Rise from the Ashes

Chapter 9: She's Alive

Reappearing in The Room, Kida's knees crumbled like unsettled Jello. Crashing with the ground, she wanted to lie there in peace, overwhelmed by flashes of blood, frozen men going up in smoke, and Em's blood-red eyes.

"Hey, hey, are you alright? Did you get hurt?" Luke asked, kneeling beside her stretched-out body.

"I didn't think she'd be that bad," she groaned, not in pain but grief.

"Neither did I," he sighed, leaning against the center console.

His phone buzzed, rattling the metal top of the console. Lazily he used his abilities to bring the vibration phone to his hand.

"It's Arnda," Luke mentioned.

"Put it on speaker," Kida requested, staying on the ground.

"Hey Arnda, you're on speaker," Luke explained.

"Are you two alright?" Arnda asked almost immediately.

"For the most part, yes," he answered, watching Kida in worry.

"Good, Emerald is being transported to the Healthstone hospital," Arnda informed.

"What?" Kida propped herself up at the name of her mom's hospital.

"Lena is already gearing up for surgery, police are locking down all entrances, it seems like she's going to be under constant supervision while she's here," Arnda explained in a hushed voice. "You two should come. They'll allow you in."

"Alright, we're on our way," Luke said, forcing himself to his feet. "I'm going to charge. You good?"

"Fine, go. I'll meet you out in the living room," Kida responded, staying on the ground.

Luke nodded as he grabbed the wadded-up clothes in his bag and headed for the tiny bathroom. Kida remained still thinking back to the flames that jetted off the sides of Em's eyes, slices of missing skin, broken bones, and swallow breaths. Yet, she had managed to not only melt a weapon and burn Benito but keep an entire fire from ragging through the house.

'How?' Kida wondered. 'She was so weak, her eyes couldn't fully open, so how could she possibly do all that?'

Forcing her muscles to cooperate, she got up using her abilities to change and sluggishly wandered out to the living room. Luke came rushing out of the bathroom, messing with his shirt half on.

"Ready?" he asked, shoving his uniform deep into the abyss of his bag.

"Yeah," she sighed, drowsily stepping towards the door.

"Hey, are you sure you're alright?" Luke questioned, noticing her off-put attitude. "I thought you'd be happy."

"I am," Kida exclaimed. "It's just so hard to be happy when she's like that. Wh . .en .. when I saw h .er . ."

"It's ok," Luke soothed, pulling her close. "It's ok."

Ragged breaths collapsed in her lungs. She struggled to get words of thanks out but wrapped in Luke's arms, she didn't want to speak. She just wanted to stay still, until Em was better until she was breathing normally, and the scars had faded to nothing but a memory.

"It's going to be okay, she's back. Focus on that. We have her back," he continued in a soft unharmed voice.

'That's right,' she remembered thinking back to the few words Em managed to speak. 'She is alive, and my mom will be looking over her. She'll be ok.'

"Thank you," she gulped.

"Don't mention it," he reassured, letting go of Kida. "Let's go meet up with Arnda."