Transgender Jay : A Ninjago Story

32 - Aftermath

Jay shot into a sitting position as soon as he entered wakefulness, and right on queue, a couple of nurses dashed over to him, forcing him to lie back down despite his determination to get up.

"Where am I?! Where are my friends?! Are they ok?!" He exclaimed, clenching his fists, still trying to get up. Luckily for the nurses, he was still in a weak state, and was unable to do much against them.

"Sir, please calm down. You're in the hospital, your friends are fine, they'll be in to see you soon." one of the nurses spoke, staying calm.

After her words, Jay settled down a bit, but was still on edge.

"... the... the people... in the building..."

"It's best we don't talk about that right now. What's important right now is that we make sure you're ok."

"I'm fine, I'm completely fine just..."

"Just lay down, and stay calm, ok? Everything is alright."

He gritted his teeth and let his head fall back onto the pillow.

"... fine."

"Thank you. You're mildly injured, so you'll have to stay here for a few days. After that you'll be free to leave."

He didn't reply, and after the women were sure that he was stable and not a second away from throwing himself out of bed, they left.

It was maybe half an hour until he got a visitor.

He pretty much spent the entire time brooding, thinking over his fuzzy recollection of the events at the mall. He felt... awful. A complete failure.

He... didn't save anybody. And almost got himself killed in the process.

Embarrassment filled him up to his core, and he started feeling quite sick with guilt and regret. When somebody finally came around, he almost didn't notice them.

But luckily, movement at the foot of Jay's bed alerted him.

A familiar blonde came into view. Lloyd very briefly smiled at him, pulling aside the curtain that gave him privacy, and stepped into the space.

"Hey Jay. How are you feeling?" He asked. Jay looked away, refusing to meet his eyes.

"... not great."

The green ninja took a seat next to his bed.

"You were hurt pretty bad. Nothing too serious, but... you gave us a scare."

"Mmmmh."

"... we were afraid you might not make it, all that rubble you were under..."

Jay didn't even reply with a noise this time.

Lloyd sighed, and rubbed his eyes. He clearly hadn't slept in a while, judging by the dark bags under his eyes.

"... are you upset with me about something?"

"What? No...?" Jay replied, finally looking at him.

"... then why the silent treatment?"

Jay was quiet for a second, thinking of how he could put his emotions into words.

"... I... I'm not upset with you... I'm upset with myself..."

"About not getting to them in time? Jay, you were incredibly brave. You ran directly towards a god damn bomb to save people, for heaven's sake. It's not your fault it went off before you got to them."

He looked down, embarrassed and ashamed.

"... I should have been faster."

"Jay... I know that you struggle with self blame and stuff... but... saying it's your fault that you didn't reach them is slightly ridiculous."