Part 8
Hook and Havens had just gotten Chris onto the stretcher and wheeled her out of James' office when the earthquake shook the building. They balanced themselves and held on tight to the stretcher so it would not go rolling down the hallway. Debris started raining down on them, and Hook feared that the roof would collapse on them in any minute. He wanted to try to get out of the hallway, but the hospital was shaking so bad that he didn't think he'd be able to move very well. If he had been alone, he certainly would have tried, but he feared if they tried to move the stretcher, the movement of the wheels and the shaking of the ground would be enough force to throw Chris off the stretcher. Instead he leaned over the stretcher, covering Chris with his body so anything that happened to fall would hit him rather than her, while Dr. Havens continued to hold it in place. "I thought Mrs. Druse fixed this problem!," Hook thought to himself. "Mary is supposed to be at peace, she's not supposed to be around to ring her bell...so what is causing this?!"
Finally, after a few more gruesome seconds that felt like hours, the earthquake stopped, and Dr. Havens and Hook were able to let go of the stretcher and inspect the damage. Hook hoped that they still had a clear path to the OR. The bit of Steg's coat that was tied around Chris' shoulder had soaked through and the blood was starting to drip again. If they didn't get her patched up soon, there would be problems. "Dr. Havens, could you go and make sure we can get to the OR? If we can't we're going to have to start digging and fast!" Hook said. Havens nodded and walked off. Hook leaned over Chris and kissed her cheek. "It'll be ok, I promise." He said. Just then, Chris' eyes opened and she looked into Hooks' eyes. When Hook saw this, a sense of comfort washed over him, if she was conscience then the bullet couldn't have hit any major arteries, and she wasn't loosing as much blood as he had feared. "How are you feeling?" he asked stroking her hair. "I'm a little light headed" she said, and then cringed as her shoulder began to throb. The look of pain on Chris' face made Hook remember the incident, and a wave of guilt washed over him. It could have and would have been him if it weren't for her. "I'm sorry" he said, as a tear spilled down his cheek. "W-why?" she asked and then moaned slightly as another throbbing pain washed over her. "It should have been me- if it weren't for you – I might be...thank you." He said. "It's ok" she said reaching up with her good arm and touched his cheek. "I love you, y-you think I'd let Steg hurt you if I could help it?" Hook wiped the tears from his eyes, bent down further, and gave Chris a kiss. Just then Dr. Havens came back. "The opening is clear, we can move her down." Hook sighed, and his fear slipped away from him slightly, as soon as Chris had a proper blood transfusion, and the bullet was removed, and the wound patched up, he was confident everything was going to be alright. "Dr. Havens, I'll take her down to the OR and set up, could you go down to the blood supply room and get me a bag of "O" blood?" Hook asked. "Of course." He said, and turned around and went off...
