Hell's Angel: Devil's Backbone (BK 2)

Out of the Woods

Dani's POV
(Nightwing27th)

I opened my eyes to the soft beep of machines. I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it. I'm supposed to be dead. Aren't I? How did I survive that? My eyes swept the room, taking it in. I instantly recognized it as the med bay at Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. base. Agent Simmons stood in the far right corner of the room. She seemed to be going over some papers.

She glanced up from her clip board at looked at me, then did a double take. She smiled and walked closer. "How do you feel?" she asked in a soft voice, laced with her accent. I don't know really how to answer. Right now I don't feel much, but I'm sure that's because she's pumped me full of drugs.

I licked my lips and then looked up at her. The thought of talking seemed beyond my grasp. Almost like I've forgotten how. I closed my eyes and sighed, then I opened them and gave it my best shot. "Fine." It came out a whisper with no depth. Her eyes softened and she gave a sympathetic look. "What..."

I breathed in shallow breathes. My chest didn't feel like it was even able to expand so I could take a full sized breathed. But when I did breathe, I felt bandages around my whole torso grow tighter at the action. If I tried to breathe past the bandages' resistance, I was met with a sharp pain. One I couldn't locate no matter how hard I tried.

"What...happened?" I breathed air in with the first word and then blew it out with the second.

"Do you..." she looked at me curiously, "not remember what happened on the roof?"

"No...I do. After that."

She nodded. "You were barely alive when Coulson showed up with the jet. What Alison did kept you a live long enough to get you here. But you still weren't out of the woods," she explained. "You were in surgery for ten hours. Two hours later and you went in for your second surgery. The first forty eight hours was a lot of near misses."

"How long...was I out?"

"You were stabbed four days ago." Her words shocked me, but not a lot. I know how long it can take sometimes when you're hurt that bad. "The sword that pierced your left side, missed your lung by a quarter of an inch. The one on your right, damaged your lung beyond repair. We had tried fixing it, the first time, but it didn't hold. So we went back in and replaced it. Even with all that, you're going to need at least two more surgeries for your lung and the other organs that were damaged. And lots of muscle rehabilitation."

I sighed. "Thank you." She nodded. "What happened...to the others?"

"Both Alison and...Daredevil, came with you. Alison was still tending to you when you arrived," she said. "She was very distraught from Mr. Castle's passing. But she left once we knew you were going to make it. She said she needed to get back to her son." I nodded, remembering that I had locked Chase in the bathroom. Poor kid. "She told me to tell you to come and visit every once in a while, when you're not saving the world."

Sounds like she's written me off. Great. Oh, well. I don't blame her, after all of this. I'm surprised she still wants to see me at all. "And Daredevil?" I was almost afraid to ask.

She nodded. "He's been an emotional wreck, since he got here. He'd spent every waking moment by your side." She chuckled. "He must've asked me a million times how you were doing. It was starting to drive me crazy."

"Where is he, now?"

"He's still here. I was finally able to convince him to get some sleep. He'd been awake for at least forty eight hours, that I saw. But I had to promise to tell him as soon as you were awake. Which I better do." She turned toward the door.

"Jemma," I said. She stopped and looked at me. "What about the other thing?"

"It's just fine," she nodded with a smile. I smiled as she turned and left. I laid my head back and sighed. It was only about ten minutes before she returned, Matt in tow. He was still wearing his suit, but his mask was off. And since she's been calling him Daredevil, my guess is that he hasn't said his name to anyone. But it won't take long for them to find out. I'm sure Daisy already knows.