I haven't stolen them, I'm borrowing without permission, with every intention of giving them back (well, maybe!)
Ok folks, I had a hard time writing these chapters, and all the medical stuff is probably way off, but hey, I never claimed to be a doctor ;0)
When Fuller arrived at the hospital, Penhall, Hoffs and Booker were in the waiting room. Judy was wringing her hands and twisting her hair around her fingers in turn, while Dennis paced restlessly around the room wishing he had a cigarette, his injured arm now secure in a cast. Doug sat quietly staring at the bloody brown leather jacket in his hands.
"Any news?" Fuller asked
"No, not yet" Dennis answered grateful for the distraction. "He's been in there for just over an hour so it might be a while yet.
"He looked bad didn't he?" Hoffs said, almost too softly to hear. "Through the whole thing he looked bad."
"I didn't know Hanson was even capable of raising his voice" Booker said, a slight attempt at humor. Then more seriously "What's been going on guys? I never thought I'd see him like that"
"I did once" Judy said, "After Amy was killed. He totaly lost control. It was awful, but it was still Hanson. This was scary, he was so angry, so full of hate, and so calm aswell. That look in his eyes! It was like Hanson wasn't there anymore."
"He looked at me like I was dirt" Doug said suddenly as he twisted Tom's jacket in his hands. His face was so full of hurt it nearly broke Fullers heart.
"Don't think too much on it Doug. He had alot of steam to let off. I can't begin to imagine what it's like to carry that much hurt alone for so long."
"What if he doesn't make it?" Judy said.
"What if he does!"
"What are you saying Booker?" Fuller asked
"He's not right. How could you all have missed it?"
This comment was met with stoney looks from Doug and Judy, who had been asking themselves that same question.
"He was right though" Doug began, "We were so stupid, thinking we could get him out of that place and everything would just be ok."
"We'll deal with that when he wakes up" Fuller said, not wanting to raise their hopes but unable to even contemplate the alternative. "Let's just concentrate on him pulling through."
The hours slowly slipped by. Judy slept fitfully while Dennis, after calling Elaine to see if she could keep Clavo with her for the time being, kept bringing everyone endless cups of coffee, just to keep busy. Fuller left them to tell Mrs Hanson what had happened. Doug sat staring at the door willing a doctor to walk through with news.
The three young officers waited in silence until they were rejoined by Fuller, accompanied by a very anxious and distraught Margaret Hanson. Fuller and Judy tried to comfort her. She had lost her husband to the police force and now faced with the prospect of losing her only child she wasn't coping too well.
News eventually came as one of the surgeons entered the waiting room.
"How is he?" Doug asked as they all crowded round.
"Are you all family?" he asked.
"Yes" replied Judy, "This is Tom's mother" she said placing a supportive arm around Mrs Hanson.
"I'm afraid Officer Hanson slipped into a coma en route to the hospital. When a body suffers trauma and blood loss of this magnetude it goes into shock, shuts down all but the basic functions required to survive...". He continued to talk, but his words were lost on the group surrounding him. They had heard it all before over a year ago, only then it had been Harry lying there. Now it was Tom's turn, and they were all lost in their private grief wondering if this time fate would be so kind.
"Mrs Hanson, your son has suffered major internal bleeding. The blood from his abdonminal wounds were flooding his lungs and acid from his stomach was leaking into his blood stream."
Mrs Hanson gasped, and all the colour vanished from her face.
"We were able to drain the fluid from his lungs and stop the bleeding and leaking from the wound in his stomach, but he has sustained serious internal damage. The bullets went straight through,however his kidneys are badly bruised, and five of his ribs are broken, three of which have perferated his right lung. We've put him on a respirator to assist his breathing and we're monitoring his kidney functions. Also we've had to give him a blood transfusion, get rid of all the poison from the stomach acid. We've done all we can at this point. The rest is up to him."
"Is he going to be ok, Doctor?" Fuller asked, giving voice to all their fears.
"It's too early to tell." he replied
"He's strong. He'll pull through" Doug said defiantly, all the while going over the list of injuries and wondering how the hell he could have continued standing.
"Can I see him?" Mrs Hanson asked tearfully.
"Not just yet I'm afraid. The doctors in ICU are still working on him. It could be a while yet. When you do see him, don't be alarmed, everything is there to look after him." he said to Margaret kindly. "You should all go home and get some rest, he's in good hands"
After alot of persuasion Mrs Hanson agreed to home with Judy. Doug had refused to leave and promised to call her as soon as there was anymore news. Fuller and Booker went in search of Harry, leaving Doug to pace the hallways alone.
Harry did his best to ignore the insecant banging on his door, but Fuller and Booker weren't taking no for an answer.
"How's Tom?" Harry asked as they stepped through the door.
"He's in bad shape Harry" Fuller said kindly.
Harry nodded his head and said "I'm resigning from the force"
"You're what!" Booker burst out.
"Dennis!" Fuller barked, hushing the younger man. "You've been through a tough ordeal Harry, don't make any rash desicions".
"It's not a rash desicion Captian. I've been thinking about it for a while. Last night just made up my mind. I'm tired of risking my life. I almost died because I allowed myself to be put in dangerous situations. Now one of my best friends is dying because of it. I'm done!"
"Harry, it wasn't your fault, and Tom's not dead yet!"
"If I had been concentrating on the job instead of trying to hurt him, Tom would be here right now."
"Harry..." Fuller began
"I'm done with it"
"Are you sure Harry?"
"Im sure Captain"
"Will you come to the hospital to see Tommy?" Dennis snapped
"I can't"
"Fine" Booker said turning towards the door.
"Think about it Harry, please." Fuller said as he followed Booker out the door. As he watched them go Harry ran his hands roughly through his long black hair as stinging tears came flowing freely form his tired eyes.
Doug was woken early the next day by Judy standing over him.
"Haven't you been home yet Penhall?"
"No. I can't" he said. Then as he noticed the reproachful look on Judy's face he said "I'm alright. These chairs are surprisinginly comfy." and offered her a tired smile. "How's Mrs Hanson?"
"At home. Fuller and Clavo were looking after her. Clavo got a bit too much for her I think so he's at your place with Booker, little guy seems to have taken a liking to him. I promised her we'd call if there was any chance of seeing him today. She' s not coping and this isn't the best place for her. This isn't the best place for you either."
"Tom needs us." he said simply.
"I know you don't want to hear this Doug, but the only people he needs right now are the doctors. There's nothing you can do. Look at the state of you. Go home, see Clavo, get some proper rest and a shower". It wasn't until she said this that he noticed that he was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing last night and that they were covered in Tom's blood, and he should take care of Calvo. So reluctantly he agreed and left for home trusting Judy to watch over Hanson.
Clavo rushed at him as soon as he walked through the door and threw his arms round his waist. Doug picked him up with a tired smile.
"Hey four footer! You been causing Dennis loadsa trouble I hope."
"Nah, he's a great kid" Dennis said, "so, whats happening?"
"Nothing. Still no change."
"He'll pull through. Listen, do you want me to stay?"
"No, it's ok, I should get some rest."
"Well if you change your mind..."
"Thanks"
"Well, I'll see ya buddy" Booker said smiling at Clavo.
"Adios Dennis"
"Thanks for watching him man" Doug said as Dennis walked towards the door.
"No problem. At least it was something I could do."
After getting Judy's call a couple of hours later, Doug bundled Clavo into his truck and headed back to the hospital. As he walked into the waiting room he was met by Hoffs, Booker and Sal who were all sat waiting impatiently.
"What's going on?" Doug asked
"The doctors say we can see him. Only a few at a time, obviously" Jude said smiling faintly.
"His mom and Fuller are in at the moment but she said to send you and Judy in when you got here" Booker said.
The nurse led them down a brightly lit corridor to small private room halfway down.
"Remember, don't be too alarmed" the nurse said kindly as she showed them in.
As they stepped through the door they smiled in greeting to Mrs Hanson and their comanding officer and then looked in distress at the sight of their friend, Judy stiffled a sob as a flood of memories came rushing in. The room was filled with the sounds of beeping and whirring machinery and the wheezing sound of the respirator that were helping to keep Tom alive. They could hardly make out their friend underneath the heavy bedclothes and wires from the various machines. blood transfusion and IV. His delecate features hidden behind the mask of the respirator. Margaret was talking quietly to him and stroking his long shaggy hair away from his forehead.
"Hi guys." Margaret said as they stood beside the bed opposite her. "Hey Tommy, look who's here, it's Doug and Judy."
Judy moved closer to the bed and took hold of Tom's hand. "Hey, Hanson" she began, "I know Fuller said you'd better really be ill to phone in sick, but this is taking it a bit far"
"All you had to do for some time off Tom, was ask." Fuller said trying to sound cheerful.
"Talk to him Doug" Mrs Hanson said, "The doctors say it's good for him to hear familiar voices."
Doug gave her an uncertain look. When Harry had been in the hospital he had known just what to say. It had been natural, like talking to Harry as he had always done. This was different. It was like being in a room with a stranger. Underneath everything, it looked like the same guy, but everything that made him Tom seemed to have disappeared. Looking at him, all he could see was the afwull bloody wounds he had discovered when he had pulled back his jacket.
"Hey Tom" he said finally. "Sorry I haven't been here, but Detecetive Jude confined me to barracks for the day. Anyway, probably a good thing huh? Waking up to my ugly mug would be enough to give a guy a heatattack" Then he pulled out a homemade card and put it by the side of the bed. "Clavo made this for you. He's outside wanting to see you". He looked across at Judy and said "Harry's real sorry he's not here. Doctors orders." Judy's eyes met Dougs and she saw the pain radiating from them. She knew how close Doug and Tom had become over the years and knew all too well what they had been through together. Sure, you couldn't find two more different people if you tried, and they often drove each other to distraction. But beneath it all they had a rock solid and caring freindship. If one of them hurt the other bled for him, and if one was happy the other would laugh along too. These two shared a strong bond that noone was able to get between. Judy sometimes envied them thier friendship, but seeing the hurt and worry in Dougs eyes as he watched his desperatly ill friend she didn't begrudge them a second of it. She was suddenly angry at Harry for not being here to help her support Doug in the absence of his best friend.
"This isn't right" Judy said desicively. "He should be here. We should all be together." Then with a look of steely determination she said "And I'm going to make sure of it. I'll see you later Hanson" she said as she bent down to kiss his forhead. "I'll be back soon" she said to the others and she dashed from the room.
"Hoffs!" Fuller shouted after her.
"Come on open your eyes" Mrs Hanson said tears begining to fill her tired eyes. Fuller walked over and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned her tear streaked face to him and said, "Parent's shouldn't have to bury their children."
"Hey" he said kneeling down and looking into her face, "Tom's much tougher than he looks. Takes after his mother. He'll pull through."
As he said this he met Doug's gaze and they both turned their eyes to Tom, knowing they're were no guarantees. As he looked at Tom, Doug had another flash of the blood pooling beneath Hanson as he had tried to stop the bleeding, and thought "You'd better Tommy" as he watched Fuller turn his attention back to Mrs Hanson.
