Chapter Text
{Date & Time: Unknown, POV Taylor Anne Hebert}
Slowly opening her eyes, Taylor started slowly blinking, trying to get the spots out of her vision while figuring out where she was, soft sounding music was playing nearby, the volume nearly deafening to her for some reason.
[We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when]
Looking to her right she managed to see a wall, and what was maybe a dresser or table along said wall, her mind was… fuzzy.
[although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend, which came as some surprise]
Looking left while trying to remember what happened, she saw that everything was brighter there, with what was most likely a ceiling fan spinning in the middle of the room.
[I spoke into his eyes, I thought you died alone, a long long time ago]
Continuing to try to figure out where she was, she watched as spots faintly played in her vision after she blinked. What happened, why was she here… she was in the backseat of a car with people talking in the front seat, no, no, she had been on the ground, leaning her back against a wall as alarms sounded around her.
[Oh no, not me, I never lost control, you're face to face, with the man who sold the world]
Looking left again, she wearily realized she's in a double room, laying her head back she stared at the roof for an inordinate amount of time. Looking down, she looked slightly to the right and then began looking left again, blinking heavily as she did, the music still playing.
[I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home, I searched for form and land]
She remembers a man wearing a bandana standing over her raising a pistol to her head, but she also remembers the force of a seatbelt locking her in place, the squealing of rubber as a car braked, screaming, metal crunching. The man fired, and the alarm went quiet.
Looking back to the right, she blinked as a figure walked past the end of her bed, and what had to be a nurse walked up to her bed side with something in her hands. She watched as she set it down by her legs before she leaned over her to begin adjusting something on her right.
[For years and years I roamed, I gazed a gazely stare, and all the millions here, we must have died alone]
With the sound of static disrupting the speaker, her vision cleared as the volume turned down, and she could hear the beeping of monitors. The bed beneath her shifting as the nurse on her left reached for something above her. She looked to the right and spotted another nurse, this one blonde, looking at the monitors that had to be hooked up to her.
[A long, long time ago, who knows? Not me, we never lost control]
Looking left as the blonde nurse walked around the foot of her bed and to the other side of the barrier blocking her side of the room from the other. The brunette nurse packed up the case she had set down. She left the room. Her heels clicked on the room as she did.
[You're face to face, with the man who sold the world]
Looking around as her vision cleared up a bit further, she spotted a small wooden drawer with an old radio on top of it, the one playing that annoying yet, weirdly familiar music. Glancing around a bit more, she spots a large medical cabinet past the foot of her bed against the wall on the left, some tables, or something to the right of it.
Watching the blonde nurse begin moving to leave, Taylor attempted to speak, a wordless noise escaped her lips, loud enough for the nurse to pause and look at her, quickly walking up to her, the nurse leaned in and began looking at her face before she spoke, "Look at me."
Trying to speak again, she once again only manages to let out a wordless noise, causing the nurse to lean away in shock. Before she turned and ran for the door, knocking the radio off of the drawer, where it clattered to the ground, the music sputtering out as the nurse yelled for the Doctor.
Watching the doorway, her vision slowly faded away before she fell unconscious again. This time, she remembered a helicopter, someone who had to be a medic, and two people in prison jumpsuits.
Waking up again, Taylor heard rustling, and the sounds of movement before an old accented voice spoke, "Can you hear me!" Her vision faded briefly as he spoke again, his voice unnaturally loud, yet soft, "Can you hear me!" Forcing her eyes open, her vision cleared as the sound of her heartbeat monitor reached her ears, the monitor was also much louder then it should've been, but it's enhanced volume faded after a few seconds.
The doctor shifted before speaking a third time, "Are you having difficulty speaking? Can you move your head?"
Leaning in ever-so-slightly, he spoke again, "Just nod if you can hear me." Leaning back, he watched her with one arm crossed under the other, his left hand just in front of his chin.
Moving her head, she looked at him and managed to nod, albeit barely and not without some straining. Leaning the doctor speaks while nodding, "Very good," she blinks as he stands up straight while speaking, "Please try to relax," Taylor watches as he slightly leans forward, bracing himself with his hands on the side of her bed, "There is plenty of time."
Standing up again, he clasps his hands together, "I need to tell you something. Please listen, and try not to panic."
Walking to the foot of her bed she tracks him with her eyes as he continues speaking, "You've been in a coma… for quite some time," stopping at the foot of her bed he looks at her while splaying his hands before clasping them again, "Yes, yes, I know. You'd like to know how long…"
Walking up the left side of her bed, a pit of dread growing in her stomach as she waits for him to say how long, he continues speaking upon stopping at her left side, "I'm afraid it's been three years."
Her eyes widen at how long it's been, but also as she remembers it, the squealing of rubber on asphalt, screaming, the sound of metal being crushed and then… then. She begins struggling, her heart rate spiking as the doctor rushes forward to hold her down.
"Damn it!" He says before he begins speaking in what she realized was Greek, "Νοσοκόμα! Νοσοκόμα! Νοσοκόμα! Nurse!" Looking to her right, she watches as the nurse comes running up with a syringe.
"Calm down, calm down, try not to panic, βοηθήστε με! Try not to panic."
With the sedative taking effect, her vision fading and heartbeat slowing, the doctor spoke, "Now then… You'll be alright," As she fell asleep she heard him speak faintly one last time, "There now, just rest."
Flying in a helicopter at night, a blonde-haired girl with a buzz cut screams as a man digs into her abdomen, flying past platforms and helicopter wrecks burning in the ocean water. The smell of smoke, fire, blood, and explosions barely audible to her ears are all that greet her in the dark of her sleeping mind.
Opening her eyes, one of the first things she noticed is that the room is darker "Must be night" she thought before the nurse beside her spoke, "How do you feel?" She then leans back and begins… switching out her IV bag, watching as she grabs the bag, she looks to her left after hearing the doctor begin speaking.
"It's been one week since you came to. Now, let's try getting you out of that bed," He said before looking across the bed, "Nurse." He then stood up and walked closer, where he placed a hand on the front and back of her shoulder, the nurse doing the same on her left side before they lifted her up until she was sitting.
"Don't worry. You've lost some strength, but we've been maintaining your muscle mass through massages, CPM therapy, and EMS. Now, I need to explain something to you, but you musn't be alarmed." She didn't know what those last two things were, but she acted like she did, and she could always learn what they were later, maybe she can ask her mom when she can see her again.
He turned off the radio as Taylor looked to her left, watching as the nurse did something before turning to face the doctor as he continued speaking, having moved to the foot of her bed, "Two years ago, you were injured — in an explosion."
He then placed an X-Ray of someone's torso on the board before turning to face her, she quickly realized it was her torso, but what was all the white on it? "Upon examination, we discovered 100-and-8 foreign bodies embedded within you," oh, that's what those are.
Turning slightly, he continues, "In addition to shrapnel, we also found fragments of human bone, and human teeth. Most of it was removed, but… some of the fragments still remain… They are located near your heart," He placed a hand on his chest, "and in your skull," He placed two fingers on the side of his head.
He lowered his hand before reaching into the envelope and grabbing another X-Ray, pulling it out he placed it on the broad, her eyes widened and heart plummeted as he spoke, "The fragments are located deep within your cerebral cortex. We couldn't give you an MRI — the metal, you see. But even if we were to extract it, you would most likely suffer… A brain hemorrhage."
Pausing, he looked at the board for a moment before looking back at her, continuing to speak even as her eyes were locked onto the shard of metal stuck in her forehead, "Mental and physical impairment are… unavoidable, however your current status is not life-threatening."
Reaching into the envelope, he glances at her, "One more thing." He then pulls a third X-Ray out, "This X-Ray is of your upper body." He places it on the board, where she freezes up upon examining it, terror keeping her eyes locked onto it. When he speaks, she struggles to pull her eyes away from it, her heart rate beginning to speed up.
"You'd better look now. Best to understand your situation sooner than later." Looking at, and facing her fully, he continues, "I know it's difficult, but please look down." She began slowly looking down, first at her right arm, "It's best to see with your own eyes. Be brave."
Looking left, she raised her arm, and saw only bandages which ended slightly below her elbow, her heart rate spiking as she began hyperventilating while her arm started shaking. Snapping her head up to look at the doctor as he rushes forward while speaking, "Νοσοκόμα, γρήγορα!"
Grabbing her by the shoulders, he speaks to her as she struggles, "Try to calm down. Calm down." The nurse injects her with something again as Taylor looks directly at the doctor who had started speaking while she was distracted, "Please calm down. It's going to be okay. Better, yes, yes? Calm down. Yes. Better… Yes…"
Her vision faded once more as her heart monitor calmed down, her mind returning to rest once again. And with the sleep, came the dreams of yelling, a door opening with the sound of barely audible mechanical noises, cold air blasting onto her face, yet the feeling of rolling in a car. The smell of salt and blood, more yelling or is it screaming, the crunching of metal as the roof of a car is crushed against the ground, heat, and then pain.
[Recording: Use of Prototype Treatment on Taylor Anne Hebert, [6/12/2008-6/25/2008]
"This is Doctor Franklin Armendez. The date is December 6th, 2010. This recording shall be going over the events prior to and shortly after the first successful use of the prototype parasite treatment as used on one Taylor Anne Hebert as ordered by doctor Amanda Tavare."
"June 11th, 2008, between 14:23 and 14:31. The Hebert family are involved in a fatal car accident involving a pickup truck during a running fight between Protectorate member Velocity and Neo-Nazi Villain Quickmatch."
"June 11th, 14:44, EMTs from Brockton Bay Fire House 19 arrive on scene, Annette Rose Hebert and Danny Hebert are pronounced dead on scene, Taylor Anne Hebert is found unresponsive in the backseat of the family's car and is extracted from the wreck which had started to burn, where she is then stabilized and taken to Brockton Bay Memorial Hospital."
"June 11th 15:59, On arrival, Taylor Anne Hebert is immediately rushed to the hospital's Trauma ICU for treatment of her 2nd and 3rd degree burns, additional surgeons are brought in to assist with a punctured right lung that had been slowly filling with blood, a cracked skull, and several other broken bones."
"June 11th 18:03, Taylor Anne Hebert is brought out of surgery where she is then transported to the Roosevelt Trauma and Special Care Hospital located 3.1 Miles outside of Brockton Bay."
"June 11th 21:02, Taylor Anne Hebert arrives at the hospital and her treatment is handed over to Doctors Amanda Tavare and Evangelos Constantinou."
"June 12th 04:23, Taylor Anne Hebert is moved to Isolation Intensive Care Unit 03 where she is placed into a medical induced coma, and the recovered remnants of a rediscovered parasite is applied."
"June 12th 06:48, the parasite fully bonds with Taylor Hebert's vocal cords, and accelerated healing of the skin and bones is observed."
"June 12th 10:26, Taylor Hebert's skin is fully healed, with her bones healing more slowly than the skin. After three days of observation, doctors Tavare and Constantinou agree she is safe to be moved to room 567 on the 5th floor of the hospital."
"June 12th 11:13, Taylor Anne Hebert falls into a coma, officially due to head trauma gained from the car crash. Further tests are approved to see what else the parasite has changed."
"June 22nd 02:56, all testing has been ordered to stop by the 25th of June 2008, further treatment of the girl will continue until she wakes up."
"December 6th 2010 11:34, I, Doctor Franklin Armendez, have been tasked with finding if the girl has any living relatives. Along with that, I have been tasked with destroying the files of the parasite treatment for reasons unknown to me, maybe I'll find out one day… probably not. End log."