Cataclysm

3.0

I woke up cold and hot and very disoriented. I could certainly feel my arm now. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't find the strength. I also wanted to rip my arm off to make it stop hurting, but I couldn't move, either, probably for the better.

"Hey," someone said. "You awake?"

"No," I groaned.

"That's nice. Here, sit up, please."

"Who are you?" I mumbled as they helped me sit up and lean back against the soft wall.

"Doesn't matter. Your arm got pretty torn up. Wanna see?"

"No thanks." I winced and tried to blink away the blurry spots in my eyes, to no avail. Something ice cold suddenly pressed against my arm and I screamed, trying to jerk away.

"Hold still. I'm almost done. Then I can wrap you up."

They gave me something to bite down on and I accepted it gratefully, nearly ripping the cloth in half as they finished washing my arm. By the time they were finished, I was drenched in sweat, and my vision was more blurred by pain now than it had been before.

"You scream a lot," they commented. "Also, when this heals, you probably won't have a lot of feeling in your arm. You'll be able to move it, but it'll feel sort of numb. Sorry."

"At least I can still feel," I mumbled, tasting blood in my mouth from where I must've bit it.

"True. Anyway, there you go. You're all wrapped up. A couple people wanna talk to you, so I'll check on you later." Before I could respond, they were gone.

"Joel!" Aaron shouted, running to my bedside. "I was so worried about you! Don't ever go off and be heroic again! And - what happened to your arm? You look like you got run over by a truck."

"I have no idea," I muttered, rubbing my leg. I wanted to rub my arm, but it felt like it was on fire, and I figured that wasn't a very good idea.

Before Aaron say anything, Sky, Leo, and Braken opened the door and came in. Braken immediately ran to me and gave me a quick side hug, writing something quick on my wrist - something about being worried and so glad I came back alright.

"Oh, Sky's the one who carried you back when you passed out," Aaron said. "He saved your life."

I glanced at Sky, who dropped his eyes. "Thanks," I said.

"It was nothing," he mumbled.

"What happened?"

"The building exploded, sending you flying, and your arm got caught in the heat," Aaron said. "It's burned pretty bad, all bloody and gross, but the heat's mostly gone, which is why you're wrapped."

"Oh," I said. I tried to think back to last night - or maybe it was only a few hours ago, I wasn't sure - but I couldn't remember anything after the explosion, and I could only remember one thing from the mission. "Could ... could you guys leave for a minute?" I asked. "I need to talk to Leo for a minute."

Aaron nodded and quickly left. Sky looked like he wanted to protest, but Leo gave him a little hand gesture, and he sighed and left us alone. Braken followed a little slower, glancing over his shoulder, but he didn't move to say anything. He just rubbed his freckled nose and slipped out after Sky.

I took a breath to say something, but Leo cut me off.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?"

I blinked in surprise. "No."

"Yeah, you are. You're mad at me because I didn't do what you asked and you got hurt." The mix of anger, fear, and regret was written plainly across his face as he spoke. "Now you want to yell at me, and tell me everything I've done wrong."