Unexpected

Part 2: It's Not About You

Everything happened so fast, she could hardly think...let alone breathe.

All Helen wanted to do today was go into work early, do her time and get out to meet Cassian for his day off and her niece that was in from London.

That's all she wanted.

She wanted nothing more than that much simplicity wrapped up with the people she cares about.

Then it happened.

The shot heard around the world.

An innocent- unarmed black man- age 26 was leaving his home in Queens to go to early classes at NYU.

The reason behind the shooting:

"He looked suspicious and wasn't obeying orders."

However, witness accounts confirmed that it was a four second decision with no warning and no cause.

The cop was a known racist and the three other white male cops who accompanied him- did nothing to help the situation.

When it hit the media and the young man- Dominic Olson- arrived on seen already passed: Helen had a feeling her day was headed in a terrible direction.

It was 5:44 when the first gunman came in and shot one of the three cops standing in the ED. Officer Richard Smith was simply checking in and looking after the ED as news vans began swarming the hospital. As Helen rushed to take care of the Officer, the same gunman yelled for her to move away and when she didn't, he shot her in her right shoulder. It knocked her on her ass.

The pain didn't immediately accompany it though. Instead she lay frozen as the man then shot the the officer in the head point blank.

When she saw her niece running from the staff lounge- scared and confused, Helen immediately grabbed her and tried to run back to the lounge to hide.

She had no problem getting inside and with a brief moment of God knows what- she called the one person who was on her mind. The one person she subconsciously knew would help in some way. The one person who makes her feel safe and looked after.

However, when the phone call was picked up- it almost took her by surprise that it was Max.

She had meant to call Cassian.

He was her boyfriend after all.

Yet her fingers dialed Max.

His voice comforted her immediately. Until the gunshots began firing.

Her mind was clogged with fear and she could just barely get the right information out.

The men had shot a hole through the glass windows and one jumped through, unlocked the door and drug her and her niece, Daphne- from the lounge.

From that moment on, chaos inside. The police couldn't come in without one of the men shooting a patient or one of the two cops they had handcuffed to a bed. Brunstetter, the poor man just got back on duty from his last attack- was shot in the upper thigh.

They had forced Helen and Daphne to sit on one of the beds near the other patients. The poor nine year old shook with fear and all Helen could do was try to remain strong and confident.

That was until Max walked in.

Her body had given way to the build up of fear, but she forced herself not to cry at the expense of looking weak. In his authentic Max manner, he told the hostile men that he understood the injustice. Though she is uncertain of his knowledge of this- when he spoke about her and how when these horrible things happen- he thinks of her and how she means so much to him: her heart broke.