The first time Artemis woke from her induced coma was on Thursday. She was dazed and confused. Her body felt like agony incarnate. She was only just able to open her right eye. The images were blurry but she thought that she recognised the boy sitting in the chair half asleep with her right hand in his as Dick. She noticed a group near the foot of her bed. It looked like Bruce, Selina and Dinah. There were two other men with them. She guessed one was Alfred, from Dick's descriptions and the other looked like the Police Commissioner. She groaned; was his family determined to haunt her. She didn't realise that anyone heard her until Dinah approached. She perched herself on the bed and started talking to Artemis. Stroking her let down hair hoping to comfort her
"It's alright Artemis, you're safe now. Everything's going to be alright. Just rest now." When she ran out of words to say Dinah just hummed lightly to her. Never leaving Artemis's limited line of sight until she fell asleep again.
The second time she awoke was later that night. Her sister was the only one in the room. Her right eye still only opened slightly but she recognised her sister. Jade held her mask in her hands staring at it.
"I'm sorry sis. I really am."
Her words were a whisper in the night but for Artemis they meant a lot. An apology for everything. Jade slipped the mask back on and looked at Artemis. Artemis heard the smirk that the mask covered.
"That would be right. I sit here for an hour and say nothing and you stay asleep. I say something incriminating and you wake up. I have to go now, but I will be seeing you around just you wait."
With a slight chuckle Cheshire disappeared from Artemis's vision. Artemis felt pain across her face. Her muscles had tried to pull her face into a smile but the swelling prevented it.
A few moments later Cheshire's lingering image was replaced by Selina. She was crying something Artemis could only discern from the wet running down her face on to Artemis's swollen cheeks. Artemis wanted to hug her but her body was so heavy and constricted. Selina lent down and hugged her instead. They had only known each other since Artemis had become a hero but the relationship was real. Selina was a mix of a mother and a sister figure, something Artemis had needed for some time. She had been there for Artemis through everything and Artemis had often said that if Catwoman wasn't evil she might have become her sidekick.
"I'm glad you're awake. There's something I need to tell you. I have been thinking about this for a while now but I couldn't abandon you. Now that the League has your back I can do this without feeling too guilty. Artemis, I'm going to go to the Police Commissioner tomorrow to give him a full statement about my activities as Catwoman. I won't be here when you wake up properly. Canary said she would make sure that once you were well enough that she would bring you to see me and everything else but I just wanted to say before I left... Thank you. For saving me from myself. I will never forget you for it kid."
With that Selina laid a kiss on Artemis's forehead and disappeared. Leaving Artemis alone, to cry herself back into the darkness. The person who had been there the most for her was leaving her alone. Artemis wasn't sure if it was this or the fact that she was doing the right thing that brought her to tears. It didn't really matter.
The third time Artemis awoke was the last time. Her bed was surrounded by Bruce, Ollie, Roy, Dick and that guy from the other day whom she assumed was Alfred. This was confirmed a few minutes later when he broke up the argument between Dick and Roy. They hadn't noticed that Artemis was now able to open both eyes almost completely. It was nice to be able to see everything in focus. She was thirsty but was too busy listening to Dick and Roy argue about what they should be doing to those at Gotham Academy who had put her here.
"We should be out there knocking their heads together."
"You don't get it Roy. Embarrassment and scandal will destroy their families. That is how we should be going about this."
"Yes but putting them in hospital sounds more satisfying."
"Because ending up in prison is exactly what Artemis would want."
"No beating the snot-"
Alfred had caught their attention by clearing his throat. He, Bruce and Ollie were highly amused at the fact neither of them had noticed Artemis being conscious or the fact that her face had finally gone down enough to manage a smile.
"I believe that you might try asking Miss Crock how she feels about your plans."
Once they had realised what Alfred had said both spun around to look at Artemis. Both of them then made the mistake of throwing themselves at Artemis. The groans that came out from under the small pile they had made around Artemis's head told them that she was in pain. Both immediately removed themselves and were promptly scolded by their respective mentors.
"Glad to see you're awake Miss Crock." A voice from near the door spoke. Artemis was able to move her head enough to see it was a doctor. Everyone but Bruce left the room to give the three of them space.
"How are we feeling then?"
Artemis tried to form words but was prevented by the dryness of her own mouth. The doctor and Bruce watched her struggle before realising the problem. Once Bruce had finished giving her some water she found her voice.
"Sore. Very sore."
"Yes well you haven't had a great run have you. Can you tell me where you are?"
"Hospital."
The doctor chuckled. For once he had a perceptive patient.
"Very good. Now let's talk." As he spoke he sat down. Artemis knew what was coming. They were going to talk about her injuries, recovery. Basically everything that she had missed. She couldn't work out why Bruce was still here.
"Should we wait for Miss Lance?" The doctor asked Bruce.
"No need to anymore." She had just walked through the door when the doctor had asked. She had given Artemis a hug before sitting on the bed. Then the conversation about the future started.
The next week on the Tuesday Artemis was declared recovered from the infection. She also had for the fourth day passed the brain injury assessment test. The doctor said that she was cleared of any significant brain damage. The same day Bruce organised for Artemis to be moved to a private recovery facility. Artemis was excited about the news but had difficulty showing it. The only effect the trauma to her head seemed to have caused was exhaustion. Though no longer comatose she spent large portions of her time sleeping. This amused most of the group but annoyed Artemis. That and the fact that she had an arm and a leg in casts for at least another week.
Once the hospital had been informed of the decision to move Artemis Dr. Smith sought out Bruce and Dinah. He found them in the Artemis's room watching her sleep. It wasn't Artemis's physical injuries that he was worried about though and he wanted to make sure they knew what was going on. So he took both to the nurse's station to discuss Artemis.
"What's wrong Doc?" Bruce asked he had relaxed more since Artemis had woken up.
"At the moment not a lot. I understand that you plan to move Artemis to a private recovery facility tomorrow."
"That's right. Do you think that it's a bad idea?" Dinah responded, watching the doctor examine the charts of his other patients.
"No, I think that it is a good idea. However I wanted to make sure that you were both fully aware of Artemis's mental situation and the consequences before you moved her."
"What's that supposed to mean? I thought that you had already told us everything that we needed to know?" Bruce asked, his tone changing to serious in an instant.
"Well that was until you decided to move her. The thing is several of the nurses have noticed that she has been having nightmares. The worst lead her to thrashing about violently. She's almost ripped her IV out a few times. It has also been noticed by some of the orderlies that she is rather afraid of almost everyone but particularly men. She is very good at hiding it but she flinches when she thinks no one is looking and seems to have scouted out the main escape routes of the hospital."
"So you're saying that she isn't stable mentally?" Dinah queried.
"No it's not that. It's more like... Do you remember when you first walked into her room after she was admitted?"
Neither Bruce nor Dinah responded. They were both lost in thought about the very vulnerable looking Artemis they had found in this hospital. If they were both honest she didn't look much better.
"I'll take that as yes. Well the problem is that the vulnerability you saw physically is mirrored mentally. She hasn't had a total breakdown yet but it's coming. When it does come it is going to be extremely harsh for her and for everyone who cares about her. It's likely that she won't be the same person you've known for a long while to come. I wanted to make sure you were both aware of this and ready for it."
"You sure it will happen?" Bruce asked he really wished that this was only a possibility and not a certainty.
"I believe that it's a case of when not if. The trauma she has suffered these last couple of months combined with the trauma she has suppressed all this time is liable to snap her mental stability sooner rather than later."
"Is there anything we can do?" It was Dinah who asked. She just wanted to be able to take Artemis to the cave and put it all behind her.
"You can make sure that you're there to pick up the pieces and put her back together." With that Doctor Smith turned and left, leaving them to silently contemplate what to do for Artemis.
That afternoon they left Artemis with Dick and Alfred, both had already been told about what the doctor had said. They had to tell the League and the team about the latest development and decide who was coming with them to transfer Artemis. The team wanted to help but were told to find something to do for the morning because they weren't going to be involved in the move.
The following morning Bruce and Dinah were joined by Hal Jordan and John Jones, who were posing as ambulance officers. The transfer went smoothly. Mainly because Artemis slept through most of it. They had decided that it would be best if they actually drove to a nearby zeta beam to transfer her the rest of the way. Half way through the process Artemis woke up to find herself surrounded by a Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow and Red Arrow, Black Canary and Batman. Ollie and Roy had insisted on accompanying Artemis who didn't mind. Indeed she went back to sleep with most of the group watching her carefully.
By the time they had settled Artemis they had no choice but to let the team in. Most hadn't seen Artemis since her outburst and were totally shocked by the sight of her. She was asleep when the first walked in. Dick and Roy hung back to let the others get in closer. Artemis still had heavy bruising and her face was still slightly swollen. Most of the fractures were healed or close to it. However it was the look of innocence on her face that caught the group. With her hair down Artemis looked almost like a small child. A small child someone had tried to destroy. All three girls were fighting back tears as they sat down. Conner, Wally and Kaldur were looking helpless. They were supposed to stop this from happening not watch their team-mate suffer because of it. The six were so lost in thought that they didn't notice Roy and Dick pull up extra chairs. They missed the League members popping in every now and again to check on the group and see Artemis for themselves. Consequently they didn't notice Artemis wake up.
"So why do you all look like this is my death-bed?" Artemis's voice was still a bit hoarse from lack of use but was enough to shock the group back to life.
"Artemis!" Several voices cried out.
The girls then made the mistake of launching themselves at Artemis. All three almost fell backwards when they heard her moan in pain from the group hug. Roy and Dick were smirking; glad to have not been the only ones to make that mistake.
"How are you feeling?" Kaldur asked while the girls looked flustered.
"Okay. I'll be better once I get these casts off."
Nobody else seemed to know what to say. They were saved the trouble by Artemis yawning and somehow falling almost immediately back to sleep.
"Does that always happen?" Conner asked everyone knew that there was something going on between the pair of them and the concern running through his voice only reinforced this fact.
"Sometimes. She's probably just worn out from the move."
"She slept through the move but she has been sleeping through pretty much everything at the moment." Roy added.
A short while later most of the group left. They had to head home. Only Kaldur, Conner and M'gann remained. The trio watched over Artemis overnight, they had dragged mattresses into the room and slept there. They had vowed not to leave Artemis alone.
Artemis slept soundlessly. Her nightmares returned. Nightmares that she didn't quite remember when she woke up. Tonight though they weren't as dark and Artemis didn't stir. Her nightmares kept at bay by her friend's presence. The nightmares stayed buried in the dead of night, locked tightly inside Artemis's head. Until the following week, after her casts were removed.