The moment my eyes popped open, I started looking around frantically, taking stock of how I was feeling and where I was.
The "where I was" ended up being pretty simple. I was in a bed in a little bedroom decorated largely with pictures of dogs, dragons, and, for some reason, various tea pots and tea kettles. Wu's room, I remembered a second later, just a second too late for me not to panic. Okay, so now I was panicking a little bit. I was still with Wu and his mom. I was supposed to be with Nya and Jay, on our way to rescue Zane. Nya and Jay must be hating me by now. They'd have the right. No, Zane must be hating me by now. He'd definitely have the right.
I began to sit up, and a wave of pain crashed over me, making it hard to breathe. So that was the "how I was feeling." In short, I was in serious pain, an amount I hadn't felt in years, since we'd escaped the School.
Well, no. That wasn't quite true. I'd felt pain close to this once in the time since we'd left the School behind us. I'd been sparring with Cole and dislocated my shoulder. The pain had been an unwelcome companion as we ran into the house, trying desperately to figure out what to do with me. Jeb Garmadon had found us yelling at each other in my bedroom. He had talked us down, figured out what had happened, and put my shoulder right back in. Then he'd given us a smile and went to get us some cookies. It had been a typical "him" thing. He'd always taken such great care of us. It made it even harder to breathe, thinking of him, loving him, missing him.
That's when the door to the bedroom I was in started to open, and I tensed up, my hands gripping the sheets so tightly I wouldn't have been surprised to hear a ripping sound. All of my instincts told me to get away, and fast. I ignored them. After all, my instincts had gotten me into this mess, making me go down and save Wu. What good could my instincts be now?
Wu peeked into the room around the edge of the door. He grinned when he locked eyes with me and then turned his head to the side, speaking behind him. "Mom, he's up."
Wu's mom stepped forward, looking into the bedroom. "Oh, good. Good morning, Lloyd. Are you hungry? Ready for breakfast?"
"We've got lots of good stuff, cereal and eggs and tea, of course," Wu piped up.
His mom laughed. "Yes, of course. We'll be waiting in the kitchen."
They left the doorway and I slipped out of bed, looking down at myself. I was wearing the slightly-too-small golden t-shirt and gray shorts Wu had loaned me for pajamas last night. I looked up from my clothes (really, Wu's clothes), and my gaze fell on a little neatly-folded pile on a chair by the foot of the bed. There sat my sweatpants and socks from the day before, looking clean and fresh, along with a sleeveless shirt and a thick hoodie I didn't recognize. Stepping over, I picked up the hoodie. It was dark gray with green and white edging, and as I flipped it over, I saw that there were two long cuts in the back, perfect for my wings.
Wu and his mom were taking great care of me. Kind of like Jeb Garmadon used to do. For some reason, it was hard to breathe again.