𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐎 (𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒) *editing*

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬🌷

Pain split through her skull. That was the first thing she felt when she came to. And the irritation of these bright, white lights that stung her eyes. Her body was incredibly stiff, and cold. Her head lay on something soft and pillow-like.

Her vision flickered around. Okay...where the hell am I? A hospital-looking room. She was on a hospital bed, with a thin blanket over her body. It wasn't helping with preserving her body heat. Her clothes clung to her body, feeling damp. A sensation of prickling needles poked at her skin as she tried to sit up. It was either a hissing or a groaning sound she made. Maybe it was both. Having successfully sat up, she got a better view of the room. It was plain, aside from the stacked boxes to her right, and a chair or two to her left. Her bag perched on the closest one. A roll-y table with a bunch of medicines and a syringe on it.

"What the fuck happened?" She rubbed her temple tenderly. The last thing she could recall was being on top of that bus when the water turned it upright and knocked her off into the current. The back of her cranium warmed, as a reminder that she had hit her head on something. Obviously hard enough for her to be knocked unconscious.

"Oh, you're awake." The voice startled her at first. A girl about her age had come in holding a tray of what looked like food. She seemed just as surprised as she did. "I guess that's good. Here, you should eat something."

"Who are you?" Maeve eyed her warily. "Where's my sister? Where's TJ and Joel?"

"Marlene's with them," the girl answered, approaching the bed and setting the tray at Maeve's feet. "They haven't woken up yet. Or so I'm told."

Her eyes fell to the tray. A sandwich and a bag of unexpired keto chips.

"I'm Abby, by the way." The girl sat in the empty chair, watching Maeve while she laced her fingers together.

"Maeve." She replied, her voice soft. "What happened? Where am I?"

"Saint Mary's Hospital," Abby answered as she twiddled her thumbs. "We found you guys near the tunnels. Half-drowned. So I'm told."

The auburn-haired teen nodded numbly and leaned back with a sigh. That meant the others were okay, too, right? Was Ellie okay? TJ and Joel too?

"How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

"Just my head."

"There's some pills on the table if you need them."

"Thanks." Maeve glanced at the pill bottles laid about the surface. The headache she had wasn't bad, or it didn't hurt terribly. Her skull was sore, mostly. If she was still enough, the stinging would settle. Maybe it was because she had hit her head that she couldn't process what had happened, past and present.

Okay. They were in the tunnel. The bus turned over. They fell into the water. She hit her head. Lights out. While she was under, the Fireflies found them, and got them to the hospital. Seems grand and all. But where was her sister? The girl hadn't answered her question. Where was TJ, and where was Joel?

And why was it so quiet? She thought there would be more Fireflies roaming about.

"You're up," Marlene's voice broke her thoughts. "How're you feeling, kid?"

"Marlene!" Maeve's head shot up toward the doorway to see the dark-skinned woman enter the room. "Ellie, is she okay? And TJ and Joel?"

Marlene smiled lightly, but there was something about her smile that discouraged Maeve somehow. The woman gave Abby a weird expression, which caused the blonde to stand, wave farewell to her, and then leave the room.