As the grenade left her grasp, Lily realized that there was a flaw in her plan.
She realized that she had miscalculated her distance from the line of safety. There was no way she could cross that line in time. The grenade sailed farther and farther down.
Two voices exploded in her mind: NO! Two crackling waves of gray sped towards the grenade. Sophie wanted to save her own life, and Theresa wanted to save Lily's. Theresa had seen the flaw of the plan too and knew that Lily's life was at risk. But Lily knew it was too late, that she would never reach safety in time, as the grenade burst against the ground far below, sending out a massive gray wave that hurtled towards her at an amazing speed.
Lily could see the lizards falling limp in the streets as the wave sped towards her. Sophie's magic disappeared into thin air. Theresa's misty bolt of gray flipped direction and zoomed back towards Lily, but the wave was already ahead of her. Lily saw that there was no use to run away. She faced her doom and waited. Every single muscle in her body screamed, Run! But she kept her feelings in check and stared at the wave of death and Theresa's magic, wondering which one would reach her first.
Theresa's misty wave caught up just as the bomb's shockwave hit Lily. She fell and her eyes closed, her sword and suitcase falling from her hands and settling in the grass at the top of the hill.
***
Lily was dreaming.
She knew it from the instant six misty figures appeared in the black background of her sleep. Her friends stepped towards her.
"Am I ..." Lily couldn't even form the words to her question. Tara shook her head. "No, Lily. Theresa's magic reached you just in time. You have fallen into a deep sleep. Theresa thinks you should wake up soon."
The wispy gray form that was Oneida fiddled with the edge of her shirt. "You did great, Lily. Everyone knows that. The damage to your home city would have been much worse if it wasn't for you."
A sudden thought struck Lily. "But Sophie ..." she said. Theresa shook her head. "Sophie is gone," she said quietly. "Our planet and your planet are both safe, thanks to you," Jake said. "To our people, you will be forever remembered as a hero," Stacy smiled gently. "And just so you know, Skype us whenever you want to, but Jake might accidentally drop and break the computer before that happens." Parker elbowed Jake playfully.
Theresa said, "Lily, it'll all be fine. The people have started to move back in. You're in the hospital. Your family's waiting for you to wake up. It's time you return to the real world. Perhaps you should tell them the truth, just as you did to the President." Her friends gathered together. "Goodbye, Lily," they all said in unison. They smiled and disappeared, and Lily opened her eyes.
She was in a hospital, all right. About ten different doctors were staring down at her. Her mom, brother, and dad were standing next to her.
Lily's precious suitcase lay on a table next to her bed, and her sword was carefully placed on top. Everyone was looking at her with a mixture of concern and relief on her faces.
Lily processed this all in less than ten seconds. She wanted to leap out of her bed and embrace her family, but her entire being was weak.
She looked up. She had spent so much time away from them that she didn't know what to say. Hello. Sorry for the giant invasion that hit New York, but I got it taken care of. No worries!
Then Lily realized that she didn't need a long message to say. Something simple would be good enough.
"Hey, guys." Lily smiled.