Chris looked up, face wet with tears as Louis poked his head in.
All she wanted was to be alone with Hook right now but she knew that the
others were just trying to take care of her. She hated to push them away.
She didn't speak, didn't know what she could say. She turned her gaze from
Louis back down to Hook once more, tightening her grip on his hand, as if
by that she could somehow hold him there, somehow keep him with her a bit
longer.
"Chris, why don't you come with me, go down to one of the lounges or something? There's nothing that you can do here and Hook wouldn't want you to be putting yourself through this." He told her gently. He couldn't even bring himself to look at Hook, to see the full extent of the damage that Stegman had done. He shook his head as he thought of it, anger building. Hook was so young with his whole life ahead of him and his relationship with Chris.... Okay, the two hadn't exactly declared publicly their involvement yet but anyone who could see them together knew how deeply in love they were. For all of that to be taken away.... Louis could barely remember being in love himself, had tried to forget it due to the bad memories it stirred but he did know true love when he saw it and Chris and Hook had had that. "Chris? Please, let us help you now, okay?"
"I can't leave him." Chris said as she shook her head. She knew,
of course, that there was absolutely no chance that Hook would wake up but
a part of her clung deep down to the thought that maybe he could. Maybe
they would get a miracle and he would open his eyes and be okay. Maybe.
Would Stegman really lobotomize Hook, after all? Surely he knew that he
would never get away with it.
"Chris, in Hook's condition, he doesn't know you're here." Louis told the young woman gently. He didn't want to completely crush any hopes that she might still be clinging to but he knew they needed to be realistic. "I'm so sorry but with the damage he sustained...."
"You know, Peter Rickman was supposed to have a one in a million chance of recovery and look at him." Chris knew, of course, that Peter wasn't totally recovered but he was so far beyond where he should have been with his injuries.... Why couldn't she have hope that Hook would get a similar miracle? She reached out and gently touched Hook's face, trying to ignore the wires and tubes attached to him. Things just couldn't end like this for them. She had just found Hook and there was no way that she was ready to say goodbye to him.
"Chris...." Louis paused before speaking. He hadn't thought of what had happened with Peter Rickman before but now that Chris had brought it up.... They had no idea how he had managed to recover to the degree he had, though, so after a moment Louis sadly dismissed what he had been thinking. There was no way they could try anything similar if they didn't know what had helped the artist. "Chris, Peter Rickman was as close to a miracle as we can get. Hook, though.... I just don't think that's going to happen here. The damage is worse, to begin with, and.... I'm so sorry." Louis didn't know what else he could say, not without totally devastating Chris. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, not knowing what else to do. He couldn't bring himself to look at Hook.
"I'm not giving up." Chris said quietly. If she had been in this condition, she knew that Hook wouldn't give up on her. How could she do any less for him. "Do whatever you have to to get the records for that surgery." She told Louis firmly. She wiped at her eyes, forcing the tears threatening to fall back. She wasn't going to do this, wasn't going to just give up on Hook. Not without one heck of a fight.
"Chris...." Louis shook his head. "Chris, don't do this to yourself. Hook wouldn't want you to...."
"Hook wouldn't give up on me if I was in this condition. How could I give up on him without trying? So, are you going to get me those records or do I have to go and find them myself?" Chris said, deadly determination in her voice as she spoke.
"I'll get them, but Chris...."
"I know what I'm doing, Louis. I know what I have to do." Chris wasn't angry with him, was glad that he cared but she knew that she needed to do this. "Just please get the records and go and find Mrs, Druse. Ask her to come down here." Sally had been helping them with the situation with Peter and little Mary. Maybe she could help them with this situation as well. There had to be a way to fix this. Chris couldn't loose him.