Chapter 12
"She's unstable at the moment. We'll have to keep her here. I'm afraid the outlook isn't hopeful." The Doctor told them.
Standing in the waiting room of the City Hospital, the four Teen Titans had been waiting for nearly twelve hours for news of Raven. The doctors had been trying to find out why she wouldn't wake up but no sign had been found. All that they knew was that her heart rate was dangerously slow, she was exhausted and that any hopes of recovery were flying out the window.
Robin nodded.
"Thank you Doctor."
"May we see her?" Starfire asked, her large green eyes bloodshot. The Doctor nodded.
"Just for ten minutes." Following him along a corridor, he opened a door and they went in. He closed the door after them.
Lying on a clean white bed, with clean white sheets lay Raven. A needle ran into her arm from a drip and an oxygen tube was wrapped around her head, feeding her oxygen. Starfire gasped. Cyborg swore and Robin turned away. Beastboy merely stared at her.
She looked so… weak. So vulnerable. So not Raven. He swallowed hard. A machine beeped and they all looked at it. Raven's heartbeat.
"She is so pale." Starfire whispered. Robin clasped the Tamaranian's hand. Cyborg rubbed his head.
"What is that stuff?" He said aloud, pointing at the drip. He didn't really care. He just felt he should say something. Robin looked at it.
"Fluids. Something to give her energy." He suggested.
Beastboy leant forward and touched her arm. She didn't move. There was no sign that she was even alive, apart from the beeping from the machine and the slight rise and fall of her chest. The door opened and a nurse entered. She paused and then said,
"Raven's friends?"
"Yes." Robin replied. She nodded.
"I'm afraid you can only stay for a few minutes." She went to the drip and fiddled with it, before going to the clipboard and noting down Raven's vital statistics.
Beastboy straightened up. Robin asked,
"We should go back to the Tower. Get some rest."
"You can come back first thing in the morning. Visiting hours start at 9:30, but come in whenever. We can make an exception for you." The nurse said smiling. Beastboy turned to her.
"Is it a coma?" Her face fell.
"I'm so sorry. We've never seen anything like this. Apart from her slow heartbeat, she seems in perfect health. No bodily damages, her brain seems fine… it's as if her body is just giving up on itself."
"Raven never gives up." Starfire protested. The nurse shrugged.
"I'm afraid I just don't know. We've got an expert flying in from China tonight. Maybe he can tell us something. We'll call you if anything happens." She said. And from the sound of it, the phone would be ringing at Titans Tower that night
Back at the Tower, they sat in the kitchen. For a fleeting moment Beastboy was reminded of the day they had cleared out Raven's bedroom.
Starfire made food, but hardly anyone ate. Beastboy didn't even touch his. Starfire sat next to him and patted his hand.
"Maybe the China expert can help her."
"Nothing can help her." Beastboy said sullenly. Starfire frowned.
"Don't say that."
"Well its true isn't it?" Beastboy exploded. Robin slapped his hand down on the surface.
"What's wrong with you?"
"She's going to die! You heard them! Any minute now that damn phone is going to ring and tell us that she's gone again!"
"Hey, man! Don't give up on her yet! She's still alive. And she's Raven. You know her better than anyone. She's not going to give up, so neither can we." Cyborg yelled. Beastboy turned and ran out of the room.
Starfire found him on the roof. He was sitting hunched up, staring at the beautiful sunset. She sat down next to him and said,
"Would you like to talk?"
"There's nothing to talk about." She smiled.
"You sound like her." He looked at her. She shrugged.
"So hidden away. Just like her. Well, like the old her, anyway. Before you fell in love."
He didn't say anything. She continued to smile. Eventually he said,
"What's that song?"
"Which one?"
"I heard it a while ago, coming from your window. Something about a shooting star."
She thought about.
"Oh, I know the one. It is called 'Wind's Nocturne'. Why?"
"I heard it when we were looking for her. It gave me hope."
"I know another song that might give you hope." She said. He gave a sideways look.
"Really?"
"Yes. It is called 'A Thousand Words'. Would you like to hear it?"
"Sure. What's about?" He said, curious. This couldn't possibly be coincidence. She smiled secretly.
"It's about a person leaving. And the singer wishes that person to come back so they can tell them something. But they can't, so they try to hide the pain. They send the words to the person, hoping it will reach them."
Beastboy thought about it.
"Sing it." He said. It wasn't a demand, or a question. Just a request. Starfire closed and softly sang a few lines.
"Oh a thousand words
Have never been spoken
They'll fly to you
They'll carry you home and back into my arms
Suspended on silver wings
And a thousand words
Call out through the ages
They'll cradle you
Turning all of the lonely years to only days
They'll hold you forever
Oh, a thousand words…"
Beastboy stared at her. She opened her eyes and smiled. She stood up.
"She never gave up on us, Beastboy. Don't give up on her."
"There's been no change in Raven's condition." The doctor informed them at 8:30 the next morning. Robin asked,
"Is that good or bad?"
"At this stage, it's good. If she deteriorates any more we'll have do some more scans and try out some new drugs. However, this first night is always the worst. She's made it through that. We're not out of the danger zone though, nowhere near. Her chances are very low." The doctor told them seriously. Beastboy asked,
"What about the China guy?"
"Chi-Hey Wu. He's sleeping at the moment. He spent several hours studying her during the night, as soon as he got here. He'll give us his opinion in a few hours." The doctor said. A nurse handed him a cup of coffee and he sipped it gratefully. Rubbing his tired eyes, he assured them
"We have more doctors working on Raven than on any other patient. She's in good hands. You can go along and see her now."
She didn't look any different. They sat around her, talking quietly. Beastboy held her slender hand gently in his own. Her skin still looked pale. Cyborg went to buy them drinks. Beastboy stood up.
"I need to go to the men's. Watch her for me?"
"Of course."
Starfire and Robin didn't look at each other. Apart from the moment when he had comforted her back in the building where Slade had been hiding, they had barely spoken. He took a deep breath.
"Am I forgiven?" She looked up at him sharply. He watched her closely.
"I don't know, Robin. You wanted to hurt her."
"No! Starfire, I never wanted to hurt her. I just wanted to stop her from doing anything bad."
"You brought the mirror." She said. He nodded.
"I don't know why I did it. I just thought there might be way to help, using it. So I brought it along just in case." She continued to look unconvinced. Robin ran a hand through his jet-black hair.
"Starfire, my priority was stopping Slade. That's what we're supposed to do. And I failed. Do you know why?"
"No."
"Because I was too busy trying to stop Anger. Because I thought that if I got rid of Anger, it would help Raven."
Starfire thought about it. It was true. He had let Slade go to help Raven. She hadn't realized that before.
"Yes… I see that now." She said. Robin took her hand.
"Starfire… I have to make these decisions. I don't want to be horrible or heartless or anything like that. But someone has to do it, and that someone is me. I love you. But this is who I am. I can't stop being me. And I can't stop loving you."
She gazed at him. He waited nervously for her to speak. After some time she said,
"Robin…"
"Yes, Starfire?"
"Just kiss me."
So he did. With some relish.
"Dude, you are so lucky, she's not awake. She'd kill you for doing that in her room." Cyborg said, coming in and sitting down. They both blushed. Beastboy came in and took his place next to Raven's head, taking her hand again.
"Are you OK?" Cyborg asked. Beastboy nodded.
"Yeah… just gotta have a little faith, right?"