Five

Cole

A flash of blue, a flash of blue, a flash of blue, a flash of blue . Over and over the words repeated in my mind. But the voice saying them wasn't my own, and the ripple of energy that pulsed under my skin wasn't something I'd experienced before either. The lightning was just there, and I knew if I reached for it—

"What did you want to eat?" Bobby asked, and I turned to look at him.

"A burger and onion rings, maybe a chocolate shake." As soon as he mentioned food my stomach growled. I'd eaten breakfast like I always did, a protein shake and a granola bar, but I wasn't sure how long ago that had been.

"Do you want to go buy some clothes?" he asked, and I wondered how he was staying so calm about this weird situation he'd been thrown into.

"Let's get some food and then if you don't mind just taking me home, I'd appreciate it." I mean I had clothes at home, and at this point it didn't matter if I was riding around in just a hospital gown. "Then I can pay you back too. I don't want you to think I expect you to feed me after driving me all the way to the hospital."

"What happened back there?" He asked the one thing I hadn't wanted to even think about as he pulled off the highway and into a Sonic. After finding a parking space under the awning and near one of the menus, I could feel his eyes on me as he waited for me to reply.

My stomach growled, and I was focused on the menu and if I wanted one burger or possibly two when he squeezed my arm getting my attention. "Sorry, I guess I really am hungrier than I thought I was. I don't know what it was. There were so many things happening all at once."

"Do you remember it all?" he asked and stared at me. I turned to face him and once again was struck with how easy he was to be with.

I considered lying to him. I knew they all thought I was so out of it I wouldn't remember what had happened. "I remember," I whispered.

"Everything?" he asked.

"Can I take your order?" a voice through the intercom squawked, making us both jump.

"Yeah," I said, and proceeded to order way too much food for one person before asking Bobby what he wanted.

"I'll have a cheeseburger and tater tots," he said.

"Something to drink?" the intercom voice asked.

After ordering lemonade the two of us sat in silence while we waited for our food to be delivered. I thought about ignoring his question and playing dumb, but he'd helped me when he didn't have to. I owed him an explanation. "I don't know what happened. I've never had anything close to what happened earlier happen to me."

"Do you think it's from being struck by lightning?" he asked, and I noticed his accent again.

"Are you Irish?"

"Yeah, I've been here a few years now. My dad is from the US, Sugarfield to be exact, and my ma is from Dublin. I grew up there."

"What made you decide to move here?"

"They owned a print shop in Dublin and wanted to open a branch here. I thought they were crazy when they first came up with the idea, but my sister is running the place in Dublin, and it's all worked out so far. We go back a time or two a year." The faraway look in his eyes told me he missed his homeland, and I wondered once again why he'd leave there to move to Sugarfield.

"I don't think I've been to Sugarfield before," I said and hoped it kept the conversation off what had happened.

"You didn't miss much," he said with a chuckle. "It's not more than a wide spot in the road, but we really only need the space for the printing machines and paper storage. So, for us it works out great."

"Oh god, did I screw up your work schedule?" It hit me that he was at work, or driving to work, when he found me. I hadn't taken any consideration to the fact that this wasn't part of his plan for the day.

"Nope, I called Dad, and he completely understood and wants an update on the poor guy who got hit by lightning." He smiled at me then, and something in that smile made me feel a little better. Even if I was sitting here at a Sonic waiting for food in a hospital gown.

I glanced at myself in the rear-view mirror and couldn't believe my eyes. "Oh my god." I tried to smooth my hair down, but my hand was covered in ash from just touching it. I still had soot or ash or whatever all over my body except where the hospital had wiped it off to either stick something to my skin, or to draw blood.

"Yeah, that's gonna take a minute to grow back," Bobby said, like he was reassuring me the haircut I got wasn't so bad.

"It's all burnt," I said, and forced myself not to touch it any more than I had to. Then I noticed the red spots on my hands where it had been burned. Now it looked nearly healed. I covered it with my other hand and squirmed in my seat.

A flash of blue.

I ignored the words that continued to float through my mind since we'd left the hospital. It had to be from the lightning. I mean everything was from the lightning. Maybe it just zapped my brain in some way. Just zapped my brain. Like that could be a good thing in any way.

"Here you go," a server wearing skates said as she rolled up to the window and settled the tray of food there. I was happy for the mental distraction, because so far, every time I thought about it, the voice in my head was there and I forced myself not to worry if it was truly from the lightning or if I was losing my fucking mind. Because that voice was definitely not mine.