I'm not on EITHER side

I hate hospitals so much.

Izuku's POV

I wake up feeling like I got hit by a truck. My ribs hurt, my head is pounding, my legs feel like they're full of lead. I tilt my head down and see my entire chest is bandaged, with extra padding around the area the debris stabbed through me. I reach up and touch my head. There's a bandage on my forehead and a bit of gauze wrapped around my head. I hear the steady beep of the heart rate monitor and notice that I can only hear out of my right ear.

I look around my room and see that it's late at night. No one is here. I hate it here. I hate hospitals so much. I look to my left and see my phone and there's a bag to my right. I reach for my phone and immediately stop. That really hurt. I slowly ease myself up. I don't want to tear any stitching they might have done.

A nurse walks into my room and I look over at her. "Oh, hi. Um, can you help me? I'm trying to move, but I can't without it hurting a bit."

"You shouldn't be awake at all yet. We were given instructions to call Recovery Girl after you woke up." I nod and she leaves the room. I take in my surroundings now that my eyes have adjusted a bit more to the darkness. There are flowers on a table to my left, as well as a few get well soon baskets.

I want to get up and dressed, but clearly that's out of the question until Recovery Girl gets here. I can hear the nurse talking to a doctor outside, but I have trouble understanding what they're saying. That's usually not a problem. I need to grab my phone, but I can't get it without my ribs hurting and the feeling that I might tear my stitches.

The door starts to open again, and I look over to see the doctor come in. "Hello, Mr. Midoriya. It's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

"My body feels like I fell through several layers of cement, but other than that and the throbbing in my head, I'm alright. I do have a question though." The doctor looks up from his clipboard and nods. "I can't hear out of my left ear. Is that going to be a permanent thing or can I get it fixed?" He sighs and sets the clipboard down before sitting on the edge of my bed.

"We were worried about that. We weren't sure if you were going to have any issues hearing after you said that everything was muffled during the ride here. We want to keep monitoring you after Recovery Girl heals you. If she doesn't fix your hearing, then we'll have to figure out what's wrong. It could be solved with a simple hearing aid, or it could be an issue where you have to adjust to living without hearing in your one ear. I'm sorry."

I simply nod and let him go back to his checkup, being as cooperative as possible. He says something after he finishes and goes to leave. "Wait. Can you hand me my phone? I can't really reach it from here." He nods and hands me my phone before leaving. I look at my phone and check the time. 2:33 AM. There's a lot of missed texts and call from my friends. I see some from Aizawa and Yagi.

I unlock my phone and just look at my home screen. I don't know what to do. I might have lost half of my hearing. Without a quirk, I'm already at a bit of a disadvantage. Now with half of one of my most important senses lost, I could have a harder time with being a hero. I still desperately want to be one, but this could cause some serious problems for the future.

I feel the hot tears stinging at my eyes. I feel one fall down my cheek. Then another. More and more start falling before I'm having a full breakdown. I want to go back home. Not U.A. Not even Hosu. For the first time in a while, I'm starting to miss my mom. Sure, she wasn't the greatest, but she was still my mom. She loved me in her own way. And if she could see me now, I think she might even be proud.

I didn't hear Recovery Girl coming in, but she's at the foot of my bed when I look up. She doesn't berate me, she doesn't even have an angry look on her face. She looks at me patiently and comes up to my right side. She doesn't say anything. Just grabs my hand and pats it while I cry.

I eventually calm down and she continues to hold my hand. "Are you feeling better, Midoriya?" I nod and she gives my hand a small squeeze. "Good. Now, what were you thinking? You got yourself hurt. You need to be more careful. And if you aren't given a mission, you don't go on it." I chuckle a bit at her scolding. Her face softens a bit, but I can tell she's still a bit upset with me.

She kisses my hand, and I feel in wonderful shape. My head doesn't hurt. I sit up a bit, and my ribs don't scream in protest. My stab wound is completely healed. But I still can't hear out of my left ear. I put my finger up to the left side of my head and snap my fingers, but I still can't hear anything.

I feel the tears start welling up in my eyes again, but I force them down. Recovery Girl looks over at me in slight confusion. "I guess they didn't fill you in. The damage to my ear was so bad that it was possible that I would completely lose hearing in my left ear. If you couldn't fix it, then I'd have to either adjust or see if I can get a hearing aid."

She pulls my arm down a bit and gives me a hug. I give her a hug back, and then I can't hold back. I start crying again, but now I have her here to comfort me throughout the whole thing. She pats my back and tells me that it'll be okay. The door opens and someone walks in. I release the hug and turn to whoever walked in. Aizawa looks at me and then walks over to my bed. "What's wrong?"

"Might not be able to hear out of my left ear anymore. Just normal stuff." He nods and then goes over to sit in one of the chairs on the right side of the room. "You don't have to stay, you know. I don't expect you to."

"I'm staying. I don't have any missions tonight, and you're my student. Plus, I have to keep an eye on you, problem child." I smile and nod. I let out a yawn. Before I go to bed though, I wanna get all of these bandages off. And maybe change into more comfortable clothes.

"Can you toss me that bag?" Aizawa picks it up and tosses it to me. I look in and find a t-shirt and shorts. I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and then slowly walk to the bathroom. I look in the mirror and slowly undo the gauze. There's some extra padding over my left ear. I take it off and snap near my ear. I hear it a small bit. But it's enough to give me hope. Maybe I'll be able to salvage my hearing.

I take my time and unwrap the bandaging around my chest. I remove the padding from where my stab wound was and see it's covered in blood. There wasn't much stitching, but what was there fell out. I toss everything in the trash and get changed.

I walk back out and smile a small bit. "I was wrong. The padding over my ear inhibited me from hearing everything. I definitely need either surgery or a hearing aid to get most of my hearing back, but I can hear a little." I crawl back into bed and pass out right away.

Word Count: 1369

Thanks for reading this chapter! It took me a few hours to write, but I had a fun time writing it. I hope you enjoyed it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm excited to finish this up. Not because I don't like writing the story, but because I'm starting to get closer to a decent ending. I might start a second story, if you guys would like. But that's a discussion for another day. Have a good day, and remember to drink some water.