The Boy in the Gray Hoodie

32...

32...

I was angry. So angry.

            Angry with James for being such a despicable person. Angry with Marley, for helping him, and for keeping his secrets. If they had only told Roy who he really was, he could have understood why he was different. He could have learned to control his abilities—whatever they were. The had lied to him over and over again, pushing their excuses in front of their guilt so they wouldn't have to face what they were doing.

            I couldn't believe I had ever trusted either of them.

            But I couldn't think about that now. I had to concentrate.

            Roy was unconscious. He had a fever, just like earlier that morning, but this time it wouldn't go away. I even tried kissing him—much to everyone's surprise—but it didn't work. By the time Chris and I got him to the back bedroom, his clothes were damp with sweat.

            "What do we do?" I said aloud to anyone who could answer.

            Chris held up his hands. "I'm an engineer. Not a doctor."

            We were watching Roy carefully, frozen in uncertainty as he lay across the bed on his back, his whole body trembling.

            "We have to get his fever down." I said, coming around the side of the bed. Refusing to wait another minute, I started to take of his shirt, hoping that would help.

            "Shouldn't we keep him warm to break the fever?" Chris asked. "That's what we did with Caleb last year when he had a cold,"

            "This isn't a cold," I said.

"Well, what is it?" Chris asked as Marley entered the room.

"It's an episode," she explained, approaching Roy and helping me remove his clothes. "Lisa's got the right idea. We need to cool him down."

I refused to look at her. I was still so angry.

Everyone paused when Roy let out a sharp moan. I looked down at his hands as he gripped the fabric of the bedspread, then back up. His eyes opened momentarily as he lifted his head.

"What happened?" he asked shakily. "What did I do?"

I shook my head at him, trying to smile. "Nothing," I told him. "No explosions this time," my smile looked more like a wince, and it did nothing to calm him. He still looked scared.

"I knew he was too weak to handle this," Marley mumbled under her breath. "James never should have taken him out of that room. At least he was safe there. Who knows what he's done to himself since then,"

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. My heart rate accelerated as I watched Roy's head fall against the mattress. He appeared to be drifting in and out of consciousness, and his skin was still hot to the touch. Whatever had caused his fever hadn't gone away yet. We still needed to get him cooled off. "I thought you said he could heal himself."

"He has the ability to heal himself. That doesn't mean he automatically knows how to do it," Marley stepped into the bathroom and pulled open the shower door, switching on the water. "That was our next step. We were going to teach him how to control himself. But we didn't get the chance to do it."

            "So, basically, you created a superhuman, but skipped the part where you tell him he has powers and train him to use them for good not evil," I snapped sarcastically.