much trouble" Chris exclaimed as they ran for the elevator pushed the button and waited impatiently for it come to their floor. "Just a thought babe..." Hook said tapping his foot, checking his watch every two seconds. "...how come we're not hung-over?" This was a good point. In her past experiences with drinking, Chris had 99% of time came out with a head splitting headache followed by waves of nausea so bad that she would be bed ridden for the rest of the day. For this very reason, she usually avoided drinking when feasible. Hook preferred to get it over with in the morning and then go about his business. He would wake up with his share of nausea and headaches, but then one quick bathroom trip and a couple of Advil usually took care of it for the rest of the day. However, today neither of them showed any sign of ill effects from the previous nights' fun, and other then there unkempt appearance and uncharacteristic tardiness, they seemed perfectly normal...

Part 4

The elevator finally arrived on the main floor of the hospital and Hook and Chris ran out heading towards Dr. James' office. They were going so fast that they almost ran right into Danny and Ollie who were wheeling in a burn victim. "Check this out Hook..." Ollie said breathless, "Amazing he's still alive!" Hook and Chris continued running "Sorry, I'd love to spend time but we're in a bit of a rush." Hook called over his shoulder. "Looks like they just rolled out of bed." Danny said sniggering.

When they finally made it to Dr. James' office by 12:30, Hook wrenched the door open ready to spill their apology. "Dr. James I..." But it was not Dr. James who sat there, instead, sitting with his feet propped on the desk reading a rather naughty magazine, was none other than Dr. Stegman. "Steg, what ARE you doing here, where the hell is Dr. James?" Hook said exchanging a side long glance with Chris. They both knew one thing, whatever he was doing there, couldn't be good. "Oh, he just stepped out for a little uh, fresh morning air, or should I say afternoon air? The bloody fool put me in charge in the mean time. Guess he figured I needed a little rest from packing my office - and really what could possibly happen in a 5 minute time span... unless by chance my best friend in the whole world, and his uh lovely partner in slime would happen to grace me with their presence." Chris backed slightly out the door, not liking the strange look in Stegs' eye.

"So, what exactly IS going to happen in a 5 minute time span Steg?" Hook asked.

"You and your minions have caused me to much trouble Hook, I want you to tell those numb nuts that you tampered with the Klingerman report and get me my friggen job back!"

"Or what?"

"Or there will be serious consequences..."

"Oh you sure showed me Steg- I'm trembling!"

"Don't test me Hook!"

"SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!!"

That was the last straw for Steg. He pulled a gun from his coat pocket and pointed it at Hook. "NOOOOOOO!" Chris screamed and jumped in front of Hook just as Steg fired. Chris doubled up and collapsed to the floor. Hook advanced on Steg "YOU SON OF A BITCH, I'M GONNA KILL YOOOUU! Hook screamed and wrapped his hands around Steg's neck, pushed him backwards and with full force sent him flying through the glass window into the parking lot where he landed with a thud. Hook turned towards Chris. He knelt down beside her hoping and praying that she would be ok...

Part 5

Hook caressed her hair as he checked the damage. He was horrified as he found the blood stain forming on her otherwise spotless lab coat. He gently removed the coat and sighed with relief. The bullet had struck her upper arm and had not hit any major organs or arteries and he also noticed that she was breathing on her own. "Thank you God." he said. All he needed to do was stop the bleeding and then he could go get help, and maybe find somebody in the parking lot willing to run over Steg, who at the moment was lying unconscious in the middle of the lot with nothing but some minor bruises and scratches, the flea ridden bastard! Hook looked around the room and saw that Steg had left his lab coat draped over the seat. Hook got up, retrieved the coat from the chair, found a pair of scissors in the drawer and cut a large strip out of the coat. He brought the strip over to Chris and tied it around her arm and pulled it tight. He didn't want to leave her before she woke up because he was afraid she'd freak, so he went over to the phone with intentions of asking Otto to page some backup. Just as he had lifted the receiver, Dr. James came storming in. "What the HELL just..." he started and then stopped when he saw Chris lying on the floor. "THAT..." Hook said forcefully pointing at the lifeless body outside the window "SON OF A FLEA RIDDEN MONGROL BITCH JUST SHOT HER!!!" he said, all the rage he had felt a few minutes earlier and had lost to worrying, returning. "Oh...my" Dr. James said kneeling down to examine the damage. "I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU LET THAT SLIMEY OAF WATCH AFTER YOUR OFFICE FOR ANY AMOUNT OF TIME!" Hook screamed "I WOULD THINK YOU WOULD HAVE MORE SENSE DOCTOR!" Dr. James looked at him with an apologetic eye. "I didn't realize how much of a threat he was Hook, he seemed so dismayed by the loss of his job. But you must calm yourself Hook, I'm going to ask my secretary to call some backup in. Just sit tight." Dr. James left the room and Hook sat on the floor next to Chris smoothing her hair and wishing she would wake up. If she did, it would make him feel so much better, even though his medical logic told him she would be fine once the bullet was removed and she was properly bandaged. He knew that she was unconscious because of shock and nothing more, but it still made him uneasy.

Dr. James returned to the room.

"Dr. Havens is on his way with a gurney. Funny there aren't many doctors around today- if there weren't more important matters to tend to at the moment I would be making some phone calls."

"Who exactly?" asked Hook curiously

"Otto, Dr. Massingale, Dr. Traff, Christa, Abel, and Elmer , have all neglected to show up to work today, and none of them have bothered to call in. Seems odd doesn't it? And it's especially uncharacteristic of Christa and Abel to miss a day of work."

"Yes, yes it does." Hook said. Of course Hook had a suspicion as to why they weren't at work, but some things were probably better kept to himself.

"Anyway, I have to go take care of the little Steg issue. Some passerby's saw him fly out the window and have alerted the media. I have to go quiet things down a bit until I know the whole story, and maybe drag the poor chap to the side of the road so he doesn't get ran over by anything."

"Oh wouldn't that be a shame?!" Hook said coldly...

Part 6

The party at the Mill Street bar was awoken suddenly by the bartender at about 1:30, who walked around with a jug of ice cold water pouring it on each member of the ensemble. "Yo, guys I'd wake up- check the news." He said pointing to the TV as they woke up in a start rather cranky. They all drew their attention to the TV and watched startled as they saw that the reporter was in a place that looked strangely like the Kingdom parking lot.

"Good afternoon, I'm Penny Lane and I'm on site at Kingdom Hospital where some very odd events have just occurred. Lewiston residents report that at roughly 12:30 this afternoon gun shots were heard from the inside of Kingdom Hospital, and moments later a doctor was thrown through the first floor window with a gun in hand. Dr. Jesse James the current manager of Kingdom Hospital cannot give us details at this time but we will be following this story closely as the day progress's. More during the 3:00 news hour with Liberty Bell."

The ensemble all looked shocked. They all stared at each other and in unison declared "Stegman!" They all got up and ran out of the bar without a second glance at the bartender. "WAIT!" he called after them "YOU ALL OWE ME $89.95!" Mrs. Druse turned around and called back "Can we use IOU's?" and without waiting for an answer turned around and ran with the others. The bartender sighed and began cleaning up.

The dash from the Mill Street bar, across the street to the Kingdom parking lot was a long one for all. The questions they had ran through their mind and worried them. Who if anyone had been shot?, Was he or she ok...or were they..., and what more damage could Steg cause if he had a gun, or was Steg killed when he flew through the window?

They all made it to the parking lot and stopped staring at the scene. Dr, James was half dragging, half carrying Steg across the parking lot while the news reporters desperately tried to get information from any one who might have witnessed the event, whether it be the shooting, or the "flying doctor". Lona ran up to Dr. James. "What happened?! Who got shot, are they ok? Is...he...ok?" she asked nudging Steg with her toe slightly. Dr. James stared at her, about to ask where the heck they all were, but decided that it wouldn't be the right time. "Steg got a little pissed at Hook, and I think he was going to shoot him, but Chris got in front. Anyway, the bullet only hit her in the shoulder so it looks like she'll be ok. Hook is with her in my office. Dr. Havens is on his way, if not already there with a stretcher. She'll have the bullet removed, her arm bandaged up and she should be up and around by next week." The group looked shocked. They all glanced at Steg with murderous eyes and then back up at James. "That lousy no good oaf!, If I were his mother..." Mrs. Druse said. Dr. James turned to her, then looked at the rest of the group for the first time noticing Peter. "Oh...MY...wha?" He said astounded "I...um...hmm...I thought...erm...well...I guess I don't know what I thought." Peter grinned slightly. All of a sudden, Stegman stirred and the group backed up slightly not sure they should cross his path, and for the first time in his life, Dr. James felt stupid. In the chaos of the event, he had totally forgotten that Stegman still had the gun in his hand. He had meant to remove it when he dragged him to the side of the road, but having the M.I.A staff show up with two patients, one who was supposed to be in a coma, demanding to know what happened had distracted him from his intentions. Now, there was no safe way to retrieve the gun, and he knew that Stegman posed a serious threat with it in hand. They all sat and watched with bated breath as Steg stood up, and looked around. "YOU...ALL OF YOU- HOOKS MINIONS!!!! I'M GONNA KILL ALL OF YOU, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU- STARTING WITH THAT MEDDLESOM, MALINGURING, MEUCHHAUSIN HYPO-FREAKIN-CHONDRIAC DRUSE!!!!!!!!!!" Dr. James stepped in front of the group. "Now Doctor, let's be reasonable, let's try to work this out in a professional manner." Stegman looked at James with a menacing expression on his face that almost made Dr. James back off. "NO, I WANT TO END THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL. THESE PEOPLE- ALL OF THEM HAVE COST ME MY JOB, MY CAR, AND MY SANITY!, KINDLY MOVE OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL MAKE YOU MOVE!!" Dr. James stood firm. Stegman, with a look of rage raised his fist and threw a punch at Dr. James. He fell backward into the group and Peter caught him before he hit the ground. "DR. STEGMAN STOP THIS FOOLISHNESS RIGHT NOW!" Mrs. Druse said firmly. "ALL OF YOU." Stegman said raising the gun and aiming it right at Mrs. Druse...