Firebug: Ch. 32 - Silver Linings

From the moment Roman woke up in the hospital, things had been... weird. Okay, weirder than usual. First of all, he expected Theo to be waiting at his bedside when he opened his eyes. But Theo wasn't there. Roman immediately assumed the worst, especially when he saw photos of what used to be Hill Academy's gym still circulating on the news. It took his mom a half hour to calm him down, and constant reassurance from her that Theo was still alive for him to believe it.

Seeing his mom was a definite surprise. Roman was stoked that she was there, honestly, even if they didn't talk much. They never talked much about important things, so Roman didn't mind. He'd never seen her this quiet before, though. That's what bothered him.

None of the doctors would give him a straight answer to his face, but Roman wasn't stupid. He figured out from snippets of overheard conversations that he'd been out for days. Not that it surprised him. Creating and subsequently destroying a tornado was harder than it sounded, and it had taken a lot out of him. When doctors start tossing around words like "coma", though, that raised a few red flags.

Roman wished he could tell his mom everything. About his powers. The tornado. Theo. She was an Elemental, too, so if anybody would know what he was going through it had to be her. Right? The way she kept looking at him, though - like he might croak at any second - made him clam up. Keeping it all inside made him just feel worse, though.

With a heavy sigh, Roman turned his gaze to the window on the far wall. Rain splattered the glass in sheets, rendering the landscape beyond unrecognizable. It was all a blur. A grey, gloomy, cold blur. The rain started a few minutes after Roman woke up, and there was no sign of it stopping. In the back of his brain, Roman wondered if it was raining because of him. The rest of his mind, though, was focused on Theo.

If Theo was okay, then where was he? Roman figured Thaddeus might be keeping him on a short leash, not letting him visit. It hurt, but Roman understood. What he didn't understand was why Theo hadn't tried to call. Or at least text. That didn't seem like him at all.

Thunder rumbled somberly a few miles away as Roman sighed again. Maybe Theo was hurt. Or maybe he was just terrified of being in the same room with Roman. If that was the case, Roman didn't blame him for wanting to keep his distance. It was the not knowing, though, that hurt the most.

The door to his room suddenly swung open, forcing Roman to tear his gaze from the window. His mom was back, her arms overloaded with vending machine fodder. When she saw him, her lips stretched in a warm smile that didn't quite reach her tired eyes.

"Hi, Baby," she greeted, kissing his scalp as soon as she was close enough. With a sniff, she unloaded her bounty of snacks onto his bedside tray one by one.

"I thought you might be hungry, but I didn't know what you wanted," she explained, "Granted, this isn't a very nutritious selection. Still, it's better than hospital food, right? I've got candy bars, chips, snack cakes, beef jerky-"

"That's... great. Thanks, Mom," Roman interrupted, doing his best to return her smile. "I don't feel like eating right now, though. Can I see my phone? I want to check my messages. Please?"

Not for the first time that day, Connie Durant flinched at Roman's request, her hand tightening on her purse strap. She recovered smoothly but not quite quick enough, setting her purse on the chair by his bed. Well out of his reach.

"I... I don't think so, Baby," she said, "the doctors want you to rest, not stare at a screen. Besides, I checked them for you earlier. Nobody's called."

Roman's hand landed gently in his lap, his jaw tightening a little. The rain fell a little heavier outside, but he tried his best to ignore it.

"Right," he mumbled, "Sorry, I just... w-wanted to know."

Trying to take his mind off things, Roman grabbed the remote attached to his bed and turned on the TV. It was still tuned to the news, though, which didn't really help. Their local weather man was issuing a flood warning for parts of the city, due to the unexpected heavy showers they'd been experiencing all day. Before Roman could change the channel to something more pleasant, his mom took the remote from him and snapped the TV off.

"What did I just say, Romy?" she frowned, "no screen time means no screen time. Your choices are eat or sleep. Please pick one."

It took every bit of restraint Roman had not to roll his eyes. "Mom, I feel fine," he insisted, "Really. I don't even know what I'm still doing here, besides dying of boredom. Why can't I just go home already?"

His mom opened her mouth but closed it again a second later, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Baby... but it's for the best. The doctors just want to run a few more tests, so-"

"Why?" Roman blurted, "you know they're not gonna find anything. They can't exactly test for what's wrong with me. With... us."

The look in his mom's eyes shook Roman to his core. He'd never seen her so stunned. So confused. So worried.

"Baby, what are you talking about? There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Or me."

Roman's fingers curled tight around his blankets, but he tried to keep his cool. Technically, his mom was right. There was nothing wrong with being an Elemental. Theo had drummed that little chestnut into him enough times for him to know. Still, it was frustrating that she wouldn't at least talk about it. Maybe she was just afraid. A hospital room wasn't exactly a private place. Nurse Flanagan's voice rang loud and clear in his head all of a sudden, bringing him back to the night he and Theo spent in her apartment.

"Cross-breeding has been outlawed for hundreds of years... Your parents must be exceptionally strong to have had a kid like you, and exceptionally connected to still be alive this long after your conception."

Maybe she was keeping quiet to protect him. If that was the case, Roman had to put her at ease.

"Mom... I know," he mumbled, "Okay? You had good reason not to tell me about our 'family secret' before, and I respect that. But I'm eighteen now. Can you please just... treat me like an adult for once? Please? I could really... really use some advice here."

For once in her life, Connie Durant seemed at a loss for words. She hemmed and hawed for a second or two, looking at Roman like he'd just sprouted wings and a tail. Eventually, she passed a hand through her wavy black hair and took a deep breath.

"Romy, Baby, you... you've been through a lot," she said. "You're clearly anxious and upset, and... a-and that's okay. Surviving a storm like that... it's a lot to process."

"I don't need time to 'process', Mom," Roman snarled, "I know what happened! What I did!"

Thunder rumbled again, this time directly over the hospital. Roman forced himself to take a deep breath, picturing Theo's face in his head. After a long minute, the rumbling softened and moved farther away.

"It was my fault," Roman continued, his voice low and shaking, "The tornado... I did that, Mom. The whole school could've been destroyed. People were hurt. They could've died! All because of me."

Again, Connie Durant fell uncharacteristically silent. Then - with no warning at all - she sat on the edge of his bed and yanked him into a hug.

"Oh, Roman! No," she cooed, kissing his forehead, "Baby, how can you even think that?! There is no way you're responsible for that storm. Nobody is. These things just... happen."

Roman stared into her warm brown eyes, confused beyond words. How could she say that with such conviction? He was one hundred percent responsible for the tornado. Surely she had to know that, being an Elemental herself. Did she think that playing dumb would get him to just drop it? Was she so revolted by his staggering abilities that she'd rather pretend they didn't even exist? Roman understood her desire to protect him, but he'd prefer she just be honest with him. Frankly, her behavior right now was bordering on cruel.

Before he could say another word, her cool, slender fingers combed through his unruly dark hair, stopping to rest on his forehead.

"Hm, you feel a little warm," she observed, "Sit tight, okay? I'm gonna go get the nurse."

Roman opened his mouth to argue, but she was already gone. The rain beat harder against the window as he grabbed his pillow, screaming his frustration into it. The muffled sound was completely drowned out by a crack of thunder, which was so intense the whole hospital shook. When he heard the door open again, Roman peeled his face out of the pillow with a groan.

"Mom, I said I'm fine!" he snapped, "Tell the nurse to just-!"

His sharp comment ended with a gasp when he saw who was standing in the doorway. For a second he thought he was dreaming... but that thin, shivering silhouette looked wonderfully real.

"Bello?" he breathed, so happy he could cry, "Y-You're here. How-?! I-I mean... hi. Are you okay? How've you been?"

Theo hesitated in the doorway, wiping his nose on his soggy sleeve. The poor guy was totally soaked, dripping so much that there was already a puddle on the floor around his sneakers. He looked like he wanted to run to Roman's bedside immediately to hold him and never let him go. Truthfully, Roman wouldn't have minded a bit. For reasons only he knew, though, Theo stayed put where he was.

"H-H'lo, Romeo," he sniffed, "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner. I wanted to, but... m-my dad, you know. Y-You look well. How're you holding up?"

A smile spread across Roman's face, just listening to Theo talk. "Better, now that you're here," he said. "I missed you. A lot. Did you walk all the way here in the rain? I'm sorry. Get in here, okay? There's towels in the bathroom you can use to dry off."

Theo's blue-green eyes widened with surprise, like that was the last thing he expected Roman to say. As timid as a stray kitten, he crossed the threshold with a nod. After helping himself to a towel, though, he just stopped cold again a few feet from Roman's bed.

"I, er... probably shouldn't stay long," he said, fluffing his hair with the towel nervously. "All I wanted was to pop in to say hello. Oh, and to bring you this."

Roman watched, awash with curiosity, as Theo suddenly unslung his backpack from his shoulders. He set the wet bag on the floor, digging through it for just a minute. When he pulled his hands back out, there was a small, round metal tin in his grip. With a deep breath, Theo laid the little tin on Roman's lap, popping the lid off right away.

Inside was a cake. It wasn't very big, just enough to feed two people, but it was the prettiest confection Roman had ever seen. Sliced strawberries and dollops of whipped cream circled the top, while thick, luscious-looking red jam oozed from between the layers. A lump formed in Roman's throat as he read the message artfully piped across the surface:

"Happy Birthday Roman".

"I-It's not much, I know," Theo said, pushing his damp curls out of his face, "I just thought... well... it was the least I could do. D-Do you like it? It's alright if you don't."

"Are you kidding me?" Roman grinned, "Bello, it's perfect! Thank you. And it smells amazing!"

Theo's tight, anxious shoulders instantly relaxed, his face warming with a smile. Roman didn't notice until then that it had stopped raining. The soft, golden-orange glow of sunset filled the whole room, complementing the fiery blush in Theo's cheeks.

"Y-You're welcome," he said, a relieved chuckle punctuating his sentence, "I was so worried. It's been ages since I made a Victoria sponge. For a moment I was beginning to think I'd forgotten how." He inched closer to the bed then, taking Roman's hand with a shy smile.

"Mostly, I'm just glad you're on the mend. I missed you so terribly... and when you wouldn't return my calls, I thought-"

"Wait, what?" The sky immediately clouded over again outside, "What calls? Mom said I didn't get any!"

Theo's hand grew ten degrees hotter in Roman's grip, his freckly face hardening into a scowl. "I called at least a hundred times," Theo insisted, "...and left dozens of messages. Are you telling me you never got a single one? Why would she keep that from you?!"

Roman took a deep breath, letting it all out in a huff. "I don't know," he admitted, "...but right now, I don't care. You're here. That's all that matters."

He glanced past Theo at the door, making sure the coast was clear. Then, with a grin, he brought Theo's knuckles to his lips. "Can I kiss you?" he whispered, "cause I really want to. Please?"

Theo let out a small laugh, perching on the bed a second later. "Well, since you asked so nicely, you may," he said.

When Theo's lips brushed against his, Roman couldn't hold back a shiver. Before he knew it, Theo was snuggled up in that narrow, lumpy bed with him. It felt so good having the Brit in his arms again, Roman just laid there smiling like an idiot until his face hurt.

"Best birthday ever," he murmured, hugging Theo tight.