Dr. Rhodes listened to Ronnie's chest and frowned.
"I don't like that look." Ronnie said.
"I'm still hearing a wheeze. Dr. Marcel mentioned something about you having Asthma?"
"Veronica had severe asthma as a child. Though it seemed to get better by the time she was 12." Benoit explained.
Dr. Rhodes nodded.
"Well, it has been quite a few hours since the last breathing treatment, I'd like to do another one. It could just be an Asthma flare up, your body has been under significant stress for the last couple of days, being shot, having life saving surgery, a surgery which removed a small part of your left lung. I'm going to order another breathing treatment, and we will see how you are doing after that." Dr. Rhodes said.

"You don't think something went wrong with the surgery, do you, Doctor?" Benoit asked.
"Its hard to say as of right now. After we do the breathing treatment, if the wheezing hasn't resolved we will do more tests to figure out what is going on, but your daughter here, is one hell of a fighter so whatever it is, I have no doubt she will overcome it" . Dr. Rhodes smiled. His pager went off and he looked down at it.

Ronnie took note of the concern that washed over Dr. Rhodes eyes.
"Is something wrong?" Ronnie asked as Dr. Rhodes walked over to her and started unhooking her from the machines she was on.
"We have a code silver." Dr. Rhodes said.
"What does that mean?" Ronnie asked.
Dr. Rhodes walked over to the light switch in the room and shut it off.
"Its an active shooter situation."
"Oh my God..." Ronnie said.
"Mr. Boudreaux I need you to get as low as you possibly can. The gunman is heading our way."
"What about Veronica?" Benoit asked as he got down on the floor.

Dr. Rhodes walked back over to Ronnie.
"I'm going to help you out of bed and onto the floor. It is super important, that once you are down you do not try to move too fast or stand up without my help."
"Okay." Ronnie nodded. "What about Remy and Crockett? They are out there."
"I will see if I can find them." He said as he helped Ronnie out of bed and helped her to the side of the bed where she would be hidden. Benoit crawled across the floor so he could be with his daughter.
"Wait..Dr. Rhodes if you go out there.." Ronnie started.
"I will be okay." Dr. Rhodes smiled. "Just stay in here and stay as quiet as possible." He said.
"Okay." Ronnie nodded as Dr. Rhodes left the room.

Ronnie looked up at her father with teary eyes.
"Daddy.." She said.
"Its going to be okay Veronica." Benoit said and held her close to him as they sat on the floor. "Let us pray." He whispered.
A sudden gun shot made Ronnie jump nearly out of her skin.
"Marcel!" She heard a drunken shout. Ronnie's eyes widened with fear. This was the man who shot her, and now he was coming back for his intended target.
"Crockett.." Ronnie said. "Remy is with him!" Ronnie tried to move but Benoit stopped her.
"Dr. Rhodes said you shouldn't try to move too much. Just try to stay calm."

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Connor left Ronnies room, Crockett and Remy were standing to the left of the room. Crockett had his hands up as the shooter had the gun pointed directly at him. Connor tried to stay out of sight, but right there incase anyone got shot. Will was over by Maggie and a couple of the other nurses. Connor slowly approached.
"I heard a shot, has anyone been hit?" He whispered.
Will shook his head. "Hes so drunk, he fired a shot but it didn't hit anyone luckily."

Dr. Charles was on scene trying to talk to the gunman.
"Hey..Eric, I know you don't want to hurt anyone. How about you put the gun down, and we can just talk." Dr. Charles said.
"He killed my boy!" Eric slurred keeping his gun pointed at Crockett.
"Eric, I am so sorry about what happened to Jason. But this..this is not the way to handle it. Think about it, I don't think Jason would want his father going to prison for life for killing someone..doing this, its not going to bring him back. Think about your wife she needs you, perhaps now more than ever, and its going to be really hard to be there for her from a prison cell." Dr. Charles said.
"My son wanted to live!" Eric shouted.

"Eric, I know he did. Jason didn't want to go through Chemo, he didn't want to go through what comes with that. Which is why I recommended surgery to remove the tumor. I thought with our new AI assisted surgical system that surgery was going to be his best option, and I'm so sorry that it turned out to be his worst. I should have made sure the kinks were all worked out before I used it. And I am so..so sorry that it ended the way that it did. But Dr. Charles is right, doing this..is not going to bring him back and if that were the case, I would gladly take the bullet." Crockett said.

"You killed my boy Marcel. So I'm going to kill you." Eric said as he wobbled back and forth.
Remy looked back and forth between the gunman and Crockett, this man was obviously too drunk to think clearly he could barely stand. Someone was going to get hurt, and Crockett was in the direct line of fire. Remy thought about his sister. Losing Crockett would absolutely destroy her. He watched the gunman put his finger on the trigger and made the split-second decision to shove Crockett out of the way as Eric wobbled and almost fell forward and squeezed the trigger.

Remy dropped to the floor, screaming in agony as the bullet went straight through his right leg.
"Remington!" Crockett shouted and dropped to his knees assessing the damage to Remy's leg.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as the second shot went off, Remington started screaming. Benoit crawled across the floor to the curtain.
"Daddy! No!" Ronnie yelled as her father crawled out of the room.
"Dammit!" Ronnie grumbled and started crawling, slowly as her insides felt like they were going to fall out with every movement she made. Ronnie bit her lip trying to hold in a cry of pain. Her entire family was out there, everyone she cared about was out there and she would be damned if she was going to stay in this room so she pushed herself and crawled out of the room into the chaos.

The gunman was still pointing his weapon towards Crockett and Remy, and now her father. Ronnie made it to Remy and grabbed his hand. Remy turned and looked at her.
"Ronnie what are you doing??" He asked and then cried out in pain again as Crockett put pressure on his wound.

Eric looked at Remington, realizing he had shot him instead of Crockett. Benoit got to his feet and put his hands out as he approached the man who was now responsible for shooting both of his children.
Eric pointed the gun at him.
"Easy.." Benoit said. "No one else has to get hurt."
"He killed my boy." Eric wept. "My sweet boy."
"It was an accident, I have known that man since he was tot." Benoit said and pointed at Crockett. "He would never, and I mean never hurt anyone intentionally. But what you are doing..its intentional and if you kill this man you are going to have to live with it for the rest of your life." Benoit said.
"Do you have children?" Eric asked. "I only had the one and now hes gone and I have to live without him for the rest of my life."

"I do have children." Benoit said. "My son is the man you just shot, and my daughter was the one you shot outside of the bar last night. I almost lost her."
Eric looked at Remington on the floor, and his sister who looked up at him with terrified pleading eyes. Begging him with her eyes not to hurt anyone else.
Eric lowered his gun and began sobbing.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He said and dropped to his knees. He put the gun to his head.

"Hey hey!" Benoit said and crouched down to the man and put his hand on his shoulder.
"My family, is a family of very strong faith and we are very understanding and forgiving. My daughter actually refused to press additional charges against you, because of what you have been through and I am sure, my son will do the same."
Ronnie started crawling towards the gunman and her father.
"Veronica!" Remy hissed as he noticed blood dripping from her hospital gown. "Crock..she's bleeding."
"Not as bad as you are Rem." Crockett whispered. "She will be okay." Although he was very worried about Ronnie, Remington was in worse condition at the moment.

Ronnie slowly reached out and put her hand on Eric's free hand.
"I forgive you." She said softly. "Please..don't do this."
"I don't deserve your forgiveness." Eric weeped.
"Are you a man of faith?" Benoit asked.
Eric nodded.
"Will you put your gun down, and allow my daughter and I to pray for you?" Benoit asked.
Eric sobbed as he put his gun down on the floor.
Benoit pushed it safely away from him, and as soon as he did, Cops began approaching Eric.

Dr. Charles put his hand out to stop them as Benoit and Ronnie began praying for Eric. Dr. Rhodes hurried over to Crockett and Remy.
"We need to get him into a room and get an Xray Now." Dr. Rhodes said.
Crockett nodded and flagged down a couple of other Doctors to help move Remington.

Once Remington was moved safely and onto a hospital bed, Crockett turned to Will. "Ronnie is bleeding, I think she tore some stitches while moving, please check on her, Connor and I have this from here."
Will nodded. "Of course." He said and hurried out of the room.

Eric was currently being arrested, without resisting. Ronnie was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, her hospital gown was soaked in blood and she was hyperventilating. Her eyes were wide, and wild with fear. Will crouched down to her.
"Ronnie I need to get you back in your room, you're bleeding." He said.
Ronnie shook her head. "Check on Remington!' She said and had to catch her breath in between words.
"Veronica, Remington is with Crockett, and Dr. Rhodes." Benoit said.
"Remington was shot! Check on him!" Ronnie repeated.
Benoit looked at Will, with a look of confusion.
"I.. I can't breathe." Ronnie said. "I can't feel my face."
"I think she's having a panic attack." Will said and went to touch her but she slapped his hand away.
"SOMEONE GO CHECK ON MY BROTHER!" She screamed and put her hand to her chest.
"Hey Ronnie.." Dr. Charles said as he approached her. "Ronnie, can you look at me?"
Ronnie looked up at him.
"I think what is happening is you are experiencing an adrenaline dump and it's causing a panic attack, which is very normal for the two very traumatic situations you have just been through over the last two days. Can you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth for me?"
Ronnie started breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth as instructed.
"Good..You are doing great." Dr. Charles said.

Remington cried out in pain from the room he was in and Ronnie took her eyes off Dr. Charles to look.
"Ronnie, I need you to keep your eyes on me and focus on your breathing." Dr. Charles said. Ronnie looked back up at him and kept trying to breathe.
"Dr. Rhodes, and Dr. Marcel are taking care of your brother right now, and as you may know they are two of Chicago's best Doctors, your brother is in very good and capable hands."
Ronnie nodded and her breathing began to slow down.
"Now, it looks like you may have torn some of your stitches, and Dr. Halstead here needs to get you back to your room so he can help you. Do you think you can let him do that?" Dr. Charles asked.

Ronnie nodded again and looked at Will and then looked down at her blood soaked gown.
"Oh. I am bleeding." She said. "Probably need to fix that." She mumbled.
"Probably so." Will said with a smile.
"Easy there Ginger Spice, you'll make a little southern girl like me melt with a smile like that." Ronnie said.
"There she is." Will chuckled and stood up. He and Dr. Charles helped Ronnie to her feet.
"Alright, we are going to walk nice and slow back into your room so I can check out those stitches. Easy." He said as Ronnie took the first step. Benoit followed them as they made their way to Ronnie's room.
"Daddy I'm fine. Go be with Remington please." Ronnie said.
Benoit nodded and looked at Will.
Will gave him a nod. "I've got her." He said.
"Thank you." Benoit said and hurried a couple of rooms over where Remington was.

Once Will and Dr. Charles helped Ronnie get back into bed safely, Maggie stepped in the room to assist. She started hooking the machines back up to Ronnie so she could be monitored. Will pulled the blanket up over Ronnies pelvic area so she wouldn't be exposed when he pulled her gown up to examine her stitches.
"Now that you're safely back in bed, I'm going to step out." Dr. Charles said.
"No..Please stay." Ronnie said. "Unless you have to be somewhere else."
"I don't. I'm more than happy to stay." Dr. Charles smiled and sat down in one of the chairs in the room

"Definitely tore a few stitches. Nothing we can't fix. Ronnie, what is your pain level right now on a scale of 1-10."
"I'm going to say it's about 15." Ronnie winced. "But please nothing that is going to put me to sleep the last two times I've woken up out of it confused and scared."
"Maggie can you go ahead and push .5 of versed?" Will asked.
"Got it." Maggie said and pushed the medication. "This should help you relax sweetie" She said
"Thank you." Ronnie said.

Will listened to her chest with his stethoscope.
"I'm hearing some wheezing. Maggie can you get the fast scan ready? I want to make sure she's not bleeding into her lungs." Will said.
"On it." Maggie said
"Dr. Rhodes heard wheezing before all of this happened. I have asthma. He wanted to do another breathing treatment to see if it helped." Ronnie said.
"Well we can certainly do that as well, I just want to make sure you aren't bleeding internally before I start fixing your stitches." Will said and smiled.

"Theres that smile again Ginger spice." Ronnie smirked "You're so cute." She said and reached out and poked his nose. "Boop." She said and giggled.
"There goes the Versed." Maggie chuckled and handed Will the fast scan.
"Oh look Ronnie, you made him blush." Maggie noticed Will's cheeks were turning pink.
"What can I say, she's got that southern belle charm for sure." Will chuckled and moved the fast scan around looking for any internal damage.
"Fast scan is clear, No internal bleeding, Maggie can you inject some Lidocaine so I can fix up her stitches and go ahead and order that breathing treatment?"
"Sure thing Ginger Spice," Maggie said.
"Alright Ronnie lets get you fixed up." Will said.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Rhodes and Crockett examined the X-Ray of Remy's leg as it popped up on the screen.
"Good news, The bullet went through and though." Dr. Rhodes said.
"Whats the bad news?" Remy asked.
"Bad News is, your tibia is shattered and worst news is, your anterior tibial artery has ruptured we need to get you into surgery now."
"Is his leg going to be okay?" Benoit asked.
Dr. Rhodes nodded. "If we get him up to surgery now and repair the artery, we can set his leg and secure it with surgical rods and plates."

"Good news is 2.0 is open." Jack Dayton said as he entered the room. Dr. Rhodes looked at him.
"You have got to be joking right now." He said.
"I'm not." Jack said.
"What the hell is 2.0?" Remy asked.
"Mr. Boudreaux, I'm Jack Dayton. I recently brought an AI assisted surgical system to this hospital and I believe you would be the perfect candidate for it."
"You mean the AI assisted surgical system that killed that boy, and led to both me and my sister being shot by the boys father?" Remy asked.

"That would be the one." Dr. Rhodes scoffed.
"Hell no. If I find out that that system was used on me for surgery I will sue you for everything you have and you are damn lucky that my sister wasn't used as a guinea pig for your AI assisted bullshit!" Remy shouted.
"Dr. Marcel is our trained surgeon on the system, and I have faith that he can-" Jack started.
"I said no!" Remy said.

Jack looked at Crockett waiting for him to try and push for 2.0
"My patient has refused to use 2.0 for his surgery. As Doctors we have to respect our patients wishes. Perhaps once we have worked out the kinks with 2.0 we will use it again on someone else." Crockett said. "But I am also not comfortable using the system until those kinks are worked out through tests, not on live patients. Now, this patient is in a critical state and he needs to be moved up to the OR now so if you don't mind, we have work to do." Crockett said.

"Dorris page the OR and tell them we are coming up. We've wasted enough time arguing with this jackass." Dr. Rhodes said.
"I will be speaking with the board about this Dr. Rhodes." Jack said.
"Go right ahead." Dr. Rhodes said as he and Crockett wheeled Remy out of the room.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days later, after everything had calmed down both Ronnie and Remy were recovering from their injuries. The wheeze that Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Halstead had heard in Ronnies lungs, was exactly what they thought, her asthma was flaring up due to the stress on her body. Dr. Rhodes had told her that she would likely want to start taking medications to control her symptoms and have a rescue inhaler on her for flare ups until her lungs had fully recovered from the surgery, as of right now Ronnie would still be here for at least another week or two.

Remy had done well in his surgery to fix his leg, he was stuck in a cast for a few more days and then he would be put in a boot for the rest of his healing process which Dr. Rhodes told him he could follow up with his Doctor back home once he was discharged.

There was a knock on the wall outside Remy's room and the curtain pulled back and Dr. Charles stepped in.
"Hello Mr. Boudreaux. I'm Dr. Charles, I'm the head of Psychiatry here at Med and was wondering if I could come in for a chat with you?" He asked.
"Sure and my father is Mr. Boudreaux you can just call me Remy." Remy said.
Dr. Charles smiled and sat down in the chair next to Remy's hospital bed.
"So what brings you by?" Remy asked.
"Well, I like to check in with patients especially after they've been through something as traumatic as a shooting." Dr. Charles explained.
"Ah, I'm fine. Crock's already chewed my ass out for jumping in front of him like that." Remy chuckled. "And then Ronnie did too."

Crockett approached Remy's room and heard him talking to Dr. Charles. He went to walk on by and go check on Ronnie but he heard Dr. Charles ask him a question, that he'd also asked but never got an answer so even though he shouldn't have, he stayed outside the room to listen.

"I gotta ask man, what was going through your head when you took that bullet?" Dr. Charles asked.
"To be honest...Ronnie." Remy said. "If something happened to Crockett...I don't think Ronnie would ever recover from that loss. Losing our mama was hard enough on her I don't even think she's fully processed her death."
"Grief is funny like that, it really has no timeline. But you are her brother, and her reaction after you were shot was very intense." Dr. Charles said.

"I heard. My Dad said it was a panic attack, but I think thats more from being in an active shooter situation twice in two days." Remy said. "Its always been Ronnie and Crockett. Since they were in Kindergarten. They were always together. Ronnie didn't have a lot of friends growing up, she was very abrasive, and hard to get along with, but something about Crockett just clicked with her. To lose him would be like losing half of herself." Remy explained.

"I can understand where you are coming from. But you have to understand that losing you, her older brother, her first protector would do quite a bit of damage too.I mean you've been there since the day she was born, you've been right by her side. Siblings fight, its inevitable. Your sister was very worried about you. So worried that she crawled out of that room in unimaginable pain just to hold your hand to let you know she was there. What I'm trying to get at is I don't think there is a comparison between losing you, or losing Crockett. Based on her reaction to you being shot, I believe if one were to ask her which loss would be more detrimental to her, it would be an impossible choice to make on her part." Dr. Charles said.

"I guess you make a good point there." Remy said. "Have you been to see her recently? My Dad told me she hasn't really been sleeping and I think she's still having some trouble processing everything that happened. I mean It was a lot so I understand. It just worries me ya know? Sending her out there on her own to finish this tour of hers." Remy said and sighed.

"I understand you being worried. I can certainly try to talk with her, our first meeting she was kind of hesitant to say anything to me really, but she did ask me to stay in the room while Dr. Halstead repaired her stitches so maybe she would be open to the idea of talking to me now." Dr. Charles said. "How are you processing all of this though?"

"I think I'm doing pretty well all things considered. I just can't help but think of that family. They lost their only son and now the father is likely sitting in a holding cell waiting to be charged When I found out that he shot my sister, I wanted to tear his head from his shoulders, but watching him crumble after realizing what he had done..." Remy trailed off and sighed and shook his head.

"Its just awful and then I heard that, that this Jack Dayton character has the nerve to file a lawsuit against his wife for speaking out against this new 2.0 gizmo. If I were allowed, I'd offer to represent this man and his wife in a counter suit against Jack because if you ask me, that boys death? What happened to my sister and I? It's all on him."

"Just between you and I? I agree. Taking the natural instincts away from our top rated surgeons supposedly making things easier has actually become more of a nightmare than I think this hospital ever saw coming and I think that even though legally you can't, wanting to represent the man that almost killed your sister is a good step in the right direction for healing. And I have to say, what your father and your sister did to de-escalate the situation was both very brave and admirable." Dr. Charles said.

"That has always been how my father is. He's the pastor at our church back home, and my sister, while she's rough around the edges, she's a good kid, with a good heart. She always thinks of others before herself." Remy smiled. "Anyways, I think I'm fine. Could use a little something for the pain if you could be so kind as to grab that beautiful nurse's attention right there for me?" Remy said and nodded towards Maggie who was looking at the brick in her hand over by the nurses station.
"I see the southern charm isn't just a trait of your sisters." Dr. Charles chuckled.
"It's a Boudreaux family trait." Remy winked.

"Right, well I will certainly get Maggie's attention for you, and in the meantime I will go check on your sister." Dr. Charles said.
"I wish you all the luck in the world." Remy chuckled.

Dr. Charles left the room and Crockett tried to make it look like he wasn't standing there listening to the conversation.
"Oh! Dr. Marcel, Remington is your patient right?" Dr. Charles asked.
"Mine and Connors yes." Crockett answered.
"Well, he is asking for some pain medication, he asked for Maggie, but she looks to be busy, maybe you can go check up on Remington?" Dr. Charles asked.
"Sure. I was heading there anyway." Crockett said.
"Good. I'm about to go visit with Ronnie. I think Dr. Rhodes mentioned she was clear for coffee so I'm going to stop and grab her a cup. She told me how she liked it a few days ago but I forgot." Dr. Charles said.
"Ah, just plain ol black coffee. No cream, no sugar, she'd drink it straight from the pot with a straw if you let her." Crockett chuckled. "Better be careful Dr. Charles, you may replace me as her favorite person in this hospital being the person to bring her first cup of coffee in four days."
"Thanks man, I'll do my best not to replace you." Dr. Charles chuckled.

Crockett walked into Remy's room.
"Well, you are not a beautiful nurse." Remy said.
Crockett put his hand to his chest acting like he was offended.
"That was not very nice of you Mr. Boudreaux." Crockett said.
"If you want to be flattered, my sister's room is just a couple rooms away. She's got all of these Doctors in here wrapped around her finger." Remy chuckled. "None more than you I'm willing to bet though." Remy added with a wink.
"These Doctors in here are not quite used to a sweet little southern gal like your sister." Crockett chuckled.
"Sweet? In what world." Remy laughed and looked over Crocketts shoulder at Maggie instructing the flow of patients coming in.
Crockett followed his gaze and turned back to him and grinned.
"Nurse Lockwood eh?" Crockett asked.
"She's something ain't she?" Remy asked. "I mean she runs this place like a Navy Captain running a ship."
"With this crew? More like a Pirate Captain." Crockett said.
"Is she seeing anyone?" Remy asked.
"Recently divorced." Crockett replied.
"I can work with that." Remy nodded.
"Rem you sly dog." Crockett said and shook his head.
"What, you don't think I have a chance?" Remy asked.
"Boy, she will chew you up and spit you out." Crockett laughed.
"Just my type." Remy winked. "Hey. She's walkin in here. Be cool." Remy said and ran his hands through his shaggy blonde hair.

"Hey Crockett, are you busy?" Maggie asked as she walked into the room.
"At the moment, no. What's up?" Crockett asked.
"Dr. Halstead is needing a surgery consult in 4. Dr. Rhodes is in a board meeting." Maggie said.
"Sure, I'll take care of it. Do you think you could help Mr.Boudreaux here? Hes having some pain, but it's also time for him to do some moving around. Can you take him on a walk?"
"Sure!" Maggie smiled. "Ready for a walk Remy?" Maggie asked. Maggie had gotten to know the Boudreaux siblings pretty well over the last few days.
"Sure thing darlin." Remy said and smiled.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Charles approached Ronnie's room with a coffee in his hand and he stopped just outside the room as he heard Jack Dayton's voice. From what he'd already learned about Ronnie, Jack was either a madman or really stupid to be going into the lion's den alone. Dr. Charles peeked through the small crack in the curtain to see what was going on.

"Miss Boudreaux, we haven't had the pleasure to meet yet, but my name is Jack Dayton." Jack said.
"I know exactly who you are." Ronnie said, completely unphased by his presence as she typed away on her laptop.
"Well, a member of my team came across an article of an interview you did yesterday speaking about the shootings, and your surgery, and overall well being.." Jack started.
"And?" Ronnie sighed.
"Well, you were asked about 2.0, the new AI assisted surgical system I brought to this hospital and the things you said about it...could be harmful in getting 2.0 introduced in hospitals nationwide." Jack said.

"Good." Ronnie said, again without even sparing him a glance.
Jack chuckled uneasily and put his hands in his pockets.
"Look, I understand why you might be upset about 2.0 but calling it an AI assisted death trap might have been a little too far on your part." Jack suggested.
"Nope, I think what I said fits perfectly." Ronnie shrugged.
"The system has its flaws. Its new and all the kinks need to be worked out." Jack said in defense.

"Then those kinks should have been worked out before using actual human beings. A boy died Mr. Dayton and as a result of his death, his father was so grief stricken, he attempted to take the life of the Doctor who was using your faulty system, but instead shot and almost killed me. And then he came to the hospital to try again, and shot my brother." Ronnie said and looked up at Jack for the first time. Her stare was ice cold and she was not to be intimidated.
"Then your blame is on the man with the gun and not my tech." Jack argued.

"That is where you are wrong. Your tech killed that boy. Your tech almost got Dr. Marcel, myself, and my brother, killed and the fact that you still wanted to use your tech on mine and my brother's surgeries shows you have absolutely no remorse about what happened to that CHILD. People are just statistics to you and that is not okay. I know what you are trying to do, you are trying to intimidate me into going back and changing what I've said."

"I don't want to have to bring a lawsuit against you Miss Boudreaux but I can, and I will." Jack said.
"You want to sue me Jack?" Ronnie scoffed. "Bring it on. But just know I will be counter suing you for pain and suffering, damages to my mental and physical health, and trying to intimidate me into making a false statement. My brother is one of the best Lawyers in the state of Louisiana. You wanna play ball? We will play."

Dr. Charles decided before things got too ugly he would step in.
"Everything okay here?" He asked.
"Yeah, Mr. Dayton was just leaving." Ronnie said as she held her glare on Jack.
"So I was." Jack mumbled. "Be seeing you." He added and gave Dr. Charles a nod and left the room.
"Morceau de merde.." Ronnie mumbled and shook her head.
"Yeah he deserved that." Dr. Charles chuckled. "Good for you for standing your ground."
Ronnie looked up at him. "You know french?" She asked.
"Yeah, I know some. My line of work requires me to be somewhat bilingual. Are you fluent?" Dr. Charles asked.
"Yeah. My whole family speaks it, it's necessary in some parts of the state." Ronnie said and eyeballed the cup of coffee in his hand.
"Oh! My apologies, this is for you. Dr. Rhodes said you could have coffee now." Dr. Charles smiled
Ronnie grinned and took the coffee cup as he extended it to her.
"You may very well be my favorite person in this hospital." Ronnie said. "Thank you." She added and took a sip.
"Mmm perfection." She said and went back to typing on her laptop.
"Are you busy? I could come back." Dr. Charles said.
"Oh, sorry I was working on processing refunds for a few shows I had to cancel, I do have a zoom interview in a few minutes, Dr. Rhodes is supposed to be joining me to speak about the surgery I had but right now I have some time." Ronnie said and closed her laptop and looked at him and smiled.

"I just wanted to check in on you and see how you were doing." Dr. Charles said and sat down.
"I'm doing good I think. Just trying to stay busy, which hasn't been hard. Someone leaked a video of what happened with Eric Sullivan and I've had requests for interviews from Youtube channels, magazines, not exactly how I figured my music career would get a big boost but here we are." Ronnie said and chuckled.
"I was speaking with your brother earlier and he mentioned something about you having trouble sleeping?" Dr. Charles asked.
"Ah, thats probably just from being in a hospital, and getting poked at every few hours for blood work." Ronnie shrugged and looked down at her hands. Which told Dr. Charles that she wasn't exactly being honest with him, but that was okay. She still didn't know him that well, and he knew from conversations he'd had with Dr. Marcel that she wasn't one to just open up to anyone.

"I understand the hospital probably isn't ideal if you are looking to catch up on sleep. You did have quite the panic attack the other day so I figured I'd check and see how you were doing after that? Panic attacks are tricky and once you've had one you'll likely have another." Dr. Charles said.
"I'm doing alright." Ronnie said. "Once I get out of here, I'll likely settle down just fine, I know Rem is worried about me going back out and finishing this tour, but it's something I need to do. For myself." Ronnie added.
"He is worried and he just wants to make sure that you are in the right place mentally before you leave." Dr. Charles said. "I think we all want that for you. You seem like a very brave and strong young lady and I don't think anyone would think bad of you if you needed a little extra time to process things before getting back out there."

"Music is how I process things." Ronnie smiled. "I'll be fine really." Ronnie added, and again Dr. Charles could tell that she was a little on edge, but he didn't want to push.
"I did hear you put on quite the show at Mollys, Dr. Asher seems to be a big fan, I'm sorry I missed it. Maybe I'll catch the next one." Dr. Charles smiled.
"I tell you what, if you would be so kind as to hand me that guitar over there I'll give you a little preview." Ronnie smirked and nodded at her guitar in the corner of the room.

Dr. Charles stood up and picked up her guitar and looked it over.
"Wow, for being such an old guitar, it's in amazing condition."
"It was my Granddaddys. He gave it to me when I was ten and starting lessons." Ronnie smiled as he handed her the guitar.
Ronnie put her laptop on the little table beside her and adjusted herself so she was comfortable. Dr. Charles went and sat back down and Ronnie started strumming a melody on her guitar.

I am insensitive, I have a tendency

To pay more attention to the things that I need

Sometimes I drink to much

Sometimes I test your trust

Sometimes I don't why you stay with me?

I'm hard to love, hard to love, oh, I don't make it easy

And, I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood

I'm hard to love, hard to love, and you say that you need me

I don't deserve it, but I love that you love me good

Mmm, yeah

Dr. Rhodes walked into the room ready for the interview he was supposed to have with Ronnie, he stopped and smiled watching play her guitar and sing. Now he knew why Dr. Asher couldn't stop talking about Ronnies show at Molly's that night and he was a little upset that he didn't go with her and Will when they asked him if he wanted to go.

I am a short fuse

I am a wreckin' ball crashin' into your heart like I do

You're like a Sunday mornin'

Full of grace and full of Jesus

I wish that I could be more like you

I'm hard to love, hard to love, oh, I don't make it easy

'Nd I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood

I'm hard to love, hard to love, and you say that you need me

I don't deserve it, but I love that you love me good

Love me good

Ronnie looked up as she was finishing the last few chords of the song and noticed Dr. Rhodes was also in the room, dressed in a very nice suit under his lab coat. Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Charles clapped as she finished the song.
"Thank you." Ronnie smiled.
"No, Thank you." Dr. Charles said. "I understand all the fuss now. You are an incredibly gifted singer."
"Aww, thank you." Ronnie said.
"I agree. I should have gone to the show like Hannah and Will asked me to. I'm thankful to have walked in the room when I did. But maybe it was you just luring me in with your siren song." Dr. Rhodes said with a flirty smirk. He and Ronnie had been harmlessly flirting with each other for the last few days.
"Well look at you Dr. Rhodes, you didn't have to dress all fancy just for little ol me." Ronnie grinned.

"Well I know you two have an interview to do, so I'm going to go make my rounds. Again thank you for the song." Dr. Charles said.
"Of course. Hey..uh I like drinking coffee at night, maybe you can stop by and bring me a cup before you leave?" Ronnie asked.
"I can certainly do that." Dr. Charles smiled. "I'll see you in a bit."

Dr. Charles glanced over his shoulder at Ronnie talking to Dr. Rhodes. He wanted to test something, to see more of what he was dealing with when it came to Ronnie. He knew that she wasn't exactly honest with him about being fine and the trouble she had sleeping he thought was more than just being in a hospital, he could tell by looking into her eyes that she was exhausted, and purposely Flooding her mind with work to not only keep her brain busy instead of processing everything that happened, he also thought she was doing to keep herself awake to avoid night terrors. Which he had seen before in other patients who had survived active shooter situations.

Dr. Charles purposely dropped the large file folder he had in his hands and it made a loud thud when it hit the floor. Ronnie nearly jumped out of her own skin and she held the rails of the bed so hard that her knuckles were turning white.
"Oh! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to drop that." Dr. Charles said as he picked up the folder he watched the way Ronnie squeezed her eyes shut, and tried to control her breathing as her chest was rising and falling rapidly. The alarm on the heart monitor started going off as her heart rate rose.
"Whoa!" Dr. Rhodes said and listened to her chest with his stethoscope.
"You feeling alright Ronnie?"
"Yeah fine. The noise just startled me thats all." Ronnie said and opened her eyes. "I'm fine." She smiled her eyes were clouded over with tears threatening to fall.
"Are you sure you are alright?" Dr. Charles asked.
"Of course. I'm fine. You have other patients to see, and Dr. Rhodes and I have an interview to do." Ronnie said and took her hands off the rails of the bed and grabbed her laptop. Her heart rate was slowing down, but the look of terror was still evident on her face.
"Are you sure you want to do this interview right now?" Dr. Rhodes asked.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be? I'm fine!" Ronnie said, getting a little agitated now.

"Alright." Connor said and put his hands up and looked at Dr. Charles knew that Ronnie was anything but fine, but he also knew pushing too hard would only agitate her further. Dr. Charles gave him a knowing nod before he walked out of the room.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crockett, finally having a free moment, decided to go visit with Ronnie. He hadn't been to see her yet today because the ED had been pretty busy. The weather forecast was calling for one hell of a storm tonight so he had volunteered to stay on call and be there to help because rainy weather and wet roads meant car accidents and they would likely need the extra hands.

Connor was coming out of Remy's room.
"Hey Crockett, are you going to see Ronnie?" Connor asked.
"I was planning on it." Crockett smiled.
"You mind if I talk to you for just a second? It concerns Ronnie." Connor said.
Crockett frowned. "Is everything okay?" He asked.
"Yes and no." Connor said. "Physically, she is doing great. She's responding well to the surgery, she's meeting the milestones for healing and then some. But what is concerning me at this point is her mental state." Connor sighed.
"What do you mean?" Crockett asked.

"Well, Dr. Charles was visiting with her earlier before I came in for my interview with her and some youtube news channel and as Dr. Charles was leaving he dropped his file folder and when it hit the floor it made a really loud sound and it startled Ronnie almost into another panic attack. She kept telling me she was fine, but the look in her eyes was just pure terror." Connor said. "I think she may have developed PTSD from the shootings. She looks like she hasn't been getting much sleep and I think she's trying to keep herself busy to stay awake to avoid night terrors." He added. "She's not entirely comfortable opening up to either me or Dr. Charles yet but she may talk to you."

Crockett nodded. "I will see what I can do, I don't want her leaving this hospital until she gets evaluated for PTSD, especially if she plans to continue doing this tour, alone."
"I agree." Connor said. "It would be in her best interest to be evaluated and have knowledge on how to control episodes. The hardest part is going to be getting her to agree to be evaluated but I think between you, her brother, and her father the three of you can help ease her into it." Connor said and pat Crockett on the shoulder. "Good luck." He said before he walked away to go check on another patient.

Crockett walked into Ronnie's room, and she was on her laptop talking to someone. She looked up and grinned at him.
"Crock! Just in time, Davey and Genny are on skype with me!" She said.
Crockett smiled and walked over and sat on the bed next to Ronnie so he could see the screen.
"Hey guys." He said.
"Crockett! How ya been man?" Davey asked.
"I've been good. Staying busy. This ones doing a real good job at keeping me on my toes." Crockett chuckled and nudged Ronnie.
"I bet. That must have been one hell of a reunion." Davey said.
"Something like that." Crockett said.
"This could have happened anywhere, and its just so crazy that it happened in Chicago, and you were there to save her life. Its like fate brought the two of you together again." Genny smiled. "Very romantic if you ask me."
"Ah yes, getting shot in the gut. Super romantic." Ronnie snickered.

Ronnie looked towards the window as she could hear the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance.
"Oh a storm is coming in!" She said excitedly. Ronnie loved storms. Especially storms in Louisiana.
"It makes me think of when we stole the keys to one of the church vans and went storm chasing." Ronnie grinned.
"That was epic." Davey laughed.
"Epic?! Ronnie almost killed us driving like she was in grand theft auto!" Genny said.
"That was nothing Gen, driving like I was in grand theft auto was when Dad, Rem and I took the church van to go pick up the people who couldn't get out to evacuate during Katrina last minute. We barely made it before they started closing the roads down and I'm pretty sure I took a few years off Dads life that day. Probably Rem's too."
"Mine too when your Daddy called me and told me what you did." Crockett chuckled. "But thats Ronnie for ya. Absolutely no fear in this one."

"Absolutely not. We are talking about the girl who brought a baby alligator to school in 3rd grade for show and tell." Davey said.
"Oh and the snake she put in Mr. Jones' desk as a prank junior year." Genny said.
"Yeah that one almost got me expelled." Ronnie laughed. "I'm not the only one though. Are we forgetting that Crockett is the one who let a Rooster loose in Mr. Jones classroom during lunch so we could all get out of an Algebra test that none of us studied for? There was rooster shit all over that room and the rooster ate the master copy of the test and Mr. Jones was standing on top of his desk with a broom trying to fend off the beast as he described it." Ronnie grinned.
"Yeah that one landed me in detention for the rest of the year." Crockett chuckled. "That man hated the four of us."
"You mean the three of you? I was the only one out of the four of us that didn't try to torture that poor man into retirement." Genny said.
"You were guilty by association babe." Davey laughed.
"He wasn't that innocent. He had it out for me since the day I walked into his class because of all the shit Remy put him through." Ronnie said in her defense.
"Yeah I remember-" Davey started but he was suddenly cut off as the hospital wifi cut out. Likely due to the storm that was coming in.

"Uh oh." Ronnie said.
"Yeah the storm is probably messing with the wifi connection. Its going to be patchy for the rest of the night probably."
"Thats not good. I have a lot more work to do." Ronnie sighed. "I haven't even gotten to the stuff I need to do for the Garage back home."
"You're still running that thing?" Crockett asked.
"Yeah, I put the lead mechanic in charge while I did my tour but he doesn't know how to do all the paperwork. He barely knows how to use a computer." Ronnie said.
"Well, theres always tomorrow." Crockett said "You're gonna be here for at least another week and the bags under your eyes are telling me you need some rest anyways."
"Ah I'm fine, Crock." Ronnie said.

Crockett sighed. "I need to talk to you about some things that both Dr. Charles and Dr. Rhodes are concerned about." He said and adjusted himself so he was sitting in front of Ronnie.
"Whats going on?" Ronnie asked.
"They seem to be concerned that you may have developed PTSD from the shootings. Dr. Rhodes told me that earlier Dr. Charles dropped something on the floor and it startled you so bad it almost sent you into another panic attack." Crockett said.
"Thats not how I remember it. I remember being startled, but that was because I didn't expect the loud noise. Everyone gets startled when they don't expect something like that." Ronnie shrugged.
"Ronnie, it's me you're talking to. You don't have to put up the wall." Crockett said.
"Crockett, I'm fine. I promise you." Ronnie said.
"I just want to make sure before you leave this hospital you are mentally well and I really think you need to be evaluated for PTSD. You went through two shooting situations in two days. That is a lot for someone to go through in such a short amount of time and I can tell something just isn't right with you. We've known each other since we were 5 years old. Ronnie, I pick up on things that others don't."

"I don't want to be evaluated by a shrink Crock. Everyone tried to get me to go to one when Mama passed, but the thing is, once you go they try to put you on all sorts of medication, medication that has side effects, so then you need more medication to treat the side effects and its just an endless cycle of drugs that I don't think I need or want. You know me, I can deal with my shit on my own. I always have. Always will." Ronnie said.

"Ronnie there are just some things you can not deal with on your own. PTSD is one of them. Whats going to happen when you go back out on this tour alone and a loud noise startles you straight into an episode. PTSD can make people act erratically, and sometimes violent. It would be terrifying for you and you wouldn't have anyone you know to pull you out of it." Crockett said.
"I just don't think I have PTSD Crock." Ronnie said.
"Then why are you so afraid to be evaluated?" Crockett asked.
"I'm not afraid!" Ronnie scoffed.
"So if I were to go get Dr. Charles right now to have you evaluated you would cooperate?"
"No, Crockett I wouldn't because I just told you I don't want to be evaluated. I'm not fucking crazy!" Ronnie argued.
"Easy! I didn't say you were!" Crockett argued back.
"But you think I need to be evaluated by a shrink for my own safety. That would indicate that you think I'm a total wacko! I'm not going to be evaluated. You aren't changing my mind!" Ronnie yelled.

"Then I am going to insist to Dr. Charles that before you are allowed to leave the hospital you are evaluated. For your own safety and the safety of others."
"I can't believe you would do that to me.." Ronnie said.
"You aren't giving me much of a choice." Crockett said.
"I think this conversation is over." Ronnie said.
"Fine. So be it." Crockett said and stood up. "I'll come back and see you later when you've calmed down."
"Don't bother." Ronnie scoffed and looked away from him.
Crockett just shook his head and walked out of the room.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was storming like hell outside, Crockett knew he was likely about to be busy so he went down to the coffee cart to get some much-needed caffeine. Dr. Charles was there in line.
"I've got a regular, and a decaf for Dr. Charles." The barista said.
"Thank you." Dr. Charles smiled.
"Decaf? Who on this night shift drinks decaf?" Crockett chuckled.
"Ah, its actually for Ronnie. But don't tell her it's decaf. I told her I'd stop by and bring coffee but the girls gotta sleep eventually."
"Don't worry. She does not want to speak to me right now." Crockett sighed.
"Uh-oh, what happened? If you don't mind me asking of course."
"I tried to talk to her, about letting you do a PTSD evaluation on her and it started a huge fight. We haven't had a fight like this since high school." Crockett said.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I don't know Ronnie as well as you do, but just from observing her I can tell she is the type of person to think admitting to being afraid or fear in general makes her weak. So the fact that she got so hostile about being evaluated is right on par with her personality." Dr. Charles said.

"I thought of all the people she would listen to me. The fact that she's fighting me on it, tells me she knows she has a problem and the fact that she won't let me help her is so frustrating. I got so upset I told her I was going to insist to you that she not be allowed to leave the hospital without an evaluation." Crockett said.

"Ouch." Dr. Charles said and winced. "I know you meant well, but with someone like Ronnie the idea of being forced into something like this is like caging a wild animal. She is more than likely just to say what she thinks I need to hear just to get it over with and get out of the situation."
 "I know, I just don't know how to get her to agree that its best for her." Crockett sighed. "Unfortunately, with people like Ronnie, it usually takes a severe episode to make them understand that they actually do need help." Dr. Charles frowned.

There was a big boom of thunder, that felt like it was shaking the windows of the hospital followed by a flash of lightning and an extremely loud bang almost like a really amplified gunfire as the lightning struck something outside and the power went out.
 "Well that is not good." Dr. Charles said.
"That was so loud it sounded like a gun going off." Crockett said and then he was hit with sudden realization that it was likely just as loud all over the hospital.
 "Ronnie..." He said and took off running towards the ED with Dr. Charles following him.