Colin's posts

"I did." the nurse replied.

"Rene did most of the work, but I always came in to make sure things were running smoothly." he told her.

"And no need to thank me." he said.

"All part of the job." he smiled.

"Oh, and that ring of traffickers was shut down." he then told her. "Everyone there was taken in, and they're being put through the legal system now." he continued.

"Just thought you'd like to know."

"You are not wrong." the nurse replied.

"You inhaled an alarming amount of smoke." he told her.

"But in time, you'll heal." he assured her, before sighing.

"But Rene is going to speed the process up, I know it." he then added with a small smile.

"And I know you don't want to be here." he added.

"So we'll gladly look the other way."

"Yeah." Rene replied.

"See you." he said.

The call was then ended, and the nurse chuckled.

"It's adorable, really." he said.

"He cares SO deeply for you." he commented.

"Regardless, how are you feeling?" he asked her.

"....." again, Rene was silent.

"She's commanding me to not go straight to the hospital and wait until morning." he murmured.

"But I'll let you go." he said.

"See you in... well, a few hours, more or less." he told her.

"...so glad you're okay..." he muttered again.

"Yes." Rene replied.

"I'll make sure you're going home in the morning." he told her.

"...I'm just glad you're okay..." he then sighed.

"Anyway, think about what you want to eat tomorrow." he went on.

"Because no matter what it is, we'll get it."

She heard silence on the other end of the phone for almost 5 seconds.

"Erica!" Rene then exclaimed.

"You're awake!" he said.

"I'm going to make my way there no-" he went on, before he was interrupted.

"Wha? Kalin...? But she's... I mean, I said I... I know I... but... but I... okay, okay!" she then heard in sentence fragments, before she heard a loud sigh.

"I will visit you in the morning." he said in a more monotone voice, but there was guilt in it, like a child that had been admonished by their mother.

Or a boyfriend by their girlfriend. Which made more sense in this situation.

"He's home." the nurse replied.

"Here." he told her, handing her a cell.

"It's his cell phone." he said.

"He told me to tell you to call him at home if you woke up." he then smiled.

"He truly cares for you."

The nurse just laughed.

"He knows." he replied.

"He was staying in here ever since he brought you here." he told her.

"He refused to leave, to tell you the truth." he then chuckled.

"We had to get Kalin in here to drag him home to rest."

The nurse started to look her over, checking her injuries and how she was healing.

"Mmhmm, mmhmm..." he mumbled.

"You're coming along nicely." he told her.

"You're rather lucky." he then commented.

"You almost didn't make it." he said.

"Apparently that building almost collapsed with you in it."

Just as she was piecing things together in her mind, a nurse came into her room.

He looked at her, smiled, and made his way over.

"Well. Hello." he greeted her.

"Good to see you're finally awake." he commented.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

When her world became more than just black, again, she found herself staring at a ceiling.

A white, tiled, sterile ceiling.

When she looked around, she saw that she was in a hospital bed, in a hospital room... presumably in a hospital building.

She had been wrapped in bandages where her wounds were, and the hand she had grabbed the door handle with had had particular attention to it, medically speaking.

Overall, it was calm, quiet, and peaceful.

And a look out the window showed it to be sometime at night.

Her plan seemed to be working out... but unfortunately for her, several more pieces of debris fell in front of her, blocking her way once again.

Coupled with that, she could hear creaking and groaning, meaning that things were generally getting unstable around her.

She heard the sprinklers trying to come on, but it seemed something was wrong, as they weren't spewing any water.

Instead, they were letting dry air shoot out, which fanned the flames even MORE.

The smoke continued to fill the room, which made navigating a lot harder for her, but she made her way to the burning door, and then managed to open it.

However, when she did, the reaction had been... larger... than she had been expecting.

The flames did roar up, but they did so to such a degree, that wind and smoke were blown right into her face, and sent her stumbling back, and falling over a downed chair.

And then the temperature REALLY started to rise, as more smoke filled the room.

Unfortunately for her, as she ran for the door, she ended up tripping over a garbage can she had knocked over in her venture of strewing papers around.

That cost her. By the time she'd scrambled to her feet, the fire had made its way to the door.

And now it was on fire.

The entire office area she was in was starting to catch fire, as the flames spread... and she could already feel the temperature rising drastically.