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“I don’t know… I tried to ask the doctors, but they weren’t sure.”

“But he’s okay, right?”

“They think so but it’s hard to tell sometimes if there’s any damage before they wake up.”

“There’s no damage.”

“You can’t tell by just looking at him.”

“Yeah, I can. And there’s no damage, all right? All right?!”

I was floating in and out of several conversations all at once, unsure if they were happening in the same time frame or several days apart. It was like I was here and I wasn’t, my brain struggling to reach itself, divided within my own head. There were some moments where it felt like I was so close to having some clarity, so close to getting a grip and everything settling back down where it belonged.

But those moments were fleeting, always exactly out of my grasp, always too far for me to cling onto them and bring them close.

Until one day, it finally happened. My eyes fluttered open and I was staring at a white, unfamiliar ceiling. I could feel that there was an I.V. in my arm, the needle buried underneath the skin at my inner elbow. There was also a steady beeping sound, somewhere right beside my head, its pace reminding me of a heartbeat?—

Oh.

I was in the hospital?

I struggled to take a deep breath as the memories came back to me in a flood.

Burning building. Little girl. Darkness.

I groaned as I struggled to take yet another breath.

What the fuck had happened to me?

“Nicholas? Are you awake?” Suddenly, Jacob’s face was lingering over my own.

“Jacob?” I squinted up at him, even more confused than I was before. “You’re here?”

“Of course. After I heard what happened, how could I not turn back around?” His expression was lined with concern. “I’m just happy you finally woke up. The doctors had said something about it but I didn’t know how soon to expect it?—”

“Where’s Parker?”

Jacob nodded toward the door. “He’s right across the hall from you.”

“Wait. He’s hospitalized, too?”

“He is.” Jacob held a hand out in front of me, motioning for me to stay in bed. “But he’s been conscious this whole time. His leg might be in a cast but that’s all?—”

“His leg’s in a cast?” I sat up in my hospital bed, eager to get over to him. “What happened to him, Jacob?”

“They think something must’ve fallen on it when he pulled you out of the fire. He was probably so hopped up on adrenaline that he didn’t notice but that building was in awful shape when he went in after you.”

“He… went in after me,” I mumbled, mostly to myself. “Parker saved me…”

“He did.” Jacob smiled down at me. “It was a pretty idiotic move but pretty brave, too. Very Parker-like.”

“Can I see him?” I pleaded. “I really… I really want to see him.”

“I don’t see why not,” Jacob replied. “Although, I’m sure the doctor will want to see you first, make sure everything’s okay.”

“Wait.”

“Wait?”

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