"Are you hurt?"

The smoke had cleared enough for Hope to see an outline of a boy. He seemed to be around the same age as Hope, though he was slightly shorter. He offered a hand. Hope took it and he pulled her up. Once she was off the ground, the boy let go of her hand. She stumbled again but refused the boy's hand when he held it out. The walk to school usually took around 45 minutes, and she was only a few hundred yards away from school. With her hurt ankle, she definitely wasn't making it home.

"What's your name?" she asked quietly. Maybe she was going crazy, but this stranger seemed more trustable than her parents.

"Lucas."

»»—- —-««

The pair slowly walked to Lucas' apartment, with Lucas offering help many times, and Hope refusing his help many times. She didn't want this almost-stranger to see her as weak. Lucas' house was closer, only about 50 yards away. In fact, Lucas had been watching the attempted robbery from a window. He was homeschooled despite living so close to the school. His mother had insisted that she didn't want Lucas leaving home.

Once they finally got to the apartment, Hope collapsed on a couch. The area around her ankle had started to swell. She was tired and wanted to close her eyes, but the pain kept her awake and brought tears to her eyes. Lucas brought her a bag of ice, and she was too tired to refuse it. She pressed it to her hurt ankle. It brought relief but quickly melted, and Hope felt the full extent of her pain.

Just then, one of the bedroom doors opened, revealing a very surprised-looking woman.

"Ada, is that you? I knew you would come back!" The woman enveloped Hope in a warm hug.

"Mother, that isn't Ada." Lucas had to step in to prevent his mother from smothering Hope.

Lucas' mother took a step back and frowned. "Oh, sorry. I confused you with... someone else. I'm Nia, Lucas' mother. Oh dear, what happened to your ankle?" Nia bent down and examined Hope's swollen ankle. When she gently poked it, Hope screamed.

"That's one nasty sprain. Here, I'll help you." Nia bent some water from a nearby container and used it to surround Hope's ankle. The water glowed blue, and Hope's pain slowly dissipated.

"That didn't hurt too much, did it?" Hope slowly got off the couch and tested her leg She was surprised to see she could walk just fine, like nothing had happened.

"It's getting late out, I'll drop you off in my Cabbage Car."

One short trip and quick dinner later, Hope was laying down in bed, and all she could think about was Lucas.