I get her up and I sit her on the couch. I gesture to her side. "Let me take a look at that." She nods and moves her hand away from her side. I lift her shirt high enough to see the gash that the bullet left. "It doesn't look like the bullet is still inside. but this cut needs stitches before you lose too much blood."

She nods and says, "Stitches are kind of in short supply nowadays. Let alone in this shitty town."

I say, "Do you know where I might be able to get some?"

She shakes her head. "Not that I can think of."

I sigh. "There is one more thing that I can do as a quick fix." She looks at me confused and I say, "Do you have a fire poker?"

She nods. "Over there by the fire pit."

I nod and go over to the makeshift fire pit on the other side of the room. I set the tip of the poker in the hot coals of the fire. I let it sit. Hannah watches me as I do this. I take it out once it is red hot. I give her a washcloth. "Here. Bite down on this. I'm not gonna lie. this is going to be excruciatingly painful."She nods and bites down on the cloth. She gives me a thumbs up and I say, "1...2..." I press the red hot metal to her skin and I run it along the cut until the skin is closed around the cut. I get a bandage and I quickly wrap her side until the cut is completely covered. the entire time Hannah is making noises of extreme pain through the cloth. I sit down on the couch. "There. I'm done now."

She slowly sits up and takes the cloth out of her mouth. "What in the fuck...happened to three?"

I shrug. "I've heard that it hurts less if it is a surprise."

She looks at me. "That is complete bullshit."

I shrug, "Eh...worth a shot."

She smiles at me and chuckles. "Thanks..."

I shake my head. "Don't mention it. just take time to let that heal"

She nods, "I'll do my best, but those raiders won't stop to let me heal."

I nod, "You let me worry about that. for now, just get some rest." She nods reluctantly and starts to go to sleep. I sit next to her and I watch the door with my pistol in my hand.

-TIME SKIP-

She wakes up the next morning and sees me looking at the door. "Did you sleep?" I simply shake my head. She sighs but nods in understanding.

I shift to look at her. Let me take a look at that wound again. I take off the bandage carefully and I examine the wound. I sigh as it looks like it is infected. "You're going to need antibiotics or else the infection will spread. Is there a doctor or medical place I can take you to?"

She nods. "The Brotherhood of Steel has a med bay that they can treat me in."

I nod and get up. "Come on then, you need to get treated as soon as possible."

She attempts to get up, only to have searing pain knock her back on her ass. "Shit, fucking hurts."

I kneel down to her level, "I know, but we have to get you to that med bay. come on, grab my arm." I help her off of the couch and I let her lean on my shoulder as we walk down the street.

She points to the last house on the right side of the street. "That one, that's the building their using as a hospital of sorts."

I nod and make a b-line for that building. when we walk through the door we are immediately met by a couple of brotherhood doctors. one takes Hannah and helps her to one of the beds and the other talks to me, "What happened to her?"

I look at the doctor. "She was shot, well, the bullet went through her side, I don't think any vital organs were hit."

She nods as she writes down everything I've said. "When and where did this happen?"

I nod and say, "Last night at her place, here in town."

She nods and says, "Alright, we'll take it from here, thank you for bringing her in."

she tries to usher me out the door but I stop her. "Wait, She's my partner, I mean, as in, we are working a case together."

She rolls her eyes, "We will update you on her condition when we..."

she is interrupted by the other doctor, "Doctor Lambert? The patient that just came in, Knight Hannah Turner, she wishes that this man be present." Doctor Lambert nods and lets me passed.

I follow the other doctor to where Hannah is. one of the nurses is properly stopping the bleeding. "Keep talking Knight Turner. you're still losing a good amount of blood so we need to keep you awake."

I kneel down to Hannah's level. "Hey Hannah, I'm here. It's Brian."

She smiles and says, "Hey, I'm in pretty bad shape aren't I?"

I look at her, "Nah just a little bit of medical treatment and you'll be right as rain." She smiles and begins to drift off, "Hey, Hannah, Why don't you tell me what you did before all this? Before the bombs fell."

She snaps awake at my words. "I...I was a waitress at a little diner that was stuck to the side of the Red Rocket Gas Station. That was all the way back when I was still living in Nevada."

I smile, "How did you survive out there?"

She looks at me, "Well, I was 17 at the time and my folks scored on the lottery. reserved spots in the local vault, for all of us. It was 10 years before the door opened again. We lived on the outside for a while. As things often do in this wasteland, It went bad pretty fast, Dad died protecting us from a Deathclaw...and mom...she died from radiation exposure three months after that."

She starts to tear up and I look down."I'm sorry for making you relive that. You've had a tough go of it."

She looks at me once again, "But hey, I came out if it stronger right?"

The doctor whispers to me that the blood has stopped and she can sleep now. I smile and say, "Yeah Hannah, you did. Go ahead and get some rest now."

I start to get up and she grabs my hand. "Stay here? at least until I fall asleep?"

I nod, "Go ahead and get some rest. I'll be right here." She nods and closes her eyes.

I sit back in my chair and I can't help but remember the time Sarah got sick and I sat by her bedside and spoonfed her chicken noodle soup. I smile and chuckle for a few seconds before shaking my head. I think to myself, "This is not like that, and She isn't your wife. You had your chance with a wife and kid. You didn't make sure that they got to safety. You lost them." I shake my head again and I start to drift off to sleep.