A/N- Yes, I know. I left you at such an evil cliff hanger. I know, and for that, I'm sorry. Anyway, here's Chapter Seven.

Sign Language Transformer Language (me) Beginning and End of Chapter

Chapter Seven- After Math

Emma awoke in a hospital bed, and looked over to see a heart monitor as well as an IV. Seeing this, Emma realized, she was alive! Sighing, she looked around, and closed her eyes in emotional pain.

The Silent Child was also alone. 'What am I, chopped liver?' Allie asked, and Emma grinned, opening her eyes.

'No, you're not. You're okay I see,' she 'answered', and Allie laughed in her mind.

'When you fell unconscious, I was able to transfer all but a small part of my power into you. So, a small, tiny part of me died. Well, actually, not that small. My body died, though my spirit lives on,' Allie commented, and Emma grinned. She was just glad Allie didn't die with her body.

The Silent Child was suddenly drug out of her kind mind when someone touched her arm. Looking up, with the eyes of a frightened animal, Emma saw a kind looking doctor, who quickly signed out,"My apologies. I'm Doctor Short, and I've been taking care of you for the past three days. You had some pretty bad injuries."

Emma raised an eyebrow a little when Dr. Short suddenly gave her the clipboard.

Name: Emma (last name not given)

Age: not given

Injuries: A very bad laceration to the scalp with signs of slight hemorrhaging; Inconclusive at the moment if any brain damage has been sustained; more tests to be done. Large lacerations located on both the left and right arm. Laceration were deep enough to sustain minimal damaged to the brachioradialis of the right arm and the deltoid of the left arm; other lacerations were fairly shallow. Lacertains were also present on the patient's feet. It is conclusive that these lacerations were caused by glass found embedded within the wounds. It is recommended that no pressure is to be placed on her feet until the wounds are healed.

Recovery: Patient is to remain in the bed until discharged, and must be able to answer the questions to determine if there's any brain damage.

Emma handed the doctor back her clipboard, and signed, "Where's the test?"

The doctor smiled and handed her another clipboard with a pen, and then left the room. Emma watched the closed door for a moment before she looked down at the sheet. The questions seemed to be of a simple nature.

1. What is your full name?

Emma Janet Witwicky

2. What is your birthdate?

July 19, 1993

3. Where do you live?

Tranquility

4. Do you have any siblings?

One older brother, Samuel Archibald Witwicky, who is called Sam.

The girl sat there just scribbling away, answering questions, but she suddenly stalled as she read the next question.

30. How did you get injured?

Emma paused for a moment, trying to collect her fuzzy thoughts. She had to be careful with what she wrote. If they found out Allie was in her she'd never get out of this bed. With that thought in mind, Emma wrote down her answer, placing the clipboard on the stand next to her bed. Now, with that done, she lay back down, and sighed. Closing her eyes, she fell into a light sleep, not really caring that she was in the last place she wanted to be.

After a few still moments, the doctor final came back in and took her clipboard, careful not to wake Emma as she walked away, leaving Emma alone. Except, her solitude didn't last long. Slowly, a soft blue light entered like a thousand tiny quivering fireflies. The little dancing lights seemed to stall for a moment before they suddenly crashed into each other, taking the form of a guy with black slightly grayed hair and blue eyes which were filled with a look of concern.

The man, who was wearing all black, stood at 6'4" with a muscular build, and was nameless to the human world, but to the Autobots he was known as Ironhide, had yet to choose a name for his 'human' form.

'Of course, none of the other guys know I've got a human form,' he thought and he sat down at the foot of the child's bed. He had no worries of waking her up. After all, he was just a weightless hologram. Ironhide didn't have to wait long for the Silent Child to awake.

Emma's eye's beadily let light in as she lifted her eyelids lazily; the feeling of eyes on her had stirred her into the world of the waking. The girl blinked her eyes a few times as the world started to become sharper. It was then that she noticed the guy sitting at the foot of her bed. For a moment, he looked panicked, until she signed, "Ironhide."

He looked away, but she just shook her head a little at his strange behavior, which caused her to cringe as she pulled at some stitches. She resisted the urge to scratch at them and instead signed while looking at him with her blue-sparked brown eyes, "What happened?"

"What do you remember?" he asked.

"Avoiding falling concrete near the building Sam and Megatron were on. It was kind of blurry after that. I must have fallen unconscious," she replied slowly.

Ironhide sighed, and slowly signed out the events. Though, while he signed, he remembered every detail of the battle, right down to the way the rising smoke blacken the sky. It was all too vivid for his tastes. So vivid, in fact, he knew that every time he saw smoke rising into the air, he'd remembering finding the injured Emma and the grotesque battle that caused her to be injured in the first place.

Even now he could taste the fear he had held for Emma when he stood among the Mission City rubble.

-flash back-

The weapons expert had transformed in the light of the after-battle in hope that Emma would see him. No such luck. So he transformed again only to tear down the street, the early darkness creeping after him. The group, it seems, realized she was missing just when sun had passed the late afternoon mark, but now it was nearly dark. So he sped up as fear griped his spark, causing him to nearly miss a soft pink form in the alleyway. He stopped with an ear splitting screech when he noticed the small patch of red on the ground next the form. His transformation had been slow and jutting. He was scared that she was dead and a part of him wanted to turn away, but before the mech knew what had happen he kneeled down next to Emma.

The blood had dried in its trickle down the side of her head, and her arms had stopped bleeding, scabbing over the cuts in cruel jagged lines which looked angry against her pale skin. That was good, meaning she must still be alive to have her blood clot, but he couldn't help but notice that her feet still bled sluggishly; it didn't take a genius to know why. The cuts were having trouble clotting because the wounds kept reopening when the glass slid down, which were sparkling like diamonds in the failing sunlight.

"Ratchet, I found her," he stated, opening his Com link.

The sound of sirens came from across the city and he sighed. The mech turned his gaze back towards his little charge; he could barely see her breathe, but knew she was alive despite his lack of knowledge on human physiology. How he knew, he wouldn't be able to tell anyone in a million years.

-end flash back-

Back in the present, he finished by signing, "The hospital staff here picked you up at the scene, and I followed, with all the Autobots. Everyone is getting medical attention, though your injuries were the most severe."

Emma nodded a little, having a feeling he wasn't telling the whole story, but Ironhide suddenly disappeared telling her she wouldn't get anymore answers from him. Luckily, his sudden disappearing act told her someone else was coming. Turning her head she saw the door open and the doctor walked in, her lab coat bristling on a breeze created by her swift movements.

"Greetings! According to your brother you have no brain damage; he wants to talk to you though. Are you up to it?" the doctor inquired.

Emma nodded a little only to wince as pain flared through her head causing Dr. Short to sigh.

"Come in," she stated, and Sam entered.

Emma grinned at Sam, and he waved. Taking a hint, Dr. Short left them while Emma signed, "How long did it take you to find me?"

Sam signed out, slowly, "About 4 hours."

The Silent Child let out a sigh and closed her eyes, signaling she was done with this conversation. Sam sat down on the chair and held his head in his hands, guilt overwhelming him slightly.

After a few minutes he shook it off figuring time was the only thing Emma needed right now and left without saying good bye to his sister. The door slowly closed behind him. There Mikaela greeted him with a kiss on the lips. When he didn't respond she sighed already knowing it hadn't went well. She kissed her boyfriend on the cheek and wrapped her arm around his waist, leading him to the nearest exit.

Captain Lennox shook his head a little, knowing something bad was going to happen later, but caught the doctor anyway.

"Dr. Short, may I see Emma? I'm not family or anything, just an acquaintance of the family," he slightly lied.

The doctor looked him up and down, assessing his character. "Sure. Boy, that was a crummy brother, huh? She was crying when I checked in on her. She may be deaf, but she knew he left. The little jerk," Dr. Short responded, ranting a little.

Captain Lennox ignored her, and entered. "Hey, can you interpret for me? I can't sign," he admitted.

"Sure," Dr. Short stated, and she gently touched Emma's shoulder.

The hopeful look in her eyes died quickly, and was replaced by confusion. "This is Captain Lennox. He wished to visit with you," Dr. Short explained.

"Greetings Captain," the rejected little sister responded.

The conversation lasted about forty minutes before Emma started to droop and she had to admit that she was tired. Will accept this with a nod of his head, leaving the girl to her dreams.

It took a week for Dr. Short to say Emma was healed enough to leave. During that time Captain Lennox visited Emma all the time; she rarely saw her brother. But Emma pushed that to the back of her mind. Paying more attention to how Will had learned how to signed more basic things, so he could understand Emma without Dr. Short.

And so it went on like that until the day of her release day. In the early afternoon Emma's parents brought her new clothes and she was wheeled out in a wheelchair to a black truck. Smiling, Emma couldn't help but rest her hand on the truck; she felt a slight tremble.

Strangely, once in the vehicle, Emma noticed that Captain Lennox wasn't the driver even though he sat in the driver's seat, but despite that, Emma continued to stare out the window, in silence as if she was dwelling on the things to come.

It would be another week before she could walk or stand for a straight thirty minutes, because of her feet. It would be another week of her brother rushing past her without so much a second glance as she made her way down the stairs painfully slow. By the end of the school year, her brother was a stranger, and all the Autobots had regrouped.

Ironhide, who had been with Captain Lennox and his family, felt it was his duty to return to the Autobots. Emma knew it was because the entire family had moved to town and were now quite close to Emma's own house; she couldn't call it home now.

That was why, presently, she was sitting on Ironhide's hood and with him instead of at home. The girl leaned back against his windshield, staring out at the sunset. A frown then formed on her lips and she looked over at her brother. He was making out with Mikaela as usual, so she looked away.

She couldn't blame her brother's girlfriend, but she was lonely. She had wanted her brother to get out into the world, but not ignore her. She couldn't depend on her parents, their sign language was bad; they knew only the basics and she couldn't hold conversations with them.

'Two weeks to my birthday,' she thought when she felt her cell phone vibrate.

A grin formed on her lips as she remembered the time when Ironhide had kidnapped her cell, then gave it back when she had a hissy fit. With that memory in mind, she pulled it out and read the text message.

'Get inside the cab! It's getting cold out there!'- Ironhide

Looking around, Emma realized the sun had set during her musings and she slowly slid off the hood. Once her feet hit the ground, Emma could merely grin when she noticed that the passenger door was open so she got in, curling up on the seat. It was only then she began to cry, heart, or in this case, spark wrenching, sobs.

No one heard her crying but Ironhide, and he had a feeling it would be a long time before those tears didn't fall once she was out of hearing of everyone but him.

End Chapter

A/N- And that's a wrap! The sequel should be up and around soon enough, if this passes my beta! Anyway, the sequel will come! I'll put it up in the story as an Author's Note in this though, so you won't have to put me up for Author Alert.

hermione- Yes, and I tried to update as quickly as I could! Can't blame me, can't blame my beta, blame my computer!

Aerith the Evenstar- Ah, a new person! And as you can see, it's best not to guess what the author has planned. Besides, a sequel is on the way, and I've met some big siblings who ran away when little siblings got hurt badly. So, this has a purpose.

soaringpheonix86- It's all up in the air! This is the end of Mute! But the beginning for the sequel!

Jen- Well, nothing too serious.

blood shifter- Yes, I could, yes I did, and I don't know if Jazz is coming back. That is something my beta and I must discuss. In very deep detail. OH! Poll!

Elita One- They did.

'HURRICANE'Hannah- Yes, I know. Sequel next.

Fk306 animelover- They found her rather quickly.