ROCKETEER

Chapter 11: Break Through

               "We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant

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When I woke, I immediately passed out again from the pain in my back. 

I did that about three times. The third time, the pain had lessened to a dull ache, and I could form a coherent thought:

Draco!

I gasped, and my eyes snapped open. My throat ached, too, but fresh air was a blessing I would never take for granted again. The blinding white walls of a hospital room hurt my eyes, and I had to blink several times before they adjusted. The IV in my arm dripped fluids into my system, the monitor beeped faster as my heart rate increased from unconsciousness. I could feel the morphine pumping through my system, dulling the terrible ache through my body. 

I was alone, and when I looked down I saw lipstick smooch marks all over my arm. Recovery Girl had gotten to me.  Good. 

I tried to sit up, slowly, stretching the skin of my back and making the pain spark up again. 

A red feather appeared, pushing me back gently to the bed. I huffed and rolled my eyes. 

A second later, the door opened, and several people walked in. Recovery Girl, Detective Tsukauchi, Marina, and Hawks gathered around me. Hawks and Tsukauchi took a seat, while Recovery Girl came to stand beside me. 

"Silly girl, you're still healing. I could only heal so much of your skin, the rest you have to do by yourself. You're lucky you still have your vision and can breathe on your own." I looked away from her, to Marina standing at the foot of the bed. I raised my eyebrows at her. 

She shook her head. "Just wanted to make sure you're still alive. We'll talk later." She glanced at the detective and walked out without another word. 

'Talk' probably meant a lecture on how stupid and weak I was. She'd probably send me for another week of punishing training with the Commission once I'd healed. I wanted to shudder thinking about it. 

Recovery girl laid another kiss on my arm, and the lingering ache in my bones went away. I sighed, sinking back into the pillow. 

"Another day running fluids and you should be fine to be released. You shouldn't have any problems with your Quirk since I was able to grow back the skin, but come find me if you do." She smiled. "You're strong, young lady. There were a lot of people who were very worried about you." I grinned back weakly, and she left my side, closing the door behind her. 

I turned my head to the last two. Hawks was playing with his thumbs. He had ditched his hero costume for a black t-shirt and jeans. Detective Tsukauchi scooted his chair closer to my bed and pulled a recording device out of his pocket. 

"Hey, Miss Jackson, how do you feel? Up for some questions?" I nodded, taking a deep, shuddering breath. 

"Yeah, I guess, Detective." My voice cracked, the ache in my throat coming back. 

"Just call me Tsukauchi. If you need to stop at any time, let me know." Tsukauchi smiled, and I smiled back. "Can you tell me how you knew there was a fire in that building? You were across the city when it broke out."

"It's my apartment building where I live. When I got out of the meeting with Endeavor, I remembered I had left my oven on." I averted my eyes from Tsukauchi's kind gaze. "That's probably what started the fire." I felt tears prick at my eyes, but I forced them back. I refused to cry in front of these guys. The image of Draco flashed in my mind. "Can I ask you a question?"