AN: Sorry! Sorry! Sorry ! I know it's been forever since I last updated but uhh here? There will be more coming soon! I promise. I think there will only be one more chapter to this little story inside a story. I was thinking about doing a chapter of Babs's rape. Like what went down durring it. Nothing too graphic but yeah. Welp here's the next chapter...if anyone is actually putting up with waiting anymore...
It took Wally two weeks to wake up. During that time, Batgirl had not uttered a word. She and Artemis had an unspoken agreement that they would switch off sleeping in Wally's bed and sleeping in the med bay. When Artemis came to get her from Wally's bedside, she would stand quietly and leave. There would be toast and orange juice. She would shower. Then she would go back to the waiting room. Time would pass. She would sit still and stare blankly into space until a nurse gently ushered a red-eyed Artemis out of the room and told Batgirl it was her turn again.
Looking down on him, she took stock of his appearance. Her finely tuned observational skills were put to good use these days. The bruises were fading. They had changed the bandages again. His breath rose and fell. The monitors beeped at approximately the same rate they had when she left. Blood pressure steady, skin pale and slightly mottled. His eyes did not stir beneath their lids. No change. She settled down in her chair and waited. The machines beeped quietly and she slid back into the dark of her own mind.
It was lonely, the waiting. Empty. People came and went but they were ghosts and did not acknowledge her. Her body had been sore before, from the panic and adrenaline and recklessness when she brought him in, but that had faded. It did not feel like healing so much as numbness in her limbs. At times she was self-consciously aware that what she was doing was odd, wrong, and wasn't there something else she might be doing instead? Her hands twitched. She blinked at the lights, the grit on the floor, trying to think. Something to do. A boy to avenge. An almost-baby to bury. But she had started this waiting and it felt like a duty now.
After a while a nurse came to send her away again.
Artemis was the first one in Wally's arms when he woke up and she reacted just like a girlfriend should. Kissing him with reckless abandon. Crying. Threatening to kill him if he ever scared her like that again. He laughed and said he knew she would and she kissed him again. It was sweet, just like a movie.
By the time she had calmed down the team came in and went through how happy they were that Wally was awake and how they'd missed him and just couldn't understand how it had happened. Then the guys said gleefully that now he was awake they could go kick the ass of whoever had done it to him. He kept the grin on even through all that but Babs could have sworn M'Gann looked thoughtful.
She herself was in the doorway, still quiet. There wasn't really a place carved out for her. When your best friend is a guy it is usually better not to make it too obvious how much he means to you. People get a bit uncomfortable even if they should know better. She still hadn't told anyone the whole story. The team knew more or less what had happened, with her finding him and performing CPR and getting him here alive- hell, they would probably have celebrated her as a hero if she hadn't been such a wreck since she got back- but they had no idea about who had hurt him or why. Missions must have been intense lately. She figured Batman and Barry knew what had happened, because somewhere in the fog she'd been in lately she thought she'd heard them talking about Wally's stuff getting moved into Barry's house.
Suddenly he looked up past the others and saw her. His eyes were a question: did you bring me here? She nodded. Whoa, he mouthed, and grinned at her.
She tried to smile back.
She really, really did.
But she couldn't. She ended up with a quivering lip and blurry vision instead. She heard Wally utter a small "Oh my God." He knew. Well, at least this way she wouldn't have to tell him.
"Can you give us a moment?" Wally asked, still staring. The team looked at her and seemed to come to the conclusion he wanted to thank her for saving him and filed out. Artemis gave him one more very slow kiss and walked out as well.
Babs hesitated. He lifted his arms, like a child asking for a hug. At that she lost it. She finally let the tears fall and ran over to Wally, letting him hold her as sobs wracked her body.
AN: *Looks around nervously* I hope you liked it! Please review and tell me what you think of the story and the idea of Babs's chapter!