Rise from the ashes (an elemental tale)

Consume

There was something hard and cold under my cheek, and I'm pretty sure my pillow doesn't feel like this.

My eyes open slowly. They're blurry at first, but after a couple of blinks, I can see what predicament I've found myself in.

I passed out on the cold hardwood floor in my room, still dressed in last night's outfit.

My ears pick up the sound of a commotion just outside my bedroom door.

What are these idiots doing this time?

"ON THREE!" comes the voice of Connley.

On three what??

"ONE!"

Why are they counting down?

"TWO!"

Wait a second, why does it sound like they're directly outside my bedroom door?

Oh no...

"THREE!" said Connley as he rammed into my bedroom door.

The force with which they rammed into my door caused it to splinter apart. Pieces of wood went flying everywhere. By rolling out of the way, I just barely missed being impaled by a huge chunk of my, once whole, door.

"What is going on here?!" is what I said, but it came out way too muffled since my nose was squashed against the very same hardwood floor I found myself on when I woke up.

How do I end up in these kinds of situations?

"Phoenix!" was Connley's overly worried response.

He turned me the right way around and picked me up. He then gently deposited me on my unused bed.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"I got jumped by a cross between a lion and an alligator on my flight back. Thought I was a goner." I said dramatically.

"Where can I find this lion-alligator thing?" he asked seriously.

I just stared back at him in shock. He can't genuinely be this dull, can he?

"She's messing with you, we arrived here perfectly fine," said Alexander, our resident killjoy, "she just didn't bother with addressing her wounds, and it seems like she slept on the floor."

"Oh, does it?" was my sarcastic input.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" asked Connley, deeply hurt by my indifferent attitude towards my life.

"I passed out before I could do anything about it, Valencia did help-" I said, but got interrupted by him.

"Valenica! I can't believe she left you here in this condition!" Connley said, fuming.

"This wasn't her fault, I told her to leave, plus it's not like I'm hurt." I told him, hoping he'd leave her out of this.

He raised an eyebrow at my outright lie.

"Not hurt? A bullet passing through your thigh doesn't hurt you?" He asked rhetorically.

I merely shrugged my shoulders in response.

"Stay here, I'm going to get some supplies, then I'll dress the wound." He said sternly.

"I can't go anywhere else." I pointed out matter-of-factly.

He walked out of the room, being careful to dodge the stray splintered pieces of wood lying around. Alexander followed his lead.

I can't believe they destroyed my door for this. They could have just knocked.