Feather Bound

Chapter 58

He landed at the hospital within minutes, rushing through the emergency room doors, blinking around at the chairs in the lobby. He frowned, realizing they weren't waiting to be seen; Himari must've required urgent attention. Was her condition really that bad? She'd seemed fine before he'd taken her from the room. He sucked in a breath, trying to calm himself. He didn't have the full scope yet; panicking wouldn't help him or Y/N.

He made his way to the front desk, ignoring the gasps and stares from the others in the waiting room—curious as to what the number two hero was doing there, looking so scared. He would stare and gasp if he were them too. The nurse behind the desk looked up at him when he arrived in front of it, sucking in her own breath as she finally realized who he was.

"Oh wow! Hawks, are you okay? What can I help you with?" She asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she gazed up at him.

"My girlfriend and her daughter, I need to know if they're here," he said quickly, providing Himari's name. The nurse typed something on a keyboard, her eyes widening in surprise as she looked up at him.

"Oh god, the girl you saved from the villain? That was your girlfriend's daughter? God, I thought the women with her looked familiar," she said, unable to hide the horror on her face, and he grimaced. Well, at least he knew that she was here, but damn, The Commission moved quickly. He nodded, his throat tight, and she frowned as she scanned the computer screen again.

"She's here; they're doing scans and tests now, but I'm not sure I can take you back until she's got a room. Her mother and aunt are already back there with her; we don't want to overcrowd the room." He almost wanted to laugh; Y/N had told the hospital that Haruki was Himari's aunt. Clever girl. The nurse sighed before glancing up at him, frowning slightly. "But I'll see what I can do, okay?"

He nearly wanted to cry but nodded instead. She gave him a look of pity before reaching for the phone on the desk, and he turned around to find a seat in the waiting room. He quickly settled, pulling out his phone and letting Haruki and Y/N know he was there in the waiting room. He fidgeted with it, hoping they'd answer quickly, but as minutes ticked by, he was left waiting for some type of answer from anyone. It took about forty more agonizing minutes before Haruki came out into the waiting room to get him.

"Hey," she said gently, quickly diverting his attention from whatever game he had been playing to kill the time. He sucked in a breath as their eyes met, her concern for him obvious without words. "I just saw your text; thought I would come out and see you. What happened? Are you okay?"

He slid his phone into his pocket, his hand coming up to run through his hair with a loud sigh. He was hoping she would give him an update on Himari first, but it made sense to explain everything that had happened with him to start.

"I'm fine, I'm not even sure what happened or why. The President let me go though," he said before frowning. "Tore up my contract. They're transferring the agency ownership to me but will continue to support and finance it. I'm my own boss, I'm free."

She sucked in a breath, looking at him with wide eyes. "Are you serious? They really let you go?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Nobody can talk about this though. That was the exchange, our silence for my freedom. Himari was attacked by a villain. That's the story they're going with."

She frowned before nodding, silence stretching between them. She took another second before taking one more deep breath, avoiding his gaze slightly as she shuffled uncomfortably.

"Did you...kill him?" she whispered, and he blinked up at her for a second, silence stretching between them. Her eyes were wide, and she almost looked afraid of what his answer was going to be. In her defense, her fear made sense considering he really had almost killed Mamoru earlier that morning too. A few more seconds and he probably would've. He allowed a few more seconds of silence to pass between them before he let out a dark chuckle.