You had been minding your own business, although it wasn't like you had much else to do anyway besides sleep when you got too exhausted to stay awake and sit up staring at the walls, pretending you were talking to Dabi and the others in your head.
Nurse Wani has been sitting nearby quietly for a while like she usually did, not doing much but at least you knew she was there if you decided you felt like talking to someone in real life.
In your head, you were explaining how the tube in your nose works to Dabi as she uses it to feed you, holding the syringe above your head wordlessly. She never forced you to talk if you weren't feeling like it, only ever throwing odd comments out here and there to fill the space occasionally, but nothing that you had to respond to.
She's finishing up when the door opens and HakuchÅ walks in.
"Get out." You demand immediately.
If you had the choice you would never see her again. She took you away from the only happiness, comfort and safety you had ever known and you despise her for it.
"Star." Wani warns firmly but gently.
You glare at the winged girl in your room for a moment, watching as her face turns from nervous, to shocked, too guilty and then nervous again.
"No." You reiterate, turning your head away. "I'm not talking to her."
You even cross your arms over your chest for good effect.
Wani doesn't try to warn you further or even tell you off for not giving HakuchÅ a chance. She just sits back down beside your bed, chuckling when you turn your head even further away to stop her from being able to see your face, too.
"That tube is definitely working if you've got the energy to be so stubborn, little Star." Nurse Wani teases, but you ignore her.
You can't see what's happening in the room with your head turned so far, the only indication you have that she's not left like you told her to is the sound of her slippers on the floor as she steps closer toward you.
There's a small pause, and then she speaks.
"I'm sorry for not pulling you out of the flames quicker." HakuchÅ apologises. "You wouldn't have been hurt if I were quicker."
You wouldn't have been if she wasn't a liar either, so you ignore it. You didn't even care about the burn. It was uncomfortable, but you were more upset about being torn away from your family.
"I'm sorry for holding your arm so tight, too. I didn't want you to get any more hurt. Hawks' wings are really sharp, you know?" She continues.
And again, you didn't care about that, so you don't reply again.
"I'm sorry for sedating you, as well." She apologises again. "I didn't mean to get you there. It must have hurt."
You didn't want to hear about it, that wasn't what you cared about. None of these people were listening to you or why you were upset, you didn't care that you were hurt because of the fire, because you knew that Dabi hadn't intentionally hurt you. You didn't care that the needle going into your neck hurt, because you had been taken from your pawpaw while you were out for the count.
You begin to cry silently in frustration. You wanted someone to listen to you, and give you back to Dabi.
You guess he's probably in trouble now, though, for hurting Hawks. You really might not be able to go back to him.
Nurse Wani cups one of your hands in both of her gentle, cool ones, such a stark difference to Dabi's hands, but comforting all the same.
You see her shake her head from the corner of your blurry vision, and then hear quickly retreating footsteps followed by a shutting door nearly immediately afterwards.
Wani pats your hand softly.
"What's the matter, Star?" She asks softly.
"No-one's listening." You sob. "I don't care about the burn, or her using the needle in my neck. I want her to say sorry for taking me away from my family."
Nurse Wani listens carefully like she always does, nodding her head up and down thoughtfully, her thumb rubbing across your hand gently.
"You really miss them, hm?" She asks, sympathetically. "They must have been very important to you to make you so upset that they're gone."
You nod, sobbing louder. She tuts in sympathy, rubbing your hand with the whole of hers now instead of just her thumb.
"You don't really get to talk about them much, do you?" She asks kindly. "How about I finish up the last of my rounds and then we can talk about them when I'm back? Would you like that?"
You nod again, wiping your eyes with your bandaged arm.
She probably doesn't like that you do that, but she doesn't say anything for a moment or two, just staying there as a silent but present support. She does eventually get up from her seat slowly though, steadily releasing your hand from hers with a final, soft pat.
"Let it all out honey." She encourages, moving a box of tissues closer to you. "It's no good keeping all of those feelings inside, trust me. I'll be back in a moment."
You nod as you continue on, using tissues to rub at your eyes and nose with now instead of your arm.
And although she says she'll be back in a moment, she's gone for a while. Long enough for you to have cried out your feelings, and returned back to going quiet, pretending to talk to Tomura about what had happened between Dabi and Hawks, and imagining all the different reactions he could have had.
When she returns, she gives you an apologetic smile, walking to the side of your bed again.
"Sorry love, I was gone a little longer than I thought I would be... Someone needed my help." She explains as she sits down, paying her full attention to you. "Do you still want to talk about Dabi and the others?"
You nod, and she gives you a friendly smile, pulling out a notepad and pen from her dress pocket. You wonder why they keep writing things down when you talk, but decide not to be rude and ask when you've finally been given the chance to talk about your family, hopefully without being told that they were terrible people when you knew they weren't.
She catches your eyes on the book, and she lays it on her lap.
"You don't mind if I write down some of what you tell me, do you?" She asks thoughtfully. "My memory isn't what it used to be, and I can tell this is very important to you, so I want to be able to remember."
That makes sense, so you nod slowly. She picks the little pad back up and leans back in the seat, regarding you.
"Shall we talk about how you met them all?" She asks. "And go from there?"
"Well Dabi saw me on the streets looking for food and took me to a soup kitchen... then he took me to a shelter." You reply, happy to just be talking about him to someone that didn't seem to have nasty things to say about him like the others did. "I was scared at first, because of how he looks, and because men are scary, but he was really nice."
Wani listens carefully, bobbing her head up and down at your brief retelling of how you met Dabi. "Why are men scary, Star?"
"Well, because a lot of moms boyfriends yelled at me and hurt me." You reply without much thought. "So I get nervous. Especially if they look like Uncle Jin...Is Uncle Jin okay?"
"What does your Uncle Jin look like?" She asks in return. "Did he hurt you, too?"
You shake your head adamantly, your shoulders sinking when you realise from her question that maybe Jin wasn't in this hospital after all.
"He has short blonde messy hair." You reply, gesturing at your own hair. "A big scar on his forehead. He's tall and big and strong."
"And he would never, ever hurt me. Ever ever ever." You inform her firmly. "Is he not here?"
She shakes her head. "Sorry, I've not seen anyone like that here."
You turn your face away again, feeling tears prick at your eyes again. You were worried about him, Hawks had definitely hurt him, so why wasn't he in hospital too?
Wani seems to pick up on your sudden mood change and pats your shin with a taloned hand gently.
"Why don't you tell me about Dabi?" She asks, trying to win you over again.
"What about him?" You ask a little grumpily.
"Well. Is he nice? Not scary like other men?" She asks, cocking her head ever so slightly and her lips pulling upward in a curious smile.
You nod. "He's the nicest. He listens whenever I need to talk, gives me hugs and head pats all the time. I don't even get punished."
She nods, beginning to write it down on her notepad. You watch curiously yourself, unable to stop yourself from asking a question as she writes.
"Is that important?"
She peers up at you. "Do those things make you happy?"
You nod. "He always makes me happy."
"Then it's important." She says, continuing to write again. "What else does he do that makes you happy?"
"He's funny. He calls me nice names like 'doll' and 'princess'. He loves me even though he's boyfriends with Tomura, and he even made that a rule." You pause. "He breaks the rules sometimes, but I think he'll keep that one."
Wani writes all of that down the entire time you're talking, tilting her head when you mention Dabi dating Tomura and then looking up properly when you mention the rules.
"Rules? What rules?" She asks.
"Dabi said I'm not allowed to give people my real name, because names are powerful. But I like being Star anyway now." You reply. "And how does everyone here know my name? It's strange."
More writing down of what you're saying, and commentless listening from Wani.
"Why do you like the name they gave you, Star?" She asks.
You think on her question for a little while, actually learning a lot about why you preferred being called Star instead of Y/N.
"Because everyone loves me now I'm Star, but nobody loved me when I was Y/N. It makes me sad being called that." You reply, and Wani pauses her writing to take a deep breath. "And it reminds me of my bear. Can I have my bear, please? I always sleep with it, and I can't sleep much here."
You pause for a brief moment, your last request reminding you of the original topic.
"That's a rule, too. I'm not meant to sleep alone." You look away, feeling disappointed in yourself despite not wanting to be without Dabi in the hospital. "Dabi's meant to make sure it's safe for us."
"You're safe, love." She replies instantly. "Can you tell me more about this rule? When you say 'sleep alone', do you mean sharing a bed with someone?"
"Me and Dabi shared a bed for a little while but not always." You reply. "He had a room with 'Mura now, and he says I'm growing up so I need more privacy."
She nods slowly, lowering the pen and looking thoughtfully at the notes on the paper for a while.
"Can I ask you a question, Star? It might sound a little scary, but I promise you'll be safe and you won't be in trouble whatever the answer is."
"Only if you promise I won't be in trouble." You reply firmly.
"Nothing you tell me will get you in any trouble. With me or anyone else." She vows. "I promise."
"Okay." You agree, trusting her.
"Great!" She smiles kindly, but it slowly droops. "Star, I'd really like to know if, when you were sharing a bed, or maybe otherwise, Dabi ever touched your chest or vagina, or made you feel uncomfortable."
Your face burns immediately, your eyes widening. You shake your head viciously.
"You won't be in trouble for telling the truth." She reassures you again.
"I am telling the truth!" You defend, your face feeling like it's on fire from the mere thought of that.
"Okay. Okay, honey. Did he ever make you share a bed with anyone else? Maybe someone that did do those things?"
You shake your head adamantly again. "Never!"
"Okay." She begins, but you're not done defending him yet.
"He said he'd kill anyone that touched me in a way I didn't like or want, because I'm his little girl and he loves me! And anyway, Dabi and 'Mura are trying to find Daiki to tell him off for touching me while I was trying to sleep, so he would never ever touch me! Ever!" You yell.
"Alright, Star. I'm sorry, I know it's an upsetting question." Wani replies calmly and patiently. "...Can you tell me about this Daiki?"
You scowl for a moment as you gather yourself, taking a deep breath to try and calm down. Nurse Wani watches you patiently, allowing you some time to relax again. You didn't want to argue with her when she was the only person that would let you talk about Dabi and believe you when you said he never hurt you or made you upset.
"He was moms boyfriend." You say in forced calmness. "He was mean and scary, but probably less than the others were. He was only mean to mom."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Star." Wani says softly. "That sounds horrible."
You shrug. "It's okay, mom was mean back a lot."
She looks at you with a sorrowful expression momentarily before writing things down again.
When she's done, she lifts her head again, regarding you thoughtfully and tapping her pen on the notebook.
"What other rules were there?" She asks.
"Not to follow people just because they say they have food, not to cuss, I have to behave, and he said that I can't lie either because if I lie he won't know when he needs to help me." You explain. "And then he can't get mad around me, touch me without permission and he's not allowed to keep secrets too. The fourth rule is that he always has to love me, but he said that's an easy rule."
Wani writes all this down too as you feel your eyes begin to prickle again. You really thought you wanted to talk about him, but talking about him just made you miss him even more.
When she looks up, she notices the tears you won't let escape and pats your hand.
"What's the matter, Star?" She asks. "Is this a bit too much for you?"
You nod, taking a deep shaky breath and turning your head away again. "Can I go back to Dabi, please?"
You know the answer before she even gives it but it still makes you lose control of the tears trapped in your eyes.
"You can't, honey. I'm sorry."