Powers

Chapter 26

Beep........beep........beep.

"She's responding. She has a pulse now," a voice says.

Beep...beep...beep.

"It's speeding up, her blood pressure is back to normal, and she's breathing better. Now all we have to do is wait for her to wake up," the same voice says.

I become vaguely aware that that voice is familiar, and I can feel someone holding my hand.

I open my eyes to reveal familiar faces beside me. "You're alive!" Peter shouts, nearly crushing my already weak body with a hug. I groan in pain, and he lets go. "Sorry," he apologizes. I see Cassia next to me, wearing a doctor's coat and writing down medical things down on a clipboard. "Welcome back to the land of the living," she says.

Judging by the amount of injured people in here, I come to the conclusion that I'm in the healers' tent. Funny that I can't remember how I even ended up in here. Noticing the oxygen mask over my nose and mouth, I remove it and try to sit up. "No, you sit back down," Cassia orders. I do as she says, but I don't put the mask back on.

"What...what happened?" I barely get out, almost as if my voice has failed me. All I can remember is heat and fire and...burning. Then it all went black. "You tried to go against someone with the power of elements, and things went wrong. You lost in mere seconds, and he was burning you before we could register what was happening. We've healed most of your wounds, but you'll have scars on your arms and legs," Cassia explains. I look at my arms, and my heart drops into my stomach.

The skin is pink and raw on the inside of my forearm, and just looking at it brings me pain. I look down at my legs, hoping to see some improvement, but it's only worse. A large scar begins at my knee, circles around my calf, and trails down my ankle. On the opposite leg, a particularly bad scar is branded on my shin.

"They'll fade over time," Cassia encourages. I however, don't even smile at her optimism. I'm in too much pain. The memories begin to come back, and I can remember people fighting on top of the ones who were already dead. "H-how...many?" I ask, hoping one of them will know what I mean. "Let's just say that our camp population isn't what it used to be," Peter says solemnly.

I simply drop my gaze and let the tears fall down my face, afraid to know who didn't make it. It is then when I remember Susan slumped unconscious during the fight. I struggle to get up as I say, "Where's...Susan?"

"You need to rest," Cassia protests. "Where is she?" I fiercely respond, my voice coming back. "Julia," she protests. "You will not tell me to rest while I don't know where she is or if she's even ok. I ask you again, where is Susan?" I demand.

Cassia just sighs and begins to explain. "She's not dead, but she's in critical condition. During the fight, someone with the power of agility ambushed her and attacked her weak points," she explains. "Weak points?" I ask. "There are certain parts of the body that, if hit directly on the pressure point, can shut down and leave you incapacitated. She got hit on a nerve behind the knee, under her ribcage, and around her collar bone. Her limbs gave out, and she couldn't move; that made her an easy target, and she almost got killed because of it," Cassia explains.

"Is she going to be ok? I know you said she's in critical condition, but she's going to live, right?" I ask. "She should be alright. Besides, someone's been looking out for her nonstop," Cassia says with a smile. "Who?" I question. "You'll see," She replies.

A moment of silence passes, but I have too many questions to keep quiet. "What happened after I blacked out?" Cassia drops her gaze and says in a solemn voice, "It's not something I want to discuss. A lot of things happened in that library; people were killed, and I saw it happen. I don't want to relive it."