Mark had a few broken bones and moderate injuries but survived the hospital. I found Derek surrounded by a small police presence when I arrived.
"What is he doing here?" Mark gasped as I entered the hospital room. Loud machines monitored Mark's heart. Nurses bandaged his chest and stacked the counters high with cards and flowers. As I took a step forward, Derek and I exchanged glances.
"I was there when you fell," I conveyed.
"Of course you were," Mark snarled. He watched me as I got comfy in a chair near the doorway.
"Mr. Reignson, I want you to know you are not under arrest. We have some questions for you," Derek stated. Mark washed his lips with his tongue and rolled his eyes.
"Why would I be?" Mark glowered at Derek.
"It wasn't my fault." He looked at me, coughing in pain.
"I don't want to be here, either." I let Mark know.
Mark frowned. "Then why don't you leave?" He raised his voice.
"Look, Mr. Reignson. We were trying to figure out who did this to you," Derek said.
"How do you know he's not in the room?" Mark asked. I stood in the doorway while Derek glanced at me, making a clear link between how Mark knew about my power, emphasizing the silent elephant in the room.
"Mr. Reignson, did you see anything you could describe that might help us?"
"Maybe." he coughed. "I mean, I don't know. Whatever it had just scooped me up, all I remember was falling moments later. You would freak out, too, if that happened to you, Mr. Knight. "Mark was staring down at me.
Another memory flooded my mind. Derek and I traveled through open woodland at fourteen and ten years old. While camping, Derek and I drifted away from our father and Sam to enjoy the fresh air and foliage.
I pushed myself off the ground, my fingers grabbing Derek's. He shrieked as I rose above the dry foliage and adjusted my grip on his calloused palms. We were flying very high in the sky. I didn't go too far. I was afraid Derek would pass out from a lack of oxygen.
Derek didn't dare to lower his gaze. He, like me, was still getting used to my abilities. With my brother, I was as cautious as I could be. I'd regret it if I let him fall to the earth without a plan for the rest of my life.
"This is amazing!" I screeched.
"No, it isn't." Derek licked his braces with his tongue. "I don't like this, James. Please put me down." Instead, my tiny, sturdy fists drew him closer to me.
He froze, horrified, in my arms and screamed at the top of his lungs as I ascended higher, his voice reverberating through the dark forest. "Stop it, Derek. You'll get dad's attention, and then he'll see us."
"That's the point." He deadpanned. A sudden smile formed.
"I'm going to try something." I smiled.
"What? This better not be one of your bright superpower ideas?" He jabbed. I nodded with a countdown.
"One."
"You better not drop me, or I'll tell dad your secret."
"Two."
"James, I swear I'll kill you," Derek snarled.
"Three!" Derek slipped from my hands, falling fast below me. I swooped to the ground, holding my arms to grab him. He landed on my buffed limbs, scared and half-conscious.
"I'm telling dad, " He muttered under his breath. I shushed him, carrying him with me as I walked towards the campsite. He squirmed, dropping from my form as I approached. Then, he dusted himself off and moved toward our dad.
"Dad, you'll never guess what James can do?" Derek mused. I grabbed his mouth, gripping tight. He licked my hand, but it didn't bother me much.
We caught Sam's attention in the background, gesturing to Derek to shut up. I spotted flames from the corner of my eye, mesmerized by how the fire ate the wood in seconds. My father must have built a fire pit while we disappeared into the wilderness. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the fire, imagining a blaze of orange and red. The fire erupted with tremendous force a few moments later.
My dad looked back, and I let go of Derek. He moaned, and our father dashed for the water, returning after extinguishing the fire.
"Now, what do you want to tell me, Derek?" Our father asked.
"It's..." Derek's head sunk into his chest as he looked at Sam and then at me for a moment. "Nothing. You don't need to know." Derek pouted. Derek and I always regretted not telling my father about my powers, but a part of me was happy it didn't happen that day.
"I understand how you feel, Mr. Reignson, but I need more information before making a statement." Derek urged Mark.
Mark grunted. "Your brother needs to leave." he pointed at me.
"Fine," I gave in. "I'll be outside." I stepped out, ready to run off when Marks' father walked by.
"Hey, your Marks' friend?" The chief asked. Not even close.
"Sure," I murmured.
"Name," he demanded.
"James Knight."
"So, your Matthews' other son?"
"Yes, sir," I replied. He ignored my response as he walked into the room, grunting at my brother as he strolled. I turned away and went downstairs to the hospital, where I found Mia alone in the waiting area, standing near the vending machine.
"Do you need help with your drink?" I asked her as I walked over.
She blushed when she saw me. "What are you doing here?" She asked me.
"Right now, I'm with my brother. I was there when Mark fell," I said, standing only a few steps away. "Do you need help with anything?" I asked her. She grimaced and pursed her lips, sucking air through her teeth.
"My drink is stuck. You can try to get it, but I don't think you can." I burst out laughing, accepting the challenge when I slammed my fist into the machine, and a cascade of soda showered down into the open bin below.
She laughed too, and as she leaned in to get her soda, I laughed, and our noses almost clashed. Our gazes locked in an awkward moment, and it appeared like we were about to kiss until she flinched away, and I grabbed one soda from the machine for her.
"Here you go." I held a can for her, and she pulled it from my hands.
"You're my hero," she giggled at herself this time. Warm blood filled my cheeks as I grimaced. "I'll see you around, James," she said, patting the top of her soda with her palm. She pulled away and wandered to the farthest seat in the waiting room. That was my cue to leave. I waved goodbye to Mia, and she wiggled her fingers in my direction.
I noticed two boys bickering over something outside as I left the hospital. The brown hair and honey-brown-eyed boys appeared to be brothers. They both had Australian American accents, like the two supers who had robbed a bank a few days before, and they drew my attention for a second. Both boys turned to look at me, and I hurriedly averted my gaze, going further away from the hospital and into the streets, where I fled seconds later.
∆∆∆
Derek walked into the room with a bag of cheese puffs, and I sprawled across the couch. "Did he say anything?" I asked Derek as his eyes trailed to mine.
"About you? No. About the case? Maybe? He said he saw someone wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a black ski mask."
"You know he knows my secret, right?" I mumbled. Derek shoved my feet from the couch and sat, snacking on his bag of cheese puffs.
"I picked up on that," he answered.
"He's also an asshole," I added.
"I picked up on that too," he expanded further. "Why do you let him bother you again?"
"I don't know. Mark's a bad guy, and I'm supposed to stop the bad guys, remember?" Derek rolled his eyes. I readjusted on the couch.
"Anyway, he won't be bothering you for a while. If lucky, he'll be hospitalized for about a week."
"You mean if I'm lucky, " I put in. I stole a puff from Derek, popping it in my mouth. Derek frowned.
"Why didn't you catch him?" He asked.
"Because I didn't want to," I answered bluntly.
"You're not a very good superhero." Derek popped a puff into his mouth.
"For him? No. For others? Yes."
"Funny," Derek mumbled. He and I didn't bother saying another word. He walked off to the kitchen while I stayed in the living room. Sam watched me from the living room doorway as I adjusted to the couch again.
"So, how bad is he?" Sam evaluated the situation.
I lowered my eyes to the floor. "Mark has severe bruises, left ribs snapped, and a few fractures, but he's still the same cocky Mark."
"Well, at least you know he won't be bothering you at school," Sam pointed out. "How are you doing? Any news I need to know about?"
"Besides the Mark thing, no," I disclosed. Sam sighed, biting his chapped lips as he pulled his hips off the door frame.
"I was referring to your powers, James. If you're not stable, I don't want you working with Derek on this case."
"I'm the only one that can beat this guy, Sam," I deadpanned. "Besides, this isn't my problem. I'm doing this for you." I lifted my brow, glaring at him.
"Not if I take away your powers," Sam insinuated.
"Okay," I gave in. I parted my lips and sighed. "What do you want, Sam?" Sam pulled his hand through his hair and blew air from his lungs.
"I updated the cure with the data I have accumulated from your tests, and if you wanted to get rid of your superpowers like you keep saying, we could test the cure again." My heart skipped as I caught my breath. I argued about making such a drastic change, even though I wanted an ordinary life. Whenever Sam gave me some form of cure, I became more powerful.
There was never a decent outcome that came with taking his treatment. "I don't think it's a good idea, Sam. Particularly with rogue supers on the loose." I stated.
"I didn't think so, either." he groaned, dismissing himself as he walked towards the open doorway. He exited the room, saying, "I'll talk to you later." Then, with a stressed sigh, he left me alone to think. What did Mark and Sam do to these supers, and who were they?
∆∆∆
Mark's POV
I lay on the gurney, bandaged and broken, under the covers, trying to keep warm from the cool breeze from the window. Maximus, the delinquent superhuman freak, brushed his fingers through his curly hair as his chocolate-brown eyes stared into mine. He stood in the doorway, nearly inhaling a pudding cup from my dinner earlier this evening.
"You're a bloody idiot, Mark," Maximus growled, watching me shift and moan uncomfortably in bed.
"My dad's chief. You should know this since you researched my father and me. He can get you anything you want within reason," I said, coughing and wheezing as the draft from the window hit me.
Maximus wandered to my bedside, and his palm pressed into my broken foot, crushing the empty pudding cup in one hand while his fists pulled tightly around my injured ankle. I squirmed in pain, trying not to scream or make a scene, but the pain was unbearable.
"I want Samual Jonathan Knight," He snapped. Max stopped squeezing as I pleaded with him.
"He's a loser. His nephew, James, has superpowers, and I figured you had something to do with him. You have powers too, which might mean the freak show might be whom you want to investigate if—" I lost my train of thought, whimpering in pain again as Max squeezed hard enough to splinter my shin this time, but he held back.
"I'm-not-a-BLOODY-FREAK!" He screamed. My weakened bones cracked under Max's strength, and he let me go when the beeping monitors wailed, and a nurse raced in while I screeched in pain. Max stared at her, his gaze slowly shifting from her as he threw his hoodie over his head.
"Who are you?" the nurse asked. Instead of confronting the woman, Max left the scene like a coward, disappearing out the window as the nurse raced to lock it shut.
"Are you okay, Mr. Reignson?" She asked me. I was silent, unsure what to tell her, but I gulped whatever dignity I had lost and nodded. I was far from okay. I was a slaughtered slab of meat, waiting for someone to consume me.
"Yeah," I said, my eyes drifting to the window. I was glad Maximus left, and I was sure this wouldn't be the last time I heard from him.
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