Chapter 8
Recovery...
The Team all sat in silence, their collective thoughts with Polybius. They were all eagerly and patiently awaiting an update on his status. They wished for nothing more than to see him alive and well.
Every second seemed like an hour to the Team as they waited. They couldn't think about anything else except Polybius.
However, Superboy was by far the most distraught and upset about it out of all of them. Despite knowing Polybius for only a short time, the young man had really made an impact on Superboy. He was someone he could relate to on a different level. The two were clones, and Polybius understood a lot of the issues Superboy had about his origin. And the prospect of losing Polybius was terrifying.
And this made him furious. He wanted nothing more than to tear Red Tornado's metal head from his shoulders, rip the one that controlled water to pieces, and annihilate the one that controlled fire.
He would avenge Polybius.
Meanwhile, in the hospital, Oliver knew that the silence was killing all of them, especially Dinah and Donna. He decided that the best thing to do for the two of them, as well as everyone else, was to get their minds off the present and begin talking about what they were going to do for Polybius.
"So hypothetically speaking, let's say he can't walk." Oliver started, "What then?"
"He'll walk." Donna countered immediately.
"How are you so sure?" Superman, who was now disguised as Clark Kent, asked.
"He'll walk." Donna said again.
"I'm not saying that we won't." Oliver corrected himself, "I'm saying that if he can't, what then?"
"He'll walk!" Donna pressed.
"I know you're worried about him." Diana began, "But we have to face the fact that he may never walk again."
"He will walk." Donna stated, "I know he will. Even if they say he never will again, he will."
"I appreciate your optimism." Dinah spoke up, "But considering how bad his leg was, I'm afraid that Oliver may be right. Polybius may never walk again."
"I promise you, he will." Donna said, "It doesn't matter if they give him a prosthetic or have physical therapy, he will walk."
"Alright then." Oliver started, "So let's say he can walk but will need lots of physical therapy. What then?"
"He'll probably need a caretaker." Clark pointed out.
'He'll hate that." Both Donna and Dinah said in unison.
"This conversation is about what he needs." The voice of Batman, dressed in civilian disguise Bruce Wayne, said as he approached them, "Not what he wants."
"Bruce!" Clark said, standing up to greet him.
"Any word?" Bruce asked.
"None." Clark replied, "All we know is that he's in the ICU and on life support."
"Do we have any idea on when, or if, he'll get out?" Bruce asked.
"No." Clark answered.
"Keep me informed." Bruce said as he turned to leave.
"You're not staying?" Diana asked.
"No." Bruce answered, "In the wake of what just happened, there is much that needs to be done."
As Bruce turned to leave, however, a doctor walked in.
"Excuse me?" The doctor said, "Are you all here for a 'Polybius?'"
"Yes!" Dinah answered as she stood up, "How is he?"
"Well, we need someone to make a decision for him." The doctor said.
"Oh no." Dinah said.
"It's not that bad." The doctor assured her, "And what is your relation to him?"
"I'm his mother." Dinah answered.
"You look awfully young to be his mother." The doctor countered.
"Adoptive mother." Dinah corrected, "I'm his legal guardian. Whatever decision that needs to be made for him can go through me."
"Alright." The doctor said, believing her, "So, in regards to his leg, we have two options. The first is since the injuries are mostly below the knee, we can amputate the limb and give him a prosthetic. If we go this route, then he will be out of here a lot sooner."
"Okay." Dinah replied.
"The second option is we attempt to save the limb." The doctor started, "However, we aren't guaranteed too, as the amount of damage done to it is extensive, but we can try."
"Will he be able to walk again?" Dinah asked.
"It's too early to say." The doctor replied, "And again, that's saying we can even save the limb. And on top of that, he will have at least a year, likely far longer of physical therapy."
"You've gotta try!" Donna spoke up, shifting the group's attention to her.
"This is her decision." The doctor said, pointing at Dinah, "So, what is it?"
"You've gotta try and save the limb." Dinah agreed, "I know Polybius well enough to know he would much rather have the limb than a prosthetic."
"We'll do our best." The doctor assured her.
The doctor turned to leave but was stopped by Dinah.
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Black Canary asked, "Is he going to live?"
"We've stabilized him." The doctor answered, "However, that's all I can tell you right now."
With that, the doctor left to go report Dina's decision.
"Sounds like he's going to pull through." Bruce said.
"Thank God." Oliver said as Dinah sat down.
Meanwhile, back in Mount Justice, the Team was still patiently waiting when Robin's phone went off. It was Batman. The rest of the Team locked eyes on him as he spoke to the caped crusader. However, they couldn't hear what Batman was saying.
"I just got an update on Polybius." Batman told them, "He'll likely survive, but is going to be out for a long while."
"How long?" Robin asked.
"It's unknown." Batman said, "As of right now, that's all the updates I have for you."
With that, Batman hung up, and Robin put down his phone.
"What's the word?" Aqualad asked.
"Polybius is going to live!" Robin declared.
There was a collective sigh of relief upon hearing the news.
"Anything else?" Superboy asked.
"Only that it's going to be a while before Polybius comes back." Robin added, "That's it."
Superboy then suddenly turned on Kid Flash.
"You happy now!?" Superboy asked, taking everyone off guard.
"Woah, calm down!" Kid Flash said.
"No!" Superboy said, "You wanted him gone! And now that he is, I'm sure you're thrilled about it!"
"Not like this!" Kid Flash defended, "I wanted him to quit, not get hurt."
"But you got what you wanted!" Superboy pointed out.
"Enough." Aqualad jumped in, "I understand you are upset over Polybius, but now is not the time to divide ourselves over this. Kid Flash had nothing to do with this, and you cannot blame him for it."
Superboy, rather than say anything, just gave an angry grunt and stormed off.
"I didn't want this to happen." Kid Flash repeated, "Yes, I wanted him gone, but not like this."
"I do not think you have gotten rid of Polybius." Aqualad corrected, "I am quite sure he will return."
"You think so?" Miss Martian asked.
"If what he said is true, then I am sure he will." Aqualad said.
"What did he say?" Artemis asked.
"He said that he really liked his job." Miss Martian answered, "He said he didn't want to leave, regardless of what you all tried to do to get him to leave."
"Good." Artemis said.
This surprised everyone as not long ago, Artemis had said she had wanted Polybius gone. She picked up on what she had just said and realized she needed to explain herself.
"Superboy was right." Artemis said, "You just need to talk to him to like him. You should give it a try, Wally."
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, after hearing the news that Polybius was going to survive, a wave of relief washed over everyone. However, with Polybius's survival insured, their conversation turned back to what to do with Polybius after he got out of the hospital.
"He is going to need a caretaker." Diana pointed out.
"I'll do it!" Donna quickly spoke up.
"That won't be necessary." Bruce countered after he got off the phone with Robin.
"You have someone else in mind?" Clark asked.
"With the den mother gone, the Team is going to need a new one." Bruce pointed out, "Whoever that person is, will also be responsible for taking care of Polybius."
"Then I'll do it full time!" Dinah offered, "I already do their training. I can take on that responsibility too."
"It will likely be a weekly rotation between the League members." Bruce stated, "However, it's likely that Polybius may need round the clock care when he first gets out of here. If that's the case, then we can assign a person to him."
"Sounds like a plan." Oliver said.
With that, Bruce left the group. Meanwhile, the doctor who had just reported Dinah's decision was swiftly getting ready to start the operation.
"And go ahead and leave a prosthetic in the room." The doctor added, "Just so we have it on standby if this all doesn't work out."
The nurse complied, and the operation to try and save Polybius's leg began. As this happened, back at the cave, Superboy sat alone in his room. His anger was subsiding. However, a knock at his door would bring him out of his thoughts.
"Superboy?" Miss Martian asked from the other side, "May I come in?"
Superboy didn't verbally respond as he just simply moved to open the door.
"So!" Superboy started, "Anything I can help you with?"
"I was actually coming to see if you needed anything." Miss Martian said.
"I'm fine." Superboy countered.
"No, you're not." Miss Martian argued, "I want to help you."
"I don't need help." Superboy countered.
"Then come join the rest of us." Miss Martian said, "We're going to watch a movie marathon to get our minds off of what happened."
Superboy felt a spike of anger surge through him.
"How can you all be so fine with this!?" Superboy demanded, "Polybius nearly got killed
"We're not!" Miss Martian quickly defended, "But we can't focus on Polybius. We know he's going to be alright and that he will come back."
"But that doesn't excuse what happened!" Superboy said.
"It doesn't." Miss Martian agreed, "I know he means a lot to you, but dwelling on it is not going to help neither you nor heal Polybius."
"You don't understand!" Superboy said, "He means more to me than any of you!"
This caught Miss Martian off guard. She was now realizing how much Polybius really meant to Superboy.
"He can relate to me like no one else can." Superboy explained, "He gets me! He understands what I'm going through and knows how to help me!"
"About being an orphan?" Miss Martian asked.
"That's part of it!" Superboy said.
"And you see him like an older brother?" Miss Martian asked.
"Yeah." Superboy quietly agreed, his anger now subsiding again.
Miss Martian then took his hand, which prompted Superboy to meet her gaze.
"He'll be fine." Miss Martian assured him, "He's in the best care possible right now, and all his stuff is here, so he will be back. I promise. Just, please, come join us."
Superboy sighed and relented.
"Fine." Superboy agreed.
As the two went off to join the others for a movie marathon, back at the hospital, a few quiet hours had passed. Clark and Diana left due to the whole operation taking as long as it did. Dinah, Oliver, and Donna, however, stayed back.
"I'm going to go get us some food." Oliver said, standing up, "You guys want anything?"
Both of them shook their heads, but that didn't foo Oliver. He knew better and knew that both of their minds were focused on Polybius.
"I'll bring you guys something." Oliver said as he walked away.
It wasn't long after he left, however, that the situation began to change. While for a long time, the only sound that filled the air between the two of them was the music the hospital played in the waiting room, this was broken when the doctor who had updated them on Polybius earlier burst into the room.
"Hey, we need you!" The doctor said, pointing at Dinah.
"What's going on!?" Dinah asked as both she and Donna stood up.
"Polybius's awake." The doctor said.
"And?" Dinah asked, still panicked as both she and Donna rushed to him.
"He woke up and began freaking out." The doctor explained, "We're hoping that you can calm him down before we send in security."
"Right." Dinah said.
She and Donna began to follow the doctor, but he stopped them.
"Just her." The doctor said, pointing to Dinah, "The girlfriend can wait out here."
"I'm not-" Donna started before getting cut off by Dinah.
"Actually, she's his best friend." Dinah corrected, "The two have a very close bond. She'll be very helpful in calming him down."
"Fine." The doctor said, "Follow me."
The two followed the doctor down the hall to the ICU. As they approached, they saw a team of security personnel lined up outside the room Polybius was presumably in.
"Don't you put that fucking thing on me!" The two could hear Polybius shout.
"He's pissed." Donna whispered to Black Canary.
"I wonder why?" Dinah questioned.
"You sure these two can calm him down, doc?" The security team leader asked.
"That one's his adoptive mother." The doctor replied, pointing at Dinah, "And the other one is his best friend."
Everyone moved past to let Dinah and Donna through. The two stopped at the door, and Dinah took the lead.
"Polybius!" Dinah called into the room.
"Don't play that shit with me!" Polybius warned in a stern and hostile tone.
"Polybius, it's me!" Dinah called again, hoping he'd recognize her voice.
There wasn't an immediate response from Polybius as it was clear he had to think about the voice he was hearing.
"Mom?" Polybius questioned.
"Yes, it's me!" Dinah replied, "Donna's here with me as well."
"Donna?" Polybius followed up.
"I'm here, Polybius!" Donna spoke up, "Can we come in?"
"Just you two." Polybius answered, "Keep the rest of them out there!"
Dinah and Donna didn't hesitate to follow the order.
Upon walking into the room, they saw Polybius sitting on the bed. It was immediately apparent that he was shaken and in pain. However, upon seeing two familiar faces, a wave of relief visibly washed over him.
"Polybius?" Dinah asked as the two approached him.
Polybius didn't respond as he kept his eyes locked on the door to see if anyone was going to follow them in. Once they reached him, they each went to opposite sides of his bed.
"Polybius look at me." Dinah said calmly.
Polybius did move his head, but his eyes shifted to something else in the room.
"What's wrong?" Donna asked, telling that something was troubling Polybius.
"Are they gonna take my leg?" Polybius asked, a slight sense of fear prevalent in his voice.
"No!" Dinah said, "I told them specifically not to, and to try and save your leg."
"Then why is that there?" Polybius asked, pointing at what he was looking at.
The two then looked back and saw that a prosthetic limb was sitting in the room. After the two had a chance to look at it, Polybius grabbed his mother's hand as she was the one closer to it and gripped it hard.
"You can't let them put that on me!" Polybius begged as Dinah looked back at him.
"They won't." Dinah assured him.
"You're not lying to me, right?" Polybius asked as panic began to rise in his tone.
"She's not." Donna assured him, prompting him to look at her, "But they've gotta do surgery to repair your leg."
"But they ain't takin my leg, right?" Polybius asked.
"They won't, I promise." Dinah assured him.
"Then why is that in here!" Polybius demanded.
"I don't know." Dinah explained, "But they have to do surgery to repair your leg if you're going to keep it."
Polybius seemed to calm down and loosen his grip on his mother's hand. Both Dinah and Donna then proceeded to lay Polybius back down on the bed. He didn't resist and allowed them to guide him down.
"Just close your eyes." Dinah urged, "The doctors won't take your leg, I promise."
"You guys are gonna be here when I'm up?" Polybius asked.
"Of course!" Donna said, "We aren't going anywhere, and we'll be here when you wake up."
"You better." Polybius warned.
"Have we ever lied to you?" Donna asked.
"No." Polybius answered.
With that, Polybius finally settled down and relaxed. Now that he had been reassured that nothing bad was going to happen to him. This allowed the doctors to come in and get him resituated. Once Polybius was knocked out again, Dinah and Donna were escorted back to the waiting room.
"Thank you." The doctor said as they made their way back.
"You did that to yourselves." Donna spoke up, "We warned you about the prosthetic."
"Well, we wanted to have it on standby just in case." The doctor said.
Once the two returned back to the waiting room, they saw Oliver sitting in the same area they were before they were called to deal with Polybius.
"Dinah!" Oliver greeted as the two approached him, "What happened?"
"Polybius woke up." Dinah explained, "He saw a prosthetic limb and freaked out thinking they were going to put that on him."
"Of course." Oliver stated.
"Well, with how he was positioned, it was likely the first thing he saw when he woke up." Dinah explained, "However, he's calmed down now."
"That's good." Oliver said, "How's he doing otherwise?"
"He's going to be alright." Dinah said, "Seems like his injury isn't even affecting his mental state."
"That's great news!" Oliver said, "See! I told you that you had nothing to worry about!"
"You're right." Dinah agreed.
"Come on." Oliver said, "I got you and Donna some food."
With that, the group sat down and relaxed. Meanwhile, Claudia and Wojtek were going back and forth again.
"I keep telling you, Claudia!" Wojtek started, "You worry too much about this!"
"The fact that you aren't worrying about this is what worries me!" Claudia countered, "You were once the head of this project! How on Earth can you possibly think that this monster has just simply gone away like a freaking fairy tale!?"
"It's not a fairy tale." Wojtek countered.
"No it's not." Claudia said, "Because I think I'm starting to understand why you are so relaxed about this."
"Oh?" Wojtek questioned.
"Yes." Claudia said.
Then, on cue, two security guards walked into the room. Wojtek spun around and faced them before looking back at Claudia.
"Wojtek, until I am convinced otherwise, you are going to be locked up and observed due to the risk that you may potentially be either influenced by the entity to throw me off its trail or the actual entity itself." Claudia stated.
"You can't do this!" Wojtek shouted as the two guards grabbed him.
"I can, and I did." Claudia said, "Take him to his new holding cell!"
With that, Wojtek was arrested and transferred to a holding cell. As he was carried away, Claudia sat by and watched. She had long suspected that Wojtek was under the influence of the entity and decided to act upon it. She would not rest until the entity was locked up in its cell and contained again.
Several hours later, Oliver had gone back home, seeing as Dinah had completely relaxed now that she was sure that Polybius wasn't in danger. However, as promised, neither Donna nor Dinah left the hospital as they waited for Polybius. They had both fallen asleep while waiting at some point, but both were awake when the doctor who had been performing Polybius's surgery walked into the room.
"Good news!" The doctor said as he approached them, "Despite the setback, we have been able to save Polybius's leg. And he should be able to walk again."
"Yes!" Both women cheered for Polybius.
"So what's happening to him now?" Dinah asked.
"He's being transferred to recovery." The doctor said, "We're going to keep him a couple nights for observation. We just want to make sure nothing adverse happens to his leg. However, for the first month he's released, he'll be confined to a wheelchair and need round the clock care."
"That's fine." Dinah said, "But what about his blood? I know he lost a lot. How did that all go down?"
"He lost nearly three liters of blood, but we had more than enough blood to give him, so there is nothing to worry about there." The doctor explained, "However, the reason we are having him confined to a wheelchair is we don't want to risk him doing any further damage to his leg."
"Alright." Dinah said, "Anything else?"
"Nope." The doctor said, "I can take you to his recovery room now if you'd like?"
"Yes!" Both women said.
With that, the two were taken to Polybius's recovery room. There, they saw that he had been taken off the respirator and was now breathing fine on his own. That was a very relieving sight to them.
"How long until he wakes up?" Donna asked.
"Should be within an hour." The doctor replied.
With that, the doctor left, and the two took seats by his side as they waited for him to awake.
Sure enough, roughly an hour later, Polybius began to wake up again. He slowly opened his eyes, still dazed by the medicine he had been given.
"He's waking up!" The voice of Donna rang in his ears.
Looking over, Polybius saw both his mother and best friend with smiles on their faces.
"Polybius!" Dinah greeted him as she gave him a warm hug.
"So I'm not dead." Polybius said as he was swiftly coming back to his senses, "And I can feel my toes, so that means I've still got my leg, right?"
"Yes!" Donna said happily, "You're alright!"
"Woo." Polybius unenthusiastically cheered, "Now how long till I bust this joint?"
"Only a couple nights." Dinah answered.
"Cool." Polybius said.
"However, doctors say you're going to need round the clock care for a little bit." Dinah added, "And you'll also be in a wheelchair for a while and won't be able to walk for a long time."
"I'll be walking by Christmas." Polybius countered.
"If you say so." Dinah said.
"I know so." Polybius countered, "Right, Donna?"
"I'm not Putting it past you." Donna said.
"Exactly." Polybius said.
About thirty minutes later, in Mount Justice, the Team was just waking up. However, they didn't sleep well as they were unaware of Polybius's current status.
Superboy had the worst sleep out of everyone and was slow to drag himself out of bed that morning. And when he finally did, he was even slower to get to the main room where Batman was waiting.
"About time!" Kid Flash groaned.
"Yeah, yeah." Superboy brushed off, "Any update on Polybius?"
"He's projected to make a full recovery." Batman stated.
The Team cheered for Polybius upon hearing the news.
"So when is he going to be back?" Superboy asked.
"Next week." Batman stated, "However, he is going to need round the clock care for some time, during which he will also be confined to a wheelchair."
"So who is going to take care of him?" Artemis asked.
"Right now, we have a handful of volunteers who offered to do it." Batman said, "They will be the first ones rotated in the new den mother schedule, which will rotate weekly."
"So who's got it this week?" Robin asked.
"Captain Marvel will go first." Batman explained.
"You want him taking care of Polybius?" Kid Flash asked.
"Polybius won't be back until it rotates to Black Canary." Batman stated.
"Of course." Kid Flash muttered, "Anything else about this whole Polybius situation we should know about?"
"They will also be assisted by Wonder Girl." Batman added.
"Wonder Girl?" The Team questioned.
"What connection does she have to Polybius?" Robin asked
"The two are best friends." Batman stated, "They have been for a long time, and she was adamant about assisting Polybius."
"That's fine." Kid Flash said, "Always wanted to see that babe in person."
And there you have it! Chapter 8! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, don't be afraid to let me know what you think about this, and as always, have a good one!