Kara had been taken back for surgery about an hour ago. Maggie had been checked out and cleared with just a minor concussion and the instructions to take it easy for the next few days. The group had moved into a waiting room after Maggie had been cleared and J'onn arrived back soon after. The six of them sat and waited for news on how their girl was doing. The room was silent but each of their minds were racing with thoughts and memories of Kara.
J'onn thought about how Kara and Alex had become like daughters to him. He lost his two girls on Mars and never thought he would get the chance to act like a father again until he met the girls. The moment he met Kara he knew she was special. He knew of Kara's past and was always amazed at how she remained so optimistic despite all the loss she had faced. Out of everyone J'onn knew he felt the most connected to Kara because the two shared a bond that no one else could quite understand. They didn't know what it was like to watch your whole family and world be destroyed in front of your eyes. Mars didn't explode like Krypton did, but it might as well have since J'onn lost his whole world when his family was killed. Kara and Alex gave him a sense of purpose again and he just hoped he wouldn't have to watch another daughter leave him. He didn't know if he could go through that pain again.
Eliza never expected to have another daughter after Alex but couldn't imagine her life without Kara in it. Kara had brought so much happiness to her family that they didn't know they had been missing. She remembered the nights when Kara first arrived and how scared and sad the young girl had been. She remembered wishing she could just hug the girl and take away all her pain away. It broke her heart to see Kara hurting so much but then one day something switched in the girl. Kara and Alex had spent most of that day outside at the beach. This was something the girls normally did but Eliza remembered that night when they came home and how happy Kara had been. She had never heard Kara's laugh before and instantly fell in love with it. She vowed herself after that day that she would do whatever she could to hear that girl's laugh and see her smile as much as possible. As she sat in the waiting room, she prayed that she would get another chance to hear that laugh again.
Maggie never had a close relationship with her family growing up. Her parents kicked her out of the house when they found out she was gay and since then she had been used to being alone. Then she met Alex and her whole world changed. She had never felt so deeply connected as she did to Alex and was the happiest, she had been in her whole life. Then she met Kara and got a sister as well. Maggie always felt so accepted and loved by Kara. She remembered when Kara came to her about Alex and thanked Maggie for making her sister so happy. Kara explained to Maggie that Alex spent most of her life worrying and taking care of Kara and with Maggie she finally got a chance to let someone take care of her. Maggie knew after that night that her and Kara were going to be close. She looked at Alex who was sitting next to her and knew that if anything happened to Kara, Alex wouldn't be able to handle it but also wondered if maybe she couldn't handle it as well.
Jeremiah always wanted a son, but as soon as Alex was born, he fell in love and was so glad he had a daughter instead. When Kara arrived, he suddenly had not one but two daughters and couldn't be happier. It was hard initially bonding with Kara. He barely knew the girl and was worried at first that she was scared of him. She really only talked to Alex and went to her for comfort when things were hard. She had been getting more comfortable with Eliza, but Jeremiah still felt that Kara thought of him as a stranger and not as family. He remembered the day that it began to change. Eliza had to take Alex to the doctors since she had been sick for a few days and left Kara at the house with Jeremiah. It was the first time the two had been alone together and Jeremiah had been nervous about it. Kara stayed in her room most of the day but woke up screaming from a nap. Jeremiah had rushed upstairs and saw Kara crying in her bed. Not wanting to scare the young girl he slowly approached her and took her hand. He guided her out to the balcony where the sky was now dark as night had begun. He sat Kara down in one of the chairs and pointed up to the stars in the sky. The two sat in silence for a long time but after about an hour of looking up to the sky Jeremiah felt Kara sit down next to him in his chair and she eventually fell asleep wrapped around him. Since that day the two had been close and he wanted one more chance to look up at the stars with his youngest daughter.
Lena had gotten used to the fact that everyone judged her for her last name. The Luthor name came with power but also came with a large amount of baggage. Most people she met instantly made their assumptions about her after they heard her last name. Kara was different however. Kara was the first person to treat Lena like she was a normal person and Lena would forever be grateful for that. What started out as two friends meeting for lunch had turned into something more for Lena after some time. Lena always felt so comfortable with Kara and could be herself around the girl. She had begun to develop feelings for Kara but hid them for some time not wanting to ruin her relationship with her best friend. She noticed the small things that Kara would do when they were together. The soft touches, the hugs that lasted just a little too long, the way Kara would sometimes bite her lip when looking at Lena, and the nights they spent sitting just an inch apart on the couch watching movies. She had never directly approached Kara about her feelings to see if she felt the same way but now she wondered if she would ever have the chance. In that moment she decided that if Kara made it through the surgery and woke up she wouldn't hold her feelings in any longer.
Alex spent the first 15 something years of her life as an only child. She loved her parents but always wanted a sibling to do everything with. She had accepted the fact that she would probably never have one, then Clark showed up one day with the girl who would become her sister. The girls didn't bond instantly as they were both strangers but when Kara had her first nightmare it was Alex who comforted the younger girl and soon they became inseparable. Alex was still the only person Kara would ever go to when she had a nightmare. Even though both girls were in the 20s it didn't stop Kara from climbing into bed with Alex and allowing her older sister to hold and comfort her. Alex shuddered at the thought of never getting the chance to wrap her arms around Kara again and talk to her while she fell back asleep. She loved Maggie more than anything, but she knew without Kara she couldn't live. She felt like she found purpose in her life after Kara had landed on Earth and without Kara, she didn't know what her life was like. The two girls had never gone a day without at least talking to each other on the phone. Alex never knew she could feel as protective as she could for someone until Kara came along and a part of her felt as though she had failed Kara in letting her get as hurt as she did. She wanted the chance to spend just one more day with her sister and couldn't prepare herself for the possibility that she might not get that chance.
It had been 5 hours since Kara had been wheeled back to surgery when Dr. Hamilton entered the waiting room to find 6 exhausted and worried family members. They all stood up at the same time and held their breaths as the waited for the news.
"Kara made it through surgery," Dr. Hamilton started as she saw all six faces show a sign of relief for a brief second before they got serious again waiting for the news. Dr. Hamilton knew she would just need to be honest and run through all Kara's injuries with the group. "She has lost her powers completely and I am not sure if or when they will come back. She is going to heal like a human would. She lost a lot of blood from the stab wound to her stomach and had a lot of internal bleeding as well. She went into shock because of the blood loss but we were able to stop the bleeding and transfuse her with more blood. She also broke 4 ribs and one of them punctured her lung causing it to collapse. We repaired the hole in her lung and for now it is working but it will be hard for her to breath for a while because of that and the broken ribs. She also dislocated her right hip and shattered her right ankle. We got the hip back into place and that will cause her a lot of pain for a while and will require a long recovery. We fixed up her ankle as well as we could but will have to take her in for at least on more surgery on it in the next couple days. She also had a concussion and some brain bleeding. We decided for now it was minor enough that we will just monitor it and make sure it stops on its own. If it doesn't there is a chance we will have to go back in and stop the bleeding but that is last resort as it would require opening a part of her skull." Dr. Hamilton got this all out as she watched all their faces turn into looks of horror and devastation as they took in the true extent of Kara's injuries.
"I wish I had better news for you all but for now Kara is stable and alive. She has a long recovery ahead of her and possibly more surgeries, but I can take you guys back to see her in a little bit. She will be unconscious for a while until the anesthesia wears off but once we get her settled in her room I will come back out to get you." Dr. Hamilton finished and walked back to the med bay.
No one said a word as they didn't know what to say and all of them sat down once again each breaking down in relief that Kara was alive but also sadness in knowing how much pain Kara would be in when she woke up. Each made the silent promise to Kara that they would be there for her no matter how long or difficult the journey became.