Silence

Chapter 11

. -- -... . .-. ...

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I start waking up, feeling groggy. It takes a moment to open my eyes and remember what happened. There's something covering my whole body. I open my eyes and look at my body.

Why am I covered in white foam?

What am I covered in? My parents are standing over me and Nightwing is communicating with someone on his com-link.

I remember the fire, the fever. I remember my mother's scream.

My dad is using a wet cloth to wipe off the white foam from my arm and clothes. I start to sit up, but my mom makes me lay back down. She has tears streaming down her face. My dad's eyes are glassy too. Obviously whatever just happened shook them up pretty bad. I'm in shock myself, but I still have no idea what exactly happened when I blacked out.

My mom sees my confused gaze and answers my question without me having to ask. Her voice is hoarse from screaming.

"You were... you were on fire... you were on fire," my mom says shakily. It's almost like she's talking to herself rather than me. "Nightwing used an extinguisher... he used an extinguisher to..."

Her voice breaks and she puts a hand to her face, unable to continue. I notice a used fire extinguisher on the floor.

"He had to use an extinguisher to put out the flames," Dad continues for her. He seems close to crying as well. "You've only been out for a few minutes. He's contacting Batman right now, and Miss Martian went to find Black Canary."

I can tell it's weird for him to be saying it, like the heroes' names were foreign. I understand how he feels. Just a few months ago my life was normal. Or close enough to it. To suddenly be in the world of heroes and powers and crazy freak accidents wasn't something to swallow easily.

"They're on their way now," Nightwing says turning back to us. He looks flustered, but nothing like my parents. He's very composed for someone who just had to use a fire extinguisher on a burning girl.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I wipe off my hands- this stuff feels so gross- and ask my mom in sign language how I caught on fire.

"I don't know," she answers, shaking her head. She's composed herself enough to talk. "From what I can see you have no burns whatsoever. No one should be able to survive a fever that high. Nightwing was a quick thinker and grabbed a fire extinguisher from the hallway and sprayed you until all the flame was gone. I wasn't sure it would work, but it did. You're safe, I think."

My mom hasn't been this scared in a long time. She came to see me for the first time in four months, and I almost died. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a thought occurs to me.

"I've been gone since O-C-T," I sign to them. "I missed my birthday."

I normally communicate with Nightwing through writing, so he's still not used to sign language, though he knows enough. My dad has to interpret for him.

"I know, Willow," Mom says sadly. "We had a small get together with Dustin and Connie that day."

I nod. I'm glad they did. Nice to know someone celebrated it.

"What about Melony and Bridgett?" I ask, wanting to change the subject to distract Mom from her stress. "How are they doing?"