Happy birthday, Meg!

Brennan was no longer breathing by the time the helicopter arrived on the pad. Dr. Jennings was waiting with a gurney in the shelter along with a number of other medical professionals. Adam jumped out of the helicopter even before it had touched down and was waving them over. "He's not breathing!" Adam yelled.

"How long down?" Jennings asked without greeting his old friend. "About four minutes," Adam replied. "We were doing mouth to mouth."

Jennings cringed when he saw Brennan's state and gave Adam a glance as if to ask what the hell happened to him. Adam looked back at him in silence.

"Let's get moving, people!" Jennings commanded and literally pushed Adam to the side. "This man is dying!" Jennings was already listening to his heart and the other s had him bagged. They were moving Brennan to the elevator before Jesse could secure the chopper. Adam raced behind Jennings and disappeared in the elevator with Brennan and the medical team. Shalimar, Emma, and Jesse looked on from inside the helicopter. Shalimar looked at the bloodstains on the floor. Emma continued to stare in the direction of the elevator. Jesse just looked at the controls and tried to keep his mind busy. They were all in various stages of shock. It was truly silent except for the hum of the chopper's engine slowing and the chop in the wind from the blades. A strobe light on the helipad kept going around providing a rhythmic light across the group.

Shalimar reached over to touch Jesse's head where he had been hit so hard earlier. She was worried that he may have a concussion or even a skull fracture. Jesse didn't move when she touched him. "You should get this looked at now that we are here," Shalimar quietly told him. Jesse looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Why don't you girls go into the hospital and keep an eye on things," Jesse suggested, breaking his silence.

Shalimar looked over at Emma questioningly. "Why?" she asked. "What are you going to do?"

"I have to get this chopper out of here. It is GSA issue and if found here, there will be nothing but questions. We need to keep it as quiet as possible that we are here if Brennan's going to have any chance at all." Jesse reasoned as he began firing up the engine again.

"Jesse, please, just leave it here," Emma reasoned. "If anyone finds it, they will not link it to us. This is a big place. Jesse, please, come with us and have your head looked at, please?"

"No, now hurry up. I don't want them in there by themselves for very long." He looked at them. "I'll be alright. I am just going to ditch this thing and I will be right back. I promise."

Shalimar and Emma knew they couldn't win this fight. They both got out and crouched as Jesse lifted the chopper. They proceeded into the hospital to find Adam.

XXXXX

Adam was helping Jennings as much as he could to stabilize Brennan. His heart had stopped twice in the elevator but miraculously started again. Jennings looked at Adam each time because he was afraid to defibrillate him. Jennings knew what type of mutation Brennan possessed and any type of use of electricity around him worried the good doctor. Jennings assessed the condition of Brennan's leg as well and called for an orthopedist to evaluate it. The medical team continued to look at Adam and each other with puzzled expressions as Brennan's injuries were revealed to them in their assessments. "Was he attacked by a wild animal?" one of the residents asked Adam.

Adam looked at Jennings and replied, "Yes, yes, he was. We were on a surveillance job in the woods – divorce – and a bear came out of the woods and just attacked him. It was awful." It was the best explanation Adam could come up with. Jennings helped him.

"Our patient is a private investigator who got a little too close to his case, it seems. Nathan, check the bullet would on his side."

"Who shot him?" Nathan asked. "The bear?"

Nathan was getting close to feeling like he needed to call the police for the safety of his patient. He had not been able to speak to Brennan about what happened and he didn't know if he was going to buy this story.

"The suspect," Adam replied. "When Brennan was attacked by the bear, the suspect heard the commotion and came out with a gun. He shot at the Bear, I think, I hope, but hit Brennan instead."

"Why is there so much water in his lungs and how did he break his leg this way?" one of the other residents inquired.

This was getting hard. Adam had been so busy stabilizing Brennan in the chopper that he did not have time to come up with a story. "After the bear left, I couldn't risk our safety with our suspect because the suspect is known to make people disappear," Adam continued, so we carried him the best we could manage." We were caught in torrential rainfall, however, and the trail we were following back to the helicopter became flooded and we ended up nearly drowning in filthy floodwaters."

It was a believable story. The rains had been awful in the mountains the past few days. All of the residents knew that and no one could make something like that up. "Poor kid," the resident replied, seemingly satisfied with the consistency in the injuries to the situation. "We need to report the gunshot to the police, though," the hospital's social worker replied. "Why don't I take you to help me do that?"

The social worker was trying to get Adam out of the room so he didn't have to continue to witness all that was being done to his friend. She didn't know that Adam was a doctor and the story he just gave would not lend itself to his being one, either. Adam looked at Jennings who motioned to him to follow her. Adam sighed and went with the social worker to continue the faced.

Emma and Shalimar had been outside the door to hear the last part of the conversation. Emma worked her magic and made the social worker believe she and Shalimar were wearing police uniforms. They approached Adam rapidly already firing questions.

"I'm officer Bancroft. What happened here?" Emma/officer asked.

Adam looked up at the two of them. He knew what was going on and played along. "It's a long story," Adam replied.

Shalimar looked at the social worker. "Why don't you let us talk to him and you can get back to other patients. We have a series of questions to ask him and the doctor as soon as he is available."

The social worker looked at the group and complied. "Thank you officers."

They watched as she proceeded back down to the ER. They all let go of the breath they were holding in. Adam looked at them. "Where's Jesse?"