Kitty rearranged the flowers in the vase nervously. It had been a week, and Nathaniel was still asleep. The doctor told her that he would definitely live, but he might be in a coma or something. She wasn't really paying attention at the time.

A week ago, she had seen the Glass Palace explosion. She had turned away from the blinding white light, not wanting her eyes burned out of her sockets, thank you very much. That was when she saw the blur of black along the white, going so fast she could hardly tell what it was. She thought it was probably her imagination, but then she remembered that in movies, the people who think of stuff that way usually get killed off. Besides, she was sure it had come out of the Glass Palace, so it was either Nouda, Nathaniel, Bartimaeus, or another demon hybrid. The latter was the least probable. And Nouda was a bit more… deformed than the shape she had seen.

With even the tiniest sliver of hope that Nathaniel was alive, she had to investigate. She hardwired a car, something Stanley had taught her in her Resistance days. She searched around for three days in all of the buildings that were still standing that she could find. She lived off of food she stole from a few abandoned grocery stores. She asked everyone she met about Nathaniel, giving them vivid descriptions. No one had seen him. She was just about to give up when she came across a hospital that was still in use.

She rushed inside, asking the girl at the front desk as many questions as possible, as fast as possible.

She had said that yes, there was a kid that came in there a few days ago. He matched the description Kitty gave. They didn't know his name. He had collapsed and then had been carried off to a room.

Kitty asked if she could see him.

The nurse said only family could visit.

Kitty told her she was his sister. She was given paperwork to fill out. She made most of it up, writing that his name was Nathaniel Jones. They were orphans, apparently. She didn't want the hospital calling up her parents and asking if they had a son. She couldn't remember much else about what she wrote. It didn't matter now, though. She was let in to see Nathaniel, and she almost cried with relief that he wasn't dead yet.

She spent most of that day and the next hanging around in his room, staring silently at him. The next day, she left to find him some flowers, the ones she was currently messing with. They were a bit wilted by now.

That day, she had run into Piper, one of Nathaniel's secretaries. She helped find the flowers, and then came back to the hospital to see Nathaniel. She was one of the last remaining magicians. Piper was the new Prime Minister, and she was gathering together commoners and magicians alike for the new government. She offered Kitty a place as one of the ministers, but she refused.

Then Kitty started to let off steam, ranting to the poor woman about Nathaniel and Bartimaeus, and basically just everything about their current situation. Piper told her that all the young man needed was a girlfriend or something, all the while staring suggestively at Kitty.

Kitty was confused at first. She didn't think of Nathaniel that way. He was more like her annoying little brother. She told Piper this, and quickly changed the subject. She just didn't think they would work out.

After Piper left, she thought about what she had said. Maybe Piper was trying to get them together because she thought Nathaniel felt that way about her? But that didn't make sense. Perhaps Piper was just one of those girls that tried to play matchmaker? But what if Nathaniel really did have a crush on her? She was flattered, but she decided to wait and see. She wouldn't bring it up if no one else did. What was the worst that could happen?

Kitty didn't realize that that was another line often said in the movies right before something horrible happens. If she had been sane enough to notice this, she would have jumped out a window.

All this time, she had refused to let the nurses take care of her small scrapes and bruises. She didn't have time for that. What if Nathaniel awoke while she was off getting pampered? She didn't want him to be alone. Ever. She only left to eat and use the bathroom, and even then she waited until the last moment. Speaking of which…

She stood and walked towards the door. She was getting rather obsessed with the boy. She made her way to the bathroom, going as slow as possible. She needed to get out of that room. It just wasn't healthy. She was quickly losing hope again. What if Nathaniel never woke up? No, she shouldn't think like that. He'd make it. She was sure of it.

After she spent five minutes rearranging the bars of soap in the bathroom into a pretty design, she decided she had stalled long enough. She'd just check on Nathaniel, then go out to eat. Maybe check out the Glass Palace remains. She poked her head in the door, only to see the boy exactly as she left him. She noticed that he looked oddly young now, vulnerable even.

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her, feeling ridiculous. Of course Nathaniel wouldn't have woken up in the few minutes she was gone. She resisted the urge to sigh, and stared down at her shoes. She was about to turn around when she heard a weak voice.

"Kitty?" She looked up and blinked in surprise. She very nearly did a victory dance right then and there. She had been so worried her only friend wouldn't make it, and now that he was staring blearily at her in a confused and surprised way, those concerns seemed silly.

"Nathaniel? You're awake?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even. She didn't know what to say to him now. She had been praying she could just talk to him this whole time, not knowing what she would tell him in the first place. He nodded, looking like he had been interrupted from a nap. Something occurred to her, suddenly. "How did you know it was me?"

"Bartimaeus," he said simply, as if she should have known that. She was confused again. When she opened her mouth to ask about it, a familiar voice interrupted her.

"Hey, Kitty! You're looking better!" Kitty jumped a bit.

"Bartimaeus is in there too?" She knew it would be logical that Bartimaeus would still be with Nathaniel, but she just didn't expect it.

Nathaniel nodded at the same time that Bartimaeus said sarcastically, "No, I've just been practicing ventriloquism." Kitty's eyes welled up with tears. Bartimaeus was still his sarcastic self. What they went through couldn't have been too bad if the djinni could still make jokes, right?

She couldn't take it anymore. She flung herself forward, throwing her arms around their neck. She let the tears flow freely, soaking Nathaniel's shirt. "Oh, Nathaniel. I thought you were dead… and Bartimaeus…" She pulled away suddenly, wiping her tears on her sleeve. "How did you two get out, anyway?" she asked curiously, desperate to know.

"Seven-league boots," Bartimaeus answered. She noticed he sounded a little angry. She nodded, and sat back to stare at them. Nathaniel and Bartimaeus. They were alive. On impulse, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Nathaniel's cheek.

"Nathaniel… I'm so glad you're alive…" she whispered, burying her face in his chest. She let herself cry with relief. She felt guilty for a brief moment that she might be staining his shirt, but it quickly passed.