Dr. Hamilton had come back into the waiting after about an hour to tell the family they could come to Kara's room. J'onn had to return to work but promised he would come check in a little later to see how Kara was doing. That left Eliza, Jeremiah, Alex, Maggie, and Lena to go back to the girl's room.
"I just want to warn everyone that she looks pretty rough. She still has the chest tube in to drain the fluid left in her chest cavity. She also is pretty pale from the loss of blood and has a lot of bruising." Dr. Hamilton said as she led the family into Kara's room and told them to call her if they needed anything and to let her know when Kara woke up.
The family stepped into the room and Lena gasped at the sight of her best friend in front of her. She knew Kara would look rough but wasn't prepared for the sight in front of her. The normally sunny and talkative girl was now an alarming pale color and looked so broken. Lena couldn't look at the girl and turned to compose herself in the hallway. Maggie noticed Lena leaving and decided to follow her to the hallway to make sure she was okay. Alex took one look at her baby sister and felt the bile rising up in her throat. She couldn't hold it down and ran to the sink to throw up. Eliza ran behind Alex and held her hair back as Jeremiah sat down by his youngest daughter's bed. Alex finished throwing up and rinsed out her mouth as her and Eliza joined Jeremiah by Kara's bedside.
Maggie didn't see Lena right outside the room, so she went down one of the hallways and was surprised by the sight in front of her. Lena was sitting against the wall with her head in her hands crying. Maggie had never seen Lena even close to crying but knew if anyone could break her it would be the sight of Kara so broken in the room. Maggie herself had to hold back tear so she couldn't even imagine how Lena felt. Knowing Lena wasn't going to be in the mood to talk Maggie just sat down next to the girl and held her hand. Lena looked into Maggie's eyes and silently thanked her as she put her head back against the wall and let herself fall apart. She felt safe around Maggie and that allowed her to let her emotions take control of her for a little while.
It had been about an hour since the family had been allowed back to see Kara and she still hadn't woken up yet. Lena and Maggie had rejoined the group about 30 minutes ago and Maggie had joined Alex on her chair as the family just sat in silence. Dr. Hamilton had come in to check on all of Kara's stats and informed the family that Kara should be up soon.
Jeremiah was the first one to notice the slight movement from his youngest daughter. He had been holding her hand for the past 20 minutes and felt the girl's grip tighten around his hand.
"Hey, I think she is waking up." Jeremiah alerted the family as everyone sat up from where they had been resting.
Kara woke up and felt like her whole body was on fire. She had pain coming from so many different areas of body that she didn't know what hurt the worst. Her hip and ankle were throbbing, and she had a massive headache. Each breath she took felt like her lungs were on fire and there was a stabbing pain coming from her stomach. Her mouth was bone dry and she began to cough as everything came into focus.
"Here Kara take a sip of this water," Alex said as Eliza and Maggie helped the girl sit slightly in her bed. Alex tipped the cup to Kara's lips as she took a small sip and the coughing fit eased. Jeremiah had gotten up to get Dr. Hamilton, so she could check on Kara as Lena held her hand. Noticing it was shaking she turned her attention towards her best friend.
"Kara, how are you feeling?" Lena said as she saw Kara turn towards her and the answer was clear on her face as it was scrunched up in pain. Kara tried to get an answer out but all that came out was a soft moan followed by tears. The pain was so intense that all her focus was on trying not to pass out. At that moment Dr. Hamilton came in followed by Jeremiah.
"Hey Kara, I know you are in a lot of pain and I am going to give you some meds to help with that." Kara nodded as Dr. Hamilton inserted the meds into Kara's IV with a syringe. The meds took effect quickly and Kara was able to slightly relax but still was gripping the bed rails tightly. "Kara unfortunately you are going to be in quite a bit of pain for a while but hopefully the pain meds with help a bit. I also just need to ask you a few questions," Dr. Hamilton said as she shined a light in Kara's eyes. Kara nodded her head that she was ready for the questions as Dr. Hamilton began to ask them. Kara answered all the questions correctly even though she had to think of a few of the answers for longer than normal. Dr. Hamilton wasn't too concerned about this because she had a concussion and was still groggy from the surgery. She continued to look over Kara's injuries and explain to her what had happened. Lena tried to make small talk with Kara to keep her distracted during this process. Dr. Hamilton finished up and promised to come back in a little bit to check on the girl.
The family had been sitting with Kara for a little bit before Jeremiah and Eliza decided to run down the street to Kara's favorite diner to get her some soup and food for everyone else. Lena had to take a business call and had to talk to Jess to let her know she would be in and out of the office for the next week or so. That left Maggie and Alex to sit with Kara. Alex could tell that her sister was in a ton of pain but was too stubborn to let anyone know. She could see Kara's body shaking slightly from the exhaustion and pain and her lower lip slightly trembling. They had been sitting for a minute when Kara tried to shift slightly and instantly regretted it. The throbbing in her hip turned into an intense sharp pain and she cried out in pain. Alex and Maggie immediately got up and tried to help the girl. Kara was now crying and struggling to breathe with her broken ribs and lung that was still healing.
"Kara, I know everything hurt but I need you to try and take a deep breath for me sweetie," Kara said as she put her hand on Kara's shoulder.
"Alex, please just make it stop. It hurts so bad," Kara cried out in pain as Alex wiped tears away from her eyes. Maggie saw the hurt in Alex's eyes and tried to help her out. "Kara, look at me for a second," Maggie pleaded and was relieved when the girl locked eyes with her. "Alright Kara, Alex is going to put her hand on your chest and you are going to try and push it out as you take a deep breath." Maggie continued as Kara shook her head and was able to take a deep breath. She began to calm slightly but panicked again when she felt bile rising in her throat. Alex immediately knew what was going to happen and reached out to grab a bucket and got it under Kara's mouth right before she heaved into the can. Maggie grabbed Kara's hair and held it back for her while rubbing small circles on her back as Alex held the bucket for Kara. This continued on for another minute or two until Kara was able to sit back. Exhausted and in pain Kara laid back down with the help of Alex and Maggie as Lena walked in. Hearing the end of what had just happened, Lena grabbed a wet washcloth and put it on Kara's head as the girl closed her eyes trying to fend of the nausea.
Alex got the okay from Dr. Hamilton to give her sister something to help with the nausea and hoped it would help Kara feel slightly better. It had been a couple of hours, so they also gave Kara more pain meds and she started to lightly drift off to sleep. Lena decided that it would be a good time for her to go to the office, so she could get a little work done and promised to come back in a few hours. She needed to have a conversation with Kara but wanted to wait until the girl was feeling a little better before she confronted her with her feelings.
Eliza and Jeremiah returned with food a few minutes after Lena left and the two of them as well as Maggie and Alex sat in the room and ate in silence. Each one of them had their attention focused on the hero laying in the bed waiting for the moment when she would need help. They all paused when they heard a slight whimper coming from her, but Alex rubbed circles on her hand and she continued to sleep. Kara was still sleeping when they had finished eating and Eliza convinced Alex to go lay down for a little bit in one of the other rooms with Maggie. Eliza knew Alex wouldn't want to leave Kara's side but told Alex she would come get her if Kara needed anything. Alex reluctantly agreed and knew neither her or Maggie had slept in over a day and needed some rest if they were going to help Kara.
Jeremiah and Eliza had been sitting by Kara's bedside in silence before Jeremiah turned to his wife. "Honey, I know you are worried, we all are but Kara is the strongest person I know, and she is going to get through this." Jeremiah said as his wife turned towards him and grabbed his hand. "I know she is strong, I just wish she didn't have to be in so much pain. Kara has been through so much in her short life and the girl just needs to catch a break. It breaks my heart to see her struggling this much and if I could take her place I would in a heartbeat." Eliza continued as she looked over to her youngest daughter.
"I know, it is excruciating to see her in pain but all we can do is be here for her and help her as best we can." Jeremiah finished as he gave his wife a kiss on the lips. They turned back when they heard movement coming from the bed and saw Kara waking up.
"Hey honey how are you feeling?" Jeremiah asked as he grabbed his daughter's hand.
"Everything hurts but I'm not feeling nauseous anymore so that is good," Kara said as both parents had to smile at that. Leave it to Kara to find a silver lining in any situation they both were thinking.
"Dr. Hamilton came in about an hour ago to give you some more pain meds, but she said all your stats were looking good for now and even said that the chest tube should be able to come out soon." Eliza said as she tried to help Kara who was struggling to sit up.
"Here let me help you two," Jeremiah added as he put some pillows behind Kara's back.
"Kara, we went and picked you up some soup, but you were asleep when we got back. Do you want to try and eat a little bit now?" Eliza asked her daughter. Kara shook her head yes and Eliza went to go heat it up in the microwave.
"So, Eliza and I decided that are going to stay around for a while and help you out. We both have a lot of vacation time and we want to be here to help with your recovery." Jeremiah said and watched his daughter's face as she smiled slightly but then frowned. "No that's alright. The last thing I want is to be an inconvenience to you two especially after everything you have done for me." Kara said and watched as Jeremiah's lips turned into a smile.
"Kara, you would never be an inconvenience to us. You have brought so much happiness to our family and the least we can do is be there for you when you need some help. We are going to stay at least until you get back on your feet. You are our daughter and we both love you so much." Jeremiah finished as Kara wiped away the tears in her eyes. Jeremiah and Eliza had never forced her to view them as her parents, but she did in a way. She loved it when they referred to her as their daughter as it always made her feel like a part of the family. Over the years she had come to see Eliza and Jeremiah as her parents just as she had seen Alex as her sister. She thanked her lucky stars every day that she had been lucky enough to land with the Danvers's family.