As soon as they walk through the doors of Curatrix, people surround the heroes, all speaking at once as they fuss over them. Several nurses poke around Mark, lifting his arms and checking his eyes with lights. Their voices fill Mark's head, hindering his ability to think or speak.
"Give him some space!" Felix scolds, but his voice is drowned out by everyone else.
Mark's breathing becomes shorter, panic flooding him. Why is everyone so close? Why are they all talking at once? He sways a little, bumping into Ken. His friend catches him, supporting him to the best of his abilities.
"Mark, are you okay?" he whispers.
The hero can only shake his head, the aching in his body increasing with every moment they spend standing. Ken purses his lips and takes a deep breath.
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!"
The nurses fall silent, looking horrified that Ken raised his voice. He sighs through his nose and squares his shoulders in an attempt to take some authority.
"First, take Mark to the hospital ward with anyone else who's injured. Anyone who isn't injured needs to find Matthias and tell him what happened," Ken says.
The nurses take Mark and help him to the hospital ward, followed by several of the other heroes who each clutch a different wounded area of their bodies. Felix and Ken head to Matthias' office in silence.
The nurses lower Mark into bed, immediately stripping him of his super suit to reveal the t-shirt and jeans beneath it.
"Phil, did you use water already?" one of the nurses asks.
"I've used it to the furthest extent possible," he replies.
The other heroes take the spare beds, waiting for Phil to come by and heal their wounds. Mark clenches his teeth, pain erupting through his entire body.
"Rate your pain on a scale of one to ten," one of the nurses says.
"Solid eight," he replies through clenched teeth.
"Phil said he healed you," another nurse points out as she hooks him to an IV machine.
"I did, but my magic can only do so much. It fixes wounds and can bring someone from the brink of death, but the person is still going to feel quite a bit of pain," Phil explains as he puts water on one of Marzia's wounds.
The nurses look at each other, mumbling under their breaths. Mark gasps as one of the women adjusts him, and she apologizes quickly before tucking him under the covers.
"He needs two Advil tablets every eight hours and lots of rest," a male nurse says, earning a few nods from his fellow caregivers. With that, they all file out of the room.
"They're overwhelming sometimes, aren't they?" Phil comments, sitting back in one of the chairs.
Felix and Ken enter with Matthias, each finding their own places to sit. Matthias plops down in the chair beside Mark's bed, typing rapidly on his laptop.
"What happened?" he asks, glancing up at Mark momentarily.
"Um, the Irishman, I think his name is Jack, he took of his eyepatch. As soon as he opened it, he turned into another person." The hero lets out a hefty sigh, the memories flashing through his brain. "He called it the Septic eye. He used it to control me."
Matthias nods and stands, adjusting his glasses and straightening up. "Thanks, that's all I needed."
Mark nods and sinks into the pillows, the painkillers entering his bloodstream and making him drowsy. More than anything, he wants to wake up and realize that this was all some terrible dream and that he didn't actually get beaten to a pulp by a raging lunatic. The other heroes mumble their goodbyes and head home, leaving Mark to the silence of the hospital ward.
A/N: Sorry about this chapter in general. I've got lots to do. Hopefully updating will be more consistent!