After a quick stop at the restroom, Matt makes his way down the hall and sees the others are being led to another room. He follows them and enters the prep area just as Karen is helping Brooklyn onto the table. Brooklyn isn't saying anything, but it's obvious from the look on his face that the gargoyle isn't happy.
As Brooklyn lies back on the cold surface, Gwen squeezes past Matt into the area. The officer watches her as she takes a prepared syringe from another tech and he can see that the hair around her face is damp. Since her color is pretty much back to normal it's apparent that she washed her face before facing them again.
"Ok, Brooklyn, this is just like before," Gwen reminds the red gargoyle as she steps up to him and cleans a spot on his arm. "Let the drug do its job and don't fight it. It'll be a lot less disorienting."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Brooklyn grumbles, flinching slightly as the needles slides into his muscle. "But I still don't like how it makes me feel."
"I know," she smiles sadly as she pulls the needle out of him and then gently lays a hand on his shoulder. "It'll all be over soon, so just relax and think about tomorrow night."
"Who's going to take my stitches out?" he asks, looking at her even though the edges of his vision are already starting to get blurry.
"I'll figure out some way to get to you tomorrow night," she answers. "But even if I can't make it; the stitches will dissolve in a couple of days. They'll just itch until they are out."
"Right, itch," he mutters with a bit of a hum, as his eyelids start to droop. "Itching bad."
"Rest now," she softly instructs as her hand slips off of his shoulder. "It'll be over before you know it."
"Stay!" he demands as he roughly grabs her arm, accidentally scratching her in the process.
"Ok, I'll stay," she assures him and gives a small sigh of relief when his grip loosens slightly.
"Good," he mumbles as his eyelids become even heavier. "Friend stays."
With a contented sigh he relaxes and a couple minutes later his entire body sags as the drug completes its job and puts him to sleep. Gwen gently lifts the arm that's hanging over the side of the table and delicately lays it across his stomach. She ushers the others out of the room as the techs move in to get Brooklyn prepped for surgery.
"Are you ok?" Matt asks in concern as they step into the treatment area, eyeing the blood trickling down her arm.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," she answers as she takes a closer look at her arm. "Because of the drugs, he didn't know how hard he was hurting me. He probably thought he was barely touching me. Good thing he got the arm that Angela didn't get or I might have been a little less than calm when he grabbed it. At least my bandages will match."
"Where are you going?" Matt questions as she starts to leave the room.
"I'm going to get my bag so I can get this cleaned up," she replies, looking back over her shoulder at him. "I'll be back in a bit. Just hang out here until they move him and then Elisa and Lex can show you were the observation window is."
Before Matt can offer to help, she's gone and he's left standing there with the others waiting for them to finish with Brooklyn. Several minutes later, the techs are carefully wheeling Brooklyn out of the prep area and down the hall. Elisa, Matt, Hudson and Lex follow them until the table is pushed through another set of doors into the waiting hands of the techs in the OR.
Elisa leads the others to the large window looking into the OR and they silently watch as the new set of techs finishes getting Brooklyn ready. A minute later, Gwen and Kevin appear in the hallway with him wearing his operating scrubs, her carrying a chair and fresh bandages on both forearms. Gwen wishes Kevin luck as he pushes through the OR doors and then joins the others at the window, setting the chair down next to Lex.
"Why aren't you in there, lass?" Hudson asks, looking down on the small woman. "I thought you were his doctor."
"I am, but Drs. Fitzgerald and Taylor are much better surgeons than I am and I don't normally work with hardware like this," Gwen answers, looking up at the much older being.
"So what were you doing in there the other night?" Lex questions from his perch on the chair.
"I was playing twenty-two pick up," she replies, turning her attention to the small gargoyle.
"Twenty-two pick up?" Matt inquires.
"That's how many bone fragments I picked out of Brooklyn's wing," she states as she turns her attention back to the operating room. "Dr. Taylor put the hardware in, I just watched."
Before anyone can ask anything else, the sound of a power tool being used draws everyone's eyes back to what's happening in the operating room. They watch as Kevin meticulously removes all of the hardware from Brooklyn's wing. Removing the metal bits from Brooklyn's wing takes a lot less time than putting them in did, so before they know it, Kevin is stitching up his work. Shortly after he's done suturing up the gargoyle, Kevin strips off his surgical gloves and then exits the OR.
"Man, I wish all of my patients healed that quickly," Kevin states as he pulls his mask down. "Lot less chance for complications."
"Then the lad will be alright then?" Hudson asks.
"You'll have to ask Gwen to be sure, but if he continues to heal like he's been doing, he'll be fine," Kevin answers. "I'm going to go get cleaned up. They should be bringing him out soon."
Kevin leaves and the others turn towards Gwen.
"As long as no one else drops anything else on that wing, he'll be fine," Gwen assures them. "We can wait for him in the recovery room."
When they enter the recovery area, they can see that someone has already laid the mat out on the floor for Brooklyn. A couple minutes later, a couple techs push a gurney through the double doors with familiar red figure on it. Gwen helps the techs lower him onto the mat and once he's settled with the warm air blanket on top of him, she sits down next to his head.
"You sure you want to sit there?" Lex asks, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth as he sits down on the other side of Brooklyn's head from her. "You remember what happened last time."
"What happened last time?" Hudson inquires.
"Brooklyn landed on me," Gwen answers with a little chuckle.
"Are you alright, lass?" Hudson asks in concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she smiles. "Just got the wind knocked out of me is all."
"Didn't you say something about it being the most fun you've had with a male in a long time?" Lex questions.
"Oh really?" Matt asks, his eyebrows threatening to become one with hairline.
Gwen doesn't answer as she stares back at Brooklyn while she turns almost as red as her patient. Matt gets the biggest grin on his face while Elisa casts him a withering glare. Lex gives Gwen an apologetic look while Hudson just looks confused.
"How's our patient doing?" Kevin asks as he steps into the room, totally oblivious to what's just happened.
"He's fine, though he hasn't started to come around yet," Gwen replies as she peels up an eyelid. "It took a little while the other night too, so I'm not worried."
"Ok, that's good," Kevin states with a nod. "If you need anything else, just let me know."
"Will do," Gwen assures him. "Thanks, Kevin."
"Any time," Kevin smiles as he turns back through the door and goes back to his regular patients.
No sooner does the door shut than Brooklyn twitches and lets out a little groan. The others turn their attention back to their friend and wait expectantly. It's another minute before he gives a snort and Gwen checks his eyes again.
Over the next fifteen, Brooklyn slowly fights off the anesthetic until he's at least able to respond to people when they talk to him, though his answers aren't very coherent. It takes another fifteen minutes to get him up onto his feet, but he needs to be supported by Hudson and Matt at first. It's not until he's able to stand on his own, all be it he's moving like he's drunk, does Gwen instruct Elisa to go get her car.
A short time later, Gwen and Matt are helping Brooklyn out the back to the alleyway while Hudson and Lex climb to a rooftop. Gwen bounces on the balls of her feet to try and stay warm as they wait for Elisa. She's startled by an overcoat suddenly settling around her shoulders and she turns to see Matt smiling down on her as he makes a couple final adjustments to make sure the coat won't fall off before returning to his spot on the other side of Brooklyn.
"He likes you," Brooklyn says in a stage whisper, leaning over to her ear.
Brooklyn's sudden movement causes him to start falling over towards her, forcing her to try and catch him. Fortunately, Matt catches Brooklyn by the arm and helps right the gargoyle before he can land on top of the doctor again. Gwen glances at Matt as they get Brooklyn steady again and if the smirk on his face is any indicator, the detective had no problem hearing what the gargoyle said.
Gwen is fairly sure her face is glowing in the dark when Elisa finally shows up. One glance at the doctor tells Elisa almost everything and all she can do is roll her eyes and shakes her head. Elisa helps the other two get Brooklyn into the backseat of her car and then heads back over to the driver's side.
"Make sure he doesn't try any flying tonight," Gwen instructs. "He's going to be groggy for quite some time and I don't want to take any chances. Tell the others to sit on him if they have to, but be careful of his wing. There are holes in the bone from the pins that were taken out, so they're still a little weak."
"Will do, doc," Elisa assures her before sliding behind the wheel and taking off.
They watch the back of Elisa's car until she turns a corner. Then they glance up and see a pair of shadows leap off of a nearby building and silently glide away.
"I guess it's time to get you home," Matt states as they start for the clinic. "Or we could go out for a drink."
"I don't drink," she hastily replies, starting to mildly panic when she realizes that she's in a dark alley alone with this man. "And you don't have to drive me back to my apartment. I can walk from here."
"I've seen your neighborhood," he reminds her as they get to the back door and he holds it open for her. "There's no way I'm letting you walk home by yourself."
"Really, you don't have to," she weakly replies, not sure whether or not she's glad that he wants to drive her home.
"What kind of cad do you take me for?" he asks with a smile and then quickly frowns. "On second thought, don't answer that."
She can't help herself when she chuckles as she heads through the hospital towards the room with her bags in it. Before she has a chance to even touch her things, he grabs them and heads out to the front of the building. She has no choice but to follow him out to his car where he refuses to give them back until they are both seated in the vehicle.
A few short minutes later he's parking in front of a fire hydrant near her building. In the short amount of time that they've been on the road, she's started to doze off, the excitement of the past few nights finally catching up with her. She jerks awake when he opens the door for her and blushes with embarrassment when she realizes what has happened.
He barely contains his smile as he helps her from the car and to the front door. Before she can retrieve her keys from her bag, the door is roughly pulled open. Gwen and Matt blink a few times at the bright light until they realize it's Lars silhouette standing in the doorway.
"Thanks goodness your home," Lars exclaims in relief. "Kevin just called a minute ago saying that you looked to be dead to the world."
"Would you believe she wanted to walk home?" Matt asks.
"Typical," Lars huffs with his hands on his hips. "I want you to march right upstairs and get to bed young lady. You need to get rest if you're going to be ready to take care of all those animals tomorrow."
"When'd you become my mother?" Gwen demands, getting a bit peeved by these two.
"When I found out your own mother isn't here to do it," Lars shoots right back. "Now say your goodnights, and get upstairs."
With that, Lars steps back through the door, shutting it most of the way, but not latching it.
"Well, at least he gave us a little privacy before he tucks you in for the night," Matt chuckles noticing Gwen's face become even redder than before.
"Thanks for the ride and for dinner and for lending me your coat," Gwen says as she hastily hands back his coat and makes a rush for the door.
"Not so fast, little missy," Matt gently admonishes as he reaches out and grabs her hand, pulling her up short. "Is that any way to truly thank the man who saved you from coming home in the dark by yourself into a dangerous neighborhood?"
"It's not that dangerous," she weakly protests as he backs her into the wall.
"Dangerous enough," he whispers in her ear before kissing her cheek. "Until next time, my fair lady."
He quickly steps back, gives her a bow and then turns, swiftly returning to his car. She watches him go, still feeling his kiss on her cheek and she can feel her heart pounding against her rips. She's not sure how long she's standing there before Lars carefully cracks the door open and peeks out.
"Is he gone?" Lars asks in a loud whisper.
"Uh-huh," she replies, still too stunned to respond coherently.
"Than what are you doing out there?" he demands as he throws the door open. "Are you trying to catch your death cold?"
"Huh?" she smartly replies.
"That must have been some goodnight kiss," he chuckles.
"He only kissed my cheek," she finally responds, lightly touching the spot with her fingertips.
"If you're acting like this from just a kiss on the cheek, than I can't wait to see what happens when he kisses you on the lips," he laughs and then quickly sobers. "On second thought, maybe I don't."
"You're not helping," she growls as she pushes past him. "The last thing I need in my life now is a man to complicate it."
"If you don't want him, can I have him?" he asks as she marches up the stairs.
"Why don't you ask him?" she calls back and then stops to lean over the railing, looking down on her friend. "Better yet, you can go out with him on Friday so I don't have to figure out how to turn him down."
"As much as I'd love to, I don't think that'd be a good idea," he replies as he starts to follow her up the steps. "He'd probably be less than pleased to see me. I've seen his gun and it's really big."
"Hey, you're the one who wants him and I'm handing him to you on a silver platter," she shoots back as she continues on her journey.
"And as much as I'd love to have a date this Friday night, you need it more," he states as he continues to follow her up to her floor.
"Excuse me?" she snaps, stopping dead in her tracks and glaring at him.
"Sugar, you know I love you like my own sister and I only want you to be happy, but you need to get out more," he replies, not the least bit put off the look on her face.
"I don't need a man to make my life complete," she snarls, her eyes narrowing.
"You're right, you don't," he agrees while she starts to fish around in her bag for her keys. "However, wouldn't it be nice to have a warm body to come home to instead of a cold apartment?"
"If I want a warm body to come home to, I'll move and get a cat," she retorts as she retrieves her keys.
"At least it would be a start," he mutters and she casts him a withering glare. "Take it from someone who's been around the block a few too many times, there's more to life than work. What do you hope to accomplish with nearly working yourself to death anyways?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but if you must know, I'm paying off my student loans," she snaps as she turns and starts to unlock her door.
"I know that, but what are you going to do when you've paid them all off?" he inquires as she opens her door.
"I'm going to go home," she softly answers and then shuts her door.
The sad longing in her voice makes him tear up and it suddenly dawns on him that he is the closest thing she has to a family in New York. Determined to make sure what few months she plans to spend in the United States not to be lonely ones, he heads down stairs to his apartment and then starts to go through his list of friends with dresses.
She quietly closes and locks the door, her emotions in complete turmoil as she goes into her room and puts away her medical bag. With her mind elsewhere, she goes on automatic pilot and heads into the kitchen to make herself something to eat. She opens the fridge and is abruptly reminded that she hasn't gone shopping lately.
With a sigh of disgust and resignation, she closes the door and goes to take a shower. Once she's cleaned, dried and dressed, she reopens her safe and takes out her album of pictures from home. Homesickness fills her heart as she looks at the faces of friends and loved ones that she hasn't seen in years. With a heavy heart, she cries herself to sleep.
Author's Notes: Well what do you know? I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. My apologies for taking so long. Summer vacation is here, so more time with the kids means less time with the computer. Of course it doesn't help when my muse keeps throwing ideas for different stories at me instead of coming up with ideas for the ones I'm working on. I tell you, it's enough to drive one to drink. At any rate, please leave a review and maybe we can convince my fickle muse of writing to give us another chapter.