Chapter 45
"Wakey Wakey, Eggs and Bakey"
Quiet, and a dull throb through-out her body stemming from her whole leg. It made her dizzy as she moved, and it increased in intensity. Moving felt difficult, like she was fighting her own sleepiness to wake up. She was in the hospital, and there was sun streaming in.
She tried to remember the island and what had happened, but she couldn't recall much. She and her sister had fought each other, though as she thought about it, it was more like her sister trashed her. That thought in her head, she reached down under the sheets to feel her bandaged and trapped-in-a-cast leg. A muscle twitch, and a new wave of experience washed up her body.
At least it was still there.
Embarrassingly, she couldn't remember too much else after the fight; she knew she was talking about Mic but her memories were foggy at best. Aizawa had been there for a large chunk of them, he'd held her head for awhile in them. She felt sick now, the embarrassment and anxiety stacking onto the dull pulse of pain that was running through her body.
She was so exhausted and she was awake! How long had she been out? She struggled to move, and her arms were somewhat more responsive, she became aware of the IV in her arm, neat and clean. The moderate-sized plastic bag at the top was neither full nor empty. The room was empty, for now, but there were signs people had been there, very recently. An e-book that looked like the one she had ordered for her father, was laying near the foot of her bed. TV was playing silently, and her head was now hurting, the more she moved.
Made sense, she realized, given what her sister had done... Her thoughts shifted back to that, the thoughts of her sister... panic started to set in. She gripped the stupid hospital gown she was in, and looked around, before she settled on the things on the table. Cards, cards for her, and even flowers. Those were much more pleasant to look at, and think about. Much more than the horrible creeping clamminess on her whole body.
Suddenly, to her any way, her father came into view, and seeing him, her heart rate jumped significantly. First from surprise, and then from the horrible realization that there may have been something she subconsciously ignored, up to this point. His lips were moving but she couldn't hear him, then she knew she was screaming, but she couldn't really hear it. He came closer probably saying something of comfort, but it was going nowhere.
She latched onto her dad, yelling that something was wrong, even though she couldn't hear more than a dull nothingness. She buried herself, as much as she could, into his side, the rapid beating, and now pain, in her chest as she cried, was more potent than the pain caused from moving so her dad could hold her.
Parasus had taken everything, it seemed.
000
Saturday wasn't a good day, despite her waking up, and seeming to have most of her faculties, she was nearly completely deaf, and that hit her hard.
He held his child as she wailed and cried, and eventually exhausted herself into being calm. They showed her cards that the nurses had scribbled-on questions, was she in pain, was she feeling hungry, dizzy etc.
The calm was likely from pain killers, she was in pain, but that was to be expected. The doctor had, in his best English, explained that they had done what they could for her. Hearing loss in both ears was one of the things they were concerned about, and had some prep made for when she woke up. Limited till now, to just preparing for what kind of hearing help she might need in her left ear. Though there wasn't that much prep to be done for the emotional support for her.
"Oh, little one." He petted her head, though she stared off into the flowers as tears trickled down.
Unfortunately, the shock of waking up didn't mean her itinerary for the next steps was halted at all. There were tests they needed her to be conscious and responsive for. It was slow, and the nurses were nice in making sure they were doing everything they could, to keep her informed on what they were doing. The audiologist in particular was very kind, but she had no real answers, or even hope, for Alarice on fully recovering her hearing.
Everyone was so nice and patient with her, and it made her feel frail.
Jonathan himself, intercepted Aizawa's possible arrival, to retrieve Hisato's book, via calling Hizashi. Alarice did not need to see anyone right now. She hadn't asked, and until she did, he wasn't going to let her see anyone from the school, yet. The exception was the helpful and kind Recovery Girl, who was, of course, an actual doctor. Alarice's reaction to the old woman was calm, though a bit nervous.
He even had to ask the authorities to keep their distance, informing them that she wouldn't be able to answer any of their questions, just yet.
The day, was somehow both good and bad. His daughter was alive, but she was deaf, and clearly traumatized. There was a long road of recovery ahead of her, and he just hoped he would be there to see it to the end.
Saturday was finally over, and she was unconscious in her bed.
000
She found herself missing the bizarre, if long dreams, she could only vaguely recall that Hisato had been in. She couldn't remember much of it, but she knew she hadn't had any nightmares, it had been mostly nothing and pockets of something good. Perhaps he had only distracted her mind from the things it had consumed on the island, but it had been a welcome distraction. The second day of waking up in the hospital, from the third nightmare of the night, only reminded her of how real her current situation was.
She didn't bother to try to get up this time, just laying there and watching the IV drip silently... Silently to her any way. Her extremely limited range of hearing wasn't one that accepted the soft plips of liquid.
Her dad was there, but he didn't look good either, he looked paler than she remembered and in her panic of the day before, she hadn't taken into account how he looked. She let out a breath, she'd been unconscious for a whole week, as it had turned out. He'd been there the whole time and Alarice suspected that hadn't been good for him. She fiddled with her sheets while he came to, slowly. She wondered about her sister, she'd smelled blood all night but she of course, wasn't bleeding, and the room was clean. What she wouldn't give to have something nice to listen to.
To bad, not even the little hearing aid that was fitted to her ear was going to allow that. It barely allowed her to understand herself enough to speak clearly. "Dad" She felt her self say, and vaguely heard enough to know she was being quite loud. "Dad, I..I'd like to see one of my teachers."
Her old, bald, but still piercing-eyed father responded with a shift, rubbing his eyes, his lips moving in some word formation she didn't know. Guess she'd have to learn to read lips or maybe... sign language? Which one? Was she going back, now that this drama was over? She couldn't say she wasn't opposed to that, the thought of hiding from what had happened was welcome, in its own way.
He grabbed a piece of paper on a flip-book and scribbled down; 'Who do you want to see?'
"I.. er.. I guess I'd like to see" She paused, and the sudden though of seeing Mic when she couldn't hear him was to way painful. "my homeroom teacher."
She immediately was filled with regret, anxiety, and even some fear. Something she realized her dad could see, with the expression on his face. However, he just nodded and wrote back 'That's fine, I'll give the school a call, do you want to see any of your classmates?'
She shook her head no.
'Alright. Will you be okay by yourself?' He asked.
She nodded again as her father rolled out of the room. A few sniffles escaped and she went through what she'd have to say to her homeroom teacher. He'd essentially rescued her, and all she had in her were apologies, questions. Surely she was going to be asked them, too, so there was a sudden concern that she hadn't even been told if the police wanted to talk to her. Surely they would, about what had happened, right?
Maybe that was something she could ask Aizawa. The thought though, made her sink further into her pillows, as she realized how complicated this was going to get.
She'd tried to read, but found herself constantly restless, post-lunch she had spent in a state of drugged relaxation. She almost wanted to tell the nurses not to give her anything, just so the dull throb from her leg could be perpetually there. A pathetic replacement for sound but something she could feel, that could distract from that urgent need to confess something.
She noticed her father rolling in first, making a show of gesturing to her teacher, she assumed. It was him, of course, who else would it be, looking exhausted and even a bit judgmental, though he appeared to be trying to soften his expression. He wasn't particularly good at it, but she forced herself to appreciate it. Swallow down her own anxiety and try to give a smile, and not burst into immediate tears. Though he didn't try to speak it seemed, her dad probably already told him, nodding to her, and settling into a chair after her father took his position at her side. Passing over the flip book to Aizawa, he was already scribbling something down on it.
'You wanted to talk to me?' He wrote.
"Y-yeah," It felt weird to only somewhat hear herself speak and feel herself potentially being really loud. She was glad he hadn't even tried to speak to her, instead going straight to writing. "I'll need to talk to authorities, too, wont I? About what happened?"
He gave a nod and scribbled again, quickly; 'you do, but it can be a written statement. They have been waiting till you were awake and able to talk about what happened.'
Alarice curled her fist into the bed sheets, trying not to show her feelings and knowing it was failing. That the color had likely completely drained from her face. "Okay"
'You don't have to push yourself, right now' Aizawa had written down on the notepad for her. 'you still need to recover.'
She nodded, and felt the words fall out of her, she needed to know the answer; "What happened to Parasus?"
She stared at the bed, heart racing in her chest, and a desperate need to run and move, and do anything but stay rooted, as she was.
'She was apprehended' was all that he wrote, and when she looked to Aizawa's face, she couldn't tell if there was more. He was a horribly difficult read, even trying to be soft. He added more 'Focus on recovering, for now.'
"Is De - Kaminari okay? Shinso? "
'They're both fine, Kaminari was in the helicopter with you.' He wrote down, if he was puzzled why she had to ask, Alarice didn't read it.
"That's good, I don't remember much from that... I mean you were holding my head at one point, and I was talking... but it's not very clear, after that."
'That's okay.' was his short written response. Alarice looked around the room, and felt tears start to form against her will. She had to force them back down, to put the hearing aid back in. She as trying really hard not to cry but it wasn't working. Her dad reached out and patted her arm.
"I think I'd like to report what happened.. as soon as possible.. there are some things... that happened..." And she couldn't stop her crying from happening even as she tried to hide it. Alarice couldn't hear her dad saying she didn't have to, and couldn't see the look of solemn concern from Aizawa. There was a response scribbled down for her.
'You don't have to do it, right now' it read.
Alarice shook her head almost violently, "No! No I need to, its not like I can do anything else right now." It was hard to breath, her chest tightened up on her. She wiped her tears on her arm, still trying to stop herself from letting the emotions out, but it was already too late for that.
Her dad was trying to sooth her, but it simply wasn't working. "How soon can I do this?" She asked.
'Tomorrow, probably, if that's what you want.' wrote her teacher.
Obviously, she couldn't hear what her dad said to Aizawa. She just nodded that it was what she wanted, she needed to let out what she felt inside, as soon as possible. M-maybe.. maybe it would help, ease a pain that was not physical or describable. Aizawa got up, and patted Alarice's shoulder reassuringly, before taking the note book, and writing finally, in English.
'just focus on recovering, for now.' Again
"Wait!" she barked out, even as she struggled push herself up more. "d-dad can you go outside... or something?" She felt her cheeks heat up, and that wiping her tears was completely ineffective now that her arm was wet. Jonathan didn't move for a second, and since she couldn't hear any arguments, she just pressed her own. "Dad Please! J-just go outside."
The moment felt longer and quieter to her than it probably was, and it only made her more aware of how hard she was breathing in and out. She watched father wheel out while she tried to gain control of her breathing.
Aizawa settled himself down again, gesturing to her to say whatever it was she needed to say to him. Alarice nodded, trying to collect her thoughts and relax, just a bit, and that was difficult all by itself. She found herself appreciating Aizawa's patience.
"I-I wanted to say... that I'm sorry I left Shinso and Denki behind." Alarice couldn't really look at him, though she knew she should. In her peripheral, she could see him scribbling a response, on the note-pad, but she knew she had to say more. "and, I'm sorry I ran off, to fight Parasus on my own, I know it's selfish but... I didn't want her to hurt anyone else, any more, that's all I could really think about then."
She spoke between tears, and finally put her face in her hands. Alarice couldn't get herself to look at him directly when he gently tapped her arm to get her attention. He put the paper where she could easily read it. ' I accept the apology, your leaving the boat, did however, provide enough time for you all to be rescued. Just take the time to rest, your body needs it.'
She sniffled and nodded, Watching her teacher leave, probably quietly, though she wouldn't never know again, by sound anyway. She shifted onto her side, and curled up slightly on her bed.
She wasn't awake, when her dad came back in. Nor immediately see his note that they'd be talking to the Audiologist about the hearing aid, in regards to her transformations.