Beep. Beep. Beep.She'd never spent too much time here. There wasn't anything fun about an infirmary. Too clean, too sterile... The place had its fair share of drama, but it was never worth sticking around just to wait for it. Most of it were scenes like this. Rows and rows of cots. They might as well have been corpses. A few of them literally
were corpses, more or less. If she wanted hospital drama, she would just stick with soap operas.
Her mom spent more time asleep than awake.
Even for those rare moments, she was so doped up on morphine that it didn't make a difference.
So stupid.Mom had been the only one who could ever scare her, ever catch her, ever corner her. To her, she'd always been the toughest person in the world, the strictest parent, so unfair, but so... so... Fuck. Untouchable. Invincible. Someone had beat the shit out of her and now she wasn't sure if she'd ever have her same mom back again. How could something like that happen? Addison chewed at her lip, her hands folded in her lap. No one else was awake. Only the blond Guardian ever was, and she always froze him up so she wouldn't have to feel his stares of pity or hear his stupid empty words.
She didn't know why she was here. She hated this place. She hated everyone in it.
I'm so stupid.All those stories about missions and fights and people in black, it'd always sounded so exciting. She'd never understood why she couldn't go to normal classes like everyone else in the school. She'd never understood why she couldn't go to any of the events, the Easter egg hunts or the Summer Tournaments or the simulations. She'd never understood why her mom had always held her back, coddled her, stifled her, and she could only ever get away with it because that Headmaster was just so
spineless and gave her special exemptions. She'd never understood that look in her eye, that spite in her voice whenever she talked about the school.
"You don't understand. I'm just trying to protect you."That's what she'd always said. Every time they fought, every time they screamed at each other, that was always her same old line. It'd drive her crazy.
Nuts.
What did she need protection for?
Addison still didn't want to understand.
Beep. Beep. Beep.Fuck. She wanted to tear out her hair.
Her mom was a Guardian, but she'd never thought... Even after all those shouting matches, she'd never even considered something like this could happen. Invincible. Untouchable. She was always holding her down, shielding her, so how could that shield ever break?
Addison buried her face in the sheets, kneeling on the hard tiled floor.
Beep. Beep. Beep.An explosion rumbled out in the distance. She didn't bother to lift her head. Stuff like that happened every other day... She had journals and journals of it, whole flash drives filled with pictures. Another fight, so what? It all felt so stupid and petty. More explosions rocked out, screams filling the air, just muffled voices through the thick brick walls. Addison clutched at the side of the cot, trying to block it all out.
What the hell...? Was there a riot out there?
A few weeks before, nothing would've stopped her from rushing out to check it all out for herself.
Now there wasn't anyone holding her back, and she couldn't even bring herself to leave this stupid room.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beepbeep.Glass shook, rattling the beds and tables. Loose files went slipping off the desks, floating through the air like paper airplanes, and a few pens went rolling to the floor, clattering against the tile. Addison stood up with a huff, letting time blur around her. What the fuck was their problem? Couldn't they cause an earthquake somewhere a little less sensitive? If they were going to fight around here, then she'd go out and kick all their asses herself. There were others besides her mom here, too. One of them was a girl only a year or two older, with rolls of bandages wrapped around half her face. Everyone said she was in a coma, but Addison could've sworn she'd seen her twitch more than once.
Maybe that was irrelevant.
She wasn't a saint, and maybe it was true she wouldn't have given a shit if it weren't for the circumstances, but it didn't change how she felt. It didn't matter; she didn't have to be self-righteous to be pissed off.
Addison was about to move when she heard the footsteps echo down the hall.
Damn it, who...?The door slammed open with a sharp kick, so loud she almost jolted out of her skin.
"Hey, what the fu—...?!" A girl stepped in through the frame, blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, bike shorts and a blue varsity jacket trimmed with gold. Addison let out an exasperated sigh, leaning against the wall.
"Oh, Helena...?" They'd never talked face to face, but she knew her, even if Helena didn't know her back. That was the same with almost everyone in this school.
She wasn't the only one with a parent in an infirmary bed. Her dad, the blond... Right. It was annoying, but just this once, she'd give her a free pass. Addison couldn't count how many times she'd wanted to break that stupid fucking door off its hinges every time she walked in.
The Guardian didn't answer. Didn't even
look at her. Addison frowned, shrinking away from the sudden crushing pressure that started to flood through the room. Pens, papers, all the loose items in the room began to lift from the floor, the tables, the desks, swirling around her. The vibrations didn't stop.
Huh? Addison bit back a frown.
"Hey, what the the big id—...?"Helena spun on her heel, light as a feather, and kicked the empty nurse's desk. It went hurtling toward her like a soccer ball, all two hundred pounds of wood.
No time to think. Her gift kicked in more by instinct than by will.
Click. A trigger in her head.
Time slowed to a crawl, the room sharpened, the air became thickened. Addison let herself slip to the floor, flat to the ground, as the desk went sailing an inch past her nose.
BOOM. Speed returned as time snapped back to normal, and the desk went exploding against the wall in a cloud of splinters.
Her breath hitched in her throat. One breath away from death. Addison rolled to her feet, putting herself between the Guardian and the woman in the cot.
"You fucking psycho, what do you think you're doing?!"Helena's face was a blank mask, her eyes dull and cold.
tl;dr Addison is in the infirmary visiting her mom, who got #rekt in another topic awhile ago. Helena (drugged guardian) shows up and kicks a desk at her.
Sorry for text wall. Most of this is just Addison angst for quick development, so don't feel pressured to read any of it. I'm all down for shitposts from here on out. ; _ ; 
