Fireproof // H.S.

22. Saving Dr. Rosario

"What are your thoughts on what Dr. Hopkins was working on?" I asked, turning to Harry. Harry and I were alone in his small bedroom. We were lying on our backs, staring up at the blank ceiling. Harry gently held my hand in his, rubbing his thumb over my hand soothingly.

"I don't know," Harry replied to my disappointment. I was hoping he'd have something to say or at least show some interest in the conversation. He sounded distant and distracted.

"She was working on something to make us 'normal,'" I said slowly. "'Normal' as in no more supernatural powers?" I tried to imagine life without the ability to summon fire. If I was born 'normal' in the first place, my family wouldn't have died in that fire. Aunt Lottie wouldn't have been murdered. Life would be so much better being normal. But the cure, if there is one, came too late. I can't bring those I love back to life.

But if I never had supernatural powers in the first place, would I have ever met Harry, Niall, or Bridget? I tried to imagine life without them. My life would be so plain and...normal. Is being normal what I really want? If I was given a choice to be born normal or with supernatural powers, what would I choose? A couple months ago, the decision would've been easy. But now having met Harry, Niall, and Bridget, I don't know anymore.

"Does it bother you?" Harry asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Does what bother me?"

"That she knew we weren't normal?" I took a minute to think about what Harry said. Dr. Hopkins was working on something to make us normal. She'd only work on that if she knew we weren't normal in the first place. I quickly sat up in bed and felt a little dizzy from the head rush.

"So she knew all along. What tipped her off? Does anyone else know?" I quickly asked, slightly panicked. I looked out of Harry's window and suddenly felt like I was being watched.

"That's what bothers me. I don't know. I'm trying to think of what could make them suspicious in the first place," Harry answered. "After we were released from the research facility, they never really kept tabs on us anymore. I mean we'd have the regular check-ups but that stopped after we were five or six. We didn't discover our powers till we were ten, long after they stopped keeping an eye on us."

"Do you think we were still being watched but were unaware of it? Or maybe our parents were in contact with them but didn't tell us?" I asked. Harry shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. My childhood was pretty normal. We moved three times. I think I would've been a headache for them to track. There are six people total who know about us and nine of us that I know of so far. They'd be spread thin and they have their own families to worry about." I thought about Harry's reasoning and had to agree with him. There were actually ten of us, including the little girl Niall knew who moved to California, but there could be more. How many people did they experiment on?

We heard a soft knock on the door. Normally we'd scramble away as far as possible to not draw attention to us being together but we were tired. Tired of the situation we were in and tired of hiding our relationship. I mean, they ought to know. I'm sure everyone had a sneaking suspicion we were together but never asked. The door opened and Niall's head popped through the door.

"Hey," he said softly, "dinner's ready. And I'm just curious. Are you two--?"

"Dating? Yeah," Harry finished, cutting him off.

"I knew it! Bridget owes me $50! Can I tell her?"

"Yes," Harry answered, rolling his eyes. Niall retreated down the hallway shouting for Bridget. We were left alone once again and I couldn't help but blush. Harry was so confident when he said we were dating. I had to admit it was nice.