Aurora Lorentis’s eyes slowly fluttered open as her senses were assaulted with a myriad of overwhelming stimuli. The first thing she noticed were the blinding phosphorescent lights that hung overhead, flickering indiscriminately, accompanied by the ever present buzz of their illumination. Then came the sterile stench of disinfectant and dried blood, along with the sounds of medical equipment beeping monitoring someone. Judging by the dull pain thrumming through her chest and skull, that someone she guessed was likely her.

  “Ow…” She groaned, taking her time to slowly sit upright, relieved to be in a soft linen hospital gown instead of her usual cargo pants and shirt, and took a look at her surroundings. It was reminiscent of a cheap hotel room on the main-line, save for the extra furniture and monitoring equipment. Aside from her bed, there was very few pieces that grabbed her attention, save for a dresser that had a stack of her clothes folded neatly on the top, a table laden with empty water bottles and food wrappers, and plump plush chair where Logan was currently rising out of, his dark flannel shirt billowing in his haste to hurry over to greet her at her bedside.

  “Mornin’ Kiddo,” He said, his raspy tone far quieter than its usual verbose grunt, coming out more like a tentative whisper than anything, “How ya feeling?”

  “I’ve been better,” She said, wincing slightly as she reached to scratch her neck. To her surprise, instead of feeling skin, her hand slid across the unmistakable feeling of gauze and tape. Her eyes went wide as she felt around further, coming to the stark conclusion that the entire top of her skull was wrapped in medical bandages.

  She pulled her hand back to look at it, before turning her eyes on Logan, her eyebrows raised in shock and horror, “Logan…What the hell is going on?”

  He grimaced, his jaw clenching as if trying to bite off a word before letting it come out of his mouth, “How much do you remember?”

  She blinked, then wracked her brain searching it as best she could through the sleepy fog as she tried to recall.

  “I remember… You and Cam were sparring… then he started to have a panic attack or something… and then…” She winced again as if the memory itself, or in this case the lack of one was painful. “And then… I don’t remember,” She finished, shaking her head as she looked to Logan for answers to fill in the gaps.

  Logan frowned, and looked down, giving a weary sigh, “Cameron wasn’t in his right state of mind when you pulled him out of the projection system. He thought he was still fighting for his life, so when you interacted with him, he reacted as if you were an enemy, he slammed you into one of the pillars and… well… let’s just say I’m glad we got you here.”

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  “O-Oh…” She said, swallowing dryly as she nodded, “Well… that’s not good. What’s the damage?”

  Another sigh left Logan’s lips, “Cracked skull and some broken ribs. I spoke to the doctor a little while ago and he said you’ll be okay as long as you take things slow for right now. So that’s what we’re doing. Letting you rest up.”

  “He didn’t say anything about any permanent damage or anything did they?” She asked, a feeling of terror rising up in her chest as she worried about her career and ability to help the boys. What good was a mechanic that forgot all about how to work on the machines of her clients?

  Logan chuckled softly, shaking his head as he put a hand on her shoulder, trying to put her fears at ease, “You’re gonna be right as rain kiddo, you just need to take it easy, relax, and before you know it you’ll be back to your old ways, tossing shit, and swearing like a sailor.”

  He offered her a smile which she returned, before blinking and looking around, “Hey? Where’s Cam?”

  Logan blanched, “Yeah… About that…”

  ***

  Cameron roamed the halls of Arsius Medical Center searching room to room for Aurora’s whereabouts. Hours had passed since Aeia had talked him into paying his old mechanic a visit, and he had decided that if this was going to be as awkward as he feared it would be, he at least wanted to look his best, taking the time to go change into a pair of black slacks, white undershirt, and brown bomber jacket, before setting off. He only made one stop along the way to pick up some flowers and a ‘get well soon’ card, before strolling up to the steps of the hospital.

  His eyes roamed back and forth, taking in the state of its inhabitants. The state of injuries were as vast as the people that had them. Everything from a child with a stomach ache, to a female pilot missing a chunk of her arm were being worked on by the various men and women of the medical staff. After some time, growing tired of his searching, he spied a nurse sitting at a reception desk, tapping away on a datapad and decided to ask for directions.

  “Excuse me, Miss,” he said, flashing as friendly a smile as he could at the pretty blonde, “I was wondering if you could help me with finding one of my friends?”

  The nurse looked smiling wide and nodded, “Of course, Sir” She said, “Might I have their name?”

  “Sure, it’s-”

  A loud frustrated shriek rang throughout the halls, cutting off all other sound. A shriek that was familiar to Cameron from the many times it had pierced his ear drums. Listening further, he could hear the string of expletives following behind it.

  “YOU STUPID FUCKING BASTARD!” Aurora shrieked.

  Cameron blushed, hiding his smile as he tossed a thumb in the direction of the shouts and clattering of things being thrown, looking back at the nurse who’d craned her neck to gaze down the hall, a look of horror on her face.

  “Actually,” He said, “I think I just found her.”