Eight: Season 2

Episode 25: Aftermath Pt. 1

  Shoto-
  "Jade! Jade!! Wake up!!" TC yelled.
  "Get her up!" I shouted desperately as Jade laid on the table, her hair pulled back and up off of her neck and back.
  "We have to shock her." TC said.
  "What!?" I shouted.
  "Her heart stopped, we have to shock her! NOW!" TC shouted, and Hanta walked over.
  "I'm so sorry Jade." Hanta said, wrapping his hands in his lightning and shocking her multiple times before she gasped awake, coughing up blood, and we rolled her onto her side.
  "Jade?" I asked.
  "I can't feel anything. I'm fine." Jade said, weakly, looking half dead.
  "No! Jade that's paralysis, it's what happened with the gunshot." Isabella said.
  "You're not fine." Daeva said.
  "Please...help her." I begged.
  "It's not that simple Shoto, the bullet is stuck in her spine. We'd have to cut her open and pull it out, with how long it's been...there's a chance we could make things worse and that she'll have partial paralysis, specifically in her right knee." TC said.
  "Why? Because Kirishima tore her ACL too?" Hanta asked, as Daeva cleaned his gunshot wound.
  "What!?" Daeva asked.
  "We all heard a pop when Kirishima kicked her, and sent her rolling down a hill." Yo said, as Isabella cleaned his gunshot wound.
  "I didn't even feel that." Jade said, weakly, barely able to stay conscious.
  "You have to stay awake Jade. Stay...awake." I said, holding her cheeks.
  "Ok this is bad, beyond bad." Luna said.
  "Well we can't just leave her like this!" TC exclaimed.
  "I'm not risking doing that surgery on a 14 year old girl." Luna said.
  "Surgery?" Jade asked, weakly.
  Luna gasped and then TC sighed. "We could operate on your spine, remove the bullet and the paralysis would stop, you'd still be permanently paralyzed in your right leg though. We can also do surgery on your knee to put everything back in place. The issue is, we aren't in a sterile environment and we have no way to put you under anesthesia. You would feel us doing the surgery." TC said.
  "Would I be able to walk?" Jade asked, weakly.
  "Yes." TC said, and then he took a breath. "But, I mean, Kirishima fucked up your knee by tearing your ACL when the nerve was already severed, you'll be in an ACL knee brace for the rest of your life. I mean...both of these surgeries will have consequences." TC said.
  "Do it." Jade said, weakly.
  "What!? Jade are you insane!?" Hanta asked.
  "I am still alive, I can still help! To do that, I need to be able to walk! Even if I'm in a knee brace for the rest of my life. I don't want to be like this forever." Jade said, more fierce and determined, but still weakly.
  "You realize what we're saying. You are gonna feel everything." TC said.
  "I know." Jade said, weakly.
  "Oh my God, I can't stay in here for this." Daeva said.
  "Me either." Isabella said.
  "You two can move to the other building with Hanta and Yo, there needs to be as little people in here as possible if we want to lessen the risk." TC said.
  "I'm not doing this surgery TC!" Luna shouted, crying.
  "You don't have to, I will." Lilith said.
  "Mom." Jade said, weakly.
  "Hello my sweet baby." Lilith said, brushing her hair from her face and kissing Jade's forehead.
  "I want to be in here." Jax said.
  "That's fine, Lilith...thank you for doing this." TC said.
  "Shoto...can you—" Jade began, weakly, in the brink of tears.
  "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, ok? I'm gonna be here the whole time." I said.
  "Shoto, your gunshot wound—" TC began.
  "Is fine, Jade cauterized it. I'm not leaving her bed side, that's an order from your Captain. If anything happens while I'm with her, I know you can handle it." I said.
  TC nodded, and they left. "Jax flip her over." Lilith said.
  Jax lifted Jade and turned her onto her stomach.
  "AAAAAAAAHHH!!" Jade cried out.
  "Shh, shh, shh. It's ok, you're ok." Jax said, brushing her hair from her face.
  "Ok." Lilith said.
  "Just look at me." I said, beside her at eye level.
  Jade nodded as Lilith used a belt to strap her down to the table, and Jade flinched. "Ok Jade, here goes." Lilith said.
  She put the scalpel against Jade's skin. "Wait! Wait! Wait!" Jade cried, and Lilith stopped.
  "Jade, it's ok. I'm not leaving." I said.
  "I'm scared." Jade said, taking a sharp breath in.
  "I know, but I'm gonna stay right here the whole time, just focus on me." I said, and I took her hand, gripping it tightly,
  Jade interlocked her fingers with mine, and looked right at me, nodding. "Ok, she's ready." I said.
  Lilith began the surgery on her spine.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Jade screamed out, crying as she gripped my hand, her eyes squeezed shut, and I squeezed her hand trying not to cry.

  Hanta-
  "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Jade screamed out, crying.
We could hear her screams echoing across Arcadia. "Oh my God, I can't listen to this." Daeva said, burying her head into my chest, plugging her ears.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Jade screamed out, crying.
  It didn't matter where we were, we could hear the screams from all of Arcadia. Luna was practically in tears as TC held her.
  Yo was beside me, holding Isabella against his chest as she plugged her ears.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Jade screamed out, crying.
"This is torture." I said, tearing up and clenching my free fist.
  "I know." Yo said, tearing up and clenching his free fist.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Jade screamed out, crying.
  Jade's screams rang out across Arcadia. The girls were all plugging their ears with the guys holding them to comfort them. "I can't...even imagine...being Shoto right now." I said.
  "I don't want to." Yo said.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Jade screamed out, crying.
  The screaming went on for hours as they did both the knee surgery and the back surgery. The screaming didn't stop until late that night.

  Shoto-
  Jade was breathing heavily and she was pale and sickly looking.
"You did so good! So good!" I exclaimed, kissing the top of her hand.
  "You didn't have to stay with me, but you did...thank you." Jade said, weakly, crying.
  "Jade I wanted to stay with you. You saved my ass." I said.
  "Nah, you did that." Jade said, weakly as I still held her hand...she looked like literal shit, sounded like shit too.
  "Mom...thank you...for doing this." Jade said.
  "Shh baby, shh." Lilith said, brushing Jade's hair from her face. "You need to rest now, ok? Sleep." Lilith said.
  "Shoto..." Jade began.
  "Shh, it's ok. I'm with you through this the whole way, nothing is gonna change that." I said, kissing her hand again.
  She smiled and then she closed her eyes and slept. I exhaled, and Jax gripped my shoulder. "Thank you for being with her, Shoto." Jax said.
  I nodded. "I'm gonna be checking in on her periodically. But you can stay in here with her, I'll bring you a blanket, jacket, and pillow." Lilith said.
  "Thank you Lilith." I said.
  She nodded, kissing Jade's forehead one more time before she left.
  Hanta and Yo came in after Lilith and Jax left, their gunshot wounds wrapped and taken care of thanks to Daeva and Isabella. "How can she sleep in that much pain?" Hanta asked, sitting beside me.
  "I dunno." I said, rubbing the back of my head.
  Yo gripped my shoulder and sat beside me. "Shoto...we know you care about her...it's ok man, we're here for you." Yo said.
  My lips quivered, and it began to rain and storm outside. I cried, both Hanta and Yo gripping my shoulders, looking away as they comforted me.