He understood Chris's desire to see Hook no matter how severe his injuries were but he definitely wasn't convinced that this was a good idea at all.
If it had just been trauma from the injury, that would be one thing but with what Stegman had done.... Taking Chris to view what amounted to butchery just seemed needlessly cruel.
"Chris, you really don't need to see this." Lona said gently, her eyes full of worry as she watched her friend. Alternating waves of grief and anger had been running over the young woman's face ever since she got the news and Lona was more than a bit concerned. The sight of Hook's injury had been almost too much for them to take so she couldn't imagine how much worse this would be for Chris.
"I have to see him." Chris shook her head as she spoke. How could they keep trying to keep her from Hook's bedside? She didn't care how bad it was! Hook was the man that she loved and she was going to be there for him when he.... She felt a sob welling up deep in her throat as she realized she had been about to think that she wanted to be there when he died. No, no this couldn't.... He couldn't die! If she lost him....
"Chris, please listen to us." Louis told her as they stopped in front of the door to a hospital room. "All three of us have seen him and the damage to his head.... Chris, it's very bad. Hook would not want you to have to go through seeing him like that. He loved you too much to put you through something like that. Please, just listen to us and don't go in there, okay? Remember him like he was." Louis closed his eyes as he spoke. It felt so odd talking about Hook as if he was already dead when he knew that the man was still breathing in the next room but after what Stegman had done, he also knew that the essential parts of Hook might as well be dead.
"I don't care! I want to see him!" Chris shouted. Why did they keep doing this, trying to keep her away from him? "Now are you going to get out of my way or...."
"Maybe it isn't that bad now." Elmer said as he broke in. Okay, he
definitely knew why his father and Lona were trying to keep Chris away.
Their view of Hook right after the surgery with all of the swelling, his
head covered in bloody bandages and tubes and wires everywhere, was more
than a little gross. At the same time, though, he kind of understood why
Chris wanted to see him. He would have given anything to see his mom and
brother one final time while they were still alive. He was surprised that
his dad didn't understand that. Of course, his dad had gotten to see his
mom when she was still sort of alive so.... "Maybe he looks a lot better
now?"
Louis looked doubtful but he could see from the expression on Chris's face that his son's words had given her a tiny bit of hope. How could he take that away from her? He reached out and slowly pushed the door open. "Alright but if...."
"Just let me be alone with him." Chris said as she stepped through the doorway, firmly closing it in the other three doctors' faces. She didn't want to be rude but right now all she wanted was to be alone with Hook.
Chris had to bite her tongue to keep from gasping aloud at the
sight of him. The respirator wasn't frightening to her, of course, not
after seeing countless patients attached to one. Even the tube running
from his head, attached to a pressure monitor was sort of okay. The really
alarming thing, though, was the swelling. His face was puffed up, his
features almost unrecognizable due to it, his eyes swollen so much that
even if he hadn't been in a coma, she doubted that he could open them.
What was even more alarming, though, were the bandages on his head, the
shape beneath appearing more than a bit distorted, not like a normal head
shape at all.
"Honey?" Chris forced herself to take a deep breath, to try to calm down, before she spoke. People in comas could sometimes still hear and.... Panic washed over her. Hook was in more than a coma though, his brain had been butchered and.... No, no, no! She couldn't let herself think like that. Think of Peter Rickman. He had been in bad shape and now look at how well he was doing. She couldn't let herself give in to fear now, not when Hook needed her to be strong, to help him somehow.
"Honey?" She reached out, gently taking his hand as she settled into the chair at his bedside. "Hook, it's Chris. I'm right here with you." She shook her head, forcing herself to laugh slightly. "You know, I know you wanted to get the goods on Stegman but you really didn't have to do that this way, you know. It's going to be okay, honey, I promise. I'm going to stay right here with you and take care of you. You're going to be fine. You just have to try to fight this for me. I love you."