I awoke to a more pleasant health. I no longer felt like my chest was imploding and my confusion and dizziness were gone. My feet weren't elevated, but there was a mask over my mouth and nose. I did give a groan when the headache set in, though. It throbbed in pulses, giving me a split second to have peace—and dread—before the pain returned.
"I take it I'm not supposed to take this off," I mumbled aloud. The mask was pretty tight and I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been a cause of my headache.
"Oh, look, she's finally awake." I turned to my right to see Recovery Girl. "And no, please do not remove that. It is currently keeping you alive and treating you. Don't worry, it should be coming off soon, your EKG is looking normal now."
"Oh, were there weird s-t segment changes before?" I asked. I had plenty of reads on the cardiovascular system. It was very interesting and quite the page-turner. From those, I've learned that s-t segment elevation is indicative of a myocardial infarction.
"Yes, there were." Recovery Girl gave me an impressed tone. "But they are nothing but gone now. You're perfectly healthy at the moment."
"But this thing still can't come off?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Give me a minute to make sure nothing is amiss before we remove the only surety we have."
"Then would you mind telling me exactly what it is?"
"You seem fond of the subject, why don't you tell me?"
"Umm…" I racked my brain of anything that I had studied. I had to have read it in a textbook somewhere. I filtered though mental files in search of something that could be a treatment to an air embolism. First, I had to remember where I first heard of an air embolism. That wasn't hard at all. Like clockwork, the image appeared in my head.
"'An air embolism occurs when air or gas is admitted into the vascular system.'"I read the passage verbatim. "'It can occur iatrogenically via interventional procedures but has also been described as a complication from a variety of circumstances ranging from blunt and penetrating trauma to diving and childbirth. The physiologic effects that result depend on the volume of air that has entered the system. A patient's symptoms may range from asymptomatic to cardiovascular collapse and death. Phys-'"
"That is quite the impressive memory you have there." Recovery Girl finally interrupted me.
"Thank you, but it's nothing special. I just read it in a book once."
"Ah, I see. Is that what you are studying in class? It seems oddly specific."
"Nope, I probably read it three or fours years ago."
Recovery Girl looked at me with wide eyes. "That's not only impressive, but that's also incredible! One moment dearie." She went over to her desk and filed through some papers. She pulled a paper from a pile and walked back over to me. She held up the paper about half a meter from my face. "You have thirty seconds to study this image. Then, you have to tell me what you saw based on a few questions."
"Ma'am I fail to se—"
"Your time starts now!" She clicked a stopwatch and I instantly got to work.
The image was of a grocery store cashier line. Five people stood in the line and a cashier was working the register. There were a clock and magazines on the wall. I studied every detail and slowly formed an image in my mind that replicated the one in front of me.
Recovery Girl swiftly removed the image from my view. "Okay, times up!" She walked back over to her desk and placed the image back there. Then, she pulled a stool over to my bedside and decided to completely disregard the image she just put in my face. "So tell me, dearie, how in the world did you get an air embolism? And how did you know you had one in the first place?"
"I-It has happened before…" I began to feel their presence again. "It felt similar and I didn't want to take any chances."
"Hmm," Recovery Girl wrote a few things down on a clipboard. "Do you know what may have caused this?"
"Umm…" I tried to make up a plausible excuse in my head. That's when they actually started talking.
'Repeat after me.'
What?
'Repeat what I'm going to say out loud.'
Why?
'Just do it and you can question me later.'
As you wish, your majesty.
Ignoring my taunt, the voice gave me my words. 'I think it's caused by my quirk. Something to do with when I switch with the air around me. I'm not entirely sure, but I think that has something to do with it.' I repeated those words to Recover Girl.
"I see." She wrote some more things on her paper. "Okay, you can take off that mask now. You deserve to unwind before the stampede comes in." She began to walk towards the door.
"Wait, I'm afraid I don't understand," I said while taking off the constricting mask. "What do you mean by 'stampede'?"
"You'll see." Recovery Girl opened up the door. She looked at some people outside of it. "She's awake and you all may see her if you'd like."
I couldn't even gain my thoughts as my whole class barged into the room.
"Asuga!"
~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~
Ahhh this little mini segment was fun to write. Not only did I get to write some medical stuff, but I also got to introduce some new topics. And this is not something you should disregard! This is most definitely canon in this story. This will become important later on... When, you ask? Mwahahaha! I guess you'll just have to remember until then...
Peace!