Here we go…

ENJOY!

…or not…

My body was burning as I struggled to open my eyes. And when I did, I could barely make out shapes.

Everything around me was destroyed, sparks were flying and crackling from the control panels and debris lay all over the place, pinning all of us to the ground.

Oh no. Reed! Ben! Johnny!

I could barely make out the shape of Ben still lying in his spacesuit in the airlock where he was struck by the storm coming back in. Reed was still in front of the door, where he was staring in horror at the sight of his best friend on the ground.

Struggling immensely, I turned my head to face Johnny.

He was closer to me than he was originally. Before we were hit by the storm, there was some distance between us. It must have been the way we fell after the storm had passed.

I didn't know if Sue was OK, I didn't know if the station shields were enough to protect Victor from the storm; and to be honest I didn't really care much about the latter.

"Allie…"

It hurt to breathe, but I managed to mumble softly in reply as I heard my name being called.

Johnny was like me; there, but not there at the same time.

"Allie," Johnny rasped.

It hurt to move. The parts of my body that weren't numb were searing in pain, as though I was suffering from a severe case of hypothermia.

But I still reached for him.

I barely managed to grasp his hand before my world faded to black again.

When I woke up again, I immediately recognized my surroundings.

The room, while extremely nice, still was the traditional bright white. I heard the familiar beeps from the heart rate monitors I learned to use when I first began studying medicine.

I was back on Earth. I was in a hospital.

But were the others OK?

"Hello, Dr. Frazer."

I was really glad that I didn't see Victor by my bedside. Instead, I saw Reed.

He looked a little worse for wear but he still looked healthy. He had streaks of grey on the side of his head he didn't have before; or they were strange sideburns but I didn't truly care.

At least I didn't wake up with a stranger sitting beside me.

"Call me Allie or Alena. Please," I said, my voice sounding raspy, "I'm only Dr. Frazer when I'm on duty."

He seemed to understand I needed some water. He took the cup that was on the table next to my bed and gently held it to my lips. I could hear the water sloshing and the ice clanking as he moved it. I felt relief as soon as the cool liquid began to soothe my burning throat.

"Where are we?" I asked, happy my voice sounded better.

"We're at Victor's medical facility in the Alps," Reed answered, "Everyone's under quarantine."

"How are the others?" I demanded.

"Sue's still unconscious. Ben woke up yesterday. Johnny was the first of us to wake up," Reed explained before adding, "You were unconscious for four days, Alena, you were extremely cold when you were brought in, to the point of freezing. Victor has provided us with the best care he could, Doctors tried to increase your temperature, but whenever they warmed you past 10 degrees Fahrenheit, you would essentially go into cardiac arrest."

"That's impossible," I said, frowning. "I should be dead or at least in a coma."

He shrugged and lent back in his seat, rubbing his hands down his face. "They're calling you an anomaly and you're not the only one."

That struck me hard. How am I alive right now? Do I have to maintain this temperature constantly for the rest of my life? It didn't feel right, none of this felt right.

"Can I get up?" I asked, already sitting up and kicking the covers away from my body as I asked.

Reed didn't argue, knowing that his protests would be futile. Instead, he grasped my arms and gently helped me onto the floor. Normally, walking on the hospital floor barefoot would send shivers through my body. It did when I was five when I had to have my infected tonsils removed but this time, I didn't shiver from the sudden cold. Instead, I felt relief from the cool sensation. It was almost like my body was overheated and the cooling sensations were cooling my body down.

Then I remembered why I felt that way.

"I'm sorry, Alena," Reed suddenly said, causing me to look up in surprise, "It's my fault we're like this. If I did my calculations correctly, none of this would have happened."

"Reed," I cut in, knowing that he would keep fumbling apologies past his lips, "It wasn't your fault. Things like this happen all the time. Meteorologists – even the best ones – keep saying that the next day is going to be sunny only to have it rain. Many times, they are unable to predict when a hurricane is going to strike a town or when the snow is going to start falling in winter. What happened up there was nothing more than a freak of nature. Besides, it's Victor's fault we're like this. He's the one who closed the shields on us."

That fact surprised Reed greatly. Obviously, since he was too busy worrying about Ben coming back safely, he didn't see that Victor had closed the shields and left us to die in the storm.

"I'm going to go see Sue. Go out and get some air, Alena," Reed said to me before he left abruptly.

Was it something I said?

I was finally cleared by the doctors to wonder around the hospital and visit the others. First, I went to see Ben but he wasn't in his room. He must have gone out for some air. My next stop was Sue.

I saw Reed and the doctor talking, undoubtedly about Sue's vitals. I saw that Reed was holding a flower. A single flower was nothing compared to the vases of flowers Victor had left for her.

And apparently, there would be more. A nurse stopped outside the room before grabbing a vase of flowers.

"More flowers from Mr. Von Doom," she announced as she walked in.

To my horror, I saw that the flowers she was going to leave by her bed were orchids. Immediately, I went to step forward to protest the flowers but Reed was quick to protest on my behalf.

"She's allergic to orchids," Reed cut in, stopping the nurse in her path before seeing the vase of sunflowers on the cart, "Put the sunflowers by her bed. They're her favorites."

Once he was satisfied with the arrangement, Reed sighed in defeat before tossing his single flower into the trash bin by the door and leaving, presumably to find Ben.

I saw that Sue was beginning to wake up but she didn't look like she was up for visitors right now. So I walked away, planning to visit when she was ready to handle them.

Besides, I needed to see Johnny.

When I did reach Johnny's room, I saw that he was dressed in snow gear.

What are you up to now, Jonathan Lowell Spencer Storm?

"Where do you think you're going?" I demanded as I walked in.

"Hey! Sleeping Beauty's finally awake!" Johnny joked before gesturing to the large window, "I know you've been unconscious for a few days but the sickest runs on this side of the Alps are right outside that window."

"I noticed," I said dryly before protesting, "But there are rules here, Johnny, just like any other hospital. You can't leave-."

Johnny was quick to cut in, "Until we finish the tests. You know I've never been good with rules. I'm sure you can find out how those come out for me. Wanna help me with the zipper?"

I could not believe the man right now.

"You know this is not a ski resort, right?" I stated, raising my eyebrow.

"Not yet," Johnny smirked, moving to lace his snowboard boots, "Luckily, Grandma still sends care packages though. She even sent me some to give to you. You'd be amazed how an 80-year-old woman can-."

Just like Johnny cut me off, I decided to cut him off. I grabbed a thermometer that just happened to be nearby and shoved it into his mouth, pressing the button required for the temperature recording to begin.

"You are trouble," I sighed, watching the temperature on the thermometer by his bed.

Johnny moaned before saying cheekily, "Trouble is my middle name."

To my horror, I saw his temperature reach 98.6 degrees and still rise to well over 100 degrees. Normally, if someone reached a temperature of over 100 degrees, they had a fever with the severity of the fever determined by how high above 100 degrees the person's temperature is. But this is insane!

"Whoa! You're hot!" I gasped.

Johnny, unfortunately, mistook my meaning of the phrase, "Why thank you so are you, and I'm not afraid to cry."

"I meant you're feverish," I retorted, pressing my hand to his forehead to see how hot he really was.

"I've never felt better than I have in my life. God, you smell good," Johnny sighed as he removed my hand from his forehead and the thermometer from his mouth, asking, "When do you finish playing doctor?"

"I'm not playing doctor!" I cried, almost offended by his question, "I am a doctor!"

"But you don't work here," he retorted cheekily before sliding a heavy jacket over his body and grabbing the snowboard, "Tell you what. Meet me at four at the top of the mountain. That'll give you an hour or so to freshen up and get your skis. This is yours."

Johnny smirked as he slid the thermometer in the pocket of the dressing gown I had grabbed before I left my room. Then he kissed me, murmuring something about how that was his.

I barely had time to react before he pulled away and walked out of the room, muttering something about doctors on his way out. I couldn't help but smile as I pulled the thermometer from my pocket.

That smile quickly disappeared when I saw the reading on the thermometer. I then glanced at the monitor.

It was well over 200 degrees.

I think you can guess what happens next chapter…

BYE!