Tiny Sparks

Chapter 9. The Wait

It was a long wait. One of the doctors had come out of surgery to tell them that Kaminari was still holding on. Two of the bullets had passed right through, a third had gotten stuck in his right shoulder, the fourth was probably the worst out of the five, there was some major internal bleeding because of it and it had hit his spine. The last one had hit a rib, fracturing it but thankfully that was it.

He was lucky that none had hit anywhere near his stomach. It was a miracle that Kaminari was even alive.

Hitoshi had lost track of the time that passed. Mic and Aizawa had tried to get the others to go back to the dorms saying they would call with any major information, but they all refused. They couldn't leave right now. Denki needed them and Shinso needed them. The self-proclaimed Bakusquad was asleep on one of the couches that were in the waiting room by the time they could all calm down.

Shinso on the other hand could not sleep. He didn't care how late it was getting; he couldn't close his eyes.

The alpha's leg bounced anxiously, every time a nurse or doctor entered the room he looked up to see if it were the one from Denki's surgery.

Mr. Aizawa put a hand on his son's knee to stop it from bouncing, but it did little to ease his worry. "Denki will be fine," he said in the most serious voice Shinso had heard from him. "He's one of my students, they're stubborn and don't give up." Shinso just nodded, but that didn't seem good enough for Aizawa. "He's going to pull through Hitoshi, he made it this far already so he can't give up. If anything he's going to stay alive to spite death."

Shinso let a breathy laugh pass his lips. "He would do that, wouldn't he?"

Aizawa gave a small, sad, smile. "Get some sleep, it's late, I'll wake you up with any news we get, ok?"

Shinso looked at his hands, then his friends who were all cuddled up on the couch sleeping. "I don't think I can sleep," Shinso muttered, his eyes going back to his hands. "You know... for weeks Denki had been waking up from nightmares, all the same one. When those villains came in, Denki said they were the same people from his dreams. A-and the look he had, he knew... he knew what was going to happen."

Aizawa just listened.

"I feel like I should have done more, I just- if it was the same as in his dreams I should have-" he choked out a sob, trying to keep it in. He had told himself he'd cry when he had to and that right now he shouldn't because Denki was still alive and fighting. But he couldn't anymore. It had been hours and only a few tears had slipped. He couldn't keep it in.

Aizawa pulled Hitoshi into his chest, letting him get it all out. It had been a long time since Shinso had cried in his arms like this, for most of his teen years he had either bottled it up or dealt with it on his own. Having Kaminari around always helped though. There was less to bottle up and Denki always knew when something was off, it was like a second quirk for him to be able to tell when his friends or boyfriend were feeling down.

"Just sleep, ok?" Aizawa said. "I promise to wake you up when we get news."

Shinso just nodded weakly. Closing his eyes, it didn't take much time for sleep to envelop his tired body.

--

When Shinso woke up he was laying on his dad's shoulder while he talked quietly with who he could only assume was a nurse or doctor.

"We just finished, but we want to monitor him closely," the nurse said. "He lost a lot of blood before and during the surgery, so we just want to make sure he has his strength and isn't at risk before he leaves the hospital."

"Ok, thank you," Mr. Aizawa said quietly. Footsteps walked away and Shinso felt his shoulder being shaken for him to wake up. It took longer than it should have for him to remember everything that happened and where they were. "Hitoshi."

Shinso groaned a little and rubbed his eyes, sitting up off his dad. It was still dark outside so Shinso could tell it was still late, but by the looks of it, the sun was rising so it was early, not late. "Dad, how is he?" Shinso asked tiredly, his brain not awake enough to process what he had heard in his half-asleep daze.

"He's stable," Mr. Aizawa said.

"Can I see him?" Shinso asked, more awake than before.

"We'll wake up the others then we can go and see Denki, but it may be a while before he's awake, he just got out of surgery, and they said he had lost a lot of blood," Aizawa explained cautiously. "So it may be a while before-"

"I just want to see him," Shinso cut him off. "I need to see him, to know he's ok."

Aizawa understood and they both got up to wake the others. Mic had fallen asleep in the armchair beside the couch the others were in. Mina was holding on tight to Sero's arm while Kirishima had his head laid across her lap. Sero was upright with his head back against the wall, his free hand holding Mina's arm, just above Kirishima's head, while Bakugo sat slouched untangled from the rest, though one of his hands was holding Kirishima's free hand.

"Guys wake up, Denki's out of surgery," Shinso said, shaking Sero and Mina's arms, then Kirishima and Bakugo's. They all stirred awake, groggy from the little sleep they had gotten.

"Denki's out of surgery?" Mina repeated quietly before her eyes shot open and she jumped off the couch, knocking Kirishima to the floor and Sero to the side and startling them awake. "Is he ok now?" she asked much more awake.

"He's stable," Aizawa said. The way he said it did not bode well but they would take what they could get. Aizawa woke up Mic before they all went to find Kaminari's room.

The nurses reminded them to stay quiet and reiterated the fact that it could take time for him to wake up.

Shinso was the first to enter the room. The first thing he noticed was the beeping of machines and the absence of Kaminari's scent. The doctors probably gave him scent suppressors when he was in surgery so his body wouldn't start releasing any destressing scent. Shinso was at his side the moment he was in the room, and the others followed closely behind.

Kaminari's breathing was shallow but getting better, his skin was sickly pale, and almost dead looking. He had a heart monitor attached to him and it was one of the only things reassuring Shinso that he was alive. There was an IV drip attached to his arm as well, a clear liquid flowing through the tubes and another with red, presumably blood. He looked strangely peaceful in his sleep, his face was relaxed and his hair was swept to one side.

They stayed for a little while, just sitting in silence, listening to the steady beeping of the heart monitor. It was about 6 Am but none of them were tired, everyone was just happy that Kaminari had pulled through.