Chris looked after Elmer as he hurried away, her worry slowly
building before turning to Hook. "He thinks I did something to Lona."
"Chris, Elmer's freaked right now." And Hook supposed that he couldn't really blame him. If it had been Chris that was missing, he was sure that he would be reacting as badly or worse. The idea of Elmer suspecting Chris did rankle with him but he did his best to push that feeling aside. Getting upset with the young man wouldn't help the situation any.
"He thinks that I...." Chris wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't in all honestly say that she didn't care about the money. With how poorly funded her research was and now with how Stegman kept rerouting all of her requests to other departments, she definitely needed it. If there was one thing that Chris had always envied Lona for it was her ability to get funding for the sleep lab. Now that that money was hers,
though.... It just felt wrong, like she was stealing it or something.
Lona had only been gone 24 hours, after all. How could Jesse just give away her hard earned project funding?
"Chris, this isn't your fault. Don't let it get to you, okay?"
Hook said as he reached out, drawing her into his arms as Stegman and Brenda both glared at them. He didn't care though. Chris was way more important than worrying about keeping the hospital peace.
"If I didn't take the money, who do you think Jesse would give it to?" Chris asked quietly.
"You're thinking about turning it down?" Hook said carefully,
making sure that his voice didn't betray a hint of his thoughts on which way she could go with the money. Chris worked hard and she deserved to have her research finally rewarded but at the same time he definately knew that the situation was very awkward for her with Lona's disappearance.
"I only got it because Lona disappeared." Chris said quietly. "It isn't like it was something that I earned, you know." As she thought about it, she felt her anger with Jesse starting to build up. "How can he give away Lona's money anyway?" Okay, so she got annoyed with how Lona seemed to rake in so much funding sometimes, had even made a few catty remarks in a fit of anger once that Lona had to be sleeping with someone at the top to get what she did. If she looked at it reasonably though, she knew that everything that Lona got was due to pure hard work and nothing else. And as a fellow researcher it definitely rankled to see Lona losing something she had earned through what appeared to be no fault of her own. "Why's Jesse giving up on Lona coming back so soon anyway?" A bit of suspicion of her own started to creep into her voice as she thought about it. Jesse knew that there were some odd things going on with Lona's disappearance so why was he seemingly accepting the resignation at face value?
"You know Jesse. He always likes to keep the hospital running smoothly and no bad publicity. If word gets out that one of the doctors has vanished...." Hook said with a shake of his head.
"True. So, who do you think he would give the money to if I don't take it. I really don't think I can. It's like admitting that Lona isn't coming back and she's only been gone 24 hours. That's just to early for me to give up on her." Chris said. Okay, she hated losing the money but it was just money. She could always try for funding that would be her own later.
"I hate to say it but he would probably give it to either Stegman or Brenda." Hook said with a grimace. He wouldn't tell Chris what to do or try to influence her decision in any way, though.
"And Lona would die if Steg got his hands on her money." Chris shook her head as she thought of how Lona would take that piece of news.
"Will you come help me find Elmer? I need to talk to him. He knows Lona and her research, Maybe I ought to let him decide what to do about the money."
"Chris, Elmer's freaked right now." And Hook supposed that he couldn't really blame him. If it had been Chris that was missing, he was sure that he would be reacting as badly or worse. The idea of Elmer suspecting Chris did rankle with him but he did his best to push that feeling aside. Getting upset with the young man wouldn't help the situation any.
"He thinks that I...." Chris wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't in all honestly say that she didn't care about the money. With how poorly funded her research was and now with how Stegman kept rerouting all of her requests to other departments, she definitely needed it. If there was one thing that Chris had always envied Lona for it was her ability to get funding for the sleep lab. Now that that money was hers,
though.... It just felt wrong, like she was stealing it or something.
Lona had only been gone 24 hours, after all. How could Jesse just give away her hard earned project funding?
"Chris, this isn't your fault. Don't let it get to you, okay?"
Hook said as he reached out, drawing her into his arms as Stegman and Brenda both glared at them. He didn't care though. Chris was way more important than worrying about keeping the hospital peace.
"If I didn't take the money, who do you think Jesse would give it to?" Chris asked quietly.
"You're thinking about turning it down?" Hook said carefully,
making sure that his voice didn't betray a hint of his thoughts on which way she could go with the money. Chris worked hard and she deserved to have her research finally rewarded but at the same time he definately knew that the situation was very awkward for her with Lona's disappearance.
"I only got it because Lona disappeared." Chris said quietly. "It isn't like it was something that I earned, you know." As she thought about it, she felt her anger with Jesse starting to build up. "How can he give away Lona's money anyway?" Okay, so she got annoyed with how Lona seemed to rake in so much funding sometimes, had even made a few catty remarks in a fit of anger once that Lona had to be sleeping with someone at the top to get what she did. If she looked at it reasonably though, she knew that everything that Lona got was due to pure hard work and nothing else. And as a fellow researcher it definitely rankled to see Lona losing something she had earned through what appeared to be no fault of her own. "Why's Jesse giving up on Lona coming back so soon anyway?" A bit of suspicion of her own started to creep into her voice as she thought about it. Jesse knew that there were some odd things going on with Lona's disappearance so why was he seemingly accepting the resignation at face value?
"You know Jesse. He always likes to keep the hospital running smoothly and no bad publicity. If word gets out that one of the doctors has vanished...." Hook said with a shake of his head.
"True. So, who do you think he would give the money to if I don't take it. I really don't think I can. It's like admitting that Lona isn't coming back and she's only been gone 24 hours. That's just to early for me to give up on her." Chris said. Okay, she hated losing the money but it was just money. She could always try for funding that would be her own later.
"I hate to say it but he would probably give it to either Stegman or Brenda." Hook said with a grimace. He wouldn't tell Chris what to do or try to influence her decision in any way, though.
"And Lona would die if Steg got his hands on her money." Chris shook her head as she thought of how Lona would take that piece of news.
"Will you come help me find Elmer? I need to talk to him. He knows Lona and her research, Maybe I ought to let him decide what to do about the money."