Second Chapter: The Infirmary

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

What was that infuriating noise? Where was I? How did I get here?

Beep.

Beep.

The sound of footsteps echoed into my ears.

"How are they?" A muffled voice asked. Was it Beast Boy?

"I don't know, man." Cyborg, perhaps…? "Robin took a pretty hard hit. And Starfire…"

His voice dropped out. What about Starfire? Where was she? Where was I?

"She's okay," I thought I heard Raven say. "Just a little… battered."

"She took a bad fall, Rae. She's not just okay."

"She's better than Robin, that's for sure."

"That's true," Cyborg said solemnly. "But that doesn't mean that she's alright."

Beep.

Beep.

Beep beep.

Beep beep.

"Hey," said Beast Boy's voice. "Is one of them-"

I heard a door slide open. "You guys awake?" It was Cyborg again.

I opened my eyes. The world spun around me, swirling lights shining dimly from the ceiling. Where was I?

"Robin?" Raven asked as she, BB, and Cyborg walked over to my bed. My bed?

I closed my eyes again. I knew where I was; the Infirmary. That beeping must have been my heart monitor. "Hey," I mumbled.

"Finally!" Cyborg said. "You guys have been out for hours! Almost a whole day! We were wondering if you'd ever get up again! You took a pretty good whack to the head by Cinderblock!"

He kept going, but I didn't hear him. I remembered… the fight, the smoke discs, the person flinging through the air-

"Starfire!" I yelped, sitting up and opening my eyes. I looked around at them wildly. The world spun again pain shot up my spine, but I didn't care. Pain was stupid, meaningless.

"Where is she!" I asked harshly, ripping the suctioned wires from my skin's surface.

"Hey, dude-" BB tried to speak, but I sent him a glance and he was silent.

Where was she! Why were they so quiet! What happened to her? She was thrown, and then I blacked out…

"She's right there," Raven said calmly and pointed to a curtain on my left. "She's fine. She's seen better days, but she's breathing."

Breathing? I ran my fingers through my hair, felt the stinging pain from my head. She was breathing? That meant she could've…

I shuddered, pushing away the thought. She was breathing and alive and just a little battered. Right? I shook my head and soon realized that it was a mistake. My mind whirled and my stomach churned, then I bent over the side of the bed and vomited on the floor almost directly next to Raven.

"Ewww!" Beast Boy yelped, jumping away. Raven's face held a disgusted expression, but she grabbed a roll or paper towels from the nearby cupboard and began cleaning it up.

"Sorry," I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. She nodded and looked up at me.

"You can take a look at her, if you feel well enough."

I smiled weakly and swung my legs onto the opposite side of the bed. Cyborg grabbed one arm, and Beast Boy put the other around his shoulders. I stood up weakly and gritted my teeth, then began to walk.

It wasn't so much that my legs hurt, it was that my mind wouldn't stay focused. The room spun more and more with every step.

Once I neared the curtain, I recoiled from my teammates' grasp and pushed it aside.

"Starfire," I whispered hoarsely.