Shadowsnow

Chapter 13: New Additions

When I woke up, I was in a white room. Everything smelled clean, like a hospital. As I looked around, I saw lots of hospital instruments. My eyes widened and started to sit up. I groaned, holding my head. How the hell did I get here? Then, I noticed the female doctor standing in the corner by the computer. She was facing away from me, so I couldn't exactly tell who it was.

"I'm glad to hear that you're awake. I got very nervous when you were brought in unconscious and stopped breathing multiple times while I worked on you," the doctor stated in a vaguely familiar Pakistani accent. I looked down at myself and realized I wasn't wearing my suit. I was wearing a hospital gown.

"Where's my suit?" I touched my face and realized my mask was also gone. "What the hell happened?" The woman turned around and glanced at the door, nervously. She pressed a finger to her mouth urgently.

"Sh! I am trying to protect you, Allie. Shut up and do not raise your voice." I instantly recognized the doctor. Dr. Abbasi? Does she know about my powers?

"Doctor Abbasi?" She walked over to and held out a blood pressure cuff.

"I need your arm to check your blood pressure." I held out my arm, breathing normally.

"What happened? How did I get here?" As she finished taking my blood pressure, she answered.

"What is the last thing that you remember, Allie?"

"It isn't safe for me to be here. Where's my suit and mask?" I asked.

"No one will come in. The second I saw you, I kicked everyone out and haven't let anyone in since I pulled off your suit and mask. Your best friends are hiding out at the back."

"Oh. Did they see me when I came in?" I asked, nibbling the inside of my cheek.

"They said they saw you on the television when you were put onto a gurney," Dr. Abbasi told me, grimly.

"Oh, crap." I sighed. "So, what happened after I passed out?"

"What the paramedics told me was that you passed as soon as you rescued Captain Michaels. They immediately gave you an oxygen mask and got you breathing. Then they rushed you here and brought you to me. One of the paramedics, Greg Vega, said that you had stopped breathing on the way here more than a dozen times from severe smoke inhalation. You came incredibly close to dying because no one could get you to breathe long enough for your body to heal itself. This was hours ago. It's almost five PM now." I was out for that long?

"So, how did you save me?"

"I monitored you closely and tried to let your body heal itself as much as possible on its own. I had to do some surgery to help you breathe, but as soon as I finished, your incredible healing abilities did the rest of the work." She walked over to a cabinet and pulled out my suit and mask. She tossed them onto the hospital bed, onto my feet. "You should get dressed before I go get your visitors. I doubt they'll want to see you in a hospital gown. I'll be right back."

I nodded and stiffly swung my legs out of the bed. I got up and began putting my suit on as Dr. Abbasi walked out. As I finished zipping up my boots, I heard several hushed voices coming in from the hall.  Carter was the first person to walk in, followed by Ronnie...Hannah.

"Allie, you're okay!" Carter exclaimed as he came over and crushed me in a hug.  I groaned softly from my stiffness and hugged him back, smiling.

"Yeah, I'm okay.  And so is your dad.  He was inside the precinct while it was burning."

"Sorry, Allie.  I didn't mean to hurt you."  I shook my head as Carter stepped back.

"It's okay.  I'm mostly healed, but I'm stiff from being in one position for so long.  We need to have a team meeting.  All of us."  I looked at Dr. Abbasi and Hannah pointedly.  "I have to get out of here before other doctors start asking questions."