Scars of Steel

05~March of 1970

March 21, 1970
Manhattan Presbyterian Hospital

"She's waking up," someone said softly.

"Good. Go tell the husband, I'm sure he'd like to know."

Maria slowly began to open her eyes. It felt surprisingly like a chore, as if her body was doing everything in it's power to keep them shut.

Maria didn't know where she was, nor what she had done to get there. She tried to sit up to further examine her surroundings, only to be stopped by a hand being placed softly on her shoulder.

"Give your body a minute to reset. It's been through quite a bit in the past few days. Here, I'll lift up your bed," the person said while reaching down to press a button.

As the top half of her bed slowly lifted, Maria was able to look around and take in the room around her.

The walls were a bleach white with few items placed onto them except for the occasional clipboard and a small television playing a news channel. There were bright overhead lights that blinded Maria as she looked into them. It created a loud buzzing in her head that she preferred not to experience, so she quickly looked away.

"I'm sure you're wondering where you are. My name's Amy, and I'm a doctor. Can you tell me your name?"

"Maria," she whispered. Her voice was strange and hoarse, as if it were someone else's entirely.

"Good, good," Amy stated as she brung a shining light up to Maria's eyes and began to move it back and forth. "I'm just checking some things, but then I can answer the questions that you probably have."

Maria nodded and let the doctor do what she needed to do whilst trying to piece together her situation. She could safely assume that she was in the hospital, but what for was a complete mystery.

Everything seemed foggy in her brain. She couldn't find any memories related to an accident that would put her here. It was as if they were all fleeting clouds that she reached out for but couldn't quite grasp.

Maria did everything in her power to remember something, anything about what had put her there. And then it hit her.

"Where's my daughter?" Maria asked, sitting up as soon as the thought came to her.

"Maria, I can assure you that your daughter is safe with us. She's currently in recovery and will be just fine," The doctor sighed.

You see, that wasn't exactly the complete truth. Amy had just been in Adalyn's room before Maria had woken up. Physically, she was recovering alright although Adalyn would need to have surgery for a gash across her eye. Whether the scar would be permanent, the doctor didn't know.

Adalyn had not yet woken up since the accident, but that wasn't what the doctor was concerned with. Her bloodwork was the problem.

She had ordered for a blood test to make sure that Adalyn had not been exposed to any radiation from the bomb. In it, she had found that the young girl's blood cell count was abnormally high.

It could be a form of cancer, but every test Adalyn had ever gone through before this one showed that everything was perfectly normal. She would have to look further into it before Amy could finalize anything.

She wasn't going to tell the mother any of this though, not until she was in the right state of mind.

Maria slightly relaxed at the doctors words but was still anxious to see her daughter again.