Part 17 - Aftermath of a Disaster

I laid there. My costume ripped all over. I was shouting and screaming for aid. I felt pain in my arm and just above my hip. No feeling in my legs. My hands were cuffed to the frame of the medical bed I laid on.

A female nurse entered. "Hero or villain? Although I guess villa-" She asked and I cut her off, saying one word. "Hero!"

"No. Don't lie."

"I am not! Now get help already! My power only does so much!"

"Okay. Name?" She asked, still noting villain, due to my costume. It was just that at the time. A costume like you might buy it in a random store. Store-bought fabric only. I didn't care about getting a proper one at the time and after I only had the trenchcoat specially made so it was sturdier. I had seen it as too expensive and over the top at the time.

"Ratel. Now hurry up! My backs broken, same with my arm!"

She wrote the name down and left.

I laid on the bed, unable to move or do anything to cease my boredom. My back hurt right over my hip. I wouldn't have been surprised if the hip itself was broken too and I wasn't able to feel it.

I heard the nurse outside. "I think you labeled this room wrong."

"I doubt it. Let me look over the notes." A female voice replied.

"He did insist on being a hero but he was handcuffed to the bed. I assume it is because he wants to be treated quicker and he appears more like a villain."

"You should note what he told you not what you think but it seems to have been for the right reason."

I wanted to yell a reply out but I started to feel the breath I took to do so sting with a sharp pain in my lungs. The adrenaline from the fight was slowly leaving my body. I focused on taking deep, yet also comfortable breaths. I did take as much air in as I needed.

Half a minute or a whole one of silence before I heard the sound of someone being smacked across the face.

"Ratel is a hero from Austria! You were briefed about this when we drove here! You either do not pay attention or you forgot to ask for names first! Now go on before we are too late to heal the badly injured. And he is handcuffed as his power could get out of hand."

Ouch. That last sentence stung. I had myself under perfect control. With or without power. Just because in my early days I went berserk once...

No reply from the nurse that had talked to me before could be heard in the room. Then a female entered. She wore white scrubs with a red cross on her left shoulder. She had a nametag on her chest, which I didn't bother to read, not like I could with how much pain I was in anyways. "Ratel. Calm down. I will heal you." She said and I gave a nod as a reply as well as a sigh of relief and pain. I felt a cold hand touch my throat.

"Broken back, leg, arm, fingers. Ribs broken, damaged lung, guts damaged." She said and then an extremely sharp sting of pain all over my body. Then I could feel no pain at all. She sent electrical pulses through me.

After about 5 minutes of silence, she got up. "Deactivate your power. You don't need it anymore." She said and opened the handcuffs and I rubbed my wrists. "Jeez. These were unnecessary." I blurted out and got out of bed after making sure my legs supported my weight. I headed out and looked at reporters. "Why are you here yet? I am surprised is all."

"What will you do now?"

"Go back to Austria. Relax, recover and not go out in costume. Not like I can go out like this anyways. Try to avoid seeing this hell in my nightmares."

"How many civilian lives were saved?"

"Do not know yet. Rebuilding will be hard. I hope other cities are going to cooperate with Norden. We decided to fight here, as it was further to the coast. Yet we did avoid having opened bunkers, same with damaging or putting them in danger." I finished and headed towards the destruction of the city of Norden. I glanced at the wristband and flicked the switch to ping my location. I gave through locations of corpse or trapped heroes.

Everything else was just a blur. I went onto a platform, after saying something about smoking into a camera. I then was brought into a hospital. I was started to be treated to be able to properly walk again. I soon found myself sleepless in my flat on a wheelchair. I was exhausted after long walks and needed to get back to my good health. I knew I would always flash back to the aftermath of the scene when I heard the name of the creature. This 15-meter-tall monster, with a face that was a mixture of alligator and shark. Its fully silver body. Its hydrokinetic, its monstrous speed and strength, its inability to take serious damage from me. I could scream. I had been useless, helpless against those silver scales of pure horror. It was a good day when we took it out and I had gotten a lot of money for it that I didn't feel like I deserved. The fallen had been honored by a silver white obelisk in the middle of Norden.

I was bound to the wheelchair for what felt like ages, often trying to walk for longer periods of time. I swallowed and started to recover shortly. I was often falling and cursing at myself. I managed to recover and get back into action. I even had a trenchcoat made that was more durable. During the fight I had lost my badger ears. I didn't really care about it anyways. I stayed couped up inside a lot of the time from then on, avoiding public spaces, crowds or very open areas. I wondered what would happen if I had decided to stay home and not lose my ears. It was something I couldn't get over nor did I feel like I should get over it. I felt it was something I had to remember. Something I could never forget. Something I should never forget.