The Crimson Phoenix

A Shocking Discovery

Leo’s eyes fluttered open. He was dazed and he felt pains all over his body. His eyes were hurting as he looked at the light on the ceiling. His head began to hurt and he felt numb all over.

“Patient is awake. Vitals are normal now…” a voice was heard beside him. Startled, he tried turning his head to see who was talking. He could see a man wearing a lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck, though he couldn’t see his face clearly as his eyes were still hurting and his vision blurry.

“How are you feeling now Leonardo?” The doctor asked, with a slight smile on his lips.

“Alive at least. Where am I?” Leo inquired, his voice came out hoarse and pitchless as he looked around the room. He could actually tell that he was in a hospital but he wanted to know where.

“You are in Sky City’s Central Hospital,” He heard the doctor say, “You were involved in an accident, do you remember?” The doctor asked him.

“I…” Leo searched his brain for clues as to what led him to the position he was currently in. “I remember, seeing lightning and an explosion… a tube filled with electricity… then I blacked out…” He replied as he could vaguely remember anything.

The doctor wrote a few thing on his note. “It seems that the impact didn’t cause you any memory loss.” He said as he kept on jotting down on his note. “I’ll have to run some more tests. You suffered third degree burns all over and together with that impact you suffered while hitting that building, You should count yourself extremely lucky to be alive.” He commented, “For now, all you need is rest. To be honest with you, your burns won’t heal anytime soon and you’ll need a surgery but you’ll look totally different after that.” He gave him a look of sympathy.

Leo shut his eyes and a thought flashed in his brain jolting him up.“What about Dr. Cartel? What happened to him?” he asked.

The doctor looked confused at first before finally coming into realization. “Oh, you mean the CEO of THRL? He was taken to court by your guardian and he was asked to pay a fine and will probably be jailed but that depends on your situation.” He said.

Leo was both surprised and angry at the same time. ‘This is all my fault’ he thought to himself. He tried to sit upright but the sharp pain he felt on his back gave him second ideas.

“When am I gonna be discharged?” he asked glumly.

The doctor gave him a warm smile. “You should be able to walk in a two weeks. It’s been almost two months since you were here and you need time to recuperate. I don’t understand how you will be able to walk within two months after the accident but you seem to be healing very fast… unusually fast.” He hypothesized and began to ponder on Leo’s results.

Leo almost threw up when he heard the doctor claim that he had been in this hospital for almost two months. ‘So I’ve been in a coma for two months!? What about school? How am I even going to live? Will I be on a wheelchair? He said I’ll be able to walk but will I need crutches? My back hurts so much…’

Different negative thoughts ran through his head. He was dumbfounded and he began to shed tears. His actions had put both him and a renowned scientist in jeopardy.

Two weeks passed and he was discharged. He could actually walk properly but he was still supported by his aunt and Logan. He was bandaged all over, making him look like a walking mummy. Molly took him home and after making sure he was better, she made him rest.

She scolded him though. As a matter of fact, Leo could see that two months of anger never died down. When his friends heard that he was discharged, they were happy and they called him.

“Dude,” James said. “I gotta say when I watched that video of the accident, I already thought you were dead.” Tracy’s face was solemn. Leo could tell that she has been crying all along.

“If it weren’t for the fact that we heard you were alive, Tracy would’ve been no more.” Mason added.

Leo had his eyes wide opened in astonishment. He couldn’t believe Tracy would actually commit suicide because of him. Tracy rolled her eyes at Mason and smiled at him.

“It’s really good to have you back babe.” She said calmly with strong sense of relief and affection coming from her voice. Leo also smiled back. His face was still a little bit singed so his smile wasn’t so visible.

Suddenly, Tracy’s face changed from that of a calm little girl to a angry grandmother.

“And if you ever try something as stupid as that ever in you life, I will make life a living hell for you. You’ll suffer so much you’ll wish you were dead.” The smile on Leo’s face disappeared instantly and turned into fear. He couldn’t help but feel slightly afraid.

“Looks like you were burned so bad, that handsome face of yours is already gone.“ James joked. Tracy gave James a knock on the head.

“Ow. What did you do that for?” He asked, feeling wronged.

“We should be thankful that it’s only his face that’s gone and not Leo himself. Besides, even with his face burned, he’s more handsome than you are.” Tracy scolded James disdainfully and gave Leo her loving eyes when it came to how handsome he was. James was still rubbing his head from the pain. In reality, James was even more handsome than Leo when he didn’t have the accident. Now, his accident just made things worse. But there’s an African proverb that says that “when the kings palace that gets burned, beauty is being added to it.”

“We both know that’s not true.” He snickered. Mason and Leo laughed and the atmosphere was lively again.

They chatted all day before Leo finally laid himself to rest.

Leo wouldn’t be able to go to school for a while now since he couldn’t and he also didn’t want to scare the other kids away so he’ll have to learn at home. Self learning actually. He still kept on studying but he only studied his favorite subjects and school books. Logan came by a few times and gave him his notes and also kept him company. Logan had always visited Leo in the hospital every three days and he’ll always drop a flower or two. One from him and another one from Leo’s secret admirer, Jessica.

It was eight thirty in the morning and Leo had just woken up. He wanted to get up and take a leak so he prepared his mind for the usual pain he could feel when getting up and gritted his teeth only to stand up and not feel any pain at all!

He was surprised, It’s been a week since he got discharged and he never thought he had super healing abilities, even though the doctor hinted him on that. He tried raising his hand very high but he didn’t feel any pain… Ow. Okay he felt a little bit of pain but it was very little compared to what he felt a week ago.

He went towards the mirror and tried removing the bandages on his face only to see his face was almost as smooth as it was before the accident.

“What the hell!!…” he muttered. He couldn’t believe it. He removed part of the bandage on his right feet only for him to see an undamaged skin.

“Holy shit!” he was startled. ‘How’s this possible’ he thought to himself. He sat on his bed, gathered his thoughts and made a few conclusions. ’Firstly, Molly mustn’t know about this. Secondly, I needed to see Dr. Cartel. And lastly, I have to inform the trio… Logan included.’

As he was still thinking about the whole thing, he heard someone knock. “Come in.” he said as he quickly wrapped up his feet and face with the bandage and regained his composure. Molly walked in and she brought a tray of food with her.

“Good morning Leo.” She said cheerfully. She had already decided to accept the things that has happened and had forgiven him, although she still promises to ground him when this is all over.

He greeted her back and took the tray from her hands. He was starving but he had to brush his teeth first.

“How are you feeling now?” She asked as she rubbed his back.

“I’m okay.” He smiled. ‘Are you kidding me?! I’m more than okay’ he thought happily to himself but he didn’t display that huge amount of information. He quickly brushed his teeth and began eating. Molly sat by him, watching him. Several thoughts ran through her head and tears trickled down her face. When she heard about the accident, she fainted. When she woke up and they reminded her of what happened, she began to cry so much that she couldn’t sleep or go to work for two days straight. She felt motherly love for Leo and she felt that it was her responsibility to fill in the spot of his dead parents. Her learning of Leo’s accident and thinking he was dead, she felt that she didn’t just fail as an aunt but she failed as a mother. Little Kate didn’t want to see her mother cry so she replaced her mother’s responsibility at home… well, a little bit. She’s still too young for that.

A thought struck Leo so he decided to ask, “Aunt Molly,” he called.

“Yes sweetie.”

“Aren’t you gonna drop the charges against Dr. Cartel?” he asked. Her mood changed and she looked at the ground gloomily. Leo decided to explain the whole thing to her, “I was the one who introduced my idea to him. I was the one who told him not to go to the malfunctioning machine. He insisted but I didn’t allow him. If he was the one who had the accident, he would be in my position now and I’ll probably go to juvie for it. I didn’t want him to lose his life…”

“So you sacrificed your own?!” Molly interrupted him angrily. “Leo listen to yourself. I already told you that this project of yours wouldn’t get anywhere and I already said I was going to assist you but you involved a scientist and took a big risk that almost cost you your life. Now look what that’s gotten you. You look like barbecue now.” She said, breaking into tears.

Leo was actually about to laugh when she said barbecue but seeing her cry made him feel guilty.

“Leo, don’t you know how delicate your life is? You are the only child of your parents and both of them are gone. I lost my brother Leo, your father, do you think I’ll forgive myself and spare anybody if I lose you? Do you?” She said, still crying. He could feel her pain and he thought about it deeply before hugging her.

“I’m sorry I worried you and everyone. But I’ll be fine. At least I’m still alive.” He said trying to cheer his crying aunty up. She was still crying and he was still wondering how he was going to deal with the current predicament that should leave little worry but at the same time, great curiousity. ‘I need to see Dr. Cartel. And I need to do that urgently.’ He thought to himself