A/N: Okay, so I'm not gonna lie, despite the many times I have been to hospital, I still don't have much of an idea about how they work... so if it seems off, sorry.

Also, I don't major in medicine, so most of the medical talk is from the one wet anatomy class I did and my five minute google searches I did in my work's walk-in fridge. So yay.
Lastly, this chapter was originally split up into two parts, because I was trying to have a word limit per chapter... yeh, that didn't work out.

Anyway, leave a comment and let me know what you think so far, or if you have any questions.

C/W: Hospitals, medical procedures being discussed, near death, injuries being discussed, use of prescription medication, needles, and my awkward attempt at humour.

The ride back to the Nighteye agency was a quiet one. Kirishima had been picked up by one of Fatgum's other sidekicks, while Mirio and Midoriya hailed a taxi. Taking public transport right after an event like this probably wasn't the best idea.

Bubblegirl had met them both in the agency's lobby, embracing Mirio in a tight hug as soon as he walked in the door. She had already grabbed his work bag from his locker, handing it to him when she pulled back.

"I'll get Midoriya back to U.A, you just get changed and go," she instructed him. "I'll be in the office all night, so if you need anything, anything at all, just call."

Upon arriving at the hospital and after a brief talk to the nurse behind the reception desk, Mirio was led to the waiting room inside the surgical ward. He spotted Yaoyorozu almost immediately.

She was sitting in the back corner, absently flicking through an old magazine. Her red cloak was wrapped tightly around her shoulders, covering her somewhat less-than-appropriate-for-a-hospital hero costume.

She looked up as he approached, a soft smile forming on her face as she put the magazine down on the seat beside her. Mirio attempted to smile back but it came out more as a grimace as his stomach tied itself into knot. "How is he?"

Yaoyorozu briefly looked away from him, her expression becoming unreadable.

"He's just gone into surgery," she explained, motioning for him to sit down beside her. "They wanted to make sure he was stable before they attempted to remove the point."

Mirio sat down slowly and let out a heavy sigh. Yaoyorozu stared down at the sterile white floor, her lip twitching slightly as she attempted to keep her expression calm. "I wrote down your name on the patient file as next of kin and emergency contact. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," he replied, sitting back. "How is your hand?"

"Oh, It was just a simple fracture. Nothing serious- I mean, nothing they should worry about. I made sure they focused on Amajiki."

Mirio glanced over at the dark haired girl. She was clutching her wrist, now brace free, to her chest. While he couldn't say he personally knew much about the young intern beside him, Tamaki would often tell him about Yaoyorozu's ability to take charge of a situation and keep a level head, which helped a lot when Tamaki was teamed up with either one of the hot-headed "unofficial-mineral-brothers" (Tamaki's words, not his). Like Kirishima, Mirio knew how Tamaki had formed a sort of kinship with the intern, bonding over their experiences of overthinking situations and plans.

Yaoyorozu shifted slightly beside him, and Mirio realised he still hadn't replied.

"I'm glad you are okay," he began before she cut him off.

"I know it must have been difficult for you to stay there on the scene, instead of accompanying Amajiki to the hospital. I know how important he is to you. I'm sorry." There was a look of guilt on her face now. "Had I known it would have gotten this bad, I would have scrapped that whole plan. It wasn't meant to be like this."

Mirio gave her a weak smile. "I should be thanking you."

She blinked at him in surprise.

"Both you and Kirishima." He looked down at his hands and explained, "Things would have turned out a lot worse had you two not been there. And even then, after everything that happened, you helped patch him up, while I..." He paused. "I wasn't…"

Mirio struggled to find the words. How did you tell someone, that despite your years of experience, you froze up doing your job?

"I wasn't ready. I wasn't thinking right," he sighed eventually, looking back up at her. The words hung in the air of the quiet waiting room.

"I don't think anyone ever is." She replied simply, wiping her eyes.

In the end, Yaoyorozu stayed with Mirio as they waited for an update to Tamaki's condition. They were there over an hour before a middle-aged doctor in medical scrubs and holding a clipboard, walked into the waiting room. She was a short, thin woman with strikingly grey hair done up in a tight bun.

"Togata?" she called out, as he and Yaoyorozu rose from their seats. The doctor's oddly coloured eyes, completely black with stark white pupils, landed on the two of them and she motioned for them to come over. As they approached, she gave both Mirio and Yaoyorozu a comforting smile.

"My name is Dr Shiraishi Hitomi. I am the doctor assigned to Mr Amajiki Tamaki. He just came out of surgery. May I assume you are Togata Mirio?"

Mirio gave her a quick smile and nodded. The doctor looked at Yaoyorozu.

"And you are?"

"Yaoyorozu Momo, Amajiki's work colleague." She looked over at Mirio, "I should probably get going?"

"No!" He said perhaps a little too quickly. "It's okay. Can she hear this as well so she can report Amajiki's condition back to his boss, Fatgum?"

Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement.

Dr Shiraichi looked between the two, "If you wish. Come with me." She led them to one of the empty examination rooms.

"Mr Amajiki was lucky, I give you that," she begun, looking down at what Mirio could only assume to be Tamaki's medical charts. "The point went straight through his shoulder, just shy of his glenohumeral joint." She paused before explaining, "it just missed the bones by millimetres.

However, force of impact did cause the shoulder to dislocate. The point also missed his brachial artery. This allowed us to put a stop to the bleeding rather quickly once it was deemed safe to operate on him."

Mirio frowned. "What do you mean, by "deemed safe to operate"?"

The doctor gave him a sympathetic look. "When Mr Amajiki arrived here at the hospital, he was being treated for the early stages of acute pulmonary edema, as well as dangerously high blood pressure that left him at a high risk of going into cardiac arrest. We had to wait for the medication the paramedics had administered to take affect before we could move him into surgery. Thankfully Mr Amajiki is young and healthy, so the overall strain on his heart and lungs shouldn't cause anything permanent."

From beside Mirio, Yaoyorozu gasped and clung to his arm. He knew, deep down that he shouldn't have asked her to stay; he could easily pass this information onto Fatgum. However, after the way things had turned out, Mirio didn't trust himself to be alright dealing with the next few hours alone. Call him selfish, but he found the presence of Tamaki's work colleague rather grounding.

Yaoyorozu took a shaky breath, "I really didn't think it would have gotten that bad."

Mirio was racking his brain trying to remember what the condition Dr Shirishi said Tamaki had meant for his boyfriend's body. Unfortunately, he was drawing blanks. As though sensing this, Dr. Shiraishi spoke up.

"His lungs were starting to fill with fluid as a result of an insufficient amount of oxygen. The lack of oxygen, in turn, would have caused his heart rate to increase, causing strain on the organ. Using his quirk while in this state would have only added to the stress on his heart as well.

Thankfully, he responded well to the medication that was given to him."

"Do you think Amajiki would have known about his condition before he became unconscious?" Yaoyorozu asked.

The doctor looked away thoughtfully. "You are one of the interns that were with him?"

"Yes."

"Ah, I see," she nodded. "I read your statement that you gave to the paramedics. To answer your question, I do not believe he would have realised the condition of his lungs were in, until he was out of the water."

"Don't worry," Mirio began, his voice faltering. Both women turn to face him. "I don't think Tamaki would want to pull a stunt like that ever again."

"See that he doesn't." the doctor said simply. She looked back down at her notes, her brows coming together.

There was more.

She looked back up at them, doing her best to keep her face calm and comforting. For Mirio, it had the opposite affect. That look meant something bad was coming. Something that could have the chance to be life changing.

That was the look he had received from the nurses who insisted he go back to his room while Nighteye lay dying.

He knew the doctor meant well and her job wasn't easy, but that wasn't a look he liked.

"It is too early to know if Mr Amajiki has received any brain damage from his ordeal. We believe it to be highly unlikely that he may have suffered any long term affects, although he may have some trouble with his short-term memory for a day or two."

"So, he'll make a full recovery?" Yaoyorozu asked hopefully.

Dr. Shiraishi's mouth flattened into a hard line. Her oddly coloured eyes glancing at the two of them.

"Not quite," she said softly. "While I mention before that Mr Amajiki's arteries and bones were still intact, the lateral end of his musculocutaneous nerve was severed. Unfortunately, there is no one on staff within this hospital, or the surrounding hospitals that has a healing quirk that can completely heal the nerve back together.

We did our best, but left as is, he may never be able to use his left arm again." She gave them a sympathetic look, before quickly adding, "That is not to say there aren't any options. There are surgeries and treatments that could help him gain some function back." The doctor paused and looked back down at her notes.

"In fact, it does mention here that he is a part of a medical study that deals with these types of injuries. However, we would need both his and your signatures." She says, looking at Mirio.

Mirio gave the doctor a half-hearted smile and nodded.

After their talk with the doctor, Mirio had walked Yaoyorozu to the hospitals after-hours exit. One of Fatgum's other sidekicks was already waiting for her at the pickup zone. She'd given Mirio a comforting hug, before making her way out to the front of the hospital while on the phone to a worried Fatgum.

Dr. Shiraishi led him through the maze-like corridors that Mirio was sure he would get lost in, until eventually stopping in front of a door.

"There will be a nurse coming to check on him every three hours," she explained. "As well as a heavy dose of antibiotics, he has been given a large dose of pain relief, so he may be a bit, well, out of it when he wakes up. There is an emergency button just beside his bed should there be any trouble."

Mirio thanked the doctor before slipping into the room.

The room itself was small and dim, illuminated only by the small amount of streetlight seeping in under the curtains. In the center of the room, there was a single occupied bed. Mirio slowly approached the bed, his legs feeling more and more like rubber with each step.

Tamaki looked peaceful. Even in the dim light, Mirio could see that colour had returned to his face. His chest rose and fell steadily; with each breath causing his oxygen mask to fog up slightly. His chest was all but bare except for the many sensors stuck to him, the cables spilling off and around him like man-made tentacles, each connected to various machines keeping track of his body's every movement. His left shoulder was bandaged neatly, the white cotton covering up the trauma caused by that day's activities. Connected to his left hand was an I.V. cannula.

Mirio let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He slowly lowered himself down to one of the plastic chairs meant for guests and rubbed his eyes with his palms. Images flashed in his head, of a similar scenario, only with a much worse outcome.

He pulled his hands away from his face.

No, he couldn't dwell on that now, this was different. He had to focus on Tamaki.

As far as he knew, Tamaki only woke up twice that night (after the second time, Mirio somehow managed to doze off on uncomfortable plastic chair, his head lolled forward onto his chest).

The first time, the dark haired man didn't stay conscious for more than a few moments before falling back asleep. Mirio had watched with bated breath as dark, unfocused eyes lazily swept across the ceiling, before coming to rest on him. For an instant, the blonde was hopeful Tamaki was going to react, smile at least, but instead he simply closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

Mirio had done his best not to feel slightly disappointed, deep down he knew that Tamaki's body had been under a huge amount of stress and that he needed his rest, but part of him wished for Tamaki to be awake and responsive right then and there.

The second time Tamaki woke up, he was a bit livelier to say the least. Mirio had gotten up to use the room's bathroom, only to walk back out of the small ensuite to find the dark haired man in a panic, attempting to remove the mask off his face with his right hand. Mirio had rushed to his side and gently grabbed Tamaki's hand and pulling it away from his face.

"Hey, hey, it's okay Tama. I'm here. Sorry, I left you alone." Mirio told him softly, giving the hand a light squeeze. Upon hearing his voice, Tamaki's body had froze, his wide dark eyes locking onto Mirio's own bright blue ones. He had tried to speak, but the words came out as a dry croak. Despite it, the sound still caused Mirio's heart to flutter.

"Yes Tama, I'm here."

"Mir…" Tamaki cut him off, his eyebrows coming together in frustration as his voice cracked. Clearing his throat, he tried once again.

"Mirio, you have to tell Fat," he rasped, pulling his hand away from Mirio's grip, only to weakly grab the front of his shirt. "You have to tell Fat that the octopi and the chickens have teamed up."

Mirio frowned and tilted his head slightly. "I'm sorry, what?"

"They teamed up," Tamaki said again, his voice becoming urgent as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. "They got sick of me eating them, and so they, they ate my snacks and want to steal them" he whimpered. "They want to steal Kirishima and Tetsu and Yaoyorozu, and… and. And Fat doesn't know this!"

For once, Mirio had been speechless, not sure how to process what his boyfriend was telling him. Unfortunately, his lack of a timely response, had only made Tamaki panic more. The manifest hero whined again and tugged at his shirt. "Mirio!"

"Yep! Yes. That's me," the blonde quickly replied, snapping himself out of his stupor and doing his best to keep a serious face. It was clear to him now whatever pain medication they had given his boyfriend was clearly having a few side effects.

"Don't worry Tama, I'll tell Fat everything." He said firmly, prying his hand off his shirt and holding it once again.

A look of relief washed over Tamaki's face as his whole body seemed to relax. "You have to. It's important. The octopi, and… and chickens."

"Don't worry, sunshine," Mirio cooed, pulling out his phone with his other hand and holding it up so that Tamaki could see it. "I will text Fatgum right away. He'll hunt down those octopuses-"

"Octopi," Tamaki interjects.

"-octopi and chickens."

Tamaki stared up at him with a look of awe on his face before his eyelids began to droop.

"I love you," he giggled before sleep overtook him once more, leaving Mirio's face feeling rather warm.

There was no way he was going to be able to tell anyone about what just happened without being banished to the couch.

The next morning, Mirio had awoken to a stiff neck and an uncomfortable ache in his back. Sitting up straight and stretching, he looked over to the bed, only to see Tamaki sitting up and unapologetically staring back at him with a soft smile on his face. He was wearing a plain white shirt the hospital had provided him, though the shirt appeared to be at least two sizes too big. Judging from the substantial lack of wires, most of the sensors that had once littered his body had been removed, now only needing to take his most basic vitals. Most, if not all the colour had returned to his face, although the dark circles under his eyes were hard to miss. Around his neck, hung a clear oxygen mask.

On the other side of the bed was a nurse, who was busy connecting a clear bag to the I.V. cannula in his left hand.

"See something you like?" Mirio asked with a smirk, causing Tamaki's ears to turn pink.

"Mirio, you can't just say things like that," he whined, the nurse beside him clearly not trying to hide her small smile.

"Okay, okay," Mirio chuckled as he stretched again, this time his neck gave a small pop. "You seem rather relaxed."

Tamaki tilted his head. "I do? Oh? I guess the pain medication they gave me is actually affecting me." He looked at the nurse, who simply offered him a shrug, before looking back. "That would explain why my head feels kind of fuzzy. They said it shouldn't last long, which I guess is good. At least it's only affecting me now."

Mirio clamped his mouth shut before he could blurt anything out.

Tamaki yawned and continued. "You haven't missed much. Just check-ups and breakfast."

"Aww, what did you get for breakfast?" Mirio asked, amused as his boyfriend's eyes lit up.

"They actually went out and got me octopus for breakfast!" he exclaimed before pouting. "But it wasn't takoyaki."

"That's not good, isn't it." Mirio replied, mentally filing away his new found information about his boyfriend: Tamaki apparently get's talkative when high.

"Oh, and I signed the other half of that paperwork," Tamaki finished, glancing away. "I, um, noticed you had already signed, so I just assumed that you were okay with it and to just go ahead."

Mirio bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah, I thought it would be better if they started that right away when you woke up." He glanced at the bag of clear liquid that now hung innocently over Tamaki's bed.

"Excuse me, Mr Amajiki," the nurse interrupted, drawing his boyfriend's attention away from Mirio as she explained the I.V. set up.

Mirio pulled out his phone, absently scrolling through the many new notifications he had received. A number of the notifications were from friends and family, tagging him in news articles about the previous day's events. His curiosity got the better of him and he tapped one of the links. Mirio was greeted by two pictures: one of himself, Midoriya, and Kirishima talking with the officers on scene, the red head was holding Tamaki's cape and gear tightly, while the other photo was of himself carrying a deathly pale and limp Tamaki out of the abandoned aquarium (how they got that photo, Mirio didn't know).

Well, that explained the copious amounts of notifications he had received. No doubt Tamaki's phone would also be just as popular.

His eyebrows came together as a frown began to form on his face. He couldn't help but stare at the second photo, taking in the details. The expression that he wore on his face, well actually, the lack of one. The Mirio in the photo looked hollow and emotionless. Nothing like the hero he normally was.

Mirio closed the article.

Best to unpack that at another time. He looked back up just in time to see the nurse sliding the door shut behind her as she left.

"So," Mirio said slowly. "How's the arm?"

Tamaki had the oxygen mask back up over his mouth and nose, while a empty makeshift sling hung around his neck. He bit the inside of his cheek and looked down at his arm. Said arm in question was currently laying limp at his side.

"I can't feel anything in my shoulder because of the pain medication. But I can't really feel much in my hand either. I can make my fingers twitch, which is good, but I can't move my arm or feel my thumb." He looked back at Mirio and quickly added, "but it's okay. Really. They predict I should start to get feeling back as soon as this afternoon."

Mirio let out a soft sigh of relief. "That's good to hear, Tama. You can't do much hero work with one arm in a sling."

He lent over and handed Tamaki his phone.

"There have been articles about last night posted up already," he stated, causing Tamaki to let out low groan. A small smile tugged on Mirio's lips as he chuckled in amusement before continuing, "A lot of people want to know about you, so you should probably get to calling them. I forgot to grab your phone off Kirishima last night, so you can use mine."