Need You (ShinDeku)

Ch. 87 - Died

A/N: I'm starting to understand why you're supposed to plan an outline before you start writing. Wasn't paying attention and missed my chance for a big plot point that I was going to do, because the time frame has already passed... oh well. Just gotta figure out my next steps now.
Have fun reading!

Izuku POV

The day is strangely awkward, a feeling I'm not used to having around Hitoshi, who usually only gives me comfort. Around lunchtime Shota pulls me aside to speak with me.

"Can Hizashi take you in for a checkup after school today? I know you visit Recovery Girl daily but Hizashi mentioned you should probably get checked since you haven't had a proper one recently, and when you stayed in the hospital the doctors said there were traces of drugs in your system."

"Oh, yeah. That's okay."

"Hizashi will be with you and I'll drop by after I take care of some work but do you think you're gonna be alright? We can arrange for a doctor to come to us instead. The last two times you were at the hospital you didn't react well." Blunt as always, I guess. I feel like I should be offended but I'm somehow comforted instead. It's like a big dispassionate alien is trying his best to understand my unstable human emotions and be accommodating.

"Right... I'll be okay, I think. The first time it was just that I was confused and I didn't know if any of it was real, after..." I trail off, not intending to think about my first time being conscious outside of that basement for months. I don't think it needs any explaining why I wasn't in my right mind the second time at the hospital, when I... visited my mother.

     "I understand. I'll make the appointment now? Hizashi and I have a very good doctor that specializes in injuries due to hero work. He's helped me through being drugged on three different occasions, several broken bones, a punctured lung, and the time my heart stopped. He and his team are extremely versatile and talented. And patient confidentiality is taken very seriously."

     My eyes were wide as I listened to him, concern filling my being. I didn't even know where to start with what he had said. His heart stopped? As in, he died?

"Don't worry kid, I'm still kicking. Thanks to that doctor, I will be for a long time." He seems to have read the look on my face, and slowly reaches up to ruffle my hair. It seems he doesn't care to hide our closeness from the class, and it makes me surprisingly a little glad. It also distracts me from the seriousness of the words he just said.

"Okay. As long as you and Hizashi are safe."

"Always. We gotta be there to protect you, don't we?"

A surprised smile graces my face, and I refrain from chewing my wounded lip to keep it in.

"Thank you both." I'm not sure what else to say, but thanking them feels necessary after all they've done.

"Don't thank us. That's our job. That reminds me I've set up an appointment for next week since the semester will be over after tomorrow. We'll go get your left hand all fixed up."

"Sorry?" Somehow I'm sure I've misheard, or misunderstood. His words from the day I cried in his apartment come back to me. 'What kind of parent would I be if I didn't have a way to fix it?' I know he said said that... but seriously. RG is a medical professional, even if she's not a doctor in the traditional sense. I've seen her certifications on the walls of her office. She said it wasn't fixable.

"I told you I would, did I not? We'll get it fixed up so you can properly start your training before the second week of summer break."

My next breath in is deep, feels like some lock around my lungs was just released, and they have enough freedom to take in all the air they want now. I hold it for a few seconds, considering, thinking his words over. Allowing myself to take them seriously. My eyes promptly fill with tears.