“How long has it been?”
My question was for Leo, but he’d completely zoned out. Instead, Reed sprawled out at the foot of my bed, propping himself on an elbow as he placed his chin on his palm.
“They told him four hours, but it took a little over six. Something about the way your skull was broken up?—”
Doctor B interjected, “Well, that’s a bit harsh. Your implants obviously caused some complications with your skull formation, and in the process of fixing that, the dura mater was compromised. Luckily, the VIA has some extremely talented Variants on hand. With their abilities and the surgeons here, you shouldn’t have any long-lasting effects. We just have to keep an eye on infection, obviously, and it’s been recommended that you take it easy for at least a week.”
I nodded only slightly, following along. “And my surgeon isn’t here to explain this because…?”
Doctor B and Reed turned to Leo. His head lulled, his fidgeting had stopped, and his breathing had settled into something deep and rhythmic. He’d fallen asleep within seconds.
“Yeah, well, about that,” Reed lowered his voice to a whisper. “He kinda went apocalyptic when they came out to give an update. After the whole duram matin thing, you know.” Doctor B looked like he was physically restraining himself from correcting the redhead. “Anyway, it was a whole thing. They calledme—kinda hurt I wasn’t informed on the whole major surgery thing, but that’s cool, I’ll go fuck myself—and I came in to save the day, as usual. Long story short, it’s in the staff’s best interest that Doctor B relay the info and all. Don’t worry about confidentiality, because the VIA doesn’t give a shit, clearly.”
My head was spinning, but I got the picture that everything would be fine. I watched Leo, the way fatigue draped around him, and reminded myself to thank him later. It was obvious that I’d needed an upgrade, but without him, I likely would’ve kept waiting. I didn’t want to think about what would have happened if I had.
“He hasn’t left your side,” Doctor B grinned and patted my foot. “You’ve got a great support system, Alex.”
A tremble formed on my lips, and my chest sunk—not in a bad way. In the way it would sink, and then lift, at the drop off of a roller coaster. When you raised your hands, and nothing mattered except for that moment.
The door to my room echoed with fierce knocks, and we turned our heads as it swung open. In the hallway, the Hernandez family stood panting, as if they had sprinted all the way here. Minnie shouldered off an assortment of bags she was carrying, and shoved them behind her into Gabriel’s chest, who was already carrying four.
“Ay, Dios mío, I thought he was taking you on adate,not to a hospital!” Her shriek made Leo finally jolt up.
He grasped at my bedsheets, lurching forward with panic on his face. “What happened?!”
Reed gave a cat-like grin. “A date? Juicy, tell me more.”
Gabriel waddled in, balancing ten bags by himself, while Sofia and Matias tiptoed behind him. Sofia was nearly eighteen now, and Matias had just turned ten. I would see them at Nightmyre PD occasionally, dropping off food to Gabriel, or spending the day with him when school was out. They were good kids—a goodfamily.The tears welled up with a vengeance, and I couldn’t stop them from falling.
Minnie scooted in beside me, tucking her arm behind my back as she pulled my face into her shoulder. “It’s okay, Alex. Let it out; we’re here.”
Reed made room for Matias to climb up beside him, and Sophia pulled up a chair to sit before clasping my hand in hers. Gabriel began rifling through their bags, stacking containers of food onto any flat surface he could find.
“We would have gotten here sooner, but Sofia insisted on makingPozole,” He gave his daughter a sarcastic smirk.
She squeezed my hand and gave a small smile. “It’s great when you’re sick, and hospital food is no good.”
The room should have been smaller, nearly suffocating, with this many visitors. When I’d had my first surgery, my parents had been working doubles just to afford it. Joon was the only one who could stay with me. His mom would visit when she got off her shifts, dropping off food and getting updates to relay to my parents. She’d moved back home when Joon got into the academy, and couldn’t stomach coming back to Nightmyre after he died.
My parents were still close, still working themselves to the bone, but it never crossed my mind to reach out to them whenI needed it. I’d visit every month or so, we’d talk about the weather and work, and that’s where it stopped. They never asked about Joon or the VIA, and I never talked about it. We didn’t have that kind of relationship, and I thought that was fine. Joon was the only one I everwantedto rely on.
But my circle had grown larger, and I hadn’t thought about it before. Minnie and Gabriel were there when he died. Doctor B took me under his wing when I needed a change, and now Reed and Leo were here, too.
Leo stayed with me the whole time. He kept his promise.
I sniffled, soft hiccups breaking up my words as I turned to him. “You called them all?”
He stilled, eyes wide, as if he had done somethingwrong.
“I, uh… yeah. I wasn’t sure what you’d need when you woke up, so I asked Dahlia to look them all up and get their numbers. Was that — I mean, is this okay?” Leo swallowed hard, gaze flitting from face to face.
I smiled and wiped my wet cheeks. “This is perfect. Thank you… thank you all so much.”
He let out a long breath, nodding, and gave me a smile I’d never seen. Leo had smiled; he wasn’tinhuman.But I hadn’t seen it so genuine before.
“You look socoolnow,” Matias chirped, leaning on my ankles. “Like a dragon!”
The room went silent, and everyone’s eyes were wide as they turned to me.
