𝓞𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓪 𝓓𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓻 (Freedom AU Book 9) [FNAF/UT]

✦Chapter Seven✦

  Ella glanced up again. Just a nurse passing from one hallway to the next with paperwork in hand. Still nothing. Sighing, her gaze fell down to her lap—where she held the bag containing her sister's costume. One the outside, the bag looked dirty. Some holes were also visible, thanks to white fabric poking through the tears. Ella wondered if the dress had taken any damage too? She felt like she wasn't allowed to look at it, as it was meant to be a surprise for the talent show, but in light of what had just happened, Ella figured Ballora probably wouldn't be performing her dance routine now.

With a quick yank of the bag's zipper, Ella carefully pulled the tutu out halfway. She was quick to notice the multi-colored diamond patches that decorated the dress. It was pretty. Upon inspecting the dress further, she saw the skirt had some tears in it, which lined up with the tears in the bag. She'd also noticed a small, matching party hat that looked as though it were to clip to Ballora's hair. However, it had gotten flattened, unfortunately.

"Ella?" At the sudden addressal, she glanced up. Puppet was taking a seat next to her, his face riddled with worry. "Did they tell you anything about Ballora yet?" Ella shook her head 'no', as she replaced the dress back into the bag. "They just told me to wait here... a nurse would come give me an update." She heard him sigh at that. "... How bad was it?"

"It was..." Ella hesitated a moment, the moment of when her sister was hit played back in her mind's eye. "Bad. Definitely broken bones... she was unconscious even before the ambulance arrived..." She explained, slowly zipping the bag closed. Ella looked over, and noticed Puppet anxiously messing with his silver wedding band. "... Okay."

The two were about to fall silent again, when someone's cellphone pinged. Puppet took it from his pocket, quickly typing off a response to what Ella assumed to be a text message. He noticed Ella's somewhat curious looked. "I um... called Dr. Gaster on the way here, told him what happened." He began, putting his phone away. "He told me that as long as no complications arise with Ballora's SOUL, she should be fine being treated by humans."

"... What if there are complications?" Puppet blinked, meeting her gaze. "Do you... think there would be?" His sister-in-law gave a shrug. "I dunno... I don't know as much as you, 'Mare." Ella answered, looking away. "If there are, then I'd get Gaster in contact with whichever doctor is treating Bal'." Puppet explained, leaning back a little in his seat. "Oh, okay."

Falling silent again, the two concerned folk simply watched as hospital staff went about their business. Talking with people at the front desk, escorting others down hallways, nurses and doctors exchanging words in passing. The occasional word would be spoken over the intercom system by one of the receptionists. It almost felt as though a nurse would never approach them in the waiting area.

Thankfully, such a notion wasn't true, as a man in light-colored scrubs made his way over to the people waiting who stuck out sore thumbs among the other normal humans in the room. "Hi there." He greeted, remaining friendly. Ella looked up at him, while Puppet stood up to address him properly. "Hi."

"You're Ballora's family?" The nurse asked, though the answer seemed quite obvious. "We are. How is she?" Puppet asked, tone laced with clear anxiety and worry. Giving the two a half smirk, the man gestured to them. "Follow me, we'll walk and talk." Ella too stood up, before her and Puppet followed the nurse. "Ballora's just been moved to a hospital room to be monitored after being taken in for surgery."

"Why did she need surgery?" Puppet asked, the nurse casting a glance over his shoulder. "Well, she had some rather nasty lacerations from the car hitting her. There was also a minor internal injury, too, that needed to be treated ASAP. She was in surgery having all of that tended to, and stitched up." He explained, adding with, "Thankfully, it looks like none of it got infected."

"... Thank goodness." Ella mumbled, feeling a bit relieved already. "Aside from that, she's suffered a hairline fracture on her left tibia, and a minor linear break on the fibula of the same leg." The nurse continued. Just behind himself, Puppet and Ella exchanged glances with each other. "It'll take some time for that to heal up."

"So, that's all the damage, then?" Ella wondered, just as the nurse stopped outside a patient room. "That, and she also took a bad hit to her lower back." Puppet could feel his heart nearly stop. "She's not..." Seemingly predicting the question, the nurse shook his head 'no'. "She still has feeling in her legs, no worries there." He assured him. "She got lucky, honestly. But, it simply means she'll just need some physical therapy to get her range of motion back."

"Okay... that's good." The nurse nodded in agreement. "You can see her if you'd like, she's just woken up." He told, gesturing to the door. "Thank you." Puppet thanked, just as Ella made her way inside the room first. "Of course."

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

Still a bit groggy from the anesthesia, Ballora was only half-listening to what her husband and sister we saying to her. And yet, her mind was still somehow distracted by multiple things. The dull, yet prevalent pain in both her left leg, and lower back despite the pain medication she was currently hooked up to. The worry of where her daughters were in that current moment, having barely heard when Puppet said that he'd left them in the care of Freddy and Chica. The sensation of her husband's hand holding onto hers, her sister doing the same with her opposite hand.

"Bal'?" Blinking slowly, she glanced over towards Ella. "Man... you still look a little out of it." She commented, sympathy in her tone. Ballora gave a hum in response, glancing upwards as her head rested against the pillow. "You know what?" She slowly looked over to Puppet. "We'll stay with you a while longer, but you can get some rest if you want." He offered, giving her hand a small squeeze. "Try to relax as best you can, and you'll be discharged before you know it, okay?"
"... m'kay." Ballora mumbled, eyelids already slowly falling. As his wife fell asleep, Puppet gently place a kiss to her forehead, before seeing Ella give her shoulder a reassuring rub. Then, tone quiet, he said to her, "Sleep well."