Doug sat in the waiting room once again at County General Hospital. He was worried about Tom's condition because he was having such a hard time breathing in the park. He knew that he also had some internal injuries as well. But one good thing was that he had his memory back. Tom Hanson was back and he couldn't lose him now.
Doug was interrupted from his thoughts when someone put their hand on his shoulder. "How's he doing Penhall?" Judy sat down beside him and handed him a cup of coffee. "Thought you could use this."
Doug took the steaming cup and took a sip. "Thanks Jude." Fuller and Ioki also took a seat near the exhausted officer. "He didn't look so good. I think he had a few broken ribs and he was coughing up blood." Doug sighed and took another sip of his coffee. "We were in a bar and he was trying to buy coke from this guy named Craig." Doug shrugged as the other officers looked at him with shocked expressions on their faces. "He thought he was Tom McQuaid and needed a fix. Anyway, I tried to arrest this Craig fellow and he put up a fight and took off. Tom took off after him and they ended up in the park."
Fuller looked at Doug and could see the pain cross his features. "What else happened Doug?"
Doug sat his coffee down onto the table in front of him. "Craig started punching and kicking Tommy and then he held a gun to his head and threatened to kill him if I didn't let him go." Judy let out a small gasp as Doug continued. "Then he hit him over the head with the gun. Tom blacked out and I tried to get Craig to give himself up. Tom woke up long enough to knock him out. I don't know where he got the strength, but he gave him quite a whooping." Doug let a small smile pass his lips at this thought.
Ioki noticed the smile that played on Doug's face. He could just picture the younger officer gathering enough strength to kick Craig's ass. "How was he when he came in here?"
Doug's smile quickly faded. "He was having a hard time breathing and then he lost consciousness and never woke back up on the ride over in the ambulance." Doug remembered something else he had to tell his friends. "By the way, he remembers who he is."
Fuller, Judy and Ioki looked at him. "What? He got his memory back? He knows that he's Tom Hanson, not Tommy McQuaid?" Doug nodded and smiled at the thought. "How did he get his memory back?" Judy asked.
Doug shrugged, "I don't know… maybe the blow to his head?"
Just then the doctor came through the emergency room doors. It was Doctor Shepherd, who had seen Tom just the other night. "Hi, would you all follow me please? We can go over here and talk where it's a bit more private." The officers followed him over to the other end of the waiting room.
Doug spoke up first. "How is he Doctor Shepherd?"
Doctor Shepherd sat his charts down and looked at the officers. "Well, he just came out of surgery. He had 3 broken ribs and a punctured lung. He also had a ruptured spleen that we had to remove. He suffered some internal bleeding as well."
The Jump Street officers sat in silence as they listened to the list of Tom's injuries. "He's going to be okay though, right Doctor?" Judy couldn't believe that Tom had suffered so much.
Doctor Shepherd nodded. "Yes, he should recover fully from his injuries. Right now though, we put him into an induced coma so that his body can heal. He's gone through a traumatic beating and he needs to remain in the coma for a while to get better." He sighed and continued, "He's also on a respirator right now until he can breathe on his own."
They were all quiet for a moment until Doug spoke up, "Can we see him? I don't want him to be alone." Doug couldn't believe all that Tom had been through during the last few days. He definitely didn't want Tom to be alone at this time. "I need to be there with him."
Doctor Shepherd stood up and motioned for them to follow. "Of course. Just don't be alarmed when you see him. Everything in the room is there to help him get better." He led the officers down the short hallway to room 245. "Talk to him too. He can hear you and it will help keep him calm."
Doug was the first to enter Tom's room. He couldn't help the gasp that escaped him as he saw his friend lying on the hospital bed. He looked so fragile lying there… so still, yet surprisingly peaceful. Doug walked over and sat down in the chair beside Tom's bed. He gently took Tom's hand and gave it a squeeze. "We're all here Tom. Fuller, Jude, Ioki and me." He leaned in bit and whispered into Tom's ear, "I told you that I would get you out of there. You're safe now and I'm not leaving until you get better Thomas Hanson." With that Doug sat back in his chair beside Tom and kept a close watchful eye over his friend for the rest of the evening.