Unexpected 3: Alonso, Gone

Chapter 11: Water, boom

"Hey!" greeted Hondo as he came into the waiting room right after eight o'clock, "How's she doing?"

The scene looked extremely similar to that dreadful day of the massive fire. The room was filled with SWAT officers, friends and family. Uncle Sarzo was gone, as well as Chris' cousins, but Aunt Helena was sitting down quietly enjoying a small cup of coffee. Surrounding her were Nichelle, Annie and Bonnie, speaking softly.

Deacon was the first one to approach. "They're still running tests. She's still sedated, on a ventilator... still with difficulty to breath on her own. Nurse came out a couple of minutes ago to tell us the doctor will do a final check up for tonight to give us an update. They'll keep her in ICU for tonight."

"Hey guys!" greeted Tan as he approached Hondo and Street, who had come in just then.

"Hey bro! Hey boss!" joined Luca, Both newcomers just nodded.

"So...we're just waiting for the doc to show up, and hoping for better news. So far, they're keeping most details private, but we're hoping for the best." continued Deacon, "Annie and I did a small prayer with Helena. We hope that cheered her up." He turned to face the old lady whose dark rings around the eyes showed signs of heavy cry. Street could only shake his head and lament quietly.

Aunt Helena met with the doctor, and then she relaid the information to the group. According to her, Dr. Haver said that Chris was still in critical condition but her lungs were beginning to clear up, very slowly. They were not confident enough to remove the ventilator, but they had high hopes that she wouldn't need it by the next afternoon or night. They did a blood transfusion because tests showed high levels of toxicity. He said it was a precautionary move, to avoid major complications to her vital organs and tissues. She was currently under heavy sedation, so he recommended full rest.

Dr. Haver did express how surprised he was that the officer's lungs were not in a more precarious state. Keeping in mind the direct exposure to so many dangerous chemicals, it seemed she had avoided a lot more complications. He told Aunt Helena that she may had tried to hold her breath or do something to keep her lungs from inhaling the dangerous ammoniac fumes because even though she had to be kept in a ventilator for now, they were confident her lungs would get stronger come morning. This would be extremely remarkable for someone exposed to that amount of toxic fumes for so many hours.

He also said in the morning they would run more tests to see how she got through the night. Their goal for now was to clear her blood and lungs of any invading toxin, virus or bacteria. The next day they would tackle her injuries, which included: two fractures in the lower right rib cage, broken fingers (probably occurred as she tried to escape the constrains), and hematomas to her chest and back. The doctor was pretty sure the assailants had shook her pretty bad before strapping her to the chair.

There wasn't much to do until the morning, so everyone started to go home. Everyone except Street. He felt exhausted but his brain was on high energy. There was no way he could go to sleep, no way possible. He figured he could stay the night, even if it was in the waiting room. The nurse said that only one person was allowed in the ICU overnight, but because Helena had had an appointment very early that morning, she was still not feeling 100%. Street immediately volunteered to stay with Chris, so she could rest. He went home to wash up, called the precinct to check on Rubio (who had not eaten anything and was still shelled), grabbed a couple of things and sped back to the hospital. What awaited him was a long night!

The next day, 8am, HQ

The station seemed dark, dull and extremely tense. Officers moved quietly, and the chatter was to a minimum. Even those who were training did it quietly. It was evident that nobody could believe the same officer who almost died in a fire a short term ago was now back in the hospital fighting for her life in the ICU. Unbelievable!