37 Aftermath - Maeve I

Through heavy blinks, glowing rays of white lights assault the eyes only interrupted by a dark pixelated shape that was slowly getting bigger and bigger.

Muffled sounds reach the ears and as the head moves and feeling returns, there is a realization of a pressure surrounding the mouth and nose, a mask covering the face.

The right hand shoots to remove the obstructing device but the shadowy figure stops it.

"No, no not yet Reina, it will help you wake up!"

The words barely register but with each blink the image comes into focus and with each breath she feels energy coursing through her veins.

It only takes her a moment to regain her strength and her hand shoots to grab the wrist of the now visible man in green scrubs pressing the mask on her face.

"AH!" The man screamed and tried to jerk it out of her vice like grip. "Please stop Maeve you're hurting me! Please stop!"

With enough energy regained her upper body shoots up throwing the mask off, looking wildly around.

"Who are you? Where am I?" she asked the almost whimpering man.

"Reina, please! You're hurting me! We're in Vought Tower, medical floor, 72!" He said through labored breaths that only worked to accentuate his Spanish accent.

She released the man's wrist which he immediately jerked close to him letting out a huge breath.

"I'm Carlo, Carlo Perez, your nurse." He said regaining his breath.

Maeve looked at him confused and then looked around at the setup of the room resembling a hospital room equipped with various machines some hooked up with stickies to her, monitoring her condition.

"What happened?" She asked uncertainly which drew a brief look of confusion from Carlo.

"You don't remember? You had an accident fighting, you and Mr. Homelander."

As soon as the words left his mouth a rush of images and memories flooded her mind. "He hit you hard on the head and broke your ribs, big mess."

Her hand went to her head as if bracing herself to better withstand the memory.

They were sparring, her body remember each blow was heavy, the pain reverberating like thunder striking. They were moving fast, faster than she'd moved before and then pain in her gut like a shock, her breath was gone and pain in the side of her head.

"What happened after…the fight…how badly was I hurt? Why can't I remember anything?"

"Ah, si…it was pretty bad, the sternum, ribs were broken and bruised organs but those healed up in two days no problem it was the blow to the head, they had to put you in a coma for a few days."

"Coma?"

"Si, cracked cranium, big bruise on the temple. There was a big fight between Dr. Schiffler and Ferrelli on whether they should try to cut you open" At his words Maeve's eyes went wide and her hand went to her head, everything felt normal "to let the brain swell just in case but Dr. Schultz agreed with Dr. Ferrelli and they only put you in a coma and treat you with ice and anti-inflammatory medication."

"How long have I been out?"

"Five days, Reina you were supposed to be woken up yesterday but the doctors were all busy…short-staffed not many people wanted to come in because of the contamination…the radiation and the damage to the building."

Maeve looked even more confused.

"Ah, right, before your accident you remember the midtown terrorist?" Her eyes widened in realization, Soldier Boy.

"Turns out it was Soldier Boy, come back from the dead. He was killing supers, wanted to take down the company and the government for betraying him or something. He and Mr. Homelander had a big fight, big mess, top of the building is destroyed, radiation warning for our block." Maeve listened to his words sharply though she felt as if he was talking about another world.

"The 50th floor where the studio is and ten floors below and above are closed off, they say the radiation is the highest there. Some of the buildings around us got hit pretty bad, they evacuated the most of them."

Maeve almost not believing what she was hearing stood and in a daze went to the bright windows and looked out at the surrounding skyscrapers.

Devastation.

Tops looked like they had been wrecked by a bulldozer, steel beams sticking out, cement dripping and smoke rising from the hidden fires.

She saw Carlo shake his head in sorrow "Many died, were working late and from the building materials falling on the street." He paused briefly. "They offered us big bonus to come in, the doctors were desperate, said our building was secure."

As her eyes wandered from building scanning the damage of what she could only assume was a hard fight she caught a blob of dark on the ground. Her eyes shifted course and focused there only to realize it was a large gathering of people.

"What's happening down there, why is that mob of people gathered here?" She asked the middle aged nurse who joined her by the window.

"Oh, Miss Ashley call them, they come to support Senor Homelander."

Maeve looked at him, her features frowning in confusion.

"She say Homelander fought Soldier Boy and push him into space to save the city. They say he fell down in a ball of fire like a falling angel." Carlo paused.