The Modern Four

Chapter 15

Tadashi and Penny were quickly loaded up into the ambulance that had come, with Honey Lemon, Wilbur, Hiro, and Violet following closely behind in Tadashi car. The four were silent, except for Honey's occasional sniffles. Tadashi was badly burnt on his arm, and Penny had been told that her ankle was sprained. All and all, it was a lot to handle. Honey Lemon pulled into the emergency room lot, and everyone rushed in, except for Hiro, who was staying behind the group, looking down. He chewed on his lip, taking shaky breaths.

"Stupid." He told himself. "Stupid stupid stupid. You could've gotten them all killed. All because you chose to overreact. Stupid stupid stupid." He followed the group in.

"What's stupid?" Wilbur asked, looking at him.

Hiro sighed, looking down. "If I had just...never mind."

Wilbur raised an eyebrow, looking at him. "Dude, really, what's up? You're clearly upset over something." He said.

Hiro shook his head. "It's just...if I had just not been so rude to Violet, maybe no one would have gotten hurt. And maybe we would've found your dad's time machine. And maybe.." He looked down, sniffling.

Wilbur sighed. "Listen man, you can blame yourself. It wasn't anyone's fault." He smiled a little. "Cmon, let's get back inside. I'm sure Violet and Honey Lemon are worried." He laughed, starting to walk back inside. Hiro frowned, looking at the ground and staying silent, walking back in. Honey Lemon was pacing around the waiting room, on the phone with Hiro and Tadashi's aunt Cass, her eyes wet with tears. She waved Hiro over, handing the phone to him. Hiro started talking to his aunt, trying to calm her down. Wilbur sat down next to Violet, who was playing with her hair, sighing. Wilbur leans over, poking her lightly in the arm.

"Hey." He said, looking at her. She looked up, frowning a little bit, but not saying anything. "That was pretty crazy, huh? It's amazing that we all made it through." He laughed.

Violet sighed and looked at Wilbur, frowning. "We almost didnt." She said cynically, hugging her knees to her chest. "If only I hadn't..." She muttered, looking away. Wilbur sighed loudly.

"Jeez, am I the only one not blaming themselves? Next I'm gonna hear Penny say that she started the fire, and it's all her fault! Cmon Vi, you can't blame yourself." He smiled a little. She looked down, her hair falling in her eyes.

"It's just, if I wasn't...if I wasn't a.." She lowered her voice, glancing over at Honey Lemon, "A super, then none of this would have ever happened. Admit it, it's my fault." She bit her lips, fighting back tears. Wilbur looked at her, furrowing his eyebrows, and grabbed her hand. Later, he'd say that this was out of reflex, and that it had nothing to do with his crush on her, but that doesn't matter. She looked up at him, her hair still covering her eyes.

"Listen, Violet. You can't blame yourself for this. You didn't make yourself magic or a super or whatever you call it. It's not like you jumped in a vat of toxic waste to make yourself turn invisible, because that'd just be straight up crazy. You didn't choose to be this way. And you know what? I like your powers. I like that you're so different from anyone I've ever known. I've never known a girl to be as different and unique and cool as you. So don't blame it all on yourself cause it's not your fault. Or Hiro's. Or anyone's." He smiled, looking at her. She shook her head, looking down at their hands together, biting her lip. She took her hand away, and took a deep breath.

"Thank you, Wilbur...thanks." She mumbled, standing up and walking to the bathroom. Wilbur watched her go, sighing and closing his eyes, shaking his head.

At that moment, Hiro made his way back into the room. He collapsed on the chair next to Wilbur, groaning. "My Aunt Cass is mad." He said, rubbing his eyes. Wilbur raised an eyebrow, looking at his friend.

"How mad is mad?"

Hiro looked at him with a pitiful expression. "Grounded for two weeks mad." He sighed.

Wilbur patted him on the back. "That's rough, buddy."

"It gets worse." Hiro muttered. Wilbur frowned.

"Worse how?" He asked.

"She called your mom." He looked at his friend with sympathy.

Wilbur groaned. "Aw, crap."