Accident Prone - Becoming Human

Feeling

After bringing Connor back home to rest Hank had carried Connor into the house through the front door, and placed him in the deviant's own bedroom to continue to recover in peace and quiet. Connor was now in the forty-ninth consecutive hour of a deep sleep - his rest mode was still trying to compensate for the horrific damage he had suffered to his heart three nights prior. The catastrophic injury Connor suffered, as well as the emergency repairs he endured after being rushed to New Jericho Tower, had drained him of his strength. The deviant's systems were functioning on low power mode as his self healing program worked to recalibrate the repaired Thirium pump still gratefully beating away in his chest.

Standing in the dimly lit doorway of the bedroom Hank watched as his friend; his son, slept peacefully in the large bed beneath the thick brown quilt, with Sumo stretched out over the foot of the bed alongside him. Connor seemed very peaceful and almost human as he slept with Sumo cuddled up beside him. Slowly Connor's head lolled slightly to the right against the pillow and easily smothered out the low blue glow of the L.E.D. in his right temple. The lack of light only emphasized his human appearance.

From the doorway Hank could see Connor slowly breathing and that his face was content; no pain or distress on his expression whatsoever. It was a close call, Connor had nearly died from the wound and no one believed that he'd be able to survive. He overcame the odds and persevered thanks to some clever ingenuity by Lucas himself. Despite the reassurance from both Lucas and Markus that Connor would make a full recovery before the week was over the senior detective couldn't help but worry for the deviant's health.

Sumo suddenly lifted his head up from the bed and looked over at Connor curiously. The Saint Bernard's ears twitched as if he could hear something that Hank could not.

"Something wrong, boy?"

Hank asked in a whisper as to not disturb Connor's sleep. Creeping into the bedroom Hank leaned over the bed and watched Connor more closely. It was then he saw that Connor's chest wasn't rising or falling anymore, and Hank felt a chill shoot up his spine.

"...Son?"

Remaining calm Hank gently placed his right hand down on the center of Connor's chest, his fear abating once he felt Connor's heart still thrumming at a normal rate under his palm. Shortly thereafter the direct contact Connor took in another breath and resumed a normal rate of ventilation. The deviant's eyes never opened and his rest mode never disabled.

"Fuck... Even in your sleep you can scare the shit out of me."

The senior detective quietly lamented as he retracted his hand from Connor's chest. Looking over at Sumo, who was still watching over the deviant loyally, Hank rubbed the dog's ears as if he needed to reassure Sumo as well as himself.

"He's okay. He's just tired."

Sumo let out a deep yawn before resting is chin back down atop his massive paws and settling down on the bed to sleep once more.

Creeping back out of the bedroom Hank shook his head at himself as he stepped into the livingroom with silent steps.

"Man, I haven't had to check on a sleeping kid in years. And I still hate it."

Exhausted from his own lack of consistent sleep and emotional distress Hank resided to himself on the couch with his feet kicked up on the coffee table and an untouched mug of coffee gripped in his left hand. As he leaned back against the couch cushions Hank's tired blue eyes began to drift closed steadily and was on the verge of his much needed sleep when a soft knock at the front door awoke him once more.

"...Who the hell is that?"

The senior detective asked himself in a groggy tone as he put his mug down on the coffee table. Standing up from the couch he walked over to the front door and pulled it open only to find two unexpected but very welcome visitors.