The base was eerily silent, as it had been for the past 27 hours. Jack, Raf, and Miko were at the hospital with Ellie, going to pick her up when the doctor cleared her. She would come back to base because no one could watch her at home.
Optimus was back at base, unable to focus on reports or any other work. For now, he looked at the computers and pretended to be studying their words, when he was actually thinking about his human.
Jack had only texted them once and his message was:
Battery about to die, but everything's fine. Ellie has to have surgery. She has appendicitis :(
Ratchet googled what her condition was and explained it to the best of his ability. Optimus had nodded, but the medic's word gave him little comfort. Her own body trying to kill her?
"Bee left to go pick them up," Arcee said from behind him.
Optimus nodded.
"Miko texted, she said that the surgery went well. Ellie's awake but still dealing with the meds they gave her," she went on.
Optimus hummed lowly.
Arcee turned to leave but paused, "You're worried, aren't you?"
"I am. She was so close to dying and none of us were here," he frowned.
"She's fine now. A bit sore, but she'll be alright," Arcee reassured him.
She's fine now...
She's fine now...
She's fine...
Fine...
Fine...
Fine...
"I'm fine, Optimus! It was just a scratch!" she laughed.
"Yeah, "just a scratch". You were shot, Elita," a younger Optimus said, watching a medic patch her up.
"In the arm," she smiled at him.
The medic finished and left for another patient.
"See? Good as new." she moved her arm to prove her point.
The younger Optimus couldn't stop a smile from forming on his face.
"Now come on, Prime, we have reports to look over," she headed for the door.
Optimus followed, and when he thought no one was around, he put his arm around her.
"Thank you, Arcee," Optimus said.
He heard her leave him.
----
"They're back!" Bulkhead called as Bumblebee pulled into the main room.
When he came to a stop, Raf hopped out first, then Jack. Miko came next but reached back in to get a hold of Ellie's hands. Slowly, she showed herself. Her hair was messy, bags under her eyes, but she was alive.
Optimus watched from near the computers. Miko helped her out of Bee and helped her towards the staircase leading up. Ellie leaned against her, walking on shaky legs.
"Hey, Els! Howya feelin'?" Bulkhead asked.
"Hrmm..." Ellie mumbled.
"She said -and these are her words, not mine-, she said she feels shitty," Miko said.
Jack gave her a look.
Ellie eventually got up the stairs and sat down on the couch. Raf handed her a blanket.
"So... What you wanna do now?" Miko asked.
Ellie just frowned, then winced as she lay down on the couch. She fixed the blanket to cover herself entirely.
"Let her rest, Miko," Ratchet advised.
"Okay..." she mumbled.
Ellie promptly fell asleep. The humans soon went to their own various spots around base, the bots as well. Optimus came over to the humans' area and looked down at Ellie.
Her arm had come uncovered from the blanket and a white band was seen on her wrist. He noticed that there were words on it and he focused his eyes on them. They showed a few numbers, a date, a room number, and her age. His eyes finally landed on one last sentence. In surprise, Optimus took a step back. It read:
"Elita A. Una"