Forged by The Flame

Chapter 5

Next morning, I got ready and headed to Sam's. When I arrived, I knocked on the door expecting Sam but was surprised by her mom. I explained to her that we were going to visit Drew, but she gave me a look as if I had ulterior motives, her smile didn't help much either. Sam came down, bundled up with her bag around her shoulder and a cute white hat. I loved it because the hat had little cat ears at the top and strings with small fur balls at the end.

"You ready?" I asked, looking at the time on my phone; it was 12 in the afternoon.

"Yeah, let's go," she quickly shut the door and scudded to the sidewalk. I was confused, but then the answer came from her house.

"Have a nice date, sweetie!" her mother hollered from the second-floor window. She was waving a white handkerchief like a woman saying goodbye in one of those old movies.

"Date?" I asked, laughing, not realizing how excited I was.

Sam sighed, "She's so dumb sometimes...this isn't a date..." the words crushed my heart. Not even my ability was enough to keep me warm from that cold remark. "C' mon, let's go see Drew," she continued down the block, me sulking behind.

I thought about getting Drew a gift, but I didn't know what he would want. I was kind of scared, to be honest. I not being there for him was eating at me, I felt that I was to blame. Drew's mom told me he was going to be there for a while; he had two fractured ribs, four broken fingers, one shattered knee cap, the other leg wasn't as bad. His arms had cuts going vertically, luckily, they weren't on his wrists. Along with a few other broken bones, his knuckles were scratched up, indicating he got a few hits in.

"Do we get him a card or something?" Sam asked, reading my thoughts.

"It's Drew, what more can we bring him? He's definitely not a card guy, and stuffed animals will automatically get us a one-way ticket out of his room, so, your guess is as good as mine," I ran forward, catching up so I could walk next to her. "If we were to get Drew something, it'd have to be... let's just say not police-friendly," I looked at her and smirked, "I doubt you'd go through with something like that."

She laughed, "You're a million percent right," her smile was a beautiful sight. Made me feel as though nothing was wrong at the time. "Thanks, by the way," she said, bringing her shoulders up, her jacket now covering her cheeks.

"For what?" I asked, getting a little closer to her, our shoulders now touching.

"Well, for Drew. I was like his big sister and watching over the fool was a full-time job, but ever since you came to Pride, he's been a lot more docile." Her face became red. "You're always taking care of him and cleaning up after him and... I just want to say thank you," she stopped walking and kissed my cheek, but immediately pressed forward toward the hospital. I froze, my chest ready to burst, I could barely breathe. She kissed me.

"W-wait up!" I yelled, collecting myself and containing my happiness.

When we arrived at the hospital, there were a bunch of News people crowding the lobby. Orderlies and police attempted to push them back outside, but the power of the media was too strong. Then, Sam headed into the fray, her journalist instincts taking over. Of course, I followed begrudgingly. While making my way through the crowd, I kept bumping into cameras and people with mics, whose shots were ruined and I was yelled at constantly. It was beginning to irritate me, luckily I found Sam before I exploded. She was at the front looking at the mayor of Pride City, Joseph Redford, founder and owner of Redford industries.