Disclaimer: I, of course, in no way own BnHA. I only own a heart devoted to it. ;)
Welcome to chapter 2 of Backbone! Thank you for the kind support on this story - I in no way expected it to get so much attention. There will be more at the end of this chapter, so I'll let you just go ahead and enjoy this update~.
The ambulance skidded down the street, its siren wailing and lights flashing repetitively. Cars pulled to the side of the streets, letting the emergency vehicle pass by. The ambulance was headed straight for U.A. High, those inside somewhat clueless of the situation. Was there a villian attack? A schoolwide accident? Once they had gotten the initial call, the medics immediately sped out, aware of the frequent life-threatening events that took place at the hero academy. Without a pretense to base their needed travel time on, the medical professionals decided that a timely arrival would be best.
As the driver sped down the packed streets, skillfully weaving through vehicles that had yet to move, the EMTs in the back were tossed about by the bumps in the road. "Hey! What do you think happened this time?!" A young man, possibly an intern, with shaggy, brown (the ends highlighted with a tinge of silver) hair practically screamed at one of the other people in the extremely loud ambulance.
That person was the one who had received the call, and she was sitting with composure (or attempting to, with all of the bumps), arms and legs crossed, eyes closed in mock superiority. Her midnight black hair pulled back in a painfully tight, high bun. "How should I know, Darrell?" She punctuated the slightly younger man's name with a sharp edge.
Some would gulp and pull back, but this Darrell had more fire than that. He advanced with his assault, "Well, Sara," He snuck in the chance to get back at her, "You were the one who got the call, weren't you? So it would only make sense that you should have the details." A smug grin spread across his face, and he lifted his chin, watching from the corner of his eye as Sara glared daggers at him. He internally laughed, feeling satisfied. She's been hounding on me since I started work here, that hag. Finally I got the chance to call her out for a slip-up! And something as big as this! His thoughts made him giddy.
"Well, when I heard that there was an accident resulting in injuries at U.A. High, I knew that it didn't matter the situation, we had to get there as soon as physically possible! It is U.A.!" Sara retaliated, honestly believing her excuse was completely valid.
He rolled his eyes and countered, "But it's procedure to always gain general information! The patient, injury, guardians," he started to count on his fingers, "health histor-"
Darrell was interrupted by a gentle voice, which had a pinprick of urgency peeking through, "Guys! Please stop fighting," The owner of the voice was a below average height woman, probably only in her early-to-mid twenties, with kind eyes and flowing, short and pastel pink hair. Her fists were clenched at her waist and her knees were shaking (she was always nervous going to U.A.), but she stilled herself for her next words, "We're almost there."
And sure enough, the ambulance skidded to an abrupt halt, the academy standing intimidatingly over it. The paramedics all took a deep and steady inhale. They grabbed their equipment and with determined intensity they set out, prepared to save lives.
The paramedics rushed into the academy, two of them holding a gurney, the other with a large kit of medical supplies. They sped through the building, scaling the floors until they reached the nurses office. When they got there, they skipped right past Chiyo (whom had just gotten off of the phone with Inko Midoriya) in the hallway, and pushed into the room, catching the only awake occupant (Toshinori) by surprise. He stuttered a bit, stumbling over what words to say, but was stopped by a woman wearing her dark hair in a tight bun. "Are both of these boys in need of the ambulance?" She gestured to Katsuki and Izuku.
"Ah, no. Just this one," he half-heartedly pointed to Izuku, recalling his recent breakdown and feeling every ounce of his guilt at full force.
"Alright then," she moved to the side, making way for the two holding the gurney (Darrell and the other girl) who quickly traveled to a side of Izuku's bed. Toshinori watched on as they checked his pulse, blood pressure, gave him one of their own travel IVs, made the preparations to- "Sir, please answer the question," the lady, who he now noticed had cold eyes, snapped.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," he gave a shallow bow, "What was it that you asked?" He tried to play it off with a chuckle, but it didn't quite sound right. The nurse disregarded it.
"Are you this boy's father?" Sara, he had deducted from her name plate, repeated, her face set in seriousness.
Toshinori's face ignited into a bright pink, and he frantically waved his hands around, "Ah, nononononono!" Though, that would be quite nice, being young Midoriya's father… Wait! What am I thinking! NO, NO, NO! He slapped his face with both hands, causing the paramedic to look at him with confusion.
"Well," she hesitated, "Are you a guardian?" She cocked an eyebrow and slightly pointed his way with her clipboard.
"Ur, no…" Toshinori gulped, "I'm just his teacher," Oh gosh, that makes it sound like I barely know the boy. He sighed in exasperation. The nurse seemed ready to flat out yell at Toshinori (she must not have too much patience, he concluded), but Chiyo entered the office before she could.
"Recovery Girl!" Recognition set in, and Sara swiftly reached the shorter woman's side. "Do you have the needed information on this boy? Then we'll be out of your hair, I know that you must have a busy schedule," She gave a fake laugh, a smile on her face, voice high and sing-song - virtually the reverse of how she was acting a few moments past.
She sure kisses up to the people she's seen on TV, Toshinori thought with slight disgust. I'm honestly glad that I stayed in my true form, I wouldn't want her phony admiration. He sighed and leaned against the wall, listening into the conversation between Chiyo and Sara. They exchanged the medical information on Izuku, his full name, mother, age, and what-not. The hero closed his eyes, wanting to just rest for a bit.
His eyes snapped open, though, when he heard "Okay, we're going to move him now." He watched as the male paramedic and other female adjusted the gurney to the side of the bed, and began to position their hands on the resting Izuku. "One," Toshinori's breath caught in his throat, "Two," His palms began to sweat and the room seemed to twist, "Three," The EMTs expertly picked the boy up and quickly, and gently at the same time, set him down on the gurney. Toshinori had been expecting screaming, or at least some kind of signal of pain, but he wasn't sure if Izuku had even woken up. Maybe Recovery Girl gave him some strong sleeping pills?
Or that's what he thought until a slow groan came from over in the corner of the room. Toshinori made to rush over to the paramedics, but stopped mid-step. I'm probably the last person that he wants to see…
He continued to look, though, as the pink-haired girl (who was positioned at Izuku's head) spoke, "Hello, Midoriya, I am Amelia," She gave a gentle smile, and Toshinori felt a pang of familiarity, "We're taking you to the hospital. Don't worry, you will be alright." Her eyes crinkled in the corners and her soft-spoken voice seemed to lull everyone in to a calm. A hush fell over the room as the sweet woman and the young man moved out of the room with the gurney.
A second or so of silence lingered, but Sara, who seemed to be the polar opposite of Amelia started, "Ah…," She was a bit disoriented, "Thank you for your time, Recovery Girl. We'll make our leave now." She turned around sharply, her heels clacking on the tile floor as she made a brisk walk to the door. She swung open the door and began to make her exit, but a voice hollered out."
"Wait!" Toshinori cried, his hand outstretched. He looked down and his arm fell to his side. "Can I… Could I ride in the ambulance?" I know that I'm probably the last person that young Midoriya would want to see right now, b-but I can't help myself. He sighed, believing that he already knew what the hostile nurse's answer would be.
"Alright," He looked up at her in shock, and made to say something, but lost his chance. "Hurry now, we don't have all day!" She huffed and stamped out into the hallway, making a right and beginning her trip back to the ambulance.
"Right!" Toshinori exclaimed, though she was already gone. He jogged out of the room, caught up to her, and followed the nurse down the halls of U.A. "Thank you very much." Toshinori showed his gratitude through a slightly breathless voice. "For letting me accompany young Midoriya, I mean."
She let out a hum of acknowledgement, but made not another noise. The strength hero couldn't help but feel slightly unwelcome, but he stood his ground, not being able to bare the thought of giving up the chance to comfort his precious inheritor. An uncomfortable silence lingered as the two made their way down the levels of the school, at last heading out of the front entrance.
Toshinori got the view of the ambulance and the two other paramedics lifting Izuku up into the vehicle. He could hear the sharp intakes of breath that came from the boy whenever they moved the stretcher. "There, there," the pink-haired young woman, Amelia, comforted with an expression that could put anyone at peace. They placed the stretcher into its position within the ambulance, and Amelia's expression went from soothing and calm to a hard determination. "Alright Darrell, let's get started." He gave a firm nod.
"Let's go." Sara, the other nurse, nudged Toshinori with her clipboard and led him to the ambulance's main area. "Get in." He climbed inside, followed by the intense woman, who shut the two metal doors, producing a thundering clang.
The noise was sudden and unexpected, causing the young boy laying down to shoot up abruptly, panic adorning his face and dripping with sweat. A strange sound escaped from his throat, a sort of gurgle, and Toshinori quickly began to pace forward, his arm outreached. Before he reached Izuku, however, the ever gentle Amelia placed one of her hands on the boy's chest and the other gingerly on his back, easing him back down. His wide green eyes darted around the inside of the metal vehicle for a moment and then he let out a shaky sigh, his eyelids going to a half-closed position as he stared at the ceiling.
Toshinori gulped back what he wanted to say ("Are you alright, young Midoriya?"), in fear of judgement from the others in the ambulance, and instead took a seat on one of the metal, and very uncomfortable, benches that was soundly attached to the floor of the EMS.
"Okay, shoot," Darrell mumbled under his breath as he slid on a pair of blue medical gloves. He leaned over to Amelia, making sure to stay out of Sara's earshot, and whispered to her, "Hey, I've never dealt with anything like this… what should we do?" Toshinori happened to overhear the question, and couldn't help but worry about what might go wrong. He zoned out, his mind racing with every "what if" scenario possible, while the emergency medical technicians discussed.
He was so plagued by his thoughts that Toshinori didn't notice that they had started moving towards the hospital until they happened to hit a rather rough bump in the road, resulting in a hoarse cry of pain from Izuku. Toshinori's heart clenched when he saw Izuku sharply bite his lip to keep his wails of agony at bay, resorting to weak whimpers instead. You can do this, kid, I know you can.
The pharmaceutical discourse that continued flew over Toshinori's head. He understood little of it, despite having a multitude of serious injuries himself. He blocked it out, and instead decided to focus on his hands, which he had intertwined with themselves. His breath caught, though, when he heard the word "surgery". Toshinori looked up at the nurses, only to see them dutily tending to Izuku. His eyes frantically darted from person to person, only to land on his young and treasured student.
Oh god, oh no. Tears pricked at his eyes, threatening to spill over the edge. Acid climbed up his throat, and his stomach churned. What have I done…? He couldn't do a thing as they sped into the emergency ward of the hospital. What terrible fate had this man set for the young boy he loved so much?
IT'S FATHERLY LOVE, GUYS. Oh nooo, Toshi feels guilty. I'm so sorry, guys. Speaking of being sorry... I'm SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING! I said that I would, but then I didn't. I had a week long camp and then went on a trip with my family. I thought I would be able to finish this chapter before I left, but I couldn't find a place to stop in time. :( Please forgive me. Also, please let me know if you found any errors, and I'll do my best to fix 'em up for ya. I'm going to add, as well, that none of my stories are beta'ed, so there are probably lots of little issues. And I haven't even read through this.
There's a lot of dialogue in this chapter... I hope it's not too much. Also, I know the beginning of the chapter was a little wonky, and I probably focused too much on the EMTs, but I like to add a bit of lightheartedness before we get too far into the sad stuff. I hope you don't mind.
IF YOU READ THIS OR THE SORROW BEHIND THE SMILE, THIS IS KIND OF IMPORTANT : So, as you've all probably noticed, I am not good at updating. I've thought of a kind of fix, that will keep my mind on one story only. Now, it's up to YOU which story I choose to update next. Please, down in the comments (and feel free to share other thoughts), let me know if you would like Backbone or The Sorrow Behind the Smile finished first. You can also let me know in the comment section of The Sorrow Behind the Smile. I'll let you all know when we have the results. Thanks!
Alright, sorry for the really long Author's Note. Thanks for reading, and have an excellent day!
