Unsung

Chapter Ninety-Two

The first thing I heard was a beeping sound. Insistent and annoying. It called out every few seconds, making me flinch even as I fought to go back to sleep. I wanted to sleep. It felt good to sleep. I was snuggled under my covers, my body finally allowed to rest. And I so needed the rest.

If I could just turn off the alarm, maybe I could drift back off. Skip school. Take a sick day.

I reached out from under the covers to silence the alarm, but only found air. Confused, I opened an eye and saw that it wasn't my phone that was beeping, but a machine a few feet away that was making the noise. A machine that was displaying a variety of numbers and was attached to a monitor in the corner.

I shot up in bed and looked around wildly, my heart pounding in my ears, and pain instantly shooting throughout my body. I groaned and slowly lay back down, wishing I hadn't moved at all.

"Sweetie! You're up!" my mom said, jumping up from her chair and rushing over to hold my hand. "We knew you'd wake up, we just didn't know how long it would take. A few hours. A day. A month. We just didn't know. There was so much—well, you had a lot going on, and your doctors said it all depended on you. When you wanted to wake up. So, we've just been sitting here, waiting. And now you're awake!"

I swallowed hard and then cringed, reaching up to touch my sore throat. I whispered the word, "water" but she'd already gotten up to pour some for me. Accepting it gratefully, I downed the cold liquid until it was gone, and then handed it back.

"Thanks," I managed to get out, before exploding into a fit of coughs.

"Uncontrollable coughing is common after smoke inhalation," a voice said. I leaned around my mom and saw Matteus sitting there, his eyes glued to his phone.

"What?" I asked, confused, but then began to cough again and couldn't continue.

"You have smoke inhalation," Matteus reported, not bothering to look up from what he was doing. "It's what happens when you breathe in harmful smoke from burning materials and gases. The kinds of things found inside, say, a building that's on fire."

Memories of the training center crumbling down around me came flooding back and I jerked back up in bed again.

"Smoke inhalation can be serious, depending on how long you're exposed to the toxic chemicals. The doctors don't think you were in there long enough for it to do lasting damage, but you still might experience coughing, hoarseness, chest pain, trouble breathing, headaches and eye irritation. If you start coughing up blood, you could be a goner."

"Matteus!" my mom exclaimed, scowling at him as I looked over at her with fear. Then to me, "It's just something we have to watch out for," she soothed. "There's no reason to think that it will."

"What you should be worried about are the fractured ribs and concussion," Matteus chimed in happily. "Oh, and the second degree burns on your feet. If you're not careful, they can turn black and fall off."

"Matteus!" Mom shouted. "You know that's not true!"

Matteus looked up from his phone and gave her his signature devilish grin. "But she doesn't know that," he said. "Way to kill the joke, Mom."

I narrowed my eyes at my kid brother, but even that small movement caused a stinging sensation across my face. I looked down at my arms and saw that they were tinged red like I had a sunburn and assumed the same could be said for my cheeks and forehead.

"You better watch your back," I snarled at Matteus.

This time, he didn't look up. He just smirked as his fingers continued to fly across his smartphone.

"Why? Are you gonna stare me to death?" he said with a snicker. "It's not like you can run after me or anything."

It wasn't until he said this that I noticed the bandages covering both my feet. They were inches thick and came up to my ankles, giving my legs the appearance of oversized Q-tips.

"I won't be in this bed forever," I threatened, anyway. Then I pictured my feet charred and bleeding underneath the gauze and imagined them falling off and leaving bloody stumps in their place. Horrified by the mental image, I looked over at my mom for confirmation. "I won't, will I?"

My mom gave me an almost relieved smile, even as tears filled the corners of her eyes.

"No. You'll be out of that bed before you know it," she said.

"And then I'm coming for you," I promised, turning back to Matteus.

My brother moved his lips like he was mimicking me before sticking out his tongue.

"Careful, Matteus, or I'll let her," Mom added, wiping at her cheeks.

He stopped making faces, and for a moment, looked worried. Finally, he stood up and began to walk to the door.

"I'm going to find Dad," he announced.

When he was halfway across the room, he stopped and snapped a picture of me lying in the bed. I threw up my hands to try and stop him, but he flipped his phone around and showed me the shot triumphantly.

The sight of me lying there was a shock. My face was tired, beat up, a mess. And the rest of me wasn't any better. I looked like a strawberry with Q-tip feet.

"Insurance," Matteus explained, and then ran out the hospital door.

"Brat," I muttered, as there was a knock on the door.

I blinked with surprise as Garrick's face came into view.

"Are you up for visitors?" he asked tentatively, giving me his trademark grin. My heart started to flutter and I worried that the machine monitoring my heartbeat would give me away.

I started to cover my face, embarrassed that he was seeing me at my worst, but then stopped. There was no hiding this.

"Come on in," I said, both reluctant and happy to see him.

As Garrick entered the room, McKayla pushed her way past him and headed straight for me. Behind them, Ris, Ty and Sophia shuffled inside too, taking up the remaining space in the room until there was none left.

I glanced over at my mom who'd taken her place back on the couch, and saw the surprised look on her face. Then it dawned on me that she'd never actually met the others. She'd heard about everyone, but besides Garrick, she'd never seen them in real life. Well, it was about time.

"Mom, these are my friends from the hero school," I said, gesturing to them. "McKayla, Ris, Ty and Sophia."

They each waved as I said their names, but otherwise remained quiet.

"And you know Garrick," I added.

Garrick walked over to my mom and gave her a hug. "Nice to see you again, Mrs. Allen."

My mom smiled and raised her eyebrow at me as he leaned in to greet her. "Good to see you, too, Garrick," she responded.

When they pulled away, she studied his face, running her finger across the place where his head was now healing.

"Looks like you're going to live," she said with a smile.

"Thanks to you," he responded and then joined me at the side of my bed. "How about our patient here? She gonna be okay?"

My mom gave us a nod and looked at me with love. "She will," she said, her emotions creeping into her voice. Then she shook her head clear and smiled brightly. "I'm going to let your doctors know you're awake."

She came over and gave me a kiss before leaving the room.

"No jumping over any walls while I'm gone," she joked,giving Garrick a warning look. He crossed his finger over his heart earnestly.