A Mockingbird In The Crows Nest

A Steady Beep Of A Heart Monitor

"What..Happened?" He looked over at the hero.

Charon grimaced and chewed on his lip and uh oh that wasn't a good sign. "..Well, what do you remember?"

"I remember.." He furrowed his eyebrows and clawed at the edges of his memory; trying to rip up the veil separating his 'now' brain and his 'before' brain. Whatever drugs they have him on must be strong- because it takes him far too long to start pulling together the fragmented pieces of his last few waking hours.

"I remember the building. And the fire..And falling? And- And I remember.." He grimaces at the flashes of pain in his back, the burning sensation in his hands, the way his powers had fixed Sally's- and Tommy gasps sharply- sitting up sharply despite how his head swims. "Sally. Is she ok??" He looks over at Charon desperately.

The hero's expression softened, and he guided Tommy to lay back down. "She's alright, don't worry..She was discharged from the hospital yesterday- and she'll make a full recovery. She won't even have a scar."

Tommy nearly collapsed in relief, letting his head fall back onto his pillow. Hearing that he'd been able to save someone helped ease a little of the guilt that'd been crushing down on him since he heard the screams from the tower. But Sally wasn't the only one in that tower. There had been other people too, right? "..What about everyone else?" He asked after a moment; almost fearing the answer.

Charon made a confused noise. "Everyone else?"

"The other civilians who were trapped in the tower..Are they alright? Did, um..Did anyone-?" He cuts himself off and coughs sharply into his elbow; not wanting to say it in case it made it real.

Thankfully, Charon seemed to understand.

"Oh, no no everyone's alright. Everyone got out safe and sound." Tommy melted against the pillow and ran a hand down his face in relief. Thank Prime no one got killed. He's not sure he'd be able to forgive himself if an innocent civilian didn't make it home to their family because of him. Especially when he made it out fine. He doesn't think he'd ever be able to bury the guilt if someone died while he survived with minor injuries.

"Actually..The only person who hasn't recovered yet is you." Charon continued, and Tommy looked over at him with a frown. The hero looked nervous, and his wings were puffed up like he was uncomfortable for some reason. And if Charon was uncomfortable, that meant something was wrong. But that..Didn't make sense? If Tommy was the only one still injured- surely that was a good thing? It meant everyone important got out safe.

"Huh?"

"You were too weak for Lotus to heal you when you got here." He continued, and Tommy's frown deepened. "We needed to wait for you to gain a little strength back before he could really do anything. And when we were discussing the next steps you.." He cleared his throat and clasped his hands together with a strained smile. "..You woke up."

"I woke up?" Tommy repeated, a growing sense of horror rising in his chest.