Prompt: Dizziness/Vertigo

how the fuck am i gonna last 24 more days

When Dick first got hit by the wave, the team had laughed. He was trying to show off his surfing skills but overestimated himself when a large wave came in and he toppled over, the water crashing over him as it dunked him underneath the surface. With all the seriousness he held himself with, it brought them particular joy to see someone who fought so gracefully absolutely fail at showing off. 

His board popped up seconds later without him on it which only made it funnier since now Kaldur had to go swimming to retrieve it as it was dragged out into the sea. He didn't come back up after it probably because even with all that water, they were laughing so hard that he likely heard a muffled version of it. They could imagine him now using his training to hold his breath just so he didn't resurface with bright red cheeks. Maybe he was sulking down there and willing the sea to take him somewhere far away where he could start again.

They expected him to wash up on the shore to really seal how cartoonish his crash out had been but he didn't. In fact, he hadn't come back up at all yet. Their laughter died down. He still didn't come back up for air. They knew he could hold his breath for a while but this might be pushing it. Surely one wave wouldn't be the thing to knock him out, right? Yet the evidence said otherwise. He was under there for too long.

"Is...is he doing that on purpose?" Artemis asked, the last remnants of her grin slipping off her face. She glanced to Wally because surely he would know when to call it. The pair spent enough time pranking people to know when the bit was over. She didn't like the uncertainty on his face.

"I don't know," Wally answered as he squinted his eyes at the water. He couldn't see anyone. "Kaaal-"

"Going," the atlantian replied already halfway to the water. He swiftly dived underneath and scoured the water for any black hair or red swimming trunks. 

Nothing immediately popped out to him until he swam right underneath the point of impact and looked down. Beneath him in the darkness, he could make out the red. Swimming closer he saw Dick pulling at his leg that had been tangled in thick long kelp. It seemed the more he moved and tried to tear the kelp, the tighter it clung to his skin to keep him pinned in place. He didn't notice Kaldur as his eyes were kept firmly on his efforts to free himself so he jumped suddenly at the hand that appeared in his vision. When he finally recognised who it was, the relief was palpable. Kaldur summoned his swords and chopped the kelp a few inches down from Dick's foot before grabbing the hero around his waist and racing to the surface.

Dick gasped when they breached the water and coughed harshly. Luckily it didn't sound wet and was more likely due to the strain of holding his breath for so long. Kaldur didn't let go of him until they were safely on the beach and the team were gathered around. 

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" M'gann asked, holding his cheeks as she checked him for any head wounds. He gently slapped her hands away.

"Other than my ego, I think I'm fine," he answered though he winced. "I didn't know kelp could grow that long." He began unwinding the kelp from his ankle and cringed at how red the skin was. It was like he'd twisted a rubber band around his finger one too many times in class leaving it discoloured. 

"What happened?" Artemis asked.

"I went under and thought I could use the board's buoyancy to pull myself back up but when I did, my leg wouldn't move. I had to let go to get it loose from the kelp but it's like the more I tried to get rid of it, the more showed up," he explained. 

"I'm sorry my friend, I should've kept an eye on them," Kaldur offered.

"The sea does what it wants dude, it's fine," he assured him quickly. "Let's just agree not to tell anyone this happened."

"To save your ego?" Wally teased.

"And so our mentors still let us use the beach. B is one incident away from banning us." He held out his hand. "Deal?" They all put their hands on top. 

"Deal," they said in unison.

Whilst all their focus went to Dick's near drowning, they hadn't thought about what happened during the initial hit of the wave. Frankly, neither did Dick. Although he felt a little out of sorts he put that down to taking an unexpected swim and subsequently getting stuck underneath the water. He didn't think there was anything wrong when the feeling continued and he was left feeling seasick despite his feet firmly being on the ground. He just guessed his body was still in shock whilst his mind had come to terms with what happened.

A few days passed and the events of that day were simply a three am cringeworthy thought that had him swearing to never even look at a surfboard again. 

Then, as he ran on a treadmill, he tripped. It shouldn't have thrown him that much. He probably didn't pick the right speed or maybe the belt needed replacing but he had to grip the sides of the machine for dear life. His stomach swirled uneasily and after a few blinks, he couldn't shake the weird tilt of his vision and the feeling like he was about to hit the deck or puke or both. There was a pain behind his eyes but it focused on the furthest side. Maybe it was his ear rather than a migraine? He put a hand to it and just the brush of his fingers against the side of his face felt overstimulating.

He yanked the cord on the treadmill to bring it to an emergency stop and got off as naturally as his unsteady feet would allow. The feeling didn't pass and he had to sit down before he fell. 

"Dick? You alright?" Dinah asked. Normally he would play it off so he could be treated at home instead of the mountain but he didn't like this. He felt wrong, plain and simple.

"Can't see right," he answered because he didn't know how else to describe what was going on. He didn't feel particularly sick. He'd felt unlike himself but he wouldn't say he felt sick. He guessed he'd been a little less graceful lately but he definitely hadn't been like this. 

"What do you mean?"

"Everything's all...soupy."

"Soupy?" she repeated. 

"Like I had three run-ins with Count Vertigo." She frowned to herself and kneeled down. 

"Concentrate on my finger and follow it for me," she instructed. He hummed, unable to bring himself to nod his head in fear of making it worse and kept his eyes on the finger as best he could. He could feel his eyes slipping behind. "Flickering."

"What's going on?" M'gann asked, the team not far behind her having abandoned their own workouts. 

"Working on it. Wally, get Tornado for me," she ordered. He was already out the door halfway through the sentence. "Are you having any ear pain?"

"A little. Like right in the middle."

"Any head injuries I should know about?" He glanced at his friends and then back to her. 

"No."

"So if I ask Bruce, he'll agree?" He made an affirmative noise. "What about your friends over there?"

"There was that wave," Artemis muttered.

"Wave?"

"He was surfing and got hit by a pretty big wave," she explained. "That count?"

"It just might."

Wally came in like a bat out of hell with Red Tornado on his heel. The robot assessed the situation and whilst his face didn't move, they could tell he wasn't happy. 

"Can you check for a perforated ear drum?" Dinah asked.

"On Dick?" She nodded. "I need to contact Bruce first."

"Since when?"

"Article Thirty-Two, Mentor Code for Proteges of Batman: Before conducting a non-emergency assessment, Batman must be contacted prior to the assessment to allow for transport to preferred medical personnel. If unavailable, the mentor may conduct the assessment with the consent of the protege in agreement with a fellow caretaker elected for the Young Justice Team."

"Again, since when?"

"B's been a little funny since Red went rogue," Dick mentioned as he held his head up with his hands. "Override B01 section 3," he added with his eyes squeezed closed.

"What was that?"

"His phone is not gonna get blown up over paper cuts and minor bruises. Plus, you have to try multiple times and I'd rather die than wait any longer," he answered. She shot him a smile he couldn't see yet still felt. She wouldn't be smiling if she knew just how many work-around codes he made to dodge the rules. Half of them were just for sneaking out of the mountain without alerting the mentors. She'd kill him for those ones. Red Tornado nodded and conducted the scan.

"Dick's left ear drum appears to have been perforated."

"That sounds really serious," M'gann fretted.

"It's not deadly. What I am concerned about is the bacteria that could've gotten in when it first burst. How long were you underwater for?"

"A while," he replied. Dinah narrowed her eyes but let him be. 

"Can you scan for bacteria, Red?"

"I can," he confirmed as sassily as his robotic voice would allow. "There does appear to be a bacterial infection in the beginning stages. Likely bacterial labyrinthitis."

"Alright, let's get you some antiemetics to start then antibiotics and an uncomfortable phone call with your guardian."

"Sounds like every phone call with him," Wally joked under his breath.

"How about you use that lightning-quick wit to get me a bucket?" Dick asked.

"On it!"

It was miserable waiting for the antiemetics to kick in. Dick decided it was best for his stomach and everyone in the room if he kept his eyes closed and didn't move an inch from where he'd been put on the bed. He'd dealt with his fair share of vertigo thanks to Count Vertigo but at least when he was going head-to-head with the villain, he knew it would end as soon as they won or as soon as he ran away. Now, he had no clue. It was like being stuck on the never-ending tea cups that were way too fast for comfort.

The embarrassment from the wave hitting now tripled. A bacterial ear infection from a burst eardrum caused by a wave crashing into him square in the head was a story for someone who didn't battle domestic terrorists and serial killers for a living. Thankfully, the team saved the banter for another day seeing he was already suffering and in no mood to laugh. That didn't mean he was saved from it forever. It was inevitable that they would bring it up. For now, though, they waited around ready to offer support but knowing better than to create a conversation too loud for him to handle.