Unexpected 10: Lightning & Rush

Chapter 11: Gathering

"Baby, go to sleep. You need to rest." Hondo said stroking Nichelle's hair as they rolled her in

"Thank you so much. I was so scared, Hondo." she said grabbing his hand

Two nurses joined in as now there were four people on her, prodding, testing, asking questions, etc. Hondo was left behind as the two doors to the ER closed behind all of them, taking with them his whole world.

Hospital...

"Hondo!" Chris called, rushing out of the patrol car.

"Tío Hondo!" Rubio called after her

Hondo had just come out to take a breather. The waiting game was his least favorite! He looked horrible and exhausted. He turned to them and sighed.

"What's wrong? Why are you here?" he asked surprised

"I could say the same thing!" Chris snapped.

He fist pumped her and the kid, then took a deep breath. "Nichelle's job was being raided. Tan got me there, we busted like five guys breaking and entering, taking stuff... I found her pretty shaken up behind a cabinet in her office." he said placing both hand on his waste

"Oh my God!" Chris said surprised as the boy opened his eyes wide in awe

"She ok?" Rubio asked

"Yeah, I really hope so, blonde. I mean...she got hit in the head pretty hard."

"What about the baby?" Chris asked

"They'll run tests!" Hondo said exhausted, then sighed

"Hey guys!" Luca greeted coming out with a binder full of papers clipped in. "Wish I could talk."

Luca was wearing a sling on his injured arm, heavily wrapped in bandages. So much so that it looked like a cast!

"Woah! Woah!" Hondo called, he stepped in front of Luca and couldn't believe it. "Weren't you hurt, Luca?"

"Yeah, but X Rays came back negative so I just told them to stitch me up and wrap it. I couldn't just sit back with all the chaos going around so I just started helping out with the paperwork and getting the patients info."

"With one arm?" Chris asked confused!

"Yeah. I mean...it doesn't hurt half as bad. Plus, they're slammed!" Luca lamented

Chris and Hondo turned and exchanged looks. "Hey Blonde, stay in the waiting room!"

After hours of helping out and waiting it out in the hospital, Hondo finally was allowed to see Nichelle. Truth is she had come in so rattled, the nurses insisted on getting her on IV and letting her rest. He came in, said a few words to his sleeping beauty and exited, tip toeing out

After that Hondo joined Luca helping out in the ER, being joined by Chris who helped with the food and supplies. He did have some coffee which fueled him a bit.

"Oh my God! You have no idea how grateful we are, officers." one of the nurses said, completely exhausted, leaning against the wall.

Chris had helped with the organizing of the food distribution as well as paperwork. Luca and Hondo helped direct efforts in ambulance entry. Rubio helped getting things in order in the waiting room, before sitting down with the girl of the patient that Luca had seen before being attended to.

Meanwhile, Street was taken to get X Rays and was awaiting results. The doctor had provided a preliminary report stating the possibility of several carpal bones being fractured. He was comfortably snoring, having crashed right after being brought from radiology. Poor guy was exhausted!

"Hey! How are Nichelle and Luca doing?" Deacon said rushing in

They met Hondo in the ambulance entry as he helped the paramedics bring down the cart of yet another patient. They seem to be rolling in by the dozens! He directed the cart and then allowed the nurses to do their job. He stepped back and joined the duo outside.

"Luca is somewhere helping out. Turns out he has no fractures and has been giving a hand here. And Nichelle? Well, I left her sleeping for a bit. Got cold in there, so just came outside for a breathe of fresh air."

"Is she ok? The baby?" Tan asked

"Yeah, baby's fine too. She just has some scratches, a cut on the side of her face and some headaches. But doc said she'd be alright."

"You look like you could use a shower!"

"Tan, I look like crap!" Hondo said frustratingly, "But I ain't leaving without my baby!" he said shaking his head

"Will they keep her overnight?" Deacon asked

"They're going to take a CT Scan of her head before they discharge her."

"She'll be fine." Deacon said placing a tender hand on his shoulder

"Yeah, she's strong" Tan said offering a fist pump

"Hey guys!" greeted Chris as she removed medical gloves and dumped them into a hazard bin in the hall. She smiled and nodded once at each teammate.

"Chris? What are you doing here?" Tan asked surprised

"Hey Tan! Doc says Street may have fractures in his right hand. We're waiting on results from X Rays."

"Ouch! What happened?" Deacon said

"Long story that involves an explosion." Chris said shaking her head slowly.

The others nodded in silence. Suddenly, Luca came out of the building and joined in.

"What happened with Blonde?" Luca said looking around

"He was helping out in the waiting room but I just checked and he already quit his job. He's playing cards with a girl." Chris said shaking her head, rolling her eyes

"Sounds 'bout right" Hondo said with a smirk

"What happened at the hearing?" Luca asked curiously

Chris took a deep breath. "Judge was grilling Rubio pretty bad. He almost lost it just as the earthquake hit. Then, we found out about the collision with the gas tank up front so we knew we had to get outta there. Found a hole and got everybody out on time."

"Oh my God!" Deacon lamented

"Yeah, we remembered that time Hondo and you got stuck in the courthouse with those nutjobs holding you in. We figured if we found a space downstairs, we could make a run for the parking lot next to the building."

"Sounds like chaos." Tan added

"It was. We went through the aftershocks too, which made things even more complicated. But I gotta say, I'm proud of that kid. We sent him with the group but he came back and helped us out. One of the cars in the collision exploded, Street hurt his hand, and instead of continuing, the kid turned, made a curtain into a rope and made it possible for us two to get to safety."

"Sounds like your kid, huh?" Luca said with a grin

"He does." Chris said blushing. She hadn't felt so proud of someone in quite some time.

"What did the judge say?" Tan asked.

"We couldn't finish the hearing, but..." she paused, with a smirk

"But?" Luca urged

"We get to keep him!" she said proudly

"YASSS!" Luca said excited, raising his healthy arm up in triumph

The others cheered on, as they shared fist pumps with Chris, who blushed.

"Yeah, I gotta do some anger management and Street can't drive yet, plus some family therapy and stuff, but...he said we could go by Monday to sign the papers. Make it official!"

The group cheered once again, as Hondo and the others shared a hug with her. She was excited and her face clearly showed it. For the first time, and straight out of a fairy tale, she was actually looking forward to being called 'mom'.