Three slowly regained consciousness, her head hurt like hell and she felt very hazy. Had she been drinking? How much did she have? She opens her eyes and the world around her slowly stops being blurry as she tries to adjust to the light. A grunt can be heard from her as her pupils slowly shrink to the correct size to not let far too much light into her eyes, finally after a few moments she can actually see again. She looks around her and sees all manner of machines she doesn't recognize, questioning why they're here or what their purpose is, but then after looking to her right, she spots something she does recognize and it calms her.
Eight was asleep on the recliner, her head against the backrest with a thin little pillow under it, and a very thin blanket over top of her. She looked mostly comfortable enough, though she seemed slightly more pale than usual. Three was going to question why Eight was in a recliner and why she seemed somewhat pale… but then noticed the subtle pumping noise. Three turns her head to look down to its source and noticed there was an ink pump between the two of them, with lines going towards both of them.
She followed the lines and realized they led under the blanket Eight was resting under, she then also noticed that Eight had shifted to Orange. Wait, why was Eight orange? She looked again at the pump and followed the other line and found it entering her own arm. Suddenly, every event that had transpired in the last 48 hours that she had been conscious for comes flooding back as she's reminded that her ink supply had been dramatically reduced to the point that she was about to be dragged into a sanitization chamber.
"No no!" Three's heart rate picks up quickly, she begins to sweat and her breathing becomes shallow. The monitors blare alarms as they detect her hearts beating too fast and her body not inhaling enough oxygen from her hyperventilating. The beeping of course only serves to stress her out more as now there are literal alarm bells blaring in conjunction with the figurative ones blaring in her mind.
Quickly nurses enter the room, their goal being to de-escalate the situation while still allowing Three to remain awake, her body can recover plenty while she's asleep, but her mind can only heal while she's awake. They have sedatives just in case she's too hysterical, but they hope they don't have to use them. One of the nurses holds her hands up to show Three she's not going to hurt her, as she starts to talk to the Inkling and try and calm her.
"Alex, listen to me, you're okay, you're safe. Just breathe. Okay? Breathe." The nurse gives a reassuring smile, and Three reluctantly agrees, and finds her hearts start beating at a much more normal rate. The monitors stop beeping and Three is able to relax. She glances over to Eight and sees she's still asleep, a gentle rise and fall of her chest confirmed to Three that Eight was perfectly fine. Slowly Three manages to get her mind into the current moment, and away from the flashbacks. She reaches a hand up and toys with the stump that used to be her right tentacle, something she'd just have to live with now.
"Alex, you have some visitors who would like to see you, should I send them in or would you like more time to yourself?" The nurse asks, now that Three is awake she should at least know her friends are there to support her. Three perks up a little and nods gently, seeing her friends sounds like exactly what she needs right now.
"Y-Yes please… I want to see my friends…" Three smiles calmly, remembering that she's not alone and that there's people who love and support her. Something she wishes she'd understood when she originally returned from Kamabo, before she and Eight hit it off. She was so set on being a stick in the mud and she honestly doesn't even remember why. Right now she just wanted to see her friends, she wanted to have the support, she wanted to not feel alone.
The nurse smiles and leaves the room, presumably to tell Three's friends that she's open to seeing them. Three wonders just who would be there, would Jay be there? She hoped so, she missed her cousin. Especially right now. Three thinks back on what's happened since she realized Jay was in Inkopolis, and she realizes that she hasn't spent nearly enough time with her. Sure they both had a lot going on in their lives, but that's no reason to not spend time with family, especially family you care about. Three tells herself she's going to have to spend some proper time with Jay when she gets out of the hospital, she's just been reminded how quickly her life could end up being taken from her, so she wants to make sure to spend as much of it with the people she cares about as she can, she's sure Eight will understand the need to spend some time with family as well as with her.
Before too long, the door opens again and sure enough, there's Jay with an oversized balloon that says "get well soon!" on it, and a comforting smile on her face as well. Jay comes over and ties the balloon to Three's bedframe and leans in to give her cousin a hug. Three is just strong enough now to return the gesture, and the two share an embrace for a few minutes. Jay is overjoyed that Three is alive but not thrilled about her condition, and Three is just happy to see her cousin again. Jay had looked at the stump of a tentacle on the side of Three's head with concern, but seeing as it was the only permanent reminder of what happened, Jay didn't want to draw too much attention to it.
Three lays back again, feeling the spots where her body had been stitched back together sting a little as her body slowly heals itself, stretching them out to hug Jay had caused discomfort but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle, it was nothing compared to what gave her those wounds in the first place. These were going to be some nasty scars that's for sure. She smiles at Jay and now just holds her hand, happy to have the familial support.
"Hey Alex, how're you holding up?" Jay asks with a concerned smile, noticing that her cousin looked far paler than she did the last time she saw her… and apparently she was previously in WORSE condition. Needless to say, she was very concerned about her cousin.
"Well… my body kinda feels like it's on fire… my muscles are sore and ache… I was stabbed a few times so those spots are especially pained… but I'm alive, I'm back on the surface… and most importantly, I know you and Eight are safe and okay… so I'm doing about as well as I can be given the circumstances" Three chuckles a little, which prompts a cough and a wince as her body is still in disrepair.
"Well… just try and take it easy okay? You were always the first one to run off in search of adventure when we were kids… maybe let someone else defy the odds and cheat death for a while" Jay smiles warmly and squeezes Three's hand. Three knows that her cousin is looking out for her, and she appreciates it.
"Of course… If I find out this is some kind of fever dream in my final moments of life I am going to be very upset" Three smirks prompting Jay to roll her eyes.
"You always were incapable of truly taking anything seriously." Jay laughs lightly, knowing that her cousin is, at least mentally, mostly okay after what happened.
Three just smiles and rests her head again, focusing on breathing for a moment. She clears her mind and just tries to focus on what's good right now, right this second. A trick her therapist taught her a while back. Just because she's suffered doesn't mean she has to only focus on it, she can allow herself to be happy and grateful for the good in her life without undermining the impact the truly SHIT experiences have on her. It just allows her to stay positive while she heals and deal with the damage when she's stronger.
"Jay… I'm… I'm sorry we haven't talked much. I know I've been busy with Eight and… I know you understand that, and I'm so grateful that you do. But I want to try and be a better cousin… Once I'm out of here, let's you and me have a girls night… like we did when we were kids" Three smiles, hoping to comfort her cousin somewhat. She knows this whole ordeal must be a lot for her to take in. She's probably the third most affected by what happened, and even then it could be argued she's the second. With Three obviously being the most affected, and Eight being the one who is affected around the same as Jay.
"I… I think I'd really like that Alex. You and I always were unstoppable, no wonder we both became agents. But, focus on healing for now, okay? You've got us, me and Eight, and don't forget Callie and Marie too! They're all ready to help, Marie really hopes you'll allow her to help more, she wants to help you. She considers you a close friend." Jay takes hold of Three's hand again, the familial love showing through her actions more than it ever could through her words.
Three smiles and nods, agreeing that maybe she should think about getting better before she thinks about any big plans. Wait a second… why was Jay so specific about Marie. Why not anything about Callie? Maybe it had something to do with what she herself and Callie had been, but that was ages ago and this was now… no there's something else going on here. There was a certain way Jay would… lift… when talking about Marie. Ohhhhh there's something there.
"So uh… whatcha think about the Squid Sisters now that you finally have the chance to know who they are?" Three smirks a little, she's gonna get to the bottom of this. "You know you got really lucky getting to meet both of them the way you did, what was it like working with Marie?"
Jay's face instantly yellows a bit as her ink warms up her face, now she's just thinking about Marie. Three already knows that, at the very least, her cousin has a crush, and it's cute. Jay stammers for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts but failing miserably several times, causing her to become even MORE flustered.
"Uhh… M-Marie's nice… she makes a lot of puns so we get along quite well… and Callie, well, she's alright too. Callie has a bit more of a bubbly personality but Marie has more of a… well… she's like you in a way, kinda stoic but also has an amazing smile" Jay rests her chin in her hand as she starts thinking about Marie's smile.
"Gotcha." Three says with a big ole smirk on her face, knowing the exact feelings which Jay is having right now, since she herself had similar ones about Eight.
"What?" Jay turns to Three, confused.
"You, my dear cousin, have a crush on Marie!" Three giggles, she'd nuge Jay with her elbow but she's got some issues moving that arm right now on account of what happened to that shoulder, but the smirk is quite prominent.
Jay freezes, and then looks around the room a little before leaning down and whispering.
"Is it… that obvious?" Jay blushes, feeling a little sheepish.
"Mmm only to me, because I know you so well. If you'd seen me before Eight and I got together you'd have picked up on my pining probably even before I did." Three chuckles before wincing and grabbing her stomach, she's maybe still a little weak.
"Heh… How did you um… manage to ask her out? Or did she ask YOU out?" Jay prys, scooting a little closer to hear the story.
"Oh I asked her out… but DAMN if it wasn't stressful. We were already really good friends and I didn't want to make things awkward by asking her out… but it turns out she had the same feelings for me!" Three smiles, fondly remembering the simpler days when her and Eight were just a couple of cephalopods pining after each other.
"Oh really? That's so lucky!" Jay smiles, she's genuinely happy things worked out for her cousin. But her mood quickly shifts. "But… there's no way Marie has feelings for ME too, that just… It's wishful thinking, I mean she's HER… and I'm just me."
"If she truly values you as a friend, which I know she does, regardless of if she had romantic feelings for you, she'd be willing to at least go on a few dates. Don't be afraid to ask her, hell, don't even think of her as 'Marie from the Squid Sisters'... think of her as "Marie my coworker" Three smiles, she knows Marie well enough to know that she'd never intentionally break someone's heart, at least not someone close to her like Jay is.
"R-Really? You sure?" Jay beams, feeling a lot more at ease.
"Absolutely. Now, I'm sure Eight will be awake soon and I need to thank her for saving my life, just go to Marie. Tell her 'You're beautiful' and then ask her if she'd like to go on a date, maybe have a place in mind and have done a little digging so you know when you can get reservations for." Three chuckles, thinking about all the times her and Eight struggled to find a place to eat for date night because they were just too buy enjoying each other's company to think about eating.
"I will! Oh thank you Alex, you're the best cousin… I hope you get feeling better soon, I never did take it well when you got hurt" Jay chuckles and gives her cousin one last long hug before heading out the door, waving goodbye and closing the door behind her, she wonders if there's any other visitors or if it's just going to be Jay.
Her question is answered very shortly as Pearl and Marina enter the room with concerned looks on their faces, both afraid for Three's wellbeing as well as Eight's. Marina has a cake in her hands and presumably it's to help get Three's blood sugar back to normal, meanwhile Pearl has the plates and utensils for said cake. Three smiles softly, maybe she'll make it through today without much issue after all.
