Astro was still in the same position that he was in before the surgery began. He even continued to gently stroke (Y/N)'s head as she remained unconscious, till the procedure was completed. His eyes seemed dull. Not in a depressed, emotionless way, but more in an overwhelmed way. He was worried. Of course, he knew nothing would go wrong. But deep down, he had the common feeling of doubt, even when there was no reason to be doubtful. His father noticed this. 

"She'll be okay, kiddo." Dr. Tenma assured with his hand placed firmly on Astro's shoulder. The boy nodded, as he knew his father wouldn't lie about this. But still, he couldn't help but worry. He's just glad he distracted himself while (Y/N)'s blood was visible. That would've made him completely freak out. 

~ 

A little while later, (Y/N) began to stir. Her eyes moved under her eyelids as they struggled to open. She blinked slightly and slowly, a couple times, before gazing at Astro, who still stood strongly behind her, protectively. She weakly smiled, glad that he was the first thing she saw. 

Astro sensed this change and snapped back from his dazed state. He smiled back with a sigh of relief. Finally, she was awake. The wait was becoming unbearable. 

Tenma saw how (Y/N)'s eyes were open, as she slowly became more aware of her surroundings. "Good afternoon, my dear." He said quietly with a gentle smile. (Y/N) simply gave a small grin in response. It seemed she didn't quite have the energy to speak yet, which is something that Tenma predicted. "Would you like to move somewhere more comfortable?" He asked. (Y/N) nodded as the Doctor brought over her wheelchair. 

(Y/N) tried to sit herself up, but stopped as it seemed almost impossible. Astro noticed (Y/N)'s struggle and slowly helped her into a sitting position before he carried her down into the wheelchair. 

"As this surgery was larger than the previous one, it'll take longer for you to adjust. Your energy will be quite limited. Fortunately, I'm sure Astro will be more than happy to help you around." Tenma looked to Astro, who was already wrapping (Y/N) comfortably in a blanket, before he took his stance behind the wheelchair. He gripped the handles firmly, ready to bring (Y/N) home. 

Since Dr. Tenma was one of the lead Doctors who participated in (Y/N)'s surgery, it would be safe for her to stay in the Tenma household, rather than a hospital. And if anything were to go wrong, he would be there to take her back to the lab if needed. 

~ 

As soon as they returned home, Dr. Tenma had stayed back to help clean up the lab, Astro brought (Y/N) over to the couch to watch a movie. Whether she watched the movie or fell asleep, it didn't matter to him. As long as his girlfriend was comfortable, as she was quite out of it. She seemed to only communicate with her facial features and occasional nods and shakes of her head. And rarely, one or two worded answers. 

But Astro continuously tried his best to listen and be there for (Y/N) whenever she needed something. 

He put on a movie he remembered (Y/N) telling him about. He replayed the memory of how passionate she got as she explained the plot of the film. She hadn't seen many movies in her time. It was hard to find them on the Surface. The other hard part was finding a place to watch them. But one of the movies she would talk about most is this one. 

As the movie reached its halfway point, Astro felt (Y/N)'s head had grown heavy on his shoulder. After multiple attempts of trying to stay awake, the need for rest had finally won. Astro switched the TV off and took (Y/N) to bed. As he entered the room, he only then noticed it was only the late afternoon. Which explained why he wasn't incredibly tired. 

He placed (Y/N) into his bed and tucked her in. For a second, he just watched her. All he felt in that moment was the need to protect. Determination coursed through his circuits. He was determined to help (Y/N) get back to her old badass, independent, take-shit-from-no-one, self, even when he knew she was secretly a softie, but he'd never tell that to anyone. 

~

The sun peered through the curtains to let all know that morning had arrived. Astro was asleep on a chair in his room with his mouth open as he snored loudly. (Y/N) actually wondered how she stayed asleep during his occasional monstrous snores.

Astro woke up first as he felt the metal on his back heat up slowly. He closed his mouth before he opened it again to yawn. He stood up from his chair and looked over to (Y/N), who was still sound asleep. Astro smiled before he saw her blanket had fallen off the bed. He picked it up and laid it over (Y/N), who instantly snuggled into the warmth.

Astro left the room groggily and rubbed his eyes. He blinked a couple times and saw that his dad was in the kitchen, making a coffee. Strange, shouldn't he be at work?

"You're up early." His father pointed out as he saw his son stumble out of the bedroom. Astro stopped.

"Wait, what time is it?" He asked, hoping it wasn't too much earlier than his normal wake up time. Tenma glanced at his watch as he stirred his drink.

"About 6:30 in the morning."

Astro groaned. "No wonder (Y/N)'s still asleep."

"That, and she's just gone through a big surgery, Astro. She'll be out for a bit." Tenma reminded him. Astro nodded. His dad took his first sip of coffee. "Look out for (Y/N) while I'm at work, okay? The prosthetic was attached perfectly but she'll be achy for the next few days, maybe weeks. It'll be a frustrating process for her. She'll need a lot of help, even if she doesn't want it."

"Of course, whatever she needs." Astro said without hesitation.

Tenma smiled at his son's positive attitude. "You really like her, don't you?"

Astro looked back to the room and smiled warmly. "Yeah." He looked back to his dad. "Yeah, I do."

Tenma chuckled softly. "Go head back to bed. You should be there when she wakes up. Plus, you look like a zombie, even as a robot. Go get some sleep, you need it." 

Astro laughed. "...Thanks, Dad." He headed back to the room with (Y/N) still resting peacefully.

"Any time, son." Tenma finished his hot drink gratefully.  

A/N 

Hello all! I'm back! 

It's been *ahem* QUITE a long time since I've updated any of my stories. But there's a reason for that! 

Apart from taking a mental break, finding jobs and saving money, I've been writing! There's a butt load of chapters that are going to be published in the next few days, especially for this book. My aim is to complete this book in the next week or two, so we'll see how that goes hehe :) 

To make up for the wait, I tried to make this chapter longer too. 

Glad to be back! 

- Chalupa