"There's nothing we can do." Doctor Gray explained regretfully to Victor, who had been waiting outside Harper's hospital room for almost two days; they had refused to let him enter until she was stable. The medical professional appeared almost afraid to relay this news to the cyborg. "The injuries she sustained were severe, but treatable. Some of them have already started to heal, but that's not what's killing her."
Victor paced left and right, constantly, with the untameable feeling of uselessness. "There has to be something. Anything."
"Honestly, we're not even sure what it is. All we know for certain is that her body couldn't fight against it and heal her new injuries simultaneously. While her immune system was occupied with the blood loss, broken bones and burns, her cells began to decay even faster." The Doctor never met Victor's gaze. Not even once. it didn't matter though. Nothing mattered as long as Harper's life was still in danger.
"Where is the source of this cellular decay?" Victor asked urgently.
"I'm sorry?" Gray replied, bewildered by such a direct question.
"If it's spreading, there has to be a point of origin." Victor halted his erratic movements, and instead simply stared at the ground beneath him. It was glistening under the artificial light, but there were small bolts of blood stained into the tiles that could never be scrubbed out.
"The...vertebrae in the Lumbar section of her spinal column."
Victor's head finally snapped upward, eyes directing themselves towards the doctor. "Then take it out."
"Even if we did, it wouldn't cure her. She'll still die..."
"But not now." Victor argued. In that moment he would have done anything to save her, no matter the cost. "If we remove the primary cause, then we could delay it for at least another few years."
"I don't think you understand. The infected tissue is embedded in her spine. No man on Earth could perform that procedure without causing lethal trauma."
Silence engulfed them both. It echoed in Victor's head and forced the reality of the situation inside. He couldn't let her die, but he knew that there would be a price for his own selfish desire to keep her with him a little longer. "I'm not a man."
Victor pushed passed the doctor, who didn't even try to stop him. He knew that no one could. Cyborg was a hero, but there was no sane person that would dare oppose him. More out of general terror of his mysterious technology rather than anything else.
————————
Harper's eyes fluttered open, and were left to stare at a blank white ceiling. It was the smell that hit her first. It was a sterile scent with the underlying metallic reek of antiseptic beneath. She recognised the odour as distinctly medical. She was in a hospital. That much was clear.
Harper could only vaguely remember her fight with 2902. She assumed that was the reason that she was still lying there in a dull room with almost every muscle in her body aching. She turned her head to the side and saw the towering form of Victor Stone. She smiled, and it broke his heart.
"It's good to see you, Robocop." Harper murmured in a hoarse and exhausted tone. "Did you catch her?"
"No...she deployed some kind of singularity device and was pulled into it. I didn't have time to stop her." Victor replied, though it was clear that this was a topic that he had been hoping to avoid until later. "It was like she had it all planned out, just encase she got captured... Now we're left with no answers, but I managed to prove your innocence with the little evidence I could find."
Any colour that still remained in Harper's face was swiftly drained. She looked almost guilty for the actions of that mysterious woman, but still said nothing on the matter. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about her anymore."
With a guttural heave of effort, Harper attempted to sit up against her pillow...but only managed to hold herself up with the strength of her arms. She tried again, but still couldn't move her legs up. Victor couldn't watch the shock in her eyes morph into alarm.
"I'm sorry, Harper. It was the only way." Victor managed to speak, but it didn't sound like his voice. The usual monotone was broken and twisted with sorrow. Now more than ever he could see himself becoming exactly like his father; who had saved his life by destroying it.
"What...did you do?" Harper gulped down the anxiety that had suddenly trembled through her.
The cyborg paused, only long enough to gather his own courage, and then finally tried to explain. "I...severed your spinal cord...removed four vertebrae in the Lumbar section. Whatever disease you have, it was doing the most damage there."
Harper couldn't contain the horror that flashed across her face. The Lumbar portion of the spine controlled every single leg muscle in the body. Her understanding of technology was fairly advanced, but even if she could figure out a way to reattach the signals in her spine, without those vertebrae it was all pointless. "You...paralysed me?"
Victor winced. "You were dying...it was the only way to delay it."
He dared to glance over at her and saw no sign of anger on Harper's face, only a conflicting sadness that almost seemed to consume the bright green of her eyes until they were nothing but watercolour. Somehow, that was much worse. "I understand. Thank you for saving me."
Her voice was artificial. In that moment, everything about her was. She wanted to be grateful, she had so much left to do...and a life was still a life no matter how it was lived. Harper knew that this wasn't the end of her world, and that death was far crueler than losing the ability to walk. Yet still she couldn't shake the grief. No amount of logic or understanding could prevent the initial shock from spreading into misery.
"Don't thank me for this." Victor finally replied in a strained tone. It sounded as if he was being torn apart by nothing but her expression. "I've ruined you. I did exactly what my father did to me..."
Harper wanted to respond, but no words would escape her. He may as well have taken her voice as well. She didn't blame him, of course. She was happy to still be breathing...but that didn't make the situation any easier to process.
Apparently she wouldn't have time to come to terms with her new situation either, because only seconds after their conversation had fallen into a quiet tension, the door to her hospital room was pushed open. Batman stood in the frame with a scowl on his face.
"Bruce, not now." Victor warned but the masked man remained unintimidated.
"That singularity could have killed people. Instead of that, it caused billions of dollars of property damage." Bruce growled. "Explain yourself. Now."
Harper pushed aside her own devastation for long enough to utter "What do you want from me? I didn't activate the damn thing."
"No, but I'm willing to bet that you know who did." Bruce stepped towards her bed, his glare was unrelenting. "Either you start being honest with us, or you're out of the League. I'm sure the Australian government's dying to re-enlist a crippled soldier."
Harper's jaw clenched and her teeth bared at his snarky comment. She didn't need to snap back at him though, Victor did that for her. He had stepped between Bruce and Harper, fury contorting what was left of his face. "That's enough! She doesn't answer to you, asshole!"
"It's fine, Victor." Harper sighed. "He's right. This has gone far enough."
Bruce was evidently surprised by her willingness to comply, but most of it was hidden behind the darkness of his cowl. Victor frowned, though couldn't pretend as if he hadn't been yearning for answers.
"It'll be easier if I show you... If I sent you the coordinates could you open a boom tube?" Harper asked, eyes remaining only on Victor. In the presence of someone like Batman, looking at him gave her a fleeting sense of comfort.
"Yeah...of course." Victor rested his hand on top of hers. It was cold and rough, but had a certain reassurance attached to it; that everything would be okay... A reminder that, though her world was about to change, she was still alive. It didn't erase the internal struggle, but it opened a small hatch in her mind. One that allowed a small ray of light to pierce the difficult road ahead.