SILVER EYES (GXG)

Chapter 10: Slice of Memories

I gazed out the hospital window. The sky was clear, no trace of those nasty dark clouds. No rain either.

"How long have I been here?" I asked turning to Heather.

"24 hours."

Just 24 hours? If someone told me that everything I remembered had been nothing more than a nightmare, I might have believed them, there wasn't a single trace or hint of it left. Wild how quickly the weather could change.

"What happened with the fire?" I asked, trying to piece together the gaps in my memory after passing out.

"They managed to put it out once the storm passed." Heather said as she sat up in her bed, letting her left leg hang off the side, and then, with the help of her hands, she carefully moved her bandaged right leg to join it.

"Does it hurt?" I said looking at her leg.

She shook her head. "Not really. I can even walk if I don't push it too much."

She stood up and took a few steps toward me. She limped slightly, but otherwise, she seemed fine. When she reached my bed, she clutched the metal bar at the foot for support, and then with a small sigh, she eased herself in the edge of the bed, close to my feet.

"See?" She said with a grin. "It'll heal soon with the recovery treatment."

I sat up straighter, and even though I didn't have any bandages, my body still felt like a noodle. Still, I pushed through, and once I got past the initial discomfort of moving, I actually felt better, like my blood finally remembered how to circulate properly.

"It was amazing what you did up there in the tower, you know?" She said.

I shrugged. "I'm just glad I could help."

She shook her head. "You did more than that. You saved lives. My life, to begin with, and then, you prevented a massive disaster in the City. It was such a smart move to use the suit to isolate the Repeater."

"It was the only option I had."

Heather let out a sharp exhale and smiled briefly. "Interesting you see it that way."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." She said. "Doesn't matter."

A silence.

Now that she was closer, I could see her turquoise eyes better. They were still framed by a faint red haze that seemed to have intensified since I last saw her in the electric towar. I leaned in toward her to get a better look, and she flinched.

"Oh, sorry," I said quickly returning to my place. "It's just... your eyes, they look..."

"Horrible, I know." She said gazing away from me.

"I wasn't going to say that."

"But you thought so."

"No..." Heather raised an eyebrow clearly not buying it and I felt I needed to justify. "Okay, first of all, I'm not used to seeing blue-eyed people, even less, blue eyes that seemed to have sunk into a pool of blood."

Heather raised her eyebrows in shock. "Sunk in a pool of blood?" Oh-oh. "And here I thought horrible was the worst thing you could be thinking of." She blinked slowly as if trying to digest the comment.

"Ok, maybe that was unfortunate." I said.

"Unfortunate?" She snorted. "Do you write all your compliments or they just come natural to you?"

"All natural. I'm just too creative." I said grinning. "But just for the record and if it makes you feel better, I'd still think your eyes are kind of...hypnotic."