It was early in the partially sunny spring morning and Connor was standing outside the house leaning back against the rear bumper of the Oldsmobile in the driveway with his eyes on the sky. As he watched the wind blow through the green leaves of the surrounding trees the deviant detective felt as if something big was happening somewhere in the city. The air was physically charged with an energy like a storm was coming, but there was nothing beyond the few white, thick clouds hovering overhead. Inquisitive, soulful brown irises studied the strong gusts of wind with great intrigue as it blew in sporadic gales throughout the city as he waited for Hank to join him outside. The unexplainable feeling in the air was undeniable and Connor pulled his gray blazer tighter around himself as if to stave off a bitter chill even as spring pushed winter away.
The front door opened and shut sequentially as Hank walked outside with his car keys and walked over to the driveway to join his deviant friend. Unaffected by the unusual weather Hank spun the keys around by the keyring on his fingertip and sighed openly as he contemplated calling off considering he was still on edge after the shoot-out in the bullpen.
"All right." Pointing to the driver's side door of the vehicle Hank let Connor know he was ready to head out despite everything that had happened two days prior. The man hadn't been sleeping well and seemed to be physically exhausted. "Let's go."
"Maybe we should take another day to recover." Connor turned to look at Hank for a moment before he stood upright from the bumper and took his usual spot as the front passenger while Hank sat behind the steering wheel of the aged car. "The weather seems very unusual today." The deviant detective observed as Hank backed down the driveway at a steady clip. "Even for this time of year."
"We're in Michigan, kid. Unusual weather comes with the territory." With a slight shake of his head Hank declined the offer to stay home another day. "We can't stay home every time the weather looks questionable, otherwise no one would ever leave their houses."
"Yes, I'm familiar with the highly unpredictable weather of the immediate area, but something feels... different. At least it does today."
"You got a bad feeling?" Teasing the deviant a little Hank tried to gauge what Connor was trying to tell him. "Kinda' like when we went to talk to Kamski just before the Revolution?"
"Perhaps. I wish I could explain it further, but I cannot." Staring out the front windshield Connor shook his head a little as if frustrated by his own lack of personal understanding. "Do humans experience such unusual feelings about a day despite having no actual reason to feel in such a manner?"
"All the time." Hank turned off their block and headed toward the precinct as he too began to watch the clouds curiously. "And since you're a detective I have to tell ya', if you have a bad feeling about today then it's pretty much guaranteed to mean something strange is in the air."
"Has such a feeling happened to you?"
"Yeah. Twice." Looking away from the clouds Hank cleared his throat a little as he told Connor a little more about his past. "The first time was when I was still a rookie. I had a bad feeling all shift and before the day was over, I took a knife to the left side of my neck. The second time was the night my... former partner got shot."
"That seems very grim." Connor's blue L.E.D. shifted to yellow then back to blue as Hank brought up his late wife, Barbara. "Last night I received a report regarding a riot at the prison. Perhaps it's this report that has caused this 'bad feeling' that I'm currently experiencing."
"I hope you're right, but I'm starting to get a weird feeling myself... But I'm not taking any more time off from work." Stubbornly Hank refused to keep away from the bullpen and continue to push aside his fears. "I can't sit back and act like I'm not going to have to face what went down in the bullpen forever."
"That is commendable." Actively scanning the weather with his cybernetic connection to the Doppler system Connor monitored the wind speed and wind direction very closely. "I suppose we'll just have to endure the day and wait to see what happens."
"Yeah. We should also cross our fingers and hope that some more stupid bullshit doesn't ruin our shift."
Arriving at the precinct right on time without any incident during the drive in, Hank and Connor were promptly greeted by Chris. The young officer's right arm was still in a sling as his shoulder healed from the bullet that he took only two days before as he stood expectantly beside the two detectives' desks. Recovering well from his painful injury, Chris was placed on typical desk duty and racking up some pretty decent overtime as he healed. Meanwhile Gavin, who had been taken hostage and resulted in the previous week's shoot-out, was required to talk to the precinct psychiatrist for a few weeks to ensure he wasn't going to suffer any form of P.T.S.D. from the close encounter, and he was on an assignment outside the precinct at that very moment.
Spying Chris and his attentive gaze Hank knew that whatever the younger officer had to say wasn't going to be good. That bad feeling in the air was becoming more palpable with every passing second and the Lieutenant knew that Connor wasn't imagining anything.
"Hey, Lieutenant, Detective, good morning. Captain Fowler needs you two to act as prison escorts at the hospital today." Chris handed Connor an electronic tablet with the address of the hospital already displayed over the screen. The details weren't complicated and were very strict ensuring that only the correct personnel were permitted to read over the assignment. "Something about needing additional security because the place is already short-staffed."
"Shit. Why us?" Hank griped as he crossed his arms over his chest in irritation and glanced at the tablet in Connor's hand. "That isn't deviate related."
"You two have the lightest caseload right now since I.A. is still snooping around." The young officer explained casually as he stepped back to return to his own desk and flinched a little as his shoulder still ached with his movements. "And yeah, I double-checked. You two get to spend the day babysitting a couple of convicts who had a fight in the prison yard. Oh, Gavin's already there by the way. Figured I'd give you guys a heads up."
"Great. Just fuckin' great." Letting out an exacerbated sigh Hank patted Connor's shoulder and turned on his heels to walk back out through the front doors just as quickly as they had arrived. "Remember what I said about your bad feeling being about something real? This is what I was talking about."
"That doesn't seem as reassuring as it should be." Connor easily confirmed the address to St. Mercy Emergency Hospital and cybernetically uploaded it to his system as he passed the tablet back over to Chris to reclaim before catching up to Hank. "Let's just hope this is as bad as it gets."
"Don't bet on it, kid." The seasoned detective wisely cautioned as he and Connor stepped out into the impending storm hovering over the city. "This is most likely just the beginning."
Another warm wind blew through the air as Hank pulled the car into the parking lot of the somewhat calm hospital and parked in a space far away from the building to ensure he didn't obstruct emergency vehicles. The parking lot was relatively empty due to the influx of prisoners as being admitted as patients that day, causing the innocent civilian patients in critical condition to be transported to other hospitals for their protection and security. With that emptiness came an eerie ambience of wind and subtle motion that made the hospital feel somewhat ominous. Atop the roof of the hospital's helipad was a helicopter waiting idly with its propeller whirring slowly which only added to the eerie background sound of the mostly vacant property.
Stepping out of the car Connor looked up at the helicopter, his blue L.E.D. flashing yellow as he scanned it curiously. The sight of the helicopter hovering above the towering building reminded the deviant of his first mission as a hostage negotiator, and with that memory the horrible feeling his gut intensified. Heights still weren't his friend and Connor dreaded the idea of having to climb to such a height regardless of the reason.
"Never seen a helicopter before?" Hank asked as he slammed his car door shut and followed Connor's gaze upward. "They're overrated in my opinion."
"I haven't seen one since my first mission."
"I hate those damn things." Commenting dryly the senior detective walked to toward the front entrance of the hospital with Connor right at his side. The lack of activity outside the hospital was somehow unnerving despite it being calm. "They're loud, expensive, and they blow shit everywhere."
"But they are efficient transportation."
"Doesn't make me hate them any less."
"Fair point."
The hospital itself wasn't too chaotic much to the relief of the two detectives as they passed through the front doors and into the front reception area. The waiting room was fairly empty save for non-critical patients waiting to be seen, and a few people quietly huddled in the corner waiting for updates on friends or family members who had been admitted into the hospital's care. One security guard was overlooking the people in the waiting room as Hank and Connor approached him to ask for the person in charge.
"Hey there." Hank quickly flashed his badge to the attentive guard and Connor did the same to identify themselves as members of the Detroit Police much to the guard's relief. "We're here to deal with the prisoners." The senior detective stated bluntly as he and Connor returned their badges to their pockets. "Which floor?"
"They're up on sixth." The guard motioned toward the elevators at the far end of the corridor on the other side of the security door separating the waiting room from the ground floor treatment rooms of the hospital. The two glass doors isolating the corridor from the receptionist desk and waiting room would only slide open when the personnel with the proper clearance were shown through. "Ask for Dr. Wilson, he's the guy in charge of your special patients."
"Yeah, thanks." Not thrilled with their assignment Hank and Connor walked through the security doors as the guard buzzed them inside the hospital through the electronically sealed plexiglass doors. "Looking forward to meeting the assholes who need to be babysat by a couple of cops."
Connor looked about the place curiously as he had only set foot inside a hospital a few times before when Hank had been previously injured. It was strange to see so many people walking about in similar clothing accomplishing similar tasks. The entire hospital staff was focused on their tasks and weren't going to let a couple unruly patients disrupt their routines. It was almost as if the entire place behaved less like a human condition and functioned more like a perfectly tuned machine.
In a way, it was almost ironic to compare the most educated and skilled humans to that of mindless machines.
"Wonder how Gavin got this deal." Hank asked aloud as he and Connor entered the elevator together and ascended to the designated sixth floor. "I thought he was still on desk duty until the precinct 'shrink' gave him the clear."
"Perhaps Captain Fowler doesn't like him being around the precinct just like everyone else."
Hank laughed a little at the comment, but he agreed entirely with his partner's theory. "You might be onto something there, kid."
The doors to the elevators parted and the two detectives set foot onto the sixth floor. The sound of angry yelling as well as numerous calmer voices attempting to reason with the yelling masculine voice resonated loudly throughout the entire floor. Stepping forward quickly Hank and Connor watched as two doctors and two nurses fought to restrain a very pissed off patient who was trying to get away from the bed that he was already handcuffed to. The entire ordeal was loud, raucous and exhausting to handle.
"Damn it! Where's Gavin?" Hank swore as he and Connor rushed into the room to help the hospital staff hold the flailing man down. "When they're cuffed, they're supposed to be watched constantly so the doctors don't have to do it."
While Hank leaned down against the man's shoulders to pin him down against the bed, Connor with his blue L.E.D. flashing to yellow easily restrained the man's legs giving the two doctors a chance to load a syringe with a strong, but harmless, sedative and inject it into the prisoner's hip. As the man succumbed to the drug Hank and Connor let go and slowly exited the room to give the staff necessary space to work now that the situation was under control.
"One down." Standing back up Hank sighed angrily and rubbed his hand over his face as he and Connor took their leave of the room to resume what was supposed to be their normal assignment. "As soon as I see Gavin I'm going to-"
"Don't be mad at him." An experienced nurse interjected as he exited the room after the two detectives. Having been on shift all morning, the fatigued nurse knew everything that was going on and knew it was crucial to help fill in the blanks for the two newly arrived detectives. "We called the precinct about ten minutes ago, but you two must've missed the message."
"Huh?" Pausing in the middle of the corridor Hank gave the blond young man a worried glance. "What message?"
"About the Code-I." The nurse motioned back to the prisoner in the room as he lowered his voice to a whisper. "About twenty minutes ago our 'friend' over there got free of his restraints and went after one of the other nurses with a scalpel. Detective Reed stopped him, but..."
"Shit, where is he?" Hank realized what had happened to Gavin and felt like an ass for jumping on his without knowing what had gone down. As Hank's face paled Connor's blue L.E.D. flashed back to yellow with worry. "I mean... He's still alive, right?"
"Yeah, he was injured but it wasn't lethal. He's in the next room resting right now." Introducing himself politely the nurse continued to help the detectives in any way that he could. "I'm Nick, by the way."
"Thanks, Nick." Letting his tense shoulders slump Hank went to walk over to the appointed room and put out his arm to stop Connor. "Why don't you stay here and figure out what the hell's going on? I don't want Gavin getting all worked up if he sees you. His ego is always the first thing to bruise when he gets banged up on the job."
"I understand." Connor agreed with Hank's decision and remained put in the corridor while Hank went to check on Gavin. Turning back to the nurse Connor began gathering information on their unorthodox assignment. "Do you know what has been happening with the prisoners who were brought in for treatment?"
"We had six in total, two were D.O.A. and the other four are still being treated." It seemed Nick was genuinely relieved to have the detectives there to help watch their backs while tending to the prisoners. "Rumor has it, they were involved in an escape attempt."
"Are the other patients currently being treated by Dr. Wilson?"
"Yes." Casually Nick pointed back into the room where they had just exited and pointed to the doctor currently leaning over the sedated prisoner's bed. "That's Dr. Wilson. He's been overseeing their treatment since they were all brought in."
"Might I be able speak with him?"
"I'll let him know you're waiting."
"Thank you."
With his L.E.D. now flashing blue Connor looked about at the entirety of the sixth floor and noted that it had been fairly vacated to protect other patients from the dangerous prisoners. The sight gave Connor a unique sense of intrigue that was shining in his soulful brown eyes. Noticing a gurney being wheeled in his direction by two android orderlies and a female human nurse, Connor politely stepped back out of the way and watched the two androids pass him by as they took their patient to the elevator at the end of the corridor.
The nurse rudely bumped into Connor's arm jostling the deviant detective on his feet as she huffed by angrily down the corridor with an indignant glare.
"I'm sorry." Connor apologized sincerely as the nurse walked by without even bothering to look back at him. "I had attempted to remain out of the way."
"Fuckin' machine." The nurse swore as she walked down the hallway and entered the elevator with the gurney. Her pale blue eyes were alight with an angry fire being directed at Connor for reasons he couldn't understand. "Should've been left to rust on the street with the rest of the garbage."
Unaware of the aggressive action and remarks of the bigoted nurse as she passed through the corridor, Hank exited from the room where Gavin was recovering and stood beside Connor ready to resume their obnoxious task at hand.
"Today is just a shit-show already, huh, kid?"
"...How is Gavin?" Connor asked without paying the nasty nurse any further attention with his L.E.D. remaining blue in color. "Can he still assist with the assignment?"
"He's pissed off at the world one second, then loopy as Hell the next. He's down and out for the foreseeable future."
"Really?" Connor asked with a mild amusement to his voice. "Demerol?"
"Demerol." The Lieutenant confirmed with a coy grin plastered on his face. "Too bad we can't keep him hooked up to morphine at the precinct, that'd make working with him actually bearable."
"I don't believe that Captain Fowler would agree with such an idea. How badly was he injured?"
"Took a scalpel in the abdomen. It missed everything important, but he did need a few stitches to close the wound to his skin and the muscles beneath." Hank confirmed with a subdued relief to his voice. Even if he and Gavin didn't see eye-to-eye anymore, that didn't mean Hank wanted to see Gavin hurt. "They also have him on some I.V. antibiotics as a precaution since the blade cut through so deep."
"An understandable decision."
Having overheard the discussion just as finished examining the prisoner, Dr. Wilson stepped out of the small room into the hallway to introduce himself properly and speak to the two detectives.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Caleb Wilson." The doctor was tall, in his early thirties, had a toned build, dark complexion, short black hair and deep brown eyes. As he shook Hank's hand he looked over at Connor and gave him an odd glance of familiarity. "It's nice to meet you."
"Yeah, thanks." Hank reciprocated the greeting like business as usual. "I'm Lieutenant Hank Anderson. This is my partner-"
"Connor." Dr. Wilson interrupted with an energetic curiosity as a grin of his own appeared on his face. "Am I right?"
"...Correct." Connor giving the doctor an odd glance of pure curiosity that was reflected in his L.E.D. shifting back to yellow. "May I ask how you know me?"
"Over a year ago, you saved my kid brother during a hostage negotiation. He was a first responder at the scene of a hostage situation, and he had been shot in the arm." Dr. Wilson readily extended his hand to toward Connor to shake. "If you hadn't tied that tourniquet around his arm, then he never would've made it to the hospital in time. Thank you for saving his life."
"I could say the same for your brother, considering he aided me three months later after a botched stake-out mission." Connor shook Dr. Wilson's hand and smiled a little as he realized exactly what the kind doctor was referring to and of the brother that he was mentioning. "You're welcome. I'm glad I could be of assistance."
Dr. Wilson didn't let go of Connor's hand and studied the deviant inquisitively as if he had never seen an android with his own eyes until that very moment. Such a keen interest didn't escape Connor's attention and prompted the deviant detective to ask the obvious.
"Is there something wrong, doctor?"
"No, it's just..." Truly impressed by Connor in both his appearance and behavior Dr. Wilson gave him a studious glance. "You seem so... human."
"As I am supposed to."
"Right, of course!" Laughing at the comment Dr. Wilson made friendly conversation with the deviant detective standing before him. "You know, the similarities between human and android anatomy is absolutely fascinating. I've been reading up on the workings of biocomponents and Thirium due to the growing members of androids to our staff, and I truly think that-"
"Er-hem." Now it was Hank's turn to interrupt with a casual clearing of his throat. "So, uh, doc? What can you tell us about our 'star' patient in there?"
"Oh, right... He's in pretty rough shape." Dr. Wilson stated as he finally let go of Connor's hand and resumed focusing on his main concern for the day. "Even with a reinflated lung he's still too violent and combative to leave alone with the staff. In about ten minutes he'll be flown out to another hospital specially designed to handle violent inmates and psych patients far more effectively than we can here."
Connor spoke up again as he remembered what Nick had told him minutes before. "What of the other prisoners? I understand there are three others you have been treating."
"Two of them are one floor down and in less severe shape, and another is sedated elsewhere. The first two will be transferred by ambulance in an hour, while the third will be transported via helicopter."
"All right, sounds good." Hank crossed his arms somewhat defensively over his chest as he spoke with the good doctor. "What do you need us to do?"
"I need one of you here to keep an eye on the fourth prisoner right in there while the other one of you is accompanying the third suspect during transport."
"Where's the other prisoner?"
"He's sedated in the exam room across the hall. But he and this prisoner here," Dr. Wilson motioned back to the prisoner that he had just examined and who was still cuffed to his bed. "are the ones who started the fight at the prison. I'd prefer if one of you stayed with the prisoner down the hall and one of you escorted this guy on the helicopter."
"On the helicopter?" Hank looked a tad frightened by the offer and put up his hands submissively. "Not me! I'm not getting in that thing!"
"I... may not like heights but I'm willing to accompany the prisoner." Understanding Hank's hesitation Connor nodded and volunteered his service. "I'll go in the helicopter, Dr. Wilson. It's not a problem."
"Thanks, I appreciate that." Dr. Wilson looked entirely relieved to know that an officer would be available during the entire transport. "Makes me feel better knowing that someone other than a single nurse is going to be on the flight with that dangerous man. Even though he'll be sedated, I still don't want to take any chances." The good doctor looked over at Hank and smirked a little. "So, do you hate heights or something?"
"No. I hate helicopters. Connor's the one who hates heights, and as it turns out he's a hell of a lot braver than I am." Hank reiterated firmly without snapping in anger or embarrassment. "All right, show me to this other prisoner so I can collect my 'babysitting fee' and call it a day."
"Right this way, Lieutenant." Eager to get everything taken care of Dr. Wilson showed Hank the way to the other prisoner while Connor walked a few paces behind taking in the full layout of the floor as he tagged along. "He should be out of it for another hour or so, but if he starts to wake up just page a nurse and they'll knock him back out."
"Think they could do the same for Gavin?" Needing to lighten the mood Hank joked sharply as he stood inside the doorway of the private room and watched the unconscious prisoner warily. "He's never been so cooperative.
"I'll see what I can do." Dr. Wilson replied lightheartedly as he picked up on the good humor. "And Connor, I'll see you to the elevator. From there you can access the roof and the helipad."
"Of course." Connor quickly accompanied the doctor to the elevator and remained professional the entire time. "Thank you, Dr. Wilson."
"It's not a problem." Ever dedicated to his job Connor followed behind Dr. Wilson as the very kind and open-minded doctor took the moment to speak with Connor in private as they walked. "Listen Connor, don't let nurse Sophist get to you."
"...Nurse Sophist?" Such a comment made Connor's brow arch for only a moment. "Pardon?"
"I saw her run into you and heard what she said. It's nothing personal, she hates all androids." Doing his best to apologize on the rude nurse's behalf Dr. Wilson made it clear that it wasn't the first time he had seen her treat deviants in such an abhorrent manner. "I'm not sure why she hates androids, but she's been warned about that kind of behavior many times in the past. One more strike and she'll be suspended for a month without pay."
"I'm familiar with anti-android sentiment." Replying as if entirely unphased by the lingering hatred Connor didn't take the insult personally. "It seems to be less widespread compared to the past year, but those who retain the intolerant views seem far more zealous than ever before."
"Hey, I'm no stranger to intolerance. I've put up with it far too long and have unfortunately gotten used to it as well."
"That is... disconcerting." Connor was a little confused by the statement and his blue L.E.D. briefly flashed to yellow. "You still experience racism?"
"Yeah, occasionally. I still get patients demanding they get the 'right colored blood' before an operation or assume I'm an orderly and not a doctor."
"I don't understand." Such a concept of a 'right color' truly dumbfounded the deviant. "All human blood is red, isn't it?"
"It absolutely is." Dr. Wilson gave Connor an amused grin as they stood before the elevator together and he pressed the 'call' button. "Sounds like you understand things just fine. Go up to the helipad and wait for the prisoner to be transported. As long as he's sedated it shouldn't be a problem for our staff to handle him."
"Of course. I'll report back to the hospital via helicopter dispatch throughout the flight."
The doors opened and Connor stepped off of the floor to stand inside the vacant elevator car. Pressing the button leading to the roof Connor ascended to the absolute top of the towering hospital. The moment the doors slid open for a second time he was greeted by the powerful gusts of wind courtesy of the helicopter's propellers still spinning about as it waited for the patient. Of course from the questionable weather that had been hovering over the city all morning was contributing the the rooftop's gusty turbulence as well.
Tentatively Connor stepped out of the elevator and stared at the helicopter as the wind wiped up his black tie in his face and caused the locks of his dark hair to dance about around his eyes. Taking another step forward Connor had his eyes on the helicopter and his back to the stairwell and receiving bay of the hospital, unaware that he wasn't actually alone on the rooftop.
"What the hell are you doing up here?!" An angry feminine voice demanded from behind Connor as another person stepped out of the elevator. "Get out of here!"
Connor turned back around and saw the same rude nurse who had cursed at him earlier already standing on the roof waiting for the patient.
"Dr. Wilson requested that I accompany the prisoner during transport!" Explaining the situation with loud shouts to be heard over the helicopter, Connor hoped that the honest and logical answers would suffice. "I am here to help!"
"Bullshit!" It seemed nurse Sophist was hostile toward Connor simply for existing. "I'm not going anywhere with a piece of plastic getting in my way!"
"I won't get in your way! I'm merely following my orders!"
The pilot from the helicopter was now shouting at the two of them from where he sat as he was ready to get up in the air. "What the fuck is going on?!"
"No!" Nurse Sophist glared angrily at the pilot and held up a 'shushing' finger toward him as she continued to yell at Connor. "You stay here and stay the hell away from me!"
The wind continued to whip about violently in strong gusts that threatened to blow over anything and everything that wasn't strongly secured to the ground as the bigoted woman yelled at Connor and effectively held up transport. The white clouds overhead built in numbers and began to darken in color as a storm threatened to unleash hell over the city. The shift in weather created a severe downdraft in the process that created a smothering sensation of relentless wind.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go!" Ever stubborn Connor shouted over the wind once more and refused to back down. "I have my orders!"
"Fuck your orders!" Determined to 'win' in the debate nurse Sophist practically spat in Connor's face and grabbed onto his forearm with such a strength that her nails cut through his artificial skin beneath his blazer and shirt sleeves. "This is MY hospital and right now I'M your BOSS!"
"Unfortunately, no!" Not one to back down easily Connor reminded the nurse of who he was by showing her his badge for a moment before returning it to his back pocket. "I am an officer of the law! I will always outrank you!"
"Don't you talk back to me you piece of plastic!" Getting right up in Connor's face the crude nurse poked her 'shushing' finger into Connor's chest as if she could intimidate him, but all it did was turn the deviant's blue L.E.D. yellow in color. "Know your place! Do as I say right now!"
The turbulence on the rooftop continued to shake the entire hospital as the argument between Connor and the nurse carried on while the storm overhead built in strength and overall intensity.
The prisoner that Hank was watching over had his left leg secured in a cast from the ankle all the way up to his hip and he wasn't going to be able to get up on his own for quite some time. Even if the prisoner did wake up from his heavy sedation the odds of him being able to cause any problems were fairly low. Confident that the prisoner wouldn't hurt anyone at the moment, Hank stepped out of the prisoner's room and stayed by the door frame to watch as the sedated prisoner was wheeled out of his own room and down the hall with Dr. Wilson and two nurses escorting the gurney to the elevator. The prisoner to be transported elsewhere looked completely unconscious, but that didn't guarantee a damn thing since he was clearly violent and unpredictable.
Dr. Wilson made his way back down the hallway to speak with Hank after dropping his unwilling patient off at the elevator. Checking in on the other prisoner under his care, the good doctor was confident that everything was under control in the hospital and on the hospital rooftop.
"He's on his way out right now, Lieutenant."
"Good." The reassurance was greatly appreciated as Hank was still stressing about dealing with the recent incident in the bullpen. "One less problem to worry about."
"Yeah, the feeling's mutual. I'll take a dozen kids with the stomach flu over one mouthy prisoner any day of the week."
"I've been meaning to ask about Gavin's condition." Despite all the times he's butted heads with Gavin over the past Hank still cared about the abrasive detective. It was hard for him to act like he didn't care about Gavin since he had spent many patrols with Gavin when he was still a rookie officer on patrol and had actually been pretty close to the younger detective until Hank's drinking problem started. "How long's he going to have to stay here?"
"I'd like to keep him overnight just in case he develops an infection." The notion of any patient leaving the hospital so soon after being stabbed in such a delicate area was unnerving to say the least. Any penetrating wound could be problematic, but a wound in the abdominal region was a wound that could quickly turn sour with little to no warning. "I don't suspect anything will go wrong, but-"
The hospital itself suddenly began to shake with violent tremors as a commotion on the roof drew everyone's gaze upward toward the ceiling as if they could somehow see through the dense layer and to the rooftop itself. The tremors were becoming more frantic and powerful over the next few seconds until it all suddenly stopped and massive white object fell from the roof past the side of the building and down to the parking lot below. As the massive object fell past the windows a flash of scorching hot fire erupted from the plummeting object and caused dozens of the passing glass windows to shatter as it disturbed the top dozen floors of the hospital with violent tremors during its horrific fall.
Those who had witnessed the catastrophe happening outside the hospital had ducked down and put up their arms to protect themselves from the passing heat and shattering glass. Quaking tremors resumed for a moment longer as the object fell right alongside the hospital, then everything fell disturbingly still.
"What the-" The senior detective's eyes went wide and his brow arched a little as he tried to figure out what the hell just happened. "Did something-"
A deafening crash in the parking lot below echoing through the hospital and fire alarms blaring throughout the building cut Hank off mid sentence. The alarms warned the people inside the building of the imminent danger outside the hospital courtesy of the odd fall and crash. The source of the chaos and of the possible danger overhead in the floors above leading to the rooftop would have to be handled by the staff until the fire department arrived.
"What the fuck was that?!" Hank finally managed to ask as he dared to walk toward the cracked window and peer outside to the carnage in the parking lot below. It took him a moment to even try to recognize the mangled, smoldering wreckage in the parking lot six floors down. "That looked like-"
"Dr. Wilson!" Nick rushed into the room to address Dr. Wilson with a look of seldom seen panic in the trained man's eyes. "There was a failure during takeoff and the helicopter crashed!"
"Crashed?!" Hank's eyes went even wider with the same fear as the nurse as he realized his partner was aboard that very same helicopter. "...Connor?"
The smoldering ruins encompassed in both bright orange flames and pitch-black smoke didn't bode well for the passengers aboard the ill-fated craft. Only after the burning wreckage had been properly searched would anyone know what had happened and what had befallen its unfortunate passengers.
Outside the hospital fire trucks and police drones converged on the scene of the horrible accident and began to douse the flames of the burning wreckage of the helicopter while also keeping the flames from reaching the nearby cars and most importantly the hospital itself. Inside the hospital the professionally trained emergency personnel worked to lead patients and innocent bystanders alike to safety away from the flames and to a safer location. Hank assisted the doctors in providing a modicum of the emergency first aid training that he had received while at the academy to people in need, but his training paled in comparison to that of the fully trained medical staff.
The fire alarms that responded to the crash had also triggered the sprinkler system inside the hospital to combat the flames ebbing from the outside of the hospital and to the inside of the building gradually. The cold water made movement feel stilted and the emergency procedures became more difficult to perform in what equated to a springtime downpour.
Having to use the stairwell out of safety for himself and others due to an elevator malfunction, Hank carried a young woman who had suffered a severe burn to her leg from a rush of fire from the parking lot up the slick staircase and to the sixth floor where he knew there was already plenty of room to place the wounded who needed treatment. Completely soaked from the sprinklers and his face already smudged under dark smoke, Hank looked as though he had stepped through the gates of Hell and back in just a matter of minutes.
"Here, right here..." Hank gently lowered the woman in his arms down onto a vacant gurney as a seasoned nurse joined him at the woman's side. "You'll be all right. Help's here, everything's under control."
"Lieutenant!" Gavin was standing outside the private room where he had been resting and looked entirely confused. One arm was pressed up against the wall to keep himself upright and his opposite arm was protectively wrapped around his injured stomach as he looked around the hallway in total confusion. "What the hell is going on? Sounded like a damn bomb went off!"
"Lower your voice." Wanting to keep people from panicking, Hank approached Gavin and led him back into the private room to fill the confused detective in on the details. "Gavin, you're hurt so lay down again." Hank insisted calmly as he pushed the wounded officer back down on the bed to rest. "I got this."
"Tell me what the fuck's going on." Gavin could see the entire hospital staff rushing about the corridor behind Hank and knew something was happening. "I'm going to help out, I don't give a shit about my stomach."
"Look, it's like this." Letting out a sigh of defeat Hank told Gavin the truth. "The helicopter fell from the roof and crashed in the parking lot outside. It caught fire and everything's gone to Hell."
"Holy shit. Was anyone... you know?" Sitting upright on the bed Gavin pushed Hank away and tried to get up to his feet again. "Was anyone killed?"
Hank somberly nodded his head as he ran his hand through his water drenched gray locks of hair. "...Connor was onboard."
"Whoa... Holy-" Not expecting to hear that Hank's own partner was considered dead, Gavin's eyes went wide with genuine shock. "Fuck, man!"
"Stay in here." Hank ordered again in a dreary voice as he took a step back to resume aiding the other people in the hospital. Trying to wave Gavin off to lay down just as Gavin got back to his feet, Hank did his best to push the thoughts of Connor being killed in the freak accident from his mind. "...I got this."
"No way." Gavin sternly refused as he pushed past Hank and back through the doorway. "I just got a little cut, I'll live. Let me help people, all right?"
"Yeah." Uninterested in an argument Hank relented and accepted that he didn't have much choice in the matter as he reluctantly allowed Gavin to help while wounded. "All right. Just don't push yourself into a coma or some shit."
Appreciative for the first time since his alcoholic-fueled depression, Hank was happy to have Gavin's help. Working together the two detectives resumed aiding the wounded in the corridors and helping the doctors and the nurses treating the wounded until everything had finally calmed down. As a team Hank and Gavin had managed to help the hospital staff on the floors that hadn't yet been evacuated by the fire department while the doctors and nurses worked seamlessly to help the dozens of casualties all around them get to safety and receive treatment.
From burns to smoke inhalation, to broken bones and deep lacerations, the two detectives fearlessly helped to keep the victims remain as stable as possible until a doctor or nurse was free to take care of them. Dealing with the numerous injured people helped take the two detectives' minds off the tragedy of losing one of their own in a horrible accident, but it didn't do anything to lessen the shock of knowing it had happened so violently and so suddenly.
As he worked to help a nurse treat a man with a dislocated shoulder, Hank's mind drifted to Connor and of how he'd never see the young deviant again. Hank thought about how he had just lost another partner in the field, how he lost a friend and of how he essentially lost another son. It didn't take long for his thoughts to drift to that of Lucas, the 'RK-900' that Connor had taken in as his honorary 'little brother', and of how he'd have to tell the naive deviant the horrible news of Connor's untimely demise.
"I should've listened to my gut about today being a whole mess. I should've stayed home like Connor had suggested..."
The bleak thought prompted Hank to mutter to himself with an utterly despondent voice.
"Always listen to your gut... I know better than this. Why didn't I listen? I could've rescheduled everything if I- Just, fuck me!"
From down the hallway the temporarily disabled elevator was rendered operational again from an unknown source, and the doors opened slowly as a familiar voice called out loudly for assistance as they rushed out of the elevator and onto the sixth floor. The smell of smoke and blood was rich in the air courtesy of the elevator retaining the smell of the carnage that had taken place elsewhere in the hospital.
"I need a doctor over here!" Connor shouted as he carried nurse Sophist, who was unconscious and bleeding, in his arms. Her chest, her neck and the right side of her head were soaked in her own blood from devastating wounds. Connor's L.E.D. was blinking yellow rapidly to showcase his own distress as he moved quickly to find medical assistance. "She is unconscious and bleeding severely from numerous lacerations and a skull fracture."
An unknown doctor rushed over to Connor and escorted him into an available exam room to tend to the very nurse that he was carrying to safety.
Gavin had quickly noticed Connor standing inside the busy exam room and motioned toward the large observation window of the room as he addressed Hank in an entirely confused tone.
"...Uh, Lieutenant?" Staring through the window Gavin easily directed Hank's attention elsewhere. "I thought you said that he died!"
Hearing the comment made Hank's brow furrow slightly as he turned to look to where Gavin was pointing. He immediately relaxed when he saw Connor helping a doctor in the exam room just a few feet away and was seemingly in one piece.
"Son of a bitch!" Rushing out of the room Hank set foot in the corridor with a genuinely relieved stare. "The kid made it!"
"Hank!" It was then Connor saw Hank through the same window and stepped out of the exam room to meet up with his partner in the hallway. "I tried to get off the roof sooner but the elevator-"
"Fuckin' hell!" Cutting Connor off mid sentence Hank grabbed on to Connor's shoulder in a firm grip and held tight as he looked the young deviant in the eyes. "I thought you fucking died!"
"No, I managed to avoid an untimely demise." Connor reached his hand behind himself and pressed his palm down against the middle of his back. He then showed Hank the smear of blue blood on his palm as if it were normal and quickly shrugged off the wound. "But I did suffer a laceration to my back if it's any consolation."
"Not really!" Restraining his chuckle Hank shook his head a little and tried not to smirk. "What the hell happened up there?"
"Nurse Sophist wouldn't let me board the helicopter." Connor explained in a surprisingly cool tone as he told Hank what had transpired just before the accident up on the rooftop. "When the helicopter attempted to take off, the wind suddenly shifted causing a catastrophic system failure. When the helicopter jerked suddenly during its failed takeoff, the prisoner regained consciousness unexpectedly. I was able to cybernetically scan the helicopter and see what was happening as he attacked the pilot and caused the helicopter to crash against the rooftop before it fell off the side of the hospital and down into the parking lot."
"...That nurse saved your life." Hank almost laughed as he pulled his hand from Connor's shoulder and gave him an incredulous stare. "Look, just keep doing what you're doing and help the doctors take care of the wounded, okay? We'll meet up later and sort everything out."
"Of course. I will do what I can to be of assistance."
"Good." Feeling less tense Hank walked back to where he had been before spotting Connor to continue to help the other victims while Connor sought another doctor to see how he could help out. "That kid lucked out big time today. Thank fuck."
"Lieutenant?" Gavin finished wrapping up a little boy's burnt hand in some clean gauze while Hank returned to the man he had been helping before he spotted Connor in the neighboring exam room aiding the doctors and nurses again. "You good?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. So's Connor." Hank answered the question somewhat honestly as he didn't want to mention his stress or Connor's laceration. He was relieved to know that Connor was alive, but the day was far from over. Anything could still happen. "Let's just get through this before anything else fucked up happens."
"You're not going to get any argument from me."
"Really?" That cooperation was unexpected yet greatly appreciated all the same. "That's a first..."
In the sectioned off and smoldering parking lot, the fire department had succeeded in dousing the flames and saved the hospital from further damage. They were now working on cleaning up the damaged helicopter while also looking for other potentially trapped survivors in the charred rubble created by the helicopter damaging the sides of the hospital during its fall. Numerous floors of the hospital that had been damaged by the fireball from the erupting gas tank of the falling helicopter were still closed off courtesy of the fire department, but the building was still structurally stable. The clean-up would take hours, possibly days, but the hospital would be salvaged and stay operational.
Connor had begun assisting nurses with transporting patients from one area of the floor to another for proper treatment while Hank and Gavin administered as much first aid as they possibly could with their comparably inferior training compared to the other doctors and the nurses. Dr. Wilson finished treating a man with a penetrating chest wound and motioned for the orderlies to wheel him off into emergency surgery as he moved on to the next patient to resume triage.
Slipping off his purple latex gloves Dr. Wilson looked over at Connor eager to thank the deviant detective for all his help once again as the day didn't proceed as smoothly as they had hoped it would. It had been an exhausting day that would undoubtedly leave the staff run ragged for weeks on end.
"Hey Connor, that was..." Trailing off for a moment Dr. Wilson noticed something seemed amiss with Connor. There was something about the deviant detective's appearance that reminded the experienced doctor of a patient suffering from syncope or head trauma. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm..." The deviant's yellow L.E.D. shifted to red and he put his hand to his abdomen as if experiencing discomfort as his soulful brown eyes glazed over. "I... I'm not sure."
"Talk to me. What're your symptoms?"
"I am... feeling unusual." Closing his eyes for a moment Connor tried to communicate with Dr. Wilson as openly as he could. "My self-diagnostic has... shown..."
Without warning Connor's eyes suddenly rolled back in his head as he collapsed backward onto the floor between two unoccupied gurneys without having the chance to catch himself as he fell to the floor with a loud 'thud'.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Reacting quickly Dr. Wilson knelt beside Connor on the floor and gently lifted the deviant's eyelids before tilting Connor's head to the left side to study his red glowing L.E.D. in his right temple. Running his hands down Connor's chest, abdomen, and then his sides Dr. Wilson tried to rouse the suddenly unconscious deviant while assessing his overall condition.
"Connor? Can you hear me?"
Sensing something amiss Dr. Wilson retracted his hands as he felt and then saw dark blue Thirium staining his palms as his hands ran along Connor's sides and toward the deviant detective's back. The blue blood was as effective as a red flag.
"Whoa, hold on..." Motioning for an available nurse to assist him, Dr. Wilson rolled Connor from his back onto his side the check on the source of the bleeding. "I need a gurney over here. We got another victim!"
Nick rushed into the room and knelt down on the opposite side of Connor to assist Dr. Wilson as much as he could. "What's happening?"
"I'm not sure yet. But I'll find out."
Connor's gray blazer and white dress shirt were completely soaked through with Thirium from the cut in his back and the injury continued to bleed heavily despite its deceptively superficial wound. Pulling up Connor's blazer and shirt to expose the deviant's back, Dr. Wilson eyed the now obviously devastating injury in the middle of the deviant detective's back. It was then he noticed that there was a faint glint of metal shining at the edge of wound just under Connor's torn artificial skin.
"Damn it, he has a piece of metal embedded in his back alongside the spinal support column." Working with the helpful nurse Dr. Wilson lifted Connor up from the floor and placed him on his left side on top of the gurney. Giving Nick a nod Dr. Wilson calmly gave him another request. "There's an android Thirial activity monitor and audioscope in the supply closet at the end of the corridor, bring it here for me."
"Right away, Dr. Wilson."
Opening the front of Connor's dress shirt and pulling away the black tie, Dr. Wilson looked for any other sign of internal Thirium leaks in his chest and abdomen, but it seemed all of the damage was isolated in his back. As his hands pressed down against the deviant's chest and belly Connor suddenly coughed up blue blood and Dr. Wilson responded instinctively as he repositioned Connor into the recovery position while Nick returned to the room rolling over the android monitor and handed Dr. Wilson the audioscope.
Instinctively Nick pressed a wad of gauze against the bleeding wound in Connor's back as he gave Dr. Wilson a worried glance. "What's wrong with him?"
"We're about the find out." Dr. Wilson put the earbuds of the audioscope into his ears and used it to listen to Connor's chest very carefully. The sound of struggling breaths and a frantic Thirium pump beat told the doctor that the deviant was suffering from severe Thirium loss "He needs Thirium." The good doctor informed Nick with a confident tone. "There's a supply of fresh down on the fifth floor in the fourth exam room. We'll need at least three pints."
Without missing a beat, the attentive nurse responded to Dr. Wilson's orders as he would with any other patient. "I'm on it."
After enduring the strange and the arguably 'exciting' afternoon Hank and Gavin took a moment to stand still and breathe at long last. As he tried to calm his still jumpy nerves, the senior detective spoke to a young doctor who was checking on his handy work regarding a couple of the patients that he had taken care of. He managed to speak in a low tone from his emergency first aid training to keep everything calm and composed. The patients still in the corridor were all calm now that the sprinklers had been shut off and the alarms had been silenced. Despite the chaos and confusion courtesy of the accident, everyone who needed help had apparently been treated in one way or another which was an incredible feat.
Aside from the messes on the floor, the walls and the ceilings, everything was surprisingly tidy and organized. The only thing left to handle was the report on the accident outside that was still being cleaned up by the fire department. Despite already knowing that everything was under control, Hank just wanted to make sure that nothing else of an emergency nature needed to be taken care of and inquired about it in a professional manner to the first doctor he bumped into.
"Anyone left in the waiting room?"
"No, that's it." The young doctor, Dr. Chi, confirmed as she determined Hank's work on the dozens of patients to be acceptable. "Everyone has been taken care of and our emergency department is on temporary lockdown for the next forty-eight hours. No one in or out until we have a confirmation on what happened up on the roof."
"Okay. We'll be monitoring the halls if you need anything." Turning to look at Gavin standing beside him Hank readied a new order when he noticed that something in fact was amiss with the younger detective. "Hey, Gavin? How're- Ah, shit... I knew that'd happen."
Gavin was suddenly very pale and leaning against the wall with his hand pressed over his bloodied abdomen. The adrenaline rush mixing in with all the physical strain had resulted with hemorrhaging that had soaked through the abrasive detective's green shirt.
"Damn it." Hank pointed Dr. Chi over to Gavin before grabbing on to the weakened detective's arm to help support him upright. "He tore loose his stitches. Do you mind getting him patched up again?"
"Shit. This is why we tell patients with abdominal wounds to stay down."
Dr. Chi responded quickly as Hank helped Gavin to lay down on the nearest available exam table for treatment. The attentive doctor pulled up Gavin's t-shirt and peeled back the blood soaked bandage covering the stitches in his abdomen. Rolling over a small metal tray lined with rubbing alcohol and swabs to tend to Gavin's wound, Dr. Chi quickly realized she needed more bandages to keep the injury site from bleeding again.
"Can you get me some gauze out of the next room?" Turning to look at Hank, Dr. Chi asked for a little assistance of her own. "Check the cabinet in the back."
"Yeah, no problem." Without any hesitation Hank walked over to the neighboring exam room as requested just as Nick rushed around the corner to address Dr. Chi taking care of Gavin in a somewhat frantic voice. "Now what?"
"Hey," Nick sounded frazzled, but he kept his composure all the same. "where do we keep the Thirium?"
"Thirium?" Dr. Chi looked up as Hank suddenly turned his head in Nick's direction from within the neighboring exam room. "It's in the exam room next door, but why do you need it?" The young doctor asked as she began cleaning up Gavin's torn stitches and numbing the area before applying fresh sutures. "Does one of the orderlies need a refuel?"
"No. We have a collapsed android up on the sixth floor. Dr. Wilson is taking care of him as we speak."
Hank practically shoved the retrieved gauze into the doctor's hands as he addressed the nurse sharply. "What android?"
"...I'm sorry, Lieutenant. It's Connor."
"Shit!" Feeling a knot in his stomach tighten Hank knew his partner was in danger again. The shitty day truly wasn't over yet. "Where is he right now?"
With the help of a second nurse Dr. Wilson had rolled Connor into the nearest available treatment room to begin repairs on the injured deviant detective to the best of his ability. Though trained first and foremost as a human medical doctor, Dr. Wilson had taken the liberty on educating himself regarding internal android anatomy and physiology in the event of an emergency. That particular moment easily qualified as such. Without any chance to request a technician to the hospital for assistance, the determined doctor would have to trust his own skills and training to aid Connor until the hospital's lockdown was lifted and additional personnel were permitted entrance to assist in aiding the wounded.
Nick returned with three bags of Thirium as request and with Hank right behind him as he made his way to the treatment room. Unable to keep Hank from following after him into the exam room, Nick proceeded to help Dr. Wilson in treating Connor's injury alongside the second nurse now assisting with the emergency procedure.
"What the fuck happened?" Hank asked as he stood inside the doorway of the treatment room and stared at the deviant's red L.E.D. cycling at a rapid pace. Connor was laying on his chest without his blazer or white dress shirt and he had his arm tucked under his head like a pillow. The deviant also had an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth to assist his thermal regulator and his ventilation rate. "I saw him barely an hour ago and he was fine!"
"There's a sharp piece of metal lodged in his back." Dr. Wilson explained as he successfully used forceps to extract the foreign matter from the raw wound without having to completely open up the plastimetal framing along Connor's back. The debris cut down deep enough to damage a single biocomponent in the process in a penetrating fashion. "It cut through the framing and into his artificial stomach. It has since caused a slow and steady leak into his torso that needs immediate repair."
"How'd he get-"
"Lieutenant..." Gavin pushed the door open with a pained breath and pulled Hank outside the treatment room. The younger detective kept his free hand pressed to his recently restitched abdomen as he tried to urge the senior detective back into the corridor. "Get your ass out here. They need room to work."
"Get your ass back downstairs!" Hank snapped back at the wounded detective as he stood outside the treatment room against his will. "You're still injured."
"I'm fine." Gavin argued stubbornly where he stood. "Listen to me, I know what happened to Connor on the rooftop."
"What?" Giving Connor another glance as the door to the treatment room shut Hank tried to figure out what he had missed. "How?"
"That bitchy nurse he saved told the doctor who just patched me up everything that happened on the roof before the accident. That crazy nurse saw everything that happened before she got hurt, and basically blurted everything out like she was on her deathbed."
"All right..." Hank was thoroughly intrigued by the comment and finally stepped away from the treatment room to give the doctor and nurses room to work on Connor without getting in the way by mistake. "Spill it. What the fuck happened up there?"
Two Hours Prior: The Hospital Rooftop Helipad
Unable to negotiate with the bigoted and biased nurse, Connor stood back by the elevator doors as nurse Sophist and the helicopter pilot rolled the gurney with the prisoner into the helicopter and secured it in place. Just as the vile nurse was about to take her seat inside the aircraft the annoyed pilot ordered her to get out of the helicopter and to stand back. Unsure of what was happening, Connor watched and listened carefully to the argument over the sound of the whirring helicopter blades and overheard the pilot make a comment about not wanting nurses in his helicopter; claiming that he only flew with doctors who had the proper qualifications to treat a patient - not nurses or women trying to tell him what to do.
Defeated at last nurse Sophist angrily climbed out of the helicopter and crouched down away from the swirling propellers of the aircraft as she returned to the hospital rooftop. Connor was about to say something to her as the helicopter began to ascend, only for the helicopter to be caught in a sudden updraft that caused the craft to shake violently in the air.
Looking up at the hovering craft Connor scanned the helicopter and noted that the prisoner had regained consciousness, pulled his hand free of the cuffs securing him to the railing of the gurney, and had attacked the lone pilot before the oblivious pilot had the chance to react to the danger. Between the shaking of the craft and the assault of the prisoner, the pilot quickly lost control of the helicopter causing it to fall back to the rooftop completely out of control.
"The helicopter is failing." Connor warned as his yellow L.E.D. shifted to red and ducked down out of harm's way. "Get down!"
Just as Connor's scanner preconstructed the helicopter came crashing back down onto the rooftop on its side causing the sharp propeller blades to cut into the concrete of the helipad sending large chunks of debris into the air. Massive bits of metal were sheared off of the craft in the process as it spun on its side in a circle courtesy of the sharp, strong propeller blades gouging into the roof making it spin like a top.
A large chunk of concrete struck nurse Sophist in her right shoulder knocking her down in a stunned daze as she failed to get out of danger in time. Collapsed on the ground, the injured woman clutched at her right shoulder in pain and fear completely unable to get out of the way of the helicopter still spinning wildly control uncomfortably close to where she was laying.
Seeing the nurse in danger and in distress, Connor kept his head low as ran over to her and picked her up from the rooftop. He used his own body to shield the defenseless nurse from the additional debris flying through the air as much as possible as he turned his back to the spinning helicopter. Carrying nurse Sophist over to the elevator Connor continued to protect her in his arms as he repeatedly pressed the 'call' button to open the doors to try gain some sort of shelter from the flying, dangerous debris. A sharp pain in his back stole Connor's breath for only a moment causing him to shake his head in response to the unexpected impact and resume focusing on his escape attempt from the rooftop.
As if a switch had been flipped the debris suddenly stopped flying as suddenly as it had begun.
Turning his head to look over his shoulder Connor saw that the helicopter had fallen from the roof and along the side of the building toward the parking lot below. The following sound of the explosion had confirmed the crash with a thunderous cascade of metal, crumbling concrete and rising fire that made Connor's sensors go crazy in response to the incredibly dangerous situation.
"Can you hear me?"
Connor asked the injured nurse as he pressed his palm against her shoulder to try to stop the heavy bleeding from her painful wound. The nurse had other cuts along her face and neck, but nothing too serious beyond the damage to her right shoulder.
"Please respond. I know you dislike me, but I need to assess your condition."
Nurse Sophist just gave Connor a dazed stare before her glassy blue eyes fell shut and she fell limp in his arms.
"Shit..."
Openly Connor swore as he realized that the elevator was temporarily disabled due to the damage the building had sustained. The nurse in his arms needed medical aid and she couldn't wait too long. Removing the artificial skin from his palm he pressed it down against the elevator's control panel to manually reboot the system by hacking it with his systems.
"This will take some time, but I can help you."
Despite their personal differences Connor promised the bigoted nurse he'd take care of her while he was left stranded on the rooftop with her in his arms.
"I will help you as soon as I can."
Flinching a little as a red warning flashed in his visual processors and a feeling of a strange burning warmth in the middle of his back, Connor pressed his hand to the source of the sensation on his person and felt the Thirium escaping from a raw wound. He stared at the blue blood staining his palm and gave it a mild shake of his head as if the blood were just an everyday occurrence before he resumed hacking the elevator controls.
"This is a mild inconvenience..."
The kind and dedicated doctor had to perform emergency repairs on Connor's artificial stomach after repairing the deviant detective's fractured back frames. With a controlled and careful motion, Dr. Wilson and his assisting nurses were able to open the panels in Connor's repaired back to gain access to his abdominal cavity. It was easy enough to deactivate Connor's artificial skin and open up his torso through the back paneling, but repairing the vital biocomponent was an entirely different task that the doctor was unfamiliar with. During the process Dr. Wilson had to replenish the Thirium that Connor had lost before his Thirium volume got dangerously low. It was close a call, but the Thirium was replenished before any permanent damage could take place thanks to the attentive nurses' aid.
Hank and Gavin could only watch through the window as Dr. Wilson repaired the damage to Connor's artificial stomach, the damage to the plastimetal framing over his back, and then replace the frame before rolling Connor onto his healing back to recover. As soon as Connor was patched up and stable, Dr. Wilson joined the two detectives outside the treatment room while the two nurses stayed inside the exam room to watch over the still unconscious deviant recovering steadily in the small private room.
"He's going to be okay." Dr. Wilson confirmed as he gave Hank a confident nod and slipped off his Thirium stained gloves. "It'll take his self-healing program at least two hours to repair the remaining damage, but he can leave as soon as he's conscious. He'll need to rest for another day or two to fully regain his strength. You also may want to make sure he sees his own personal technician to verify my work."
"How in the hell did you even know what to do?" Hank asked as he sighed with relief and watched Connor through the window. The deviant detective seemed to be resting well in spite of everything he had just endured. "He's not human."
"Like I said, Connor saved my brother." The reply sounded so casual and calm from the steadfast doctor. "So I decided to learn how to save as many androids as possible as a way to show my appreciation. Never thought I'd end up saving THE android who saved Mikey though."
"Life's weird like that." With a greatly appreciative handshake Hank thanked Dr. Wilson and let his tense shoulders finally relax. "Can I see him?"
"Sure." Dr. Wilson stepped aside so Hank could reenter the room to check on his partner. "Stay as long as you like. It's the least we could do to thank you three for all your help today."
"Gavin," Hank turned to the usually hostile detective with a gracious tone of voice. "thanks for everything. You did good."
"...Yeah." Not accustomed with Hank's more passive nature as of late, Gavin wasn't quite sure how to react. "No problem, Lieutenant."
"While I'm taking care of Connor, why don't you help Dr. Wilson with filing his report, and see if you can figure out what the fuck happened today? Get all the details you can so that Fowler has no choice but tag on some hazard pay."
"Yeah, sure. That'll take all night, and I'll get some overtime too."
Walking into the treatment room as Gavin and Dr. Wilson took their leave, Hank stood beside the recovery bed and looked down at his deviant friend. It wasn't long before he noticed that Connor seemed to be muttering to himself in a semi-conscious daze, maybe even singing a little. Upon closer inspection Hank realized that Connor was muttering the words to an old song under his breath, and surprisingly enough he was able to carry a tune.
"Connor, are you awake?" Placing his hand down on Connor's bicep Hank slowly applied a gentle pressure as he spoke. "Kid? Can you hear me?"
"...singing in the dead of night." Slowly Connor's head lolled slightly to the side and his brown eyes opened with a sluggish motion as he stopped singing. The L.E.D. in his temple was now yellow in color, but it wasn't flashing rapidly which was a good sign of his stabilized condition as he gained his bearings. "...H-Hank?"
"Yeah, you got it." The moment Connor spoke to him Hank felt a crushing weight lift from his mind and his heart. The two nurses stepped out of the room to let the two detectives have a moment alone as soon as they saw that Connor was going to be okay. "How do you feel, son?"
"I feel..." Connor swallowed once as he tried to think of the proper words to express how he was feeling. The oxygen mask over nose and mouth muffled his words but he was entirely audible all the same. "...I feel like I understand why you hate helicopters."
"Good answer." Hank smiled at the reply as Connor became steadily more alert. "Were you talking to yourself just now?"
"No. I was reciting the lyrics to a song that I keep repeating in my head." Connor blinked twice as he looked around the room confusedly as he had no memory of collapsing in the corridor. "...Why am I in here?"
"Turns out that little cut on your back was more than just a cut."
"...I see." Connor ran a self-diagnostic and noted his self-healing program targeting biocomponent s8003 - his artificial stomach. "I promise that I wasn't keeping the severity of my injury from you. I was unaware of-"
"I know. You wouldn't have kept a secret like that when other people were in danger."
"Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, everything's under control." Patting Connor's shoulder twice Hank gave his deviant friend a reassuring smile. "Once you've had a couple of hours to heal, we can get out of here and head for home. Fowler can wait a day for his damn report. Besides, he'll need the extra time to make sure he pays us accordingly for all our hard work and the bullshit we just deal with."
"What about Detective Reed?"
"Yeah, he can leave, too. By the way..." With a coy grin on his face Hank was happy to tell Connor some rather enlightening news. "That nurse that you saved on the roof has been telling everyone who would listen how you saved her life. She's actually grateful."
"She's still alive?"
"Yup. And I think she's going to have a whole new perspective on androids from this day on."
"That wasn't my intention." Connor confessed as he propped himself upright on his elbows against the bed to test his pain threshold. The motion was slow enough to not strain his healing back or his artificial stomach still healing inside his abdomen. "She was in danger, and I merely reacted in a way that was appropriate and logical."
"I know ya' did. Here." Lightly Hank put his hand against the back of Connor's shoulder and helped the deviant to sit upright on the exam table without hurting him in the process. "Let's make a deal." Needing to find some way to make the crazy day feel less chaotic Hank tapped into a somewhat silly part of his brain. "From now on, when either of us has a 'bad feeling' about going to work, we're both calling off sick. Deal?"
"Yes." Connor smiled a little, his yellow L.E.D. transitioning into a black calm blue in the process. "That's a deal."
After explaining the disaster at the hospital in excruciating detail to Captain Fowler and to the warden of the prison over his phone, Hank, Connor and Gavin were all dismissed for the rest of the afternoon and given the following three days off to recover. Ready to bring the unusual day to an end Hank drove home with Connor in the front seat and with a fresh bottle of Thirium in the event Connor needed additional blue blood during his recovery. The traffic was still congested due to the danger of the fallen helicopter causing detours to ensure the fire department could access the parking lot, but in that moment, Hank didn't mind taking a nice slow drive to back to the house so that he could just sit and think.
Feeling a massive headache coming on Hank glanced at Connor sitting beside him and was impressed that the deviant had the strength to remain awake after everything he had endured just a few hours beforehand. It was easy to mistake Connor as a twenty-something detective, but Hank knew that he was an android who didn't suffer from the same limitations as humans despite being just as mortal and fragile.
"I think tomorrow I'm going to spend all damn day in bed." The senior detective stated with a tired sigh as he parked the car beside the house at long last. Stepping out of the vehicle Hank opened up the backdoor, pet Sumo's head, and let the dog outside for a few minutes. "You should do the same."
"That's a good idea." The idea was strangely appealing as Connor placed the extra Thirium in the kitchen cabinet over the sink and then walked into the livingroom to lay down and relax. "Yes, I agree that an extended rest cycle is in order to properly heal. I may do the same."
"Uh-huh." Hank casually pointed to the hallway with a thumb over his shoulder. "So... Go to bed."
"I am about to do so." Connor stated without any protest as he stood beside the couch while Hank remained at the end of the hallway. "I wish to rest right now."
"No." The senior detective motioned again toward the hallway with a stern look in his eyes. "BED."
"Hank," the near order gave the deviant confused pause. "I don't have-"
"Yeah, you do. Come here." With a sly grin Hank walked down the hallway and stood before Cole's old bedroom door as he held his breath. The door hadn't been opened in Connor's presence in the year that Connor had lived in the house alongside Hank. "I figured since you're living with me that you deserve your own private area of the house. I mean, it's only fair considering everything you've done for me since you moved in."
"My... own room?" Such a generous gesture made Connor's blue L.E.D. flash to yellow for a beat. "You didn't have to-"
"I know I didn't, but I wanted to. Besides, this room has been empty long enough." Tentatively Hank put his hand on the doorknob and pushed the bedroom door open. The smell of dust and semi stagnant air fell out of the room in a single wave. "It's not much, but at least you don't have to live on the couch anymore."
Almost intimidated by what he had been given, Connor entered the hallway and stepped inside the bedroom. The room itself was still fairly barren but a brand new queen-sized bed complete with a large white pillow and thick, chocolate brown quilt over top was resting against the wall. There was a small nightstand and a lamp beside the bed to add some additional furnishings and make things feel more welcoming, but it was all still simple in design. The white walls were totally blank, the beige carpet had been freshly vacuumed, and the white blinds and dark brown curtains over the single window had been drawn back to allow natural light inside the room.
There was a sense of warmth radiating from the room itself making it feel entirely inviting despite being empty for so long for a tragic reason.
"This is... unexpected." Connor looked around the room with utter surprise as his L.E.D. flickered to yellow and then back to blue. "When did this happen?"
"I called the moving company before we left this morning. Movers did their job, cleaned up the room, delivered the bed and all the other stuff all while we were out doing our job at the precinct and at the hospital. If they weren't already paid, I would've taken ya' up on your suggestion to stay home this morning."
"I don't know-" At a momentary loss for words Connor tried to convey his appreciation toward his friend's incredible act of kindness. "This is very generous. Thank you so much."
"Don't worry about it. Like I already told you, this is your home now." Patting Connor's shoulder in a reassuring manner Hank let the deviant know that the house was officially his home, not just a place to crash. "So enjoy it for as long as you like."
Connor walked into the bedroom and over to the bed to sit down on the edge slowly as he continued to glance about the room. It was a much nicer room than his old quarters in CyberLife Tower, and he had an actual bed rather than the standing charge port that cold company had given him. For the first time in Connor's life he had a room all to himself, a real bedroom. It was an area he was free to call his own and do as he pleased.
No boundaries, no security, no restrictions.
It was official, Connor now had a home to officially call his own.
"Tomorrow you can start furnishing this room and really make it your own."
"...Furnish it?" Such a suggestion was something entirely foreign to Connor. "Furnish it how?"
"With whatever you want." The senior detective replied emphatically from where he stood. He knew that Connor still needed to adapt to his deviancy, his rights and his overall freedom. "It's your room, you do whatever you want to do to it. Add a chair, a bookcase, hell, get a few lava lamps and beanbag chairs for all I care!"
"Hank, I-" All Connor could do was thank the senior detective for his generosity once again as his emotions began to well up. "Thank you. I really mean it, thank you."
"It's not problem. Now," Hank stepped out of the bedroom so Connor could have some privacy. "get some sleep. I'm going to do the same and hope that tomorrow is a Hell of a lot better than it was today."
"I will do so. I truly appreciate this."
"I was happy to do it." Before he walked away from the bedroom Hank said one more thing to Connor as he pulled the door closed slowly to give the deviant some privacy. Words he hadn't spoken in a long time that felt amazing to say once again. "Goodnight, son."
Glancing up at the senior detective one last time as he laid down on the bed Connor felt the soft mattress under his healing back and reciprocated the comforting comment. Laying on the bed felt... right. It felt like Connor had slipped on a custom tailored suit that was designed only for himself and no one else.
"Goodnight, Hank." It didn't take long for Connor to settle in and prepare to enter a deep healing rest mode. The deviant detective just felt entirely at ease in his new bedroom despite just being gifted such a personal space of his own. "Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning."
Closing the door with a soft 'click' behind himself Hank sighed and knew that he had done the right thing. Not only had he taken in the deviant off the streets and helped him resume his promising career as a skilled detective, but he had given who was essentially an orphan a home and a family to call his own when he had nothing and no one else in the entire world to rely on.
"I'm glad that you're still here with me. Today was a little too close for comfort."
Whispering as he took a step away from the bedroom door Hank paused for a moment and looked back at the closed with an approving grin plastered over his face. For the first time in years, Hank felt like a proper guardian and couldn't have asked for anything more.
"Welcome home, son."
-next chapter-