Help! I'm Housing a Hero

He started to come around. His strikingly blue eyes fluttered open once but immediately closed again in pain. I sat helplessly next to him not knowing what to do. I had done everything I could think of. He groaned as he tried to slowly sit up.

“Don’t move.” I commanded, worried that he might hurt himself. His eyes opened again and focused on me through the pain. He seemed to only just realize I was there. He continued to raise himself up until he was sitting. It looked like it took much more effort than he should have had. He leaned his head against the wall and concentrated on breathing. His eyes squinted shut once more in pain and his chest heaved with every breath he took. He acted as though he had just run a marathon.

“Hero-“ I warned and held my hands out towards him in case he fell over. He breathed quickly as though he was exerting too much effort to sit. He groaned again and bared his teeth.

“Can I get you anything? Water? Food?” I didn’t want to panic and I tried to stay calm but seeing him move around in his condition made me worry. I waited expectantly for an answer but he seemed too preoccupied with pain. Sweat appeared on his brow. Instinctively I grabbed the cloth and started dabbing at his head.

After a few moments it seemed the pain caused from moving dwindled and his breathing calmed. He was still in agony but he was calming down. I realized I was sweating as well and I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. He seemed stable for the moment and I went over to the sink to get him some more water. As I walked back over I was able to take in the whole situation. Here I had a very injured hero, no, a boy leaning against my wall. I didn’t know anything I could do for him.

“I brought you some water.” I said as I warily made my way over to him. He glanced down at the glass in my hands that were now beginning to shake. His lips slightly moved like he was going to say something but his words were interrupted by a groan of pain. He doubled over and clenched at his stomach again. He groaned loudly and it sounded like it was laced with frustration.

“You need to lie down.” I placed the water on the floor and tried to pull on his shoulders to get him to lie down. He glanced up at me pained and then collapsed. His head fell on my shoulder just against my neck. “Hero?” I asked but by his weight I could tell he wasn’t conscious. He was burning up again and just having him lean against me was making me sweat. As carefully as I could I leaned him back down on the floor. It was difficult because of how heavy he was. It was like his muscles were made of stone. By the time he was lying on his back again I was out of breath. I sat back on the floor and buried my head on my knees. What was I going to do? What could I do?

I looked back up at him. His hands had fallen from his stomach and I could see plenty of bruising beneath his abs. There was either something inside him causing him that pain, or that was where his worst injury was. I could only imagine how he had defended himself. I also wondered where he had been for so many days. People had memorial services and everything for him. If they found out he was back he wouldn’t be left alone. I couldn’t let anyone know. I just wondered why he came to me. There was that scientist on the television that he seemed to know pretty well. That guy probably had all sorts of equipment to help Hero in this situation. Why wouldn’t Hero go there? I was so confused.

I continued to watch over him, praying for signs that he was going to be alright. He just lied there completely knocked out. I put another cool cloth on his head and I made sure he was as comfortable as possible. He didn’t make any faces or show any signs of life except for his chest slightly rising and falling.

Hours passed and I only accomplished pacing around the room and sitting with my legs up to my chest until they started cramping. The only thing I could do for him was change out his cloth on his forehead.

After pacing around for what seemed the hundredth time I sat down next to him again and leaned up against the wall. I placed my head on my knees and before I knew it I dozed off.
When I awoke Hero was still in the same predicament. Nothing seemed to have changed through the night. I had a nasty crick in my neck from my awkward sleeping position.I rubbed it gingerly with the back of my hand and felt Hero’s cheek before standing to stretch. He was still abnormally warm. I changed his cloth out for a cool one on his forehead and walked around my room. I couldn’t help but notice how lifeless he looked. If he wasn’t so hot and slightly breathing I would think I had a corpse in my room.

I hated just sitting there not knowing what to do. I wanted to go get medicine for him or call someone to help, but then again I knew that would backfire. News teams would find that he’s alive and he would have no way of recovering peacefully. Not to mention I’d also be questioned that he chose my room to land in. I wasn’t trying to be selfish, I was just worried that I wouldn’t be able to take care of him. I paced around my room a few times and looked over at him. Maybe the best thing for him was to just let him sleep. After all, his other wounds had healed almost instantly as soon as he was in my room. Maybe his body was just healing. I had no idea about super heroes.

When I couldn’t stand pacing any more I went over to my bed and pulled all the blankets and sheets off and shook them on the floor. More glass shards than I thought would be in the window fell and created little piles at my feet. I pulled the pillow cases off my pillows and shook them, too, sending even more shards clattering to the floor. I glanced over at him before folding everything to take to the wash in the basement. He seemed quite out of it. He had been like that for hours so five minutes wasn’t going to hurt. I made sure everything was secure and I bundled them up in my arms. I locked my door behind me as I took the stairs two at a time. That probably wasn’t good considering I still had shards in the blankets.

Ms. Hodgens didn’t come out of her room and I was thankful that I made it down to the basement. I was stopped when there were two ladies down there. I recognized one as the lady that lived right below me, Ms. Vendetta. She was in her late forties and worked in a grocery store in the center of town. The other woman seemed to be a new resident. I recognized her from a few meetings along the stairs, but I didn’t know her well enough to remember which apartment was hers.

“Hello, Ms. Glace.” Ms. Vendetta greeted me, “You were awful, energetic last night. Was that glass I heard breaking?”

“Oh.” I answered and bit my bottom lip while thinking of an excuse. “I just stubbed my toe on that darn glass table of mine.” I avoided acknowledging the question about glass breaking.

“Well, I was just telling Ms. Riley here that you were the youngest tennent in this apartment complex.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Glace, formally, that is.”

“Just call me Riel.” I walked over to one of the three washers. I dumped my blankets in and I felt a pinch on my finger. A shard of glass must have still been stuck and nicked my skin. I pulled my finger out and it was cut.

“Oh you’ve cut yourself!” Ms. Riley exclaimed.

“It isn’t that bad.” I said and stuck my finger in my mouth. I hated having people see me bleed.

“You should let her look at it, she used to be a nurse.” Ms. Vendetta instructed.

“I’m a writer now, but only recently.” She took a step closer to me and reluctantly I showed her my finger. Most of the blood was gone but it wasn’t stopping just yet. “It’s just a simple cut, you won’t need stitches, but I can wrap it for you. I’ll be right back.”

“It’s not a big deal!” I called but she already left the room.

“How’d you cut yourself on a blanket?” Ms. Vendetta asked. I had always known her to be paranoid and I’m sure having the number one person at the top of the news (besides Hero) living above her made her extremely nervous.

“I must have cut myself before I came down.”

“Well take care of it, we don’t need you in the news because you lost a finger in your apartment. Next thing you know the news crews will be storming the place looking for reasons to come in besides you.”

“I know, I know.” I half agreed with her, wanting to please her. There was plenty of gossip going around the apartment and Ms. Vendetta was always at the top of someone’s list for being paranoid. Luckily, Ms. Riley came back just in time before Ms. Vendetta could go any further with her complaints.”

“I wonder what you cut this on?” Ms. Riley asked while opening up a gauzy package instead of a band-aid. I felt like I was getting treated for something more serious.

“A simple band-aid would have been fine.” I nervously laughed as I saw Ms. Vendetta grimace at the dressing. I was feeling awkward in the situation and I wanted to get back up to Hero.

“Ah-well, the doctor in me wants to make you all better! I just feel so sad that you don’t have your parents around.”

I stiffened and the hand that wasn’t being examined clenched at my side. She was pitying me. If only she knew that my step father was up to no good. The last thing I wanted was pity. Had I not proved enough to everyone, if not myself, that I was quite capable of being alone?

The moment she secured the wrappings on my finger I quickly scooped some soap into the washer and turned it on.

“Thanks for this.” I said as politely as I could without losing my cool and I stormed past them. I hoped everyone in the building wasn’t this concerned for me. I raced up to my room and quickly let myself in. I was instantly relieved when I saw Hero still lying on the floor. He hadn’t moved. I couldn’t stay angry. Seeing him with worse problems than me put my thoughts back into perspective.

I placed my hand on his head to check his temperature. He was still warm but it looked like he had broken a sweat. I almost wondered if he had a fever. Before the heat seemed so intense, this one was different somehow. Maybe that first heat was the cause of his pain, and this second one was just a fever after that healed. I was beginning to confuse myself.
I got my broom out again and began to sweep up the remaining shards of glass. I emptied them into the trash once more and began to wonder how I was going to replace the window. The entire thing was gone, ripped out of the wall and shattered into tiny bits. If anyone came in they would know something was up, of course then they’d probably discover Hero and then the window wouldn’t matter anymore. I got out my trusty duct tape and began to close it up. I at least wanted to protect my room, if not Hero, from the elements.

I was only about halfway done when I realized I’d need to go get my stuff from the washer and dry it. I hoped I wouldn’t meet anyone again. I didn’t have much to come back to in my room, but I was beginning to feel more comfortable there than anywhere else. Plus, I had this overwhelming feeling to protect Hero, probably because it was my fault that he was in this situation. I quietly tip-toed down the stairs, even though I wanted to take them three at a time I didn’t want to be heard. I made it past Ms. Hodgen’s room again without incident and made it to the washing room. When I got there I heard ladies talking.

“Yeah- and I bet she feels like the whole world in on her shoulders. Did you see that crowd outside? I was too scared to go out.”

“Well, I didn’t want to throw her out there to those people. My motherly instincts kicked in. I was right out there with Ms. Hodgens when they tried to get in the first time.”

“Well I don’t like all the attention this building is getting. Something needs to be done about her.”

“Ms. Vendetta, that’s no way to talk about someone here.”

“Well it’s true. What if another super villain attacks and they call for her. The building might be demolished that time.”

“I don’t think that will happen. With Hero gone there is no need to attack.”

“Of course there is. With him gone there is every need to attack. They don’t have anyone to stop them!”

“Ms. V, I think you’re being highly unreasonable.”

“Well I think that girl is on their side. Ms. Hodgens lets her stay here for an incredibly cheap amount. She’s always keeping a close eye on the girl, and just the other day she had her in there doing who knows what? I think she got rid of Hero herself. Things didn’t start to go wrong until she left the building.”

“Robots were in the city! One had already blown up! It couldn’t go much more wrong than that!”

“Well what did she have to do with it? Kind of suspicious.”

All the ladies seemed to be stunned silent. Just then I heard footsteps and Ms. Vendetta rounded the corner. She locked eyes with me and her expression didn’t change. I tried to act like I hadn’t just heard everything. I had no idea she was so against me, but then again who wasn’t? After staring me down for a moment she hiked up her skirt and tromped up the stairs.

“That poor girl. She needs support right now. Let’s do our best to give that to her, at least.” I recognized that as the voice of Ms. Riley.

“Agreed- poor dear.”

There they went with the sympathy card again. I heard them start moving around so I ducked behind a doorway as they passed. I didn’t want them to know that I had heard. When four ladies had passed I waited a few more seconds and then went into the laundry room. When I walked in Ms. Riley was there. She was just putting my blankets in the dryer for me.

“Oh hello, dear.” She said when she saw me. “I was just doing this for you- I didn’t want you to have to do that with your hurt finger.”

“Uh-thanks.” I said and managed to get a half smile out.

“You know, I stopped being a nurse to write about science.”

“Oh?” I asked not really sure where she was going with this.

“I loved learning about the atmosphere, and I was quite curious as to how super heroes and villains and other things got through. I had always wondered since I was a little girl. An odd man saved me once. Ever since then I wanted to know about heroes. But my parents somewhat forced me into the nursing career. It got me to think the other day. There wasn’t any filigree of robots left, nor of Hero. I think he sacrificed himself to get everything out of the atmosphere so that it would burn up, but if he did that- well, you know.”

“Yes- that’s pretty accurate.” I said realizing that it all made sense now. The reason Hero was so hot was because he probably came directly from the atmosphere. If surviving an explosion like that wasn’t surprising enough his own skin could survive our planet’s defense system. Either that or his armour protected him from most of it. I sure hoped he could get some more made.

“Do you think there is anything in the atmosphere that can make us sick?” I asked.

“That’s a very odd question. I’m sure there is, but no one has ever been able to find out. Astronauts don’t normally get sick when they go up and come back. What makes you ask?”

“Oh-um- nothing I’ve just been pretty concerned with the atmosphere recently too. You know- Hero and stuff.”

“Yes well, it’s a shame he’s gone. I really hope things don’t start crashing around or falling apart because people think they can get away with it.”

“Me too.”

We made small talk until the buzzer ding’d on the dryer. I didn’t even realize we had been talking for so long. She helped me pull my blankets from the dryer. When she offered to help me carry them up I had to really restrain myself from shouting no. I was really skittish about anyone finding out. She smiled sweetly and I ran up the stairs. Right when I was at the top I saw Ms. Vendetta waiting for me.

“Ms.Vendetta!?” I asked surprised.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your radio off. Whatever whiny station you’re listening too is getting on my nerves.”

“Station?” The I realized. Maybe Hero had moaned again! Was he awake? “Oh right- radio- I’ll go turn it off. Sorry.” I pushed past her and scrambled into the room as best I could with the blankets in my arms. I slammed the door and locked it before dropping everything and running over to check on Hero. He looked like he was still asleep, but his brow was furrowed again and a grimace was showing on his lips. He was sweating a bit more and I realized he was without a doubt sick. There was no possible way for him to get better lying on a hard floor. I dabbed his face with a cool cloth to cool him down. When he was deep in sleep beyond the pain I set to work. I knew I wouldn’t be able to drag my bed across the floor without complaints from my downstairs curmudgeon of a neighbour, but I didn’t want him sleeping by that window. As carefully as I could I picked up my bed by each end and painstakingly dragged it slowly into the corner. At least if he was there no one would see him immediately if they walked into the room. I replaced all the sheets, blankets and pillow cases. Finally, it was time for the move. I hoped I wouldn’t hurt him, but I wasn’t going to let anyone as sick as he was sleep on the floor, especially after saving the city.