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You get the call during one of the final steps of your immunology trial.
It goes to voicemail.
You get the call in the early morning.
You don’t check your phone until well into the afternoon.
You get the call on a Wednesday.
Wednesday is the day you are the busiest.
You get the call, or rather, calls from an unknown number.
It’s so tempting just to ignore it and get on with your life.
You want to be done with this stupid trial so you can fly home and be with Kara for at least a week before the next term starts.
But.
Something tickles the back of your mind and you hear the sole message.
You dial back.
And you don’t pack.
You don’t let your lab partner know you are leaving.
You simply jump in a taxi headed to the airport, wearing the same clothes you wore all day and with just your keys and wallet.
There’s no time to waste and there is no way of knowing how long it will take you to reach home.
You need to be home.
You need to.
XxXxX
“Alexandra Danvers?”
You turn from the nurse’s station the moment the surgeon comes close.
The drive took over four hours. Once you reached the airport you realized paying a driver would be faster and faster it’s what you needed: choosing the closest University from home ended not being close enough.
“My sister? Kara Danvers?” you ask him as soon as he stops before you.
His eyebrows raise at that. “I’m sorry, I’m not the doctor in charge of Miss Danvers. Your father and your sister came to the ER but she was handed over to pediatrics once we knew her wounds are not fatal. Have you looked for Doctor Williams?”
You shake your head. “I just got here, Doctor…?”
“Jefferson.”
You nod. You don’t care you are being rude. You simply want to know where your sister is. “How can I get a hold on Doctor Williams?”
His eyebrows raise higher at that. “Nurse Sanders can help you with that.”
You nod again and turn to the nurse he just pointed. You are about to make your inquiry when he interrupts you.
“Um…” he says to your back. “Don’t you want to know about your father?”
Right. He mentioned Kara was bought in with your dad. You nod for the third time.
“He is in the ICU. We had to operate for internal bleeding. One of his ribs punctured a lung and part of the motor got embed on his upper leg. It’s a miracle he didn’t bleed to death on the spot. He crashed twice during surgery and once about an hour ago. He is stable now. Delicate, but stable. You can see him for a little while if you’d like.”
“I’ll go after finding my sister, Doctor. Thank you.”
He sighs. “I don’t think you understand. He’s in critical condition, Miss.”
You blink. “I went through med school, Doctor. Believe me, I understand. I’ll go to see him after seeing my sister.”
Maybe you are too indifferent, maybe you are too cold, maybe you are simply a monster, but you really don’t feel anything when he is practically saying your dad can die at any minute.
You don’t have a clue where your mom is, but knowing her, she is somewhere near your dad and she has left Kara on her own.
Kara is your priority right now.
Doctor Jefferson’s shock would have been funny any other time, but right now, you really don’t care.
“Can you page Doctor Williams, please?” you ask the nurse with a tight smile.
“One moment please.”
XxXxX
The pediatric wing of a hospital has always been one of the worst places for you.
The walls try to be cheerful, too filled with cartoons and bright colors. The lighting is always different from the rest of the hospital and the floors are too shiny, too pristine. This hospital has some light music playing in the background, too low for it to be a bother but loud enough that it helps mask the sounds made by the young patients.
“So, there is nothing to worry about, but we’d like to keep her for the night.”
Doctor Williams, a nice old lady that looks so tired, but still has a smile on her face just ran you through Kara’s injuries. A broken arm and a couple of bruises meant they only did a local x-ray, which is just your luck. If they have done something more advanced like an MRI then Kara’s secret would be out in the open.
Kryptonians may look human at first glance, but they are really different on the inside. You are also so lucky Kara hasn’t started her version of puberty, the outer changes in her body would raise several alarms.
Doctor Williams was nice enough to let you see the images and yeah, Kara got off lightly. Her radius was broken in two places, but the breaks are clean, easy to fix ones. The sole fact that she was hurt, however, lets you know she was wearing her stupid kryptonite dampener and you want to kill your parents for that.
Your mom made the dampener for Kara when it became obvious your sister has some heavy anger issues. It was almost as if turning five was some sort of catalyst and she started hitting and biting if she didn’t get her way. Tantrums became the norm and your mom had no patience to calm her down and, well, Kara was too strong to be contained by then.
Your mom made the dampener for Kara but it was a benefit for herself. It was designed to lower Kara’s powers to the point where she is weaker than a human and she tires easily, making her nap longer and more constantly. When you learned about it you were furious… and too far away to do anything about it.
(You refuse to relate Kara’s sudden temper change with you returning to full time schooling.)
“My sister was wearing a necklace and bracelet,” you tell her. “Do you know where they are?”
Procedure dictates she would be removed of all jewelry upon entering the ER so you need to know where they are. You don’t care about the dampener at all, but you refuse to let your baby sister lose the only thing still connecting her to Krypton. That necklace was her mother’s and Kara has refused taking it off since forever.
Your question is stupid and out of place, you know it and so does Doctor Williams. The frown on her face is expected. “Both were taken from her, I believe, I didn’t see them when she came to me. They should be with her clothes.”
You nod, not a little anger raising on your chest. You need to get that dampener as far as you can so Kara can heal immediately. You also need to see Kara. Now.
“Come,” she tells you, almost as if she’s reading your mind. “Visit hours are over, but you can see her for a little while.”
You nod, grateful. You have no idea what time is it, but you follow her to a room with three beds just off the common room you have been talking in.
The lights are low and the occupants of the first two beds are fast asleep. Once you think it’s a girl and the other a boy, but you can’t be sure and it doesn’t really matter. The last bed, though, is what draws you in fully into the room.
Kara is there, sleeping fitfully. She is turning and kicking every so lightly.
“She is sedated,” the Doctor tells you. “She wouldn’t let us help otherwise.”
That explains it, you think. Kara has trouble sleeping far from home and you know hospital sheets are too rough for your baby sister. There is no way she would be sleeping if she is not drugged.
You hate this. Kara has never been drugged before. And you have no way of knowing how will she react to the substance and you have no way of raising your concerns without exposing her.
You can feel your chest tighten at the thought of Kara reacting badly, at Kara being exposed and you fight down the sudden bile that’s threatening to rise to your mouth. Instead, you focus on your sister.
She has always been small for her age, but tonight the gurney swallows her up. She is so tiny she could pass for a slightly tall toddler and she is crying in her sleep.
“Oh, baby.” You waste no time in going to her, sitting at the edge of the mattress and gathering her in your arms. ~I’m here, baby. I’m here.~
She blinks open her eyes, cuddling into you. You notice that her right arm is in a hot pink cast and you wince. Not only the color is atrocious, Kara has never gotten a cast before.
Rao, she has never been sick before.
“Lexie?”
“Yes, love, I’m here.”
Her eyes are unfocused and her pupils too dilated, but she looks as close as she can to you. “Lexie,” she whimpers and she blinks and she turns her face onto your chest and she cries.
“Shh, baby, shh. I got you. I got you.”
“Lexie, L-Lexie.”
“I got you, Kara. I got you.”
XxXxX
You try to discharge Kara the next morning.
There is no reason for you to leave the hospital that night once you realize it is close to three in the morning, so you do the next best thing. You stay curled up around Kara, letting sleep claim her again and you nap through the hours until it’s time for you to take her far from here.
“Where are her things?” You ask the nurse that comes by after the shift change.
She startles, surely she didn’t think anyone would be around before visiting hours start. “Uh.”
“Her things?” You ask again. Kara is sleeping on top of you, her left thumb in her mouth.
(You cursed out loud when you woke up from you latest nap to see Kara sucking her thumb.
Your sister hadn’t sucked on it for more than a year now.)
“In the drawer,” the weird-out nurse points to the bedside table.
“Thank you.” You rise and with an ease born out of years of practice, you accommodate Kara’s sleeping form in the space you just left. “Can you help me with her discharge?” You ask as you open the drawer to see Kara’s clothes in a bag and her necklace and bracelet in the other.
She might not be wearing the dampener, but you know it’s still affecting her. You can’t see the lead box anywhere and you know you will have to keep it as far away from her as possible for the time being.
Your request seems to make the nurse come to her senses. She goes to Kara’s chart and reads through it. “You will need to ask Doctor Williams that, ma’am. It says here she still needs supervision.”
“I don’t need her signature with her kind of injuries,” you tell her easily, taking the bracelet and putting it in your pocket. “Has anyone else asked for Kara Danvers?”
Another quick look at the chart. “No, ma’am.”
“Fuck,” you curse softly. “Of course she hasn’t come.” You turn fully to the nurse. “Please, can you have her discharge papers ready in an hour? I will be back by then.”
You can see she wants to protest, but before she can say anything, a little voice calls to you. “Lexie?”
~Hey, baby.~ You go to her again, making sure you sit so the dampener is as far away from her as possible. ~I need to go for a little while, love. I need to see how dad is doing.~
You didn’t forget about him, not at all. He is just not at the top of your priority list.
You just need to make sure he is stable and you need to talk with your mom about him. You could yell at her for neglecting Kara, again, but you know that would just complicate things.
Kara’s papers are so that the ones responsible for her are your mom and you. You made that possible with a hard-won battle and a really expensive bottle of whiskey and hours upon hours upon hours of back and forth with both your parents. Once the whiskey was gone your father was easy to convince and, while it took you some time, your mother relented too.
In all honesty, your dad never wanted kids. He always made sure you knew that, and he was not too hyped to take Kara in. You know the only reason you exist is that your parents were entering that age where they were getting a little too old to not have kids and their colleagues were starting to wonder when they would finally make the family complete.
(The fact that the scientists your parents always had a long-standing rivalry with suddenly had triplets may have also influenced them. But, of that you are not entirely sure.)
Your mom was always one to succumb to peer pressure, but she too never wanted to care for anything that could take her away from her studies and experiments. She had you, yes, but she also left you with your grandmother most of the time until your Nana passed away. By then you were old enough to care for yourself or to be sent away to different universities to further your education whenever school let out.
So, with an iron-cast list of allegations, you sold your parents the idea that you being Kara’s guardian was the better option in the long run. Yeah, you might have dropped out your medical career just an exam away from becoming a doctor, but you were set to finish your Ph.D. in under a year and you were ready to take Kara with you the moment you stopped rushing through courses and labs, thus taking Kara’s burden from your parents.
You and Kara were meant to move together the moment you got your Ph.D. and start working at any lab that will have you. Susan hinted that she had a possible job for you, but you don’t want to move all the way to Gotham City… at least not until you talk to Kara and let her know she would be starting her life in another city. With you. But, that’s still a year away.
In the meantime, you need to talk to your mom so she doesn’t contest your decision to discharge Kara.
~I also need to talk with mom, baby, so we can go home.~
~No! Stay!~ Kara’s strong refusal isn’t unexpected, but certainly unwelcome. You need her to cooperate so everything goes smoothly for all of you.
~Kara. I need to go for a really little bit. When I come back, we will go home. I just need to find mom and see dad. I won’t take longer than an hour.~ You turn to the nurse that has been checking on the kids in the other beds. Kara’s loudness has woken them up and they are getting fussy. “Can you please have her papers ready for when I come back?”
Your baby sister climbs onto your lap and the nurse glares at you. You won’t apologize for Kara waking the other kids. “Yes, ma’am,” she says curtly.
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” You turn to Kara. ~I need to go and you need to sleep a little bit more.~
~N-No,~ she sobs out. ~I’m staying with you!~
~Kara…~
~NO!~
Another of the kids starts crying then, prompting another nurse come in the room.
You sigh. “I’m taking her with me,” you inform them, gathering Kara’s blanket and using it to wrap her up and keep her warm. “I won’t take her out the hospital, but she is going with me.”
You don’t let the nurses try to stop you, they are busy trying to calm down the other kid – the girl, you note – so they practically ignore you. You make sure to grab Kara’s necklace on your way out and you cradle your sister close to your chest.
“Come on, baby. Let’s find my parents.”
XxXxX
The ICU is just like every other ICU.
Just like the Pediatric Ward was like any other Pediatric Wing: depressing.
You can’t find Doctor Jefferson, but Nurse Ramirez is here to help you and what he tells you, doesn’t make sense.
“What do you mean no one has been around? My mom should be here.”
“I’m sorry, miss, but Jeremiah Danvers hasn’t had any visitors until now.”
Kara’s weight in your arms is enough to know she is asleep and you can’t pull your hair in frustration like you would want to, yet, you keep a gently rocking on her and a soothing hand going up and down her back. You can’t have her awake for this conversation. “There must be a mistake. My mom hasn’t called me, she wouldn’t leave my dad on his own.”
He is looking through the ER records as you speak. He is not like the other nurses you have met, no. He is being helpful and supportive even when it is clear you are a mess. Your experience in hospitals has shown you that some nurses can’t be bothered most of the time and the rest are too busy to take the time and help like he is doing.
You are grateful, you really are, but damn this doesn’t make sense.
“Oh.” His little exclamation calls your attention immediately and, for some stupid reason, your blood freezes.
“What is it?”
He looks up from the papers he is reading and his smile is so small and so forced that he doesn’t need to say anything out loud for comprehension down on you.
Whoever called you yesterday only told you Jeremiah and Kara Danvers were involved in a collision and that they were admitted to Mercy Hospital. That your number appeared as emergency contact and that your presence was required immediately.
Looking back, you have should know.
“She was in the car with them.” It’s not a question.
“Yes.”
“She didn’t make it.”
“… No.”
You nod. That makes sense, you think. There is absolutely no reason for your mom not to be here, after all.
Other than being dead, that’s it.
“Okay.” Your voice sounds so far away and so disinterested to your own ears. “Thank you for your help, sir.”
You turn and leave the small office he dragged you in.
Now you don’t only need to deal with your dad’s critical condition.
You need to plan what to do with your mom’s remains.
If there are any.
“Lexie…” Kara whines in her sleep and you drop a kiss on her head.
“Shh, baby. I got you. I got you,” you whisper against her hair.
You are Kara’s sole guardian now.
You will need to keep an eye on your dad after he gets out the hospital, sure, but your more pressing matters are finding a way for Kara to move in with you soon, really soon, and tending to Kara’s injury.
You don’t want her to be alone with your dad if your mom is not around to buffer their interactions.
You also don’t want Kara to live in a house that will make her remember your mom all the time.
Her broken arm surely hurts, yes, but that’s something that you are sure a little sun and lots of cuddles will make better in no time.
So, yes.
Right now, you need to focus on moving Kara with you, on seeing what happened with your mom’s body and wait to see what will happen with your dad.
Right.
You need to focus on that.
“… Lexie…”
Kara is what matters now. Yes.
Find what happened with your mom’s body.
Wait for dad’s recovery.
Move Kara in with you.
Focus on that.
“I got you, Kara. I got you.”
Just focus on that.