Fire Proof

Chapter Three

When I come around, I can't open my eyes, but I can feel and hear everything around me.

I'm lying on some sort of bed. A cot maybe, but it feels softer than that. A blanket is over top of me, covering me from my neck to my knees. My injured leg seems to be up in the air.

The pain is gone, and for that I am grateful. I don't think I'd be able to take much more at this point.

The room I am in is quiet, but bright. Artificial light from above me beams on the other side of my eyelids. I wish I could open my eyes to understand what it was. It definitely isn't the sun, and it's not hot or flickering like fire.

I hear the tapping of shoes on the floor and snap my ears' attention to them.

"Why is she still asleep?" I hear Jupiter squeak. I want to sit up and give him a hug. I try to move, but only a finger is able to even twitch.

"I don't know, honey." I recognize the voice of the woman from the woods. "It's been days, she should be up soon."

Days? I've been asleep for days? This couldn't be happening. I don't even know where I am! I feel my heart begin to race and a beeping from the right speeds up.

"She's awake." A new voice says from the left. I hear the person stand up. "She's panicking."

"I can help her!" Jupiter exclaims, and then I hear little footsteps run towards me.

"Wait!" The woman calls. "She just needs to rest. She'll calm down after a second."

"Nullum." He tells her sharply, although I'm not sure she understands him.

A little hand is placed in mine and instantly I grab onto it. "Soror." He whispers. "Can you hear me?" I squeeze his hand. "I'll let you open your eyes."

I brace myself. The last time he gave me energy, he didn't know how to fully control his power, and I ended up flying three meters.

I'm surprised when it doesn't come as a blast, but more like a gentle wave. I breathe in deeply, sucking in the energy. I feel it travel through my arm to my chest, circulating down to my feet and back up to my other arm. And then finally to my head. The only place it doesn't touch is my raised leg. My eyes flutter open and he stops.

"Gratias tibi." I tell him. He smiles and gives me a hug.

"Te gratissimum." He answers. "I got scared. Non sciunt quid faciunt!"

A tear leaked from my eye. "Et bene." I tried to reassure him. "Nunc huc me." He nods and squeezes me harder.

"They're speaking Latin!" An astonished voice said from next to me. It was the same voice that announced I was panicking before. I turn my head to see a middle aged man in blue clothes and a long white coat. His hair is slightly greying, and his green eyes are kind.

I take a moment to scan the rest of my environment. I am in fact, lying on a cot-like bed, and the blanket that covers me is a deep purple. Odd machines are on both sides of me, a few cords trail from them, attaching to my arm and chest. The floor is white and the walls are a light blue. I can't look at the ceiling, the strange lights are too bright; they hurt my eyes.

My eyes finally land on the woman from the woods. She is sitting in a chair against the wall, watching me with wide eyes. She glances back and forth between my brother and me.

"H-how. . . What just. . ." She clears her throat. "How did he do that?"

Jupiter opens his mouth but I shook him a stern look. "Nullum."

"I'm not allowed to tell you." He says to the woman. She looks at the older man, but he just shrugs.

"Can you at least tell us your names?"

Jupiter glances at me and I give him a surprised look. "I was waiting for you to wake up. In case you didn't want me to tell them." He answers my unspoken question. I smile and give him a nod. He beams and looks back at the woman.

"My name is Jupiter! Like the Roman God of lightning!" My brother announces proudly.

The woman smiles at him and then turns to me. "And your sister?"

"Azari." I tell her; it's the first thing I've said to her.

Her entire face lights up. "That's such a pretty name!"

"Thank you." I whisper.

She stands up and walks over to me, motioning to the man in the blue and white "Azari, this is Doctor Green." The man gives me a smile and a wave. "I'm Jasmin, and the man who carried you here is Cole. He's my ma– husband."

I give her a small smile, but I don't miss her mistake. She was going to say Mate. Which means she thinks we're humans. Good.

Jasmin looks at Doctor Green. "Now that she's awake, can I bring her home?"

The man nods, handing her a piece of paper. "Sign here, and call me if there's any complications. You might also want to let the Addams know you're taking care of them. We don't want to raise unnecessary alerts."

She takes a pen and gracefully drags it across the bottom of the paper. "I will. Thank you so much!"

He nods, "Of course." He stands up and leaves the room, taking the paper with him.

Jasmin gently grabs my hand and I flinch, not expecting that. "Sorry!" She squeaks, retracting her hand. "Because you were out so long, I think it's better we use a wheelchair rather than crutches."

I don't know what either of those words mean. In the Caves, when someone got hurt, all they had to do was go outside and surround themselves in their element and they were healed. I wish there was a place to do that here. I don't like the hard white substance that is encased around my entire leg. I know they're trying to help, but this really sucks.

"Cole's at home with our son," Jasmin says to me as she helps me sit up. I think she's just trying to awkwardly fill the silence. "Your brother insisted on seeing you." Jupiter grins and she turns to him. "Jupiter, honey, will you get the wheelchair?" He looks confused, so she adds, "the black chair thing with wheels." He scampers over to it and pushes it to the bed.

"Tell me if this hurts you, okay?" I nod, bracing myself, and Jasmin lifts me from the bed, placing me in the weird chair thing. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. I have a feeling it has something to do with the tube to my arm.

"Whoops," Jasmin chuckles, following my line of sight. "He forgot the IV."

She walks to the other side of me and pulls out the tube and needle. She places a small bandage over the spot and smiles at me. "Better?" I nod, and she goes behind me and pushes the chair. It rolls towards the doorway and Jupiter walks next to me, holding my hand.

"Ready to go home?" Jasmin asks enthusiastically.

Jupiter jumps in the air. "Yes!" But all I can do is stare straight ahead of me. What am I getting myself into?