Helen woke with a start to the afternoon sun. She had been resting on one of the sofas in her office and had fallen asleep. She must have been a more tired than she thought. It had been three days since the incident with the Frankenstein and it felt like they had been the most exhausting she'd had in a long while. No wonder she had fallen asleep in the middle of the day.
As soon as they had been able, they had moved the supposed corpse to the shoe, not wanting to risk another attack from something that was supposedly dead. It hadn't moved that entire time but they still kept it under 24hr surveillance. Henry had heightened the security as soon as he had found out about it, saying that they already had one novel monster in their midst. They didn't need another one. Nikola as always didn't take any offense. The vampire had simply smiled saying that he was more than enough to destroy Henry if it took his fancy. Helen had to smile. The two men butted heads but when it came down to it, they actually liked each other although they would both deny it. Neither of them could deny how terrifying the whole incident had been.
She sighed. Danny was the one who was affected most. She had barely spoken since it had happened and wouldn't look at any of them. Will had tried to talk to her but she had completely shut down, even more than what she was when she first arrived at the sanctuary. The girl hadn't eaten either. If she didn't eat soon, she would need to be put on a drip which was something Helen didn't really want to do but she knew she may not have a choice. Danny's body had been severely injured during the attack and had been out for over twelve hours. During that time, Helen had decided to do as many tests as she could to determine the extent of the girl's injuries. There had been no internal bleeding but she had bruises everywhere, several broken ribs, a fractured wrist as well as a minor burn on her neck from the Frankenstein's hand not to mention the severe concussion.
Danny's neural activity had also been through the roof. It was something she had never seen before. The synthetic materials that were in her blood had activated and begun rebuilding themselves. Thankfully they seemed to stop with some extra drugs. She had then begun comparing the Frankenstein's DNA to Danny's and despite them not being a match, they had many of the same synthetic markers which meant they were both experimented on in the same way for possibly the same reasons.
Helen rubbed her eyes as she stood and stretched. All she wanted to do was help a child that needed it but when she couldn't even get her to talk, she didn't know what else to do. She went over to the desk and checked the security footage of the hospital room and her heart stopped. The bed which Danny had been sleeping in was empty with the sheets strewn all over the floor. Quickly she searched through the footage from the rest of the house but couldn't see her. She hoped the girl hadn't left. She was just about to race out the door when a knock came and her big friend entered, followed by Nikola. Both of them seemed relaxed.
"Danny's gone", she said quickly as she went to run past them. "We have to…".
"Helen, stop".
Her friends' gravelly voice and strong hairy arm stopped her dash for the hallway. Nikola smiled and sat on the sofa she had just been lying on.
"She's not gone, my sexy siren. She's fine".
"Then where is she"?
Her friends' husky voice was soft and strong.
"In her alcove…where else".
Helen turned the corner of the hallway and saw Danny instantly, sitting in the window box seat that she had sat in when she had first arrived and many times since. It had become like her own little alcove. The girls' injuries were prominent as her skin was hit by the afternoon light. She had stacked some cushions behind her back against the wall with a blanket covering her legs. Danny's back was to Helen as she approached but she could tell that Danny was still in a lot of pain.
"You should still be in the hospital", she said softly. "You were badly hurt remember".
All she got was the silent treatment so she sat carefully down on the seat next to the girl.
"Danny, you really should be resting. If not in the hospital then in your own room. You need to recover".
A tear slipped down Danny's bruised cheek and Helen felt instantly terrible.
"Why bother", she whispered without looking over. "I wish it had just killed me".
Helen was shocked but she actually understood why the girl was saying that. After everything that Danny had been through with the Kabal and then everything since, any sane person would want out of it all too but she couldn't let her think that way. She wasn't going to lose another little girl.
"Please don't think that. You're strong. You will be able to sort through it. We're here for you".
Danny closed her eyes.
"Why? You don't owe me anything".
"Maybe not but we care about what happens to you and we want you to be ok".
"That is a mistake".
Helen sighed. They were right back to where they started six weeks ago. She watched as the girl shifted gingerly, wincing at the smallest of movements.
"Let me take you back to your room. At least do that for me. Then you can rest a bit more comfortably and we can talk more later".
She expected a fight but Danny just nodded. After a moment she carefully helped the girl up and half carried her gently to her room. Just like she had done with Ashley, she laid Danny down and tucked her in, making sure the covers were gently around her. Then she sat down on the edge of the mattress and stroked the not hurt shoulder.
"I'm sorry this happened to you Danny", she whispered, feeling ashamed. "I should have protected you. I made you a promise that I didn't keep".
Danny sighed as more tears began to flow.
"You're not the first and I'm sure you won't be the last".
Almost done :)