Freeze Frame

Chapter 26

NUMBER ONE IN BNHA AH I'M SCREAMING

Third person pov

With the trio of ambulances came the press. Wind of what was happening was already circulating as police from all over were called in. Camera's flashed in their direction as Aizawa was rolled out on a gurney, Lillian sat on the end of it. She sat on her knees by his legs, her hands digging into the waterproof cover as she stared at him. Her body quaked like a crumbling building, and blood dribbled down her chin.

"Hold on, kid." One of the paramedics said as she leaned over the side of the rolling bed and emptied her stomach once more, scarlet clashing with the remnants of what she ate for dinner last night. She responded with a small sob that mingled with a groan as her eyelids drooped. 

Her whole body ached. It begged her to stop. Her quirk screamed at her, clawing at her insides as she gazed at their teacher. At first, they'd told her to unfreeze him. So she had. But upon seeing the state he was in, they'd all panicked. Lillian took one look at their pale faces before she met her teacher's eyes one last time, freezing him again. What else could she possibly do? Let him die? Let him fight for air and fade away, after all he'd done? He'd saved their lives.

Present Mic raced after them, calling encouraging words tearfully to Lillian. The present reporters soaked it up, cameras flashing, but nobody cared. Lillian barely noticed, her throat feeling tight. She blinked more, bringing up a hand and weakly slapping her face in a desperate attempt to keep herself from passing out. Blood spurted past her lips, coming up in clumps. 

A paramedic draped a blanket over her shoulders as the vehicle took off at breakneck speed, sirens wailing, and tires screeching. The poor, exhausted girl didn't even realize she was being propped up by the hands of one of the medics, she was so out of it. She watched them pry Aizawa's mouth open to get a look into his airway, though they were pretty sure one of his broken ribs had pierced a lung.

"Pneumothorax, right lung." One of them muttered to the second. Lillian felt herself tip slightly to the side, and Aizawa suddenly let out a gasping wheeze, body jerking. He quickly began to cough and choke, unable to breath. That was like a slap in the face for Lillian in and of itself. Her tired eyes widened, met her teachers, and she froze him again. The paramedics were still with shock.

"I-I'm-" She took a deep breath, giving a guttural cough that brought some specks of blood with it. She choked out a small sob as pain stabbed at her chest, stomach, and lungs, fresh tears falling from her eyes. "I-I'm sorry. P-P-Please save h-him."

They set to work after that without hesitation. Lillian didn't waver after that. She kept her eyes peeled, her fingers digging into her bloody sweater. She brought the sleeve up and inhaled the herbs she'd forgotten were there. The water had dulled the scent considerably, but it was still better than nothing. The scent stung at her eyes, but that wasn't a bad thing. It only distracted from the thickening cloud forming over her mind.

Lillian didn't focus on what the paramedics were doing. She only sniffled, keeping her breaths as deep and as slow as she could manage. Her body was almost getting accustomed to the pain, as though adjusting. It was more bearable than before, even if she was coughing up blood. The paramedic tasked with keeping her from falling over looked extremely concerned, his eyebrows drawn together and his lips pressed into a thin line. Lillian felt him squeeze her shoulder. She barely noted it, and yet it still managed to help ground her.

As long as Mr. Aizawa didn't die, it was fine, right? She was doing alright? She didn't want him, or anyone else, to die. If she could somehow stop it, she would. Even if it meant coughing up blood, and vomiting. It would be over soon anyway. It wasn't permanent. Mr. Aizawa's death? That was. That was something nobody could erase, and so she stayed, staring. Waiting. Forcing her quirk to keep going.

She almost cried out when they skidded to a stop, the back doors flying open. Her eyes met those of Hajime Shinso, and the man froze, his eyes going wide with surprise upon seeing her She'd had dinner with the man just last night, and now here she was, sobbing over her sensei and coughing up blood while trembling like a fifty-year-old shed in a snowstorm. 

"Lillian?! You're the one-" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "It'll be okay, Lillian. I'm going to take good care of your sensei, alright? You have my word. Just hold on for another minute."

She felt relieved to see him, someone she knew. She trusted Hitoshi greatly, and that trust had easily extended over to his parents. She'd met Hajime, and had a good grasp on who he was. He was blunt, and even if she did look like she was about to keel over herself, he wouldn't tell her it would be okay if it wasn't going to be. At least, that's what she told herself. She had to convince herself that that was the case. 

She almost fell forward and face-planted into her teacher's leg, but was held up by a nurse, who's face was filled with concerned. They were raced into the hospital, through the emergency room, and down a hall. Lillian vomited all over her lap on the way there, letting out a small scream that was closely followed by a sob as her quirk gave her another warning. A warning to stop. She didn't listen. She clamped her eyes shut and clamped her hand down on Aizawa's leg, forcing her power to hold steady. 

They were carted into an emergency room, and her hand was softly removed from her teacher's leg as he was shifted onto the table. They ripped open his shirt, and an IV was already being inserted into his arm. Hajime appeared in front of the dark haired girl, obstructing her view. She weakly reached out as though to move him, but her arm dropped halfway there.

"You can stop now, Lillian." Hajime tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "We've got him now."

A sob broke from her lips, and she dropped her quirk. The relief and fatigue that overwhelmed her almost knocked her out. She felt herself get lifted, and she forced herself to open her eyes. She found her gaze meeting that of her teacher's again, and weakly, she reached out. She didn't know why. Maybe she felt afraid because she'd let her quirk go, and because last he'd been unfrozen, he'd gurgled out a shit ton of blood and started to turn extremely blue. He hadn't been her teacher long, but god dammit Lillian was an emotional person.

"Mr. Aizawa." She wept out as she was pulled from the room, the nurse carrying her hushing her softly and assuring her that it was all going to be okay. Lillian curled up, her sobs intensifying as the memory of her teacher's face getting slammed in the pavement flooded her mind. The memory of Tsuyu nearly getting turned to dust, and the thought of that blue-haired man's hand an inch from her face all swarmed in her mind. 

With one last deep breath of air, Lillian's body finally gave out. She fell unconscious, the last thing she heard being her name as the man carrying her tried to get her to stay awake.