Three awoke to the sun shining on her face, which was something she wasn't too fond of. This is why she usually had her curtains closed if she could help it. But even then, the sun usually didn't shine like this until closer to noon, and Three had been waking up earlier in the day lately as Eight had been trying to get her on a healthier sleeping schedule. So then why was the sun shining directly into her eyes? Maybe she'd had a late night and just slept until the afternoon and simply forgot to close her curtains? Her brain was slow starting up so she decided it was probably best to just get up out of bed and start her day, she'd remember what happened later.
Three tries to raise her right arm to block the sun but finds moving it is much more difficult than usual, almost like something's attached to it, so instead she uses her left arm. Moving her left arm is much more possible but it still takes far more effort than usual, it feels stiff and sore, but she does manage to get it in front of her face so the light isn't going directly into her eyes. Finally without the sun in her eyes she sits up in bed slightly and looks around her room, she didn't feel Eight laying next to her which meant that it was likely later in the day, maybe she was in the bathroom getting ready or something, her eyes blink open and she takes in the imagery of her room under all this light. Only it isn't her room.
The room she's in is all white, but faded slightly like it was white when it was new but it's been a few years since it was built. She hears commotion outside her room but it sounds distant, like whatever it is isn't anywhere near the room she's in, and even then it doesn't sound like something urgent, more like just people rushing around a lot. The door that must be to the outside is a lot larger than the doors she's used to, like it was designed for someone in a wheelchair to be able to easily enter and leave without risking bumping their hands against the doorframe. She doesn't quite understand why a room would need such a wide door though, unless she was in the hospital for some reason.
She looks down at herself and… oh… that is what's going on. She finds herself dressed in a hospital gown and an IV in her arm, she can't make out what she's got dripping into her system but it's likely painkillers of some kind. It's at this moment that Three realizes something else, her neck isn't just incredibly stiff, it's inside of a neck brace, no wonder she has to turn her entire body just to look to the side. Three stares down at herself for a moment before suddenly she remembers everything that happened previously. Maybe it was the night before but she's no idea how long she's been out for.
"W-Wait.. How am I…" Three's entire life flashes before her eyes as she realizes, she came incredibly close to having a face to face meeting with the creators of her world. No way she would've been able to sync with a spawn pad at the rate she was falling. She feels tears prick the edges of her eyes and her breaths get more shallow. She thinks about how devastated Eight would've been had she bit the dust like that, there was still so much she wanted to do and see that she very nearly lost the chance to do with her.
The machines next to her begin beeping wildly as her hearts beat at an increased rate from what they should be, and her oxygen levels drop as she hyperventilates. The door to her room swings open and a Doctor enters, he notices that while she is in a state of panic, she's not an immediate danger to herself, and he approaches softly. He holds his hands up in front of him as non threateningly as possible, making sure not to add to her panic level more.
"Ms. Narakai, please, you're perfectly okay. Just breathe okay? Breathe." He says as he demonstrates the breaths Three should take using his arm to indicate when to breathe in, how long to hold, and when to breathe out by raising it from the base of his chest to the top of it, holding it there, and then lowering it back down to the bottom of his chest. Three fortunately understands and starts following his instructions.
Finally Three's breaths are under control and the Doctor smiles, grabbing the clipboard off the foot of her bed and giving the chart a quick read, nodding to himself every so often as he reviews it. Three doesn't detect any major bad reactions to her chart from him which does bring a level of ease to her mind, she can tell she's not going to die anytime soon which is comforting.
"Okay so good news and slightly not as good news. The good news is you should be on your way home within the next couple days. The not so good news is you'll need to keep that brace on your neck for about two weeks." The doctor smiles reassuringly and Three does visibly calm knowing she'll be able to go home soon, with a slight grumble about how long she's going to need the brace for. She's a side sleeper and the brace means she's gonna have to sleep on her back. You'd think she'd have other issues with the brace but really that's the biggest concern for her at this moment.
"How long have I been here?" Three asks, trying to get a handle on the world finally, now that she knows where she is and why. She wonders if Eight is there, or Jay, or any of her other friends. Do Callie and Marie consider her friends? Or just a coworker? But then there was that thing her and Callie had way back when… anyways back on topic. Three feels mildly disconnected from time as a whole and she needs outside help getting reacquainted.
"Oh! You were brought in two nights ago. And don't worry, we have an agreement with the Splatoon, your identity will be protected Miss Narakai." He again smiles, putting the clipboard back on the foot of her bed. "Oh by the way, you have some visitors, would you like to see them or would you prefer to be left alone?"
Three perks up at that, she's got an ache in her heart and she's hoping that Eight is among the visitors. She could really go for a hug from her right about now. Three has also been meaning to catch up with Jay since they haven't had the chance to talk much lately. Three looks to the doctor and nods.
"Send them in, please." She says, a tinge of hope in her words as she smiles. She knows Eight is likely the reason she's even alive right now, she'd have to find some way to thank the Octoling later, but for now she just needs companionship.
"Of course." The doctor nods and leaves the room, leaving Three alone with her thoughts for a moment.
She thinks about the mission she was just on, how everything seemed to line up strangely perfectly in favor of whomever was targeting them. The message not being able to be translated by Marina, the only person being able to translate it happening to be Marie's contact, and then, that same person having a connection that allowed sanitized Octolings to assault them.
Three shakes her head and puts aside her thoughts for the moment as the door to her room again swings open, this time revealing a very relieved looking Octoling. Eight looked horrible. She looks like she hasn't slept since Three was brought in, her tentacles were faded and looked almost like they were starting to wither a little bit, and her eyes had bags under them that would give the checkout lane at a grocery store a run for its money.
Eight carefully approached Three, seemingly very timid, like she's afraid of what Three might say or do… but when Three opens her arms for a hug, Eight accepts without any hesitation. The two hold each other very tight, Eight was careful not to agitate Three's neck however, and the two of them just softly sighed as they felt the comfort of their lover in their arms.
"I was so worried about you…" Eight says without breaking the hug, her hands gripping the back of Three's hospital gown as she feels the tears prick her eyes again. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you better… I'm so sorry!"
"Eight… don't be sorry for something that isn't your fault… I knew the risks of the mission, I accepted them… I should be thanking you, you saved my life!" Three holds Eight closer and presses a kiss to her forehead. "I-I love you Eight, I love you so much."
Eight sniffles and holds Three as tightly as she dared, she couldn't bear the thought of losing Three. Three had given her so much since even before they started dating, the first time they spent meaningful time together proved to her that the Inkling did care about her as a person quite deeply. She'd often think back to their date at the cafe, back before they knew how they both truly felt about each other. The booth they sat at which overlooked Inkopolis park, the iced coffee that blew Eight's mind when she found out about it… and the generosity of the Inkling whom Eight had once thought to be the most fearsome and unfeeling Inkling of them all.
"I-I love you too Three…" Eight manages to get out, shaking slightly as her mind still plays out the sights she might've seen had she not been able to catch up with Three as she fell through the sky, the terrifying thought of the orange splatter across the pavement. The only solace Eight could take was that Three was already unconscious, she wouldn't have felt it.
Three scoots to the side a little and invites Eight to join her on the hospital bed, it was plenty big enough for the both of them if they cuddled closely. Eight being able to hold on to Three helped her calm down immensely, and Three too felt more at ease with the presence of her Octoling GF holding on to her.
"Is anyone else here? Or is it just you?" Three finally asks, once the two of them are comfortable and Three's hearts are beating at a safe rate.
"Jay is here too… she stopped in the cafe in the entrance though, had to take her meds." Eight says, resting her head on Three's chest and purring softly as her mind finally stops thinking of what could've gone wrong and instead focuses on what's going right.
"Ah yeah, makes sense, needs to be taken with meals." Three nods, silently wondering when her cousin will stop by to visit, and hoping it's soon.
Three doesn't have to wait very long as there's a knock on the door, followed by an Inkling with similarly orange tentacles to Three's, only much shorter, enters the room.
"Hey Alex, how're you feeling?" Jay says as she walks closer to the pair of cephalopods laying in the hospital bed. Jay was still dressed in her agent gear, likely she'd been out on a mission of her own before coming here, as stray zapfish often do go missing here and there still and they need to be returned.
"Well, I'm not dead… so I'd say I'm doing quite well all things considered." Three says, staring somewhat blankly at her cousin as she enters the room. She didn't mean to come across as cold or uncaring, but her life had genuinely very nearly ended, so to have that not happen was genuinely something to be happy about.
"Well, that's better than the alternative." Jay smiles softly and grabs a chair, sitting next to Three's hospital bed. Jay grabs Three's free hand and holds it softly, hoping that her presence will calm her cousin somewhat. Three does squeeze Jay's hand which tells Jay that she at least appreciates the gesture.
Three closes her eyes and snuggles into Eight as best she can with her neck locked in its brace, still holding Jay's hand as well and taking comfort in the presence of both her cousin and her Octoling partner. She knew she was safe now, and that she had people who cared about her with her, but she still felt a little uneasy. Something about everything that led to her being in this hospital bed just didn't sit right with her.
She didn't bother dwelling in it for too long however, it just made her heart rate spike and that in turn caused a doctor to enter the room to make sure she's not dying. Which she figures is totally fair given the circumstances. But still, Three was quite content just laying with her Octoling partner, and holding her cousin's hand. These two things made her incredibly comfortable.
Three figures she's not getting out of the hospital for a few more days, she's still on IV painkillers and they usually don't discharge you until you don't need those anymore. Three focuses on what she could do while she's still in her hospital bed. She could get her laptop brought over so she could work on some projects she'd been putting off, mostly just self indulgent things like writing. Though Three did want to see about what she could dig up about anything relating to the jerk that set them up to be ambushed.
Three was a lot better at research than you'd think upon first glance. Part of it was natural talent, but a lot of it was a honed ability that at least in part came from her time in Kamabo. She became incredibly good at digging through systems and gaining access to information she shouldn't. Snagging the employee level CQ-80 just made her life a lot easier. Three still had it actually, she kept it in her bedside table drawer so it wasn't in a place Eight would see, though she did warn Eight that it was there should she ever need to go through Three's bedside table for any reason.
Three wondered if she could still use its security clearance to access files from within Kamabo. While the technology was no doubt advanced, their security left a lot to be desired. Three found that every CQ-80 was simply imprinted with a code on its processing chip, the employee models had a different code than the regular models, but it was always the same across each one. 31174123 was the code used for the Employee model, and unless the issued a new one to every single active employee within Kamabo, which Three severely doubted, she was willing to bet she could still access everything.
She'd have to add that to the list of things to do in the near future, but for now, she was content just to rest. She hoped she didn't have to have the neck brace on for too much longer, it made it really hard to lean down and kiss Eight's head, which she absolutely loved doing when Eight was cuddled into her.
