Accidentally in Love (Hawks x Civilian Reader) pt. 5
Trigger Warning: long hospital stay and angst if you squint
“Alright, it’s time to try taking a step,” Mayu states as you stand shakily on your prosthetic.
“Nope, I think I’m good,” you have been struggling to get your legs moving. You can usually twitch the muscle and shuffle about a millimeter forward, but taking a full step has not been successful as of late.
“I’m here to catch you, you can do this.” Ryo was helping today, he is rather lanky, but he can lift his patients like it’s nothing.
“Okay...Okay,” you try to focus and take a step, you manage to lift your leg, but you quickly lose your balance and fall forwards. Ryo catches you and keeps you upright, “sorry…”
“Don’t apologize, that was good. You got a leg up!” Mayu assists to get you standing again.
“Let’s try again, one more time and we’ll call it a day.”
You sigh in defeat despite the encouragement. “Fine,” you gear up to try again when a knock on the window startles the three of you.
You look over to find Hawks with a little sign, ‘you can do it!’ His feathers hold the page up while he does a little cheer with his arms. You smile and shake your head, “Mayu, please stop drooling.” Ryo grumbles as Mayu stares at the goofy hero.
“I’m not drooling!” She covers her mouth just to be sure. “Let’s, uh, do this and then uh...maybe we could go say hi?”
Ryo rolls his eyes, “yes, I’ll cover for you, but you owe me!”
“Thank you!!” Mayu jumps up and down clapping, you clear your throat to remind them you are still there. “Right! Sorry, go ahead [y/n],” they get back into position and you try again to take a step. You shakily lift your leg, “halfway there…” you clench the parallel bars tightly as you urge the leg forward.
Hawks is celebrating outside as Mayu and Ryo cheer, “you did it!!”
“I did?!” You can’t really believe it as you stare down at your legs. You are still shaking and require the parallel bars to support your weight, but you have indeed taken your literal first step towards walking again. You try to take another, but that is less successful as you stumble into Ryo again. “Welp, guess that was a fluke…”
“No, that was a success,” Mayu rolls your chair forward so you can sit down.
“You did great, I’m sure you’ll be taking multiple steps in no time.” Ryo adds on, ensuring you are sitting properly.
You hear another tap on the window, Hawks is pointing up towards the roof. “Let’s go say hi,” Mayu is quick to wheel you towards the exit.
“Thank you!” You call back towards Ryo who waves in acknowledgement.
You reach the roof and get swept up by the winged Hero in a hug, “that was awesome!” Mayu looks a bit worried, as he hovers just above your wheelchair. You are holding onto him for dear life and hoping no one could see the blush blooming on your cheeks. He carefully lowers you back down to your seat. “I was just passing by when I saw you, I’m glad I stuck around.” He is all smiles, “oh? I don’t think we’ve met.” He just now noticed Mayu standing behind you.
“Hi, uh, yeah I’m Mayu, I’m her bearcyst, THERAPIST I meant therapist.” She holds her hand out to shake his.
“Nice to meet you,” you can’t help but notice a slight shift in his demeanor as he shakes her hand.
“Could I get a picture with you?” She pulls her cellphone up, he nods in consent and they take a quick selfie. She squeals with glee, “thank you! It was great to meet you! I’ll see you tomorrow [y/n],” she dashes back into the building, leaving you alone with the pro hero.
“That happened,” you chuckle as he stretches his arms. “Sorry about that.”
“I’m used to it,” he waves it off, “I can’t stay long, but I’ll be back after work and I’m going to bring something to celebrate.”
“You don’t have to do that,” you feel flustered from all the excitement and hype.
“You kidding? That’s a huge step!” His wings emphasize his excitement as they raise up.
You scratch the back of your head, eyes trained on a random box garden. “Okay, if you want to.”
He grins and ruffles your hair, “I’ll see you tonight then.” He takes off and you feel your face burn with a blush.
“Ugh, stop that me!” You rub your face a moment before wheeling your way back towards your room. When you arrive, you find Fumiko waiting for you with some lunch. “Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting.”
She waves it off and smiles, “I just got here, how was PT?” You tell her about your day as you start eating and she lights up in excitement. “That is so great! Won’t be long and you’ll be able to walk out of here!”
Your face falls for a moment, you hadn’t thought about what you are going to do after your time here is done. “Yeah...I can’t wait.”
“I’ve been here so long I honestly hadn’t thought about what to do next…” She leans against her hand, thinking as you nibble on a carrot. “I don’t have a job and my landlord has informed me he needs me to start paying rent again, starting next month, or get my stuff out.” The landlord was nice enough to halt your rent payments until you were discharged from the hospital, but he failed to mention he was only doing that for 3 months.
“You know you could always come stay with me for a bit, my wife won’t mind. Rika and I could go get your stuff too and hold onto it until you are discharged and find a new place.”
“Thanks, but I wouldn’t want to be a burden…”
“[Y/n], you are my friend and I love you and if you call yourself a burden again I’m going to hug the stuffing out of you.” She squeezes your shoulder reassuringly as you chuckle. Her watch suddenly beeps, “I gotta get back to work, let me know if you need anything. Okay?”
“Thanks Fumi,” you hug her before she leaves and relax on your bed to rest up. It took a lot of energy to make that step today and you are ready for a nap. You drift off for a long time, a loud thump against your window startling you awake. “What year is it?!” You look around, your gaze drawn to the figure writhing in pain hovering by the window. You call a nurse in to open up the window and let your friend in. Once he has landed you let the laugh you were holding slip out, “did you run into the window?”
“Maybe…” he is hiding the embarrassment with his jacket collar. “Not important, I’ve brought coffee and [your favorite dessert].”
“Oh my God, you remembered?!” He sets the dessert on the table and hands you a fresh can of WAX coffee.
“How could I forget? You were craving it hard a couple weeks back.” He pops the lid off the dessert and he waits for you to take the first bite. You are so happy, flowers and sparkles float around you as you savor the bite. “Wow, I need to bring you this more often.” He tries a bite, it is a satisfying flavor. “How was the rest of your day?”
“Well, I slept for most of it, but I was reminded I need a game plan for after my stay here.” You sigh, reminding the young man of something.
“Oh! I forgot to tell you earlier, I showed Best Jeanist that rainbow bird cloth you made and he wanted to know if you would work with denim.”
“Yeah, I can work with any size thread,” you tilt your head, curious where he was going with this.
“He has his own clothing line and he is always looking for ways to improve. The quality of the cloth you made impressed him.” You perk up as you realize what he is implying. “He wants to interview you when you get discharged, but it sounds like he already wants you on the team.”
You aren’t sure what to do, your hands flailing a little, “oh my- I could kiss you, thank you so much!!”
His feathers puff up a little and he has to stop himself from saying something stupid, “no problem, happy to help.” The two of you finish off the dessert and drink your coffee as you talk about his day and just enjoy each other's company. He gets a thought and checks the weather outside. “Hey, want to try flying?”
“Pardon? I am missing a very key ability to do that.”
“No, I know, I’ve got you covered on that.” He flutters his wings, “I just wanted to show you something that you can only see tonight.”
“Uh...sure! I just need to let the nurses know.” You hit the call button, a nurse poking his head in to see what’s wrong. You ask them if you can go out for a bit and he looks a little conflicted until Hawks reassures him you would be completely safe with him. The nurse makes a note that you would be going out for any other nurses that might be checking in on you.
Hawks opens up your window and picks you up bridal style. “Ready?” He waits for you to give him the okay and he takes off into the night. You hug his neck and screw your eyes shut as he soars to the surprise destination. “Alright, we are here.” You open your eyes and find he took you to the top of a tower overlooking a festival.
“Wow! We are really high up,” you feel a bit shaken as he sets you down on the platform.
“Best seat in the house for what’s to come.” He sits down next to you, one wing curling around you to block the wind.
“I’ve never seen the city like this before,” you are already mesmerized by the lights of the city.
Hawks is mesmerized by something else, he removes one of his gloves and takes your hand in his. His fingers intertwined with yours, his thumb sweeping across the side of your thumb. You feel your heart rate spike up at the contact. Before you can say anything, a loud pop draws your attention to the inky black sky. A firework briefly lights up the darkness and dazzles anyone who sees it. “Wow,” you are breathless as you take in the glorious display.
“I knew you would like it,” he squeezes your hand gently as you both enjoy the bright and colorful display. You test the waters and lean your head against his shoulder, much to your surprise he leans his head against yours. It’s comforting, the show lasts for around 15 minutes and it’s over all too soon.
“Thanks for bringing me out here,” you speak softly, scared to ruin the moment.
“Anytime,” you can hear the smile, “ready to head back?”
“Not really…” a blast of wind sends a chill down your spine. “Yes…”
He chuckles and moves to pick you up, “hold on tight.” He jumps off the platform and glides languidly back towards the hospital.
“Will you still come see me...even after I leave the hospital?”
“Of course,” he answers without hesitation, swiftly quelling the fear you didn’t realize you had. You couldn’t deny the feelings that have been growing stronger each time you see him. You didn’t want to say anything and risk ruining what you have, but you were starting to wonder if the feeling might be mutual.
