Chapter 2
With another shock, that poor, battered body jolts off the bed again. It’s difficult to watch. It’s harsh and brutal and bloody. All is done in the effort to save her life, but it looks as though she is suffering powerful blows from an enemy. The doctor and nurses work quickly but calmly. Orders are given and followed to try a variety of interventions, but that stubborn heart just won’t start beating.
The longer it takes, the more tears spill. Alex and Lena haven’t budged from their corner of the room, bearing witness to it all. Both want to look away, but they can’t. They need to see with their own eyes if Kara will make it or not. At some point, they even huddled together. Arms tangled together, squeezing their clasped hands.
Lena doesn’t believe in a god. Not a single one, but she still finds herself closing her eyes after seeing the doctor shake his head. She pleads with whoever is listening to just let Kara live. Hot tears stream down her face steadily. She can hear Alex warning the doctor not to stop his efforts. Lena whispers to herself in desperation, “Kara, please... Please come back to me.”
Lena for a brief second holds her eyes closed even tighter before opening them again. It feels like time has slowed to a stop. In just one, shuddering breath from Lena, she opens her eyes again to witness Kara’s body jolting on its own accord. Lena witnesses it in every miniscule detail. She sees the veins bulge on Kara’s neck. She sees the green veins retreat some. She can nearly make out every line on the hero’s muscles as her body completely tenses. She endures the sight of pure agony on Supergirl’s face as the machine beeps slowly. Her heartbeat is back.
The medical teams are thrown into a frenzy, not understanding how this happened. They are quick to start working on patching the heroine up to slow the blood loss and stabilize her as best as they can. With fresh stitches, more medications, and body scans for any embedded Kryptonite, the team deems that they have done all that they can for now. Supergirl needs more time to rest and heal before they can even think about putting her body through anymore. The staff clean up the blood and mess as much as possible, but they leave the heroine alone.
“Thank you. Thank you all so much,” Lena mutters after the update, unwilling to take her eyes of the blonde for even a second. She wanders through the staff like she is under a spell to be closer to the woman she loves.
Alex is quick to join her. Both women gently lay hands on the injured Supergirl as if just to feel the warmth and confirm that she is alive.
“What the hell happened to her?” Lena mutters.
Alex takes a deep, shuddering breath in. “Only the person who did this knows.”
“Lex,” Lena grimaces.
“We assume,” Alex pointedly says.
Lena takes a moment to relax her demeanor before brushing away some bloodied hair from Kara’s face. “We should clean her up. She shouldn’t have to wake like this.”
“I’ll go get the supplies.” Alex takes a few moments before she leaves the room to collect everything they would need.
Lena takes this opportunity to speak to the unconscious woman on her own. “Kara. I’m so very sorry. My brother will not lay a hand on you ever again. I swear.” Lena’s eyes drift up to the drone. “And I’m so sorry for not finishing this in time. LCorp should not have come before protecting you. I- I just hope you can forgive me.”
“She will tell you that she has nothing to forgive you for,” Alex says quietly. She had returned without Lena knowing. “As much as I love my sister, I think she would be more comfortable with you cleaning her up. I can help get her suit off, but I think if she had a choice, she would want you to be the one touching her.”
“Who did it before me?”
“I did, but the choice was between me and a random DEO employee.”
Alex grabs the clothing sheers that the medical team used to cut away the torso. She is quick to run it down both arms and both legs. Two quick extra cuts allow Lena to peel back the front of the supersuit, but Alex helps her roll the woman to the side to pull out the back. Alex passes off the sheers before leaving Lena to it.
Lena stares at the bruises littering Kara’s body. They look unbearably painful. She takes a sharp breath before setting herself on the task at hand. She cuts away Kara’s underwear before dipping the sponge into warm, soapy water. Lena is methodical as she scrubs away the sweat, grime, and blood, starting at Kara’s feet.
“Darling, I don’t know if you can hear me. Scientifically, I know that while your brain may process external noise, you are likely not able to comprehend it or even remember it if you can.” The water in the bucket turns an ugly tinge of pink. Lena has to dump it out and get fresh water every so often as she moves up. “I love you so much, Kara. Not just your different alter egos, but all of you. I love Kara Zor-el, the woman who is so kind and sweet and strong and has seen unspeakable horrors. I love your tenacity both as a superhero and a reporter.”
Lena is careful around the stitches and open wounds, but she cleans them to avoid infection. Slowly the woman is looking more recognizable as herself despite the injuries. “I knew the dangers you face well before we started dating, and I promised you that I would never ask you to stop. I am keeping that promise, and at the same time, seeing you like this… it hurts. Especially since I know my brother was the one who did it. I fear that one day you aren’t going to come home to me… that our time will be cut short. I know you have the same fears every time I pull one of my stunts as well. I’m doing my best to face those fears just as I know that you do yours. I am going to have to ask for your patience. This time… this time has been worse than any other time, Kara.”
Tears begin flowing again, and Lena curses herself for them. She finally moves to wipe away the blood and grime from Kara’s face. She takes her time. She finds herself rubbing a thumb along Kara’s forehead, right where that crinkle normally shows itself when Lena is voicing her concerns. “Alright, darling. Time for your hair. I’m going to do my best, but this is always the most difficult part.”
Lena fills up the bucket again with fresh, warm water. With a fluffy towel placed under Kara’s head, she fills up the sponge before squeezing it out against Kara’s scalp. Bloody water stains the towel a deep pink. Once all the blonde hair is wet, Lena begins to work in some shampoo. She does it as if she was doing it at home, scratching where Kara always enjoys it best. Her fingers cover every inch of Kara’s scalp before she begins rubbing the bulk of the hair. The shampoo only turns slightly pink since most of the blood had been rinsed out. Once Lena is sure that she scrubbed every portion of hair, she repeats the earlier process. She has to go through multiple towels to ensure she has rinsed Kara’s hair thoroughly, but she doesn’t do half-measures, especially with someone she treasures. “There you go, darling. All clean. Hopefully, this will just become a distant memory one day. Alex seems to have gotten the softest sweats she could find for you.”
Lena works the pants up Kara’s legs. It takes a bit of maneuvering, which involves draping Kara’s legs over her shoulder, to pull them all the way up. She made sure the sweatshirt was a zip-up. It is the easiest way to ensure she doesn’t agitate any of the stitches. She adjusts the gurney to have Kara partially sitting up. With one arm through, Lena pulls Kara’s torso towards her, having Kara lean against hers so she can pull the sweatshirt behind her back. Lena is so very careful in pushing her back to the gurney before finishing dressing her and zipping up the sweatshirt. Lena readjusts Kara to ensure she is as comfortable as possible. “Now, I just need you to rest and heal and wake up for me, darling. I’ll be here the whole time.”
Alex comes back after an hour to check on her sister. She finds Lena sleeping in a chair with her head on the gurney by Kara’s legs. Lena’s hand rests lightly on top of Kara’s fingers. Alex pulls a blanket out of the storage to drape across Lena’s back. She doesn’t dare wake the CEO since this is most likely the most rest she will be getting in the coming days.
Alex looks over Kara’s vitals and checks the IV bags before turning her attention to the woman herself. Alex sighs and pulls up a chair of her own and works off a tablet as she watches over Kara’s status. She is sure to whisper, “You are lucky, Kar. Not just from the fight, but to have a woman like Lena by your side. I’ve got her covered for now, but you are going to have to watch her when you wake up. I can already see the guilt eating her up.”