Chapter 17 part 1

Matias

The hospital was packed full. There were people in the waiting room who, under normal circumstances, would've been top of the list to be seen.

Matias particularly took notice of a little girl sitting uncomfortably at the back of the waiting room. She was alone and had a red stained rag pressed against her leg. Even with blood running down her thigh and onto the chair, she was in the waiting room. Not to mention she looked like she had no hope to be called anytime soon.

She wasn't the only one though. In nearly every chair there was someone with a clearly severe injury who was still waiting on someone else. Matias couldn't help but wonder how bad the people who weren't waiting were hurt.

"We need to get to the hero's room" the officer said once they reached the front desk

Nurses were hurriedly scrambling through drawers and typing into computers behind the one they were talking to.

"I-I'm sorry?" She asked, her face hiding none of her shock.

"Please if it is at all possible, we need to get to the hero" the officer repeated, sounding more determined.

The nurses shocked expression didn't change, but she seemed to gather her thoughts enough to form a coherent response.

"Is it safe for him to be here right now?" She stuttered, lowering her voice even though they all knew the villain could still hear her

The bald man tightened his grip on Matias's handcuffs, holding them up to the woman.

"Everything is under control, I assure you. Can we please see the hero" the man damn near begged

Matias only stood silently. A bit of his exhaustion had come back and he became aware of his pain once again as the adrenaline wore away.

"He is in room 97 on the first floor" the woman finally informed "but it wouldn't be a good idea for you to go into the room. They are probably trying to stabilize him"

The officer glanced at Matias, but quickly looked away. He stared at the ground for a moment, silent.

"We are very busy, you could get in the way" she continued politely, but still very scared.

"Is it possible for us to wait near the room? Maybe right outside or in a corner of the room where we won't be in the way?"

The woman bit her lip, glancing around for a moment.

"Look, I would love to help you" she explained, making a point to only look at the officer "but I don't think that's possible"

The man sighed, looking back at Matias. Matias didn't bother to meet his gaze.

He looked back at all the people waiting in the lobby. Nurses had even come out to help sooth people's nerves, doing whatever they can to help the worse injuries without an actual room.

"Are all of these people hurt because of that explosion?" Matias asked, speaking up for the first time.

He looked back at the nurse who was wide eyed, her mouth open just a bit.

She blinked a few times, coming to her senses and closing her mouth.

"Most of them, yes. Many who are being brought by ambulance aren't even here yet"

Who the fuck does Meera think she is?

Matias couldn't shake the idea of Meera being the one to cause all of this. She might've been quiet and maybe a bit awkward, but she seemed sweet enough. Her doing something like this was absurd.

"For the record, I had nothing to do with it" Matias stated, his voice flat.

He didn't bother looking back up at the nurse. He knew he'd only be met by a shocked expression, thinking he was a liar but too scared of him to say anything about it.

"Whenever there is any chance at all for us to step in, please let us know as soon as possible" the officer spoke up, easing the tension.

He tried to usher Matias to the back of the waiting room, but Matias didn't budge. His gaze was still roaming through the room full of people and the ambulance that had just arrived just outside the hospital.

"They can't take off the mask" he muttered under his breath.

Samuel had more to lose than Matias did. Matias could live with his face being exposed. He didn't have any family and the only thing on the line was his job at the coffee shop.

Samuel, on the other hand, had way too much to lose. He has a daughter who has no clue about any of this. He has relatives, even if they live elsewhere. He would be putting his whole life at risk by showing his face.

"Sorry?" The officer asked, urging Matias to repeat himself

"They can't take that mask off of his face" he repeated. It wasn't exactly what he meant, but the point got across

"If he's passed out then they must take his mask off, for health and safety reasons" the nurse added, her voice quivering.

She took a small step back and braced herself a little when Matias looked at her.

"Then nobody in there should be able to have a phone or anything like that. No cameras" He continued on, getting worked up.

He felt himself get lightheaded for a moment, but ignored it.

"Doctors are allowed to have their phones. It's for safety reasons" the nurse whispered back.

Her voice was incredibly quiet and it was shocking that she was still standing with how much she was shaking. She was truly terrified. She was terrified of Matias, and she didn't care how much he was trying to help.

The had to take a few long breaths before he could continue. He knew people had a right to be scared, but it really did piss him off.

"If his face gets recorded or posted anywhere you have no idea how many problems that will cause" Matias persisted

It was just then that multiple people were wheeled through the door, some on beds and others in wheelchairs. Matias and the officer were pushed to the side as another officer came up and explained the people and injuries to the already terrified nurse.

The bald police man stared at the scene before him, almost a bit mesmerized. If he hadn't seen all the bodies already Matias probably would've been the same.

But it's good he wasn't.

The officer had let go of the handcuffs and wasn't even looking in Matias's direction anymore. If Matias wanted to get to Samuel, now was his chance.

There was a sign in the corner of the room that read "emergency floor" and had multiple different sets of numbers. The one that caught his eye though was the one that had 'rooms: 50-100'.

Matias glanced back at the busy nurses once more and double checked to assure that the bald man wouldn't see him inching away. And the he left.

He didn't run, he didn't even walk with urgency. If people became alarmed they'd scream, and if they thought he was attacking he'd for sure get arrested.

So instead he walked, only as fast as he could, to the sign and into the wide hallway. It was truly a miracle that none of the officers or nurses saw him and none of the people staring at him mentioned anything.

But now he wasn't in the waiting room anymore. Now there were doctors running around and people being wheeled on beds. There was beeping coming from all kinds of machines and yelling coming from the voices of people Matias couldn't even see.

But he paid it as little mind to it as he could. He only looked at the numbers of the rooms. That and the occasional nurse or doctor that would look over at him.

If he wasn't maskless and beaten people probably would've started yelling long ago. But, luckily enough, the staff were all too busy and stressed to even realize that the villain was walking through their halls.

After an eternity, the longest few minutes of his life, Matias finally saw room 97.

The door was shut and the blinds covering the windows were closed. There was no way to see in, unless you opened the door.

Matias didn't know if they locked doors in hospitals, but he wasn't going to waste anymore time finding out.

He glanced around, assuring that nobody was paying any particular attention to him, and turned the handle. The door, thankfully, opened wide with ease.

There were surprisingly only two doctors in the room, only one of which looked up at Matias.

The doctor was short, but he looked fairly strong as well. His face was a twisted mess of shock and stress.

His expression caused the other doctor, this one a woman, to look up from the hero to look back at the door as well.

Matias reached his handcuffed hands back at the door, closing it behind him. He wanted them to know he wasn't a threat, but he couldn't risk them making him leave too soon.

Samuels mask was off, an oxygen mask taking its place. His clothes had also been taken off and replaced with a hospital gown.

"Who are you?!" The man demanded

Matias glanced down at himself before looking back up at the doctor.

He realized for the first time that most of the doctors in here probably had no idea who he was. He was maskless, didn't have his hoodie, and these doctors have probably been too busy to watch the news. To them, he was just a random guy.

The man glanced back down at Samuel, the hero, before looking back up at Matias.

"I'm just assuring that no photos or videos are taken of the hero while he's in this state" Matias assured, pretending to be someone much more acceptable than the villain.

The female doctor looked him up and down, but the male doctor was the one who spoke up.

"You can't be in here, you'll get in the way" he ordered.

"I won't" Matias said simply

He made his way to a chair in the corner of the room, but stood beside it instead of sitting down.

The woman bit her lip, looking Matias from head to toe once more.

"Are you sure you're in any condition to be.. here?" She questioned, sounding unsure and even a bit scared.

Matias looked down at himself again. He was covered in debris and his clothes were ripped in multiple spots. More importantly though, he was covered in cuts big and small.

On his arm was a gash he hadn't fully noticed before now that was still bleeding and looked to be pretty bad. Right above his knee was another cut that was dripping blood down his leg, and hurt to put pressure on now that he noticed it.

"I'm fine" he confirmed, though even he was surprised at his own condition.

The man had already continued patching up and working on Samuel, the woman joining not too long after.

"Just be quiet and don't interfere. We have wasted enough time" the male doctor ordered.

They had to be breaking a number of rules, but it has hard to care considering the condition of the unconscious man in the center of the room.

Now that Matias could relax a little his lightheadedness came back and he became all too aware of his injuries.

There wasn't more than an inch of him that didn't have any cuts or scrapes. Not to mention he was sore from the fighting as well.

His eyes became heavy and he started swaying left and right, but he wouldn't let himself black out. He wanted to trust the doctors, but he knew the risks all too well. The number of people who would lose their jobs to get a clear photo of the hero's face was disgustingly shocking.

Another few minutes of fighting his injuries passed until another doctor walked through the door.

The man who came through the door gasped when the saw Matias, dropping the phone he was carrying onto the floor.

"Who is he? Why is he here?" he croaked as the door shut behind him on its own.

Instead of answering, the other two doctors only looked up at Matias.

Matias sighed as the two doctors went back to their rushed work on Samuel, which he had been too scared to really look at.

"I'm assuring that no photos are taken while his face is exposed" he gestured to Samuel "and if any of you put his identity to the public I will personally make sure you regret it"

The two working on the hero grimaced, but didn't stop their work. The third doctor simply stared at Matias dumbfounded.

"You're hurt pretty bad, I think you should sit down" the doctor spoke softly, approaching Matias very, very slowly.

"I'm fine" Matias objected, though just talking made his head pound.

His knees were shaking under his weight and he couldn't stop fidgeting with his fingers. The chair next to him was screaming and yelling at him to sit down, but he refused.

"You look pale, please just let me assure you're okay. You don't even have to leave the room" the doctor continued, still inching closer to Matias.

"Aren't you here to check on him" Matias gestured to the hero, still in pretty critical condition "why don't you focus on him instead of me"

"Okay, okay" the doctor whispered "but first I need you to at least sit down. Get off you feet for a bit"

Matias only glared back at him.

"It's clear you care about his safety" the doctor continued "but I can't focus on him until you sit down"

Mafias glanced back at Samuel. He didn't think he was holding them back from taking care of him, but what if he was? He wouldn't be able to live with himself if Samuel died because of him.

He wanted to assure himself that Samuel would be fine. That he wasn't going to die. But the reality was his chances of death were higher than Matias would ever want to even think about.

"Fine" Matias gave up.

He couldn't stand the idea of Samuel hurting because of him. Especially not after what Samuel had done earlier.

Matias shifted in front of the chair and sat down, his legs shaking with each movement.

"Just make sure he's okay"

Matias didn't realize the extent of his exhaustion until he sat down. He couldn't focus on anything happening around him and before he knew it the room went black.

He slumped down in the chair and fell asleep within a minute.

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