Chapter 15

Stephanie fell asleep after awhile. She was exhausted. It was now the next day and everything had just blurred together. When the nurse came in to check Sportacus' progress, she gently shook the girl and woke her. She took Stephanie down to the cafeteria.

"You really should eat something." Nurse Betty offered.

"I shouldn't have left him, what if he wakes up while I'm gone…" Stephanie said nervously.

"Don't worry. You need to keep yourself healthy." Betty said handing the girl an apple. Stephanie smiled as bit into the apple. Sports Candy. Her eyes began to moisten.

"Are you ok?" The nurse asked. Stephanie nodded.

"I'm sorry. I've been very emotional lately. This whole ordeal is making me a mess. Especially since…" Betty waited for more that didn't come.

"I have to get back to him." Stephanie got up and went back to her husband. She opened the door quietly.

Everything was the same as when she had left. Sitting again, she wished that he would open his bright Icelandic baby blues. Twitch his ridiculous, loveable moustache, kiss her on the head, and wrap his big muscular arms around her. Then as if he had read her mind, Sportacus opened his eyes.

"Stephanie?" her name came out barely above a whisper. She practically jumped out of her chair.

"I'm here." His wife whispered back. Stephanie grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"I love you." Sportacus' voice still came at just above a whisper.

"I love you, too." She answered. Her husband smiled weakly and saw the butterfly bandages on her face.

"What happened to you?" His voice was getting a little stronger. Stephanie brushed the question off.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"To be perfectly honest, I feel like shit." Sportacus said. That was the pain medication talking. Normally he would've faked a smile and said he felt fine.

"You'll be back to your old self again soon. I know you will." Stephanie tried to give a positive turn to the conversation.

"My father told me that a great evil was coming and that you needed me." The completely random sentence came out. Stephanie was still pretty sure that the pain medication was again messing with his head.

"Well, I don't know about evil but needing you is definitely true. I promise I'll be right back ok?" She said and quickly went to get the doctor.

Robbie was waiting for Amanda when Nurse Meta came in to check on him. He didn't say anything as she looked over his thigh.

"Are you in pain?" She asked.

"Yes, but not in my leg. The pain medication won't fix the guilt I feel." Robbie blurted out. Meta was just about to ask what he meant when Amanda came into the room. The nurse pulled her out of the room. She asked Amanda about what he said.

"He feels it's his fault that my arm is broken. The truth is if they hadn't gotten there when they did, there's a good chance my arm wouldn't have been the only thing that was broken." The girl explained.

"You need to tell him that. Feeling guilty will do nothing for his healing process. Try to make him feel good emotionally and physically he will improve faster." Nurse Meta told her.

"Thank you. I'll do my best." Amanda smiled and went back into the room.

"Robbie, you and I need to have a talk. But first, I think you need something else." The girl walked over to him, sat down on the bed, and kissed him on the lips. At first, Robbie held back. Amanda tried to get him to kiss her the way he used to. The trick worked and soon the two were back to doing what they loved best.

Stephanie found Dr. Rottenstein and told him about Sportacus. Quickly, the doctor went back to the room with her.

"Sportacus, I need you to be honest with me. How did you see your father? He's gone." Dr. Rottenstein asked worried that the pain medication was causing the above-average hero to hallucinate. Sportacus spewed the entire story. Stephanie didn't know what to make of it but the doctor knew exactly what was going on.

"Ok, well I think that we're going to change your medication and see if that helps." He was not about to tell Stephanie or Sportacus that the surgery had been very close to failing.

"Thank you, Dr. Rottenstein." Stephanie said. The doctor nodded and left to get a nurse. Soon new medication was being pumped through Sportacus' IV.

Ra's packed a few things into a duffel bag. He had told Vincent that while he was gone that his star pupil would be in charge. Vincent had been apologizing for the poor outcome but Ra's didn't blame him. The pupil would soon become the master.

To Be Continued…