It was a strange sensation, waking up from unconsciousness. It was not a feeling that Conner was used to and certainly not one that he was particularly fond of. He didn't like the vulnerability it brought along with it; the sense of confusion and the fear of the unknown. Above all, Superboy disliked the intense flurry of stimuli flooding his senses almost instantaneously from all around him.
Touch- He felt a soft bed beneath him. A thin blanket lay upon him. Someone was gripping his hand tightly.
Smell- The strong smell of antiseptic overpowered his nostrils. Salt water. The coppery stench of blood.
Sound- Worried voice. Soothing voices. Sobbing. Coughing and choking.
The snippets of information that had assaulted his senses left him even more confused than he was previously and he felt an uncontrollable need to discover exactly what was happening around him. Where even was he? Where were his friends-
His friends!
With a startled gasp, Conner immediately snapped his eyes open, flying to an upright position on the hospital bed on which he was situated. Panting heavily, the clone let his eyes roam rapidly about the room, allowing him to take in the chaotic scene before him. It was clear that he had been placed inside the Med-Bay of the cave, although it was also apparent that he was not alone.
Sitting upright on the bed immediately opposite himself, sat their team leader, Aqualad, his hands being heavily bandaged by Black Canary. Their trainer sat close to the bed of the Atlantean, on a small stool, her experienced hands gently, but firm as they tended to the younger hero. Glancing back to his teammates face, Conner was slightly surprise to find the other male regarding him back. Seeing his friend's startled face, Kaldur gave a him a tired smile and a small nod in his direction, before closing his eyes and leaning back against the headboard of the bed wearily.
On the bed next to Kaldur's, Conner was relieved to find Artemis, sitting at the bedside of the team's speedster. While the female team member looked relatively unharmed, if not a little pale, tear tracks stained down her cheeks, Kid Flash looked pretty badly beaten. His forehead and the left side of his face sported an extremely colourful, but nasty assortment of bruises and scraped, currently being inspected by Barry. Wally was still wearing his swimwear from the beach and so Conner guessed that it hadn't been very long since the team had been rescued. Neither Artemis nor Wally noticed his gaze and so, seeing as they were safe and very much alive, Superboy once again allowed his eyes to search the room for his remaining teammates.
His next friend to be discovered also happened to be the source of the coughing noises he had woken up to. On the bed next to his own, lay Robin, dressed in his swim trunks from earlier, still soaking, and a large, baggy T-shirt that Superboy presumed someone had fetched for the kid out of kindness to help with the chill in the air. Dick lay in a semi-reclined position, his upper back and shoulders propped up by the supportive arms of Roy Harper, who sat beside the younger boy on the bed as he choked and hacked and gasped for breath. On his other side, sat Bruce, maskless and very much concerned, a bucket help position underneath the acrobat's chin as he coughed and spluttered up the water that had managed to stream into his lungs.
The youngest of the team looked very pale and his shoulder's trembled from exertion as he leaned heavily on the one he viewed as an older brother. Bruce stroked the boy's hair back from his face and Conner watched as Dick's eyes fluttered close and his breathing became less uneven and jagged, his head lolling to rest in Red Arrow's chest. The archer carefully adjusted the boy in his arms, settling back onto the bed whilst speaking soothingly to the child in his arms.
Relieved that the one who he'd sought so hard to protect was home safely, Conner finally became aware enough to notice the green hand still gripping onto his own. Glancing to his other side, he welcomed the beautiful sight of his girlfriend, alive and well despite the tears shining in her eyes.
Whispering a timid 'Hello' to the martian, Conner soon found himself enveloped in a tight hug. Quickly, he wrapped his own arms around the girl, her body shaking with unrepressed sobs. It was to his shock that Superboy found his own eyes begin to water as he became overwhelmed with the traumatic experience that they had all endured and only just survived.
Closing his eyes, Conner thanked whoever was listening for the safety of his family. It was only to clear to every single member of the room how close the day had become to a horrendous tragedy.