Doomsday

Tanner entered the room and immediately approached Logan. With clean hands, he now felt calmer about touching her head wound. He gave a light tug to the glass in her head, but it didn't want to be removed without a fight. Tanner needed to be careful with this operation.

This room reeked of depression. After Brooke entered the small room, the remnants of her small flicker of lightheartedness immediately flushed out into a sea of despair. Seeing Anastasia's worsening condition plus the sight of the green-haired girl's nasty head wound was enough to make the young woman break down, but she had to prove it to herself and Tanner that she can do this. She signed up for this, so it only felt right to see it through.

"Okay." Brooke sighed heavily. The pressure didn't show her any mercy. A droplet of sweat seeped down her face. Her eyes connected to Stazia; Stay's innocent face would've made Brooke tear up if she was by herself. She looked so peaceful lying there. Tanner's inspection broke her out of her gaze.

She watched him give the glass lodged in the teenager's forehead a slight yank. From what she watched, it didn't look like this operation would go as smoothly as she hoped. Fortunately, that Alan kid left the room earlier. Brooke couldn't even imagine how the kid would muster the strength to provide first aid.

Brooke moved to her friend's side and assisted him by holding the girl's head steady. She turned to him with a face that seeked guidance.

Tanner let her help hold Logan's head still while he quickly retrieved his medical bag. He fished out a bottle of alcohol, two clean white rags, and stitches. He set the items down and handed Brooke a clean rag.

"Hold onto this and wait until I take out the shard," Tanner instructed. "This is going to get a little messy."

(I hate you E)
Brooke had to free one of her hands to claim the rag being presented. Whatever the doctor planned on doing, it'd most likely end up with blood. Lots and lots of blood.

The girl gulped and mentally prepared her mind to endure the uncomfortably uneasy operation beginning to commence. The target of her miniature source of comfort became the charming looks of Tanner. She decided to keep her eyes locked onto him throughout the whole procedure.

"Oh god," she mumbled as the will to retract her decision to be here coursed through her veins. Stazia's resting body blocked the will to leave from consuming her entire body. Brooke felt the confidence push through to restore some of the doubt that she kept to herself. She promised to keep her safe no matter what.

Tanner used his left hand to spread the surrounding skin on her forehead as wide as he could while the other hand gripped onto the shard of glass.

"Alright," Tanner announced, not spotting the unbroken stare that his friend placed on him. "Here goes."

With the gentlest of care and a great sense of urgency, Tanner tugged on the piece of glass. The glass did prove to offer some resistance, but it easily slipped out, indicating that her wound didn't get fatally deep.

"The good news is that the glass didn't penetrate her skull," Tanner explained to his obviously uneasy assistant. He went and dropped the bloodied glass into the nearest trash can as red liquid began to rise to the surface of the open wound. "The bad news is that our job might not be done."

Upon seeing the blood climbing out of the would, Brooke hastily pressed her clean rag onto it. Her curiosity forced her to observe the removal process and it didn't look as bad as what she had depicted in her mind.

I'm such a wuss, she scolded herself. And now Hot Lips is going to baby me!

Focus returned to the head wound she continued applying pressure to. The sticky substance merged into the rag, giving it a cherry red coating. Brooke normally enjoyed cherry syrup; the sight of the blood made her feel perturbed since it closely impersonated her favorite delicacy. The gears whirring inside of her body that fueled excess motivation throughout her coursing veins.

"What do you mean?" Brooke certainly didn't jump for joy at the bad news from Tanner. She wanted out of there but she couldn't risk the tiny fragmentation of pride that she clenched. Nausea slapped her across the face once reality light up like a lightbulb.

She wasn't breathing.

Hot air tickled her nose as it exited her body. With air now regulating itself to and from her lungs, it became very clear to Brooke that her mind was the true source of her fear. The blood from the young teenager stopped flowing recently, so the anxious brunette removed the dyed rag. The remaining blood inside and around the child's injury began drying. Now that she accomplished her task, she was able to look her friend in the eye.

(Hot Lips ?)

"Without proper medical tools, it'll be impossible to tell whether or not I took out all of the glass," Tanner explained as he coated the other clean rag with alcohol and handed it to Brooke. "For now, we're just going to have to assume that I did."

He then fished out some stitches from his bag and prepared to close the wound.

It didn't take a degree for Brooke to piece together the events that would follow if Tanner didn't remove all of the glass. With the bleeding stopped, Brooke finally felt relieved despite the news about the worst case scenario. Katie's window made it clear that nightfall had arrived so it became a surprise to see the shop show no reaction to it.

Isn't anybody going to turn on the lights, the brunette wondered as she simultaneously took the alcohol-slathered rag that was handed to her. The shop didn't look like it had power at all. Weird.

The alcohol removed the excess dried blood surrounding and hiding inside of the wound and concluded any doubts about her condition. It felt alleviating to observe and even assist in the treatment of a hurt person. Something about saving lives almost created a smile on Brooke's face.

"Is there anything we can do," Brooke wondered with her eyes locked onto her resting friend.

After following her gaze, he took a deep sigh. The resting girl didn't look well at all. Tanner didn't want to imagine whatever she went through.

"You're lucky to have brought her here when you did," he began. "By the looks of things, she most likely just needs to rest for now. I'll take a better look once we're done here."

Tanner held the stitches in a readied position.

"Is the wound clean?"

After a few slight presses, Brooke finally removed the rag. It too contained red contents from the removed dried blood that she took extra care in extracting from the wound. After discarding the used cloth, Brooke held Logan's head still.

"Ready," she told him.

In all honesty, Brooke's mind focused more on Stazia's condition. She'd never admit to it, but she couldn't stop worrying about her. Tanner better fix her up right away.

What am I worrying for, she sighed. Stazia will be fine. She has a doctor watching over her. I more importantly need to talk to the owner of this place once I'm done playing nurse. It's true that she needed to speak with the owner, but she decided to thank Alan once again before doing that. Stitching the cut shouldn't take too long especially since the young girl still rested quietly. Brooke just prayed that the pain wouldn't spark the girl to life. If that happened...

That was a thought that she couldn't erase from the back of her mind.

Tanner felt relieved that he could trust his partner to keep the child still as he zigzagged the wound closed with the stitches. Fastening the string to the needle was the easy part. Actually stitching the cut shut (hehe, that rhymed) could make even the most skilled surgeons sweat. Brooke's hard work diminished when blood resurfaced from the many punctures that Tanner had to make. Once the doctor finished up, he used the alcoholic rag to cleanse the wound once more.

"Now all we need to do is wait," Tanner informed before tasking himself with putting his medical supplies back in his bag. "I won't spare any bandages until I check on your friend and tend to the little girl."

(After an hour long lecture from my mom, 6:30 turned into 7:30.)

Brooke couldn't help but get lost in a trance while watching the green-haired teenager rest peacefully. Her forehead looked clean and well-treated considering the conditions that she and Tanner had to operate in. Tanner probably wouldn't admit it, but the two were lucky on this one. Hopefully Anastasia would be just as fortunate.

Seconds drifted by as silence ensued the room. It only lasted a few seconds before Brooke spoke up with a look of puzzlement.

"Little girl?" Although it did appear that Brooke breezed past the mentioning of her friend, the angsty woman made the decision to stop worrying over her friend so much and instead focus on gathering information. If anything were to happen to Stay, the doctor would take care of it.

Tanner had forgotten that she's new here. She obviously didn't know who he was talking about.

"I guess I can fill you in while I examine your friend," Tanner said in a tone that was more insistent than suggestive. The wooden floor squealed as his feet carried him over to the slumbering Hispanic child. "I'm sure that you would like to know why I'm here in the first place."

Brooke did find it both odd and very convenient to have found Tanner here. It almost seemed fortuitous that he carried medical supplies to treat her friend. It did make sense since she found him near the TMC, however adding that he's a doctor made the situation all the more interesting. Out of all the choices Brooke made so far: giving Tanner and Ryan a lift, rescuing Anastasia from a fiery death, and taking refuge in this shop all strangely were what appeared to be the right choices so far. It of course should be something to be proud of, but it just didn't sit right with her. At least some sort of explanation would do.

"I'd like to know a lot of things." Her response sounded more demanding than anything which sent a wave of regret throughout the girl's body. Why can't she just stop playing the independent wannabe badass girl for once and just act like any person in her situation would?

No. That didn't sound like Brooke Hathaway at all. Not in a million years. Still, it wouldn't hurt to just be as polite as Mary Poppins right now.

"Start from the beginning," she told Tanner in a much nicer tone. It still came out like a command, but this was as nice as she was willing to get.

(You mean TMC lol not CDC)

Tanner took a momentary glance at his next patient. It seemed hopeless to treat her in these conditions. For her sake, unconsciousness should be the worst of her problems.

Tanner turned his attention to Brooke before speaking.

"After I found you at the hospital, I-"

(All fixed E. You want a bow on top of it?)

"I meant all the way back."

Brooke reached over to snag the bag for Tanner. It seemed oddly light with all of his equipment in there.

"You're not wearing a uniform. What were you doing at the hospital, Dr. Tanner?" She held the bag out to him while patiently waiting for an answer.