This Should Feel Something Like Fire.

I hadn't realized how exhausted I was until I woke up two hours later laying on a hospital bed I had no recollection of getting in, leg freshly bandaged and hurting a hell of a lot less than it had walking in here. Vic, Jack, a nurse, and a policeman were in my room. I coughed, alerting them to my awakening. "Hello, Kellin!" The nurse chirped in an overly sugar sweet voice. I had to refrain from cringing. "How are you feeling? The doctor said you had a pretty nasty infection, but he took care of it while you were out and you should be fine." I smiled and nodded at her, and from behind her in the two chairs Vic circled his finger around his ear mouthing crazy while the policeman, a plump man with a mustache, laughed at him, his belly jiggling as he did. The nurse ignored the commotion behind her and stayed focused on me. I had to cough to hide my own laughter. Jack simply sat on the floor beside Vic, face emotionless and eyes dead.

"I'm alright, I think. When can I go home?" Vic stood up and walked towards me as I spoke, the policeman not too far behind.

She huffed. "Well, Officer James would like to talk to you before you leave, and I'll get the pain medicines your doctor prescribed to you. After that, you should be free to go! Oh, and the wheelchair and crutches in the corner are for you. Use whichever one you prefer, or both." She giggled. The closer I looked at her, the more I noticed her red eyes and dazed look. Was my nurse - the lady who was in charge of the IV I was just taking out and all of the medicines they had been pumping into me - actually high right now? Looking over at Officer James, he was laughing and shaking his head. When I caught his gaze, he winked.

"Thank you...uh..." He searched her shirt for a name tag, but found none.

"Jordan!"

"Right. Thank you Jordan. If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Kellin and Vic alone." He hinted, to which Jordan nodded vigorously before skipping out the door, closing it behind her. As soon as we were positive she wouldn't hear us, we looked at each other and simultaneously burst into laughter.

"What the fuck just happened? I'm not the only one who noticed she was high, right?" Vic gasped between laughing.

"Definitely not. Don't worry, that's the last time she'll come to work high. I'll mention it to her boss before I leave." Officer James responded in the same fashion. It was then that Jack decided to stand up and come over to us. I couldn't help but notice he was way too pale, and although I had seen him only hours ago, he look significantly skinnier. We had already lost Alex, and now we were watching Jack disappear right in front of us. I ignored the pang that pierced my heart and turned to the officer, sitting myself up and dangling my legs over the side of my bed. Yeah, my leg was definitely much better.

"What do you need to know?" I tried to keep the worry out of my voice, but I think my nervousness showed. How was I supposed to lie my ass off to the cops? What if my story didn't match with Vic's? What if I accidentally said something about Elementals?

"Calm down Kellin." Jack said, his voice weak. "He knows about our...abilities. You can trust him. His family has been helping us for generations. They've been cool with us since before I was even born." It didn't escape me that he only mentioned himself, as if Alex had totally disappeared or never even existed in the first place.

"Right. Let's get started. So, you're absolutely positive your dad was the leader of the Resistance?" Vic and I nodded together.

"Yeah. He straight up told us." I told him.

"And he's dead?"

"Yessir. Austin killed him." It surprised me that I didn't even flinch at the mention of my dead father. I cared about him, honestly, but the role my dad played, the leader of the Resistance, that wasn't him. It wasn't the dad I knew and loved. He was different, and my dad had disappeared long ago. It just hadn't become clear to me until now.