Chapter Three
James felt someone shaking him awake. James opened one eye. He saw Ellie looked down at him. "hey sleepy head. Sam is back. He's given us permission to go to Newtown and see Penny." James smiled. The both of them headed to the hospital. Penny had been hooked up to a heart monitor and IV. "their keeping me here overnight. They want to make sure I'm going to be okay before they release me." James sat on the edge of her bed. "I was really worried about you." She laughed softly. "you and Elvis both. I'll be fine." She ruffed his hair gently. "you were hanging off the edge of the elevator. You could have died." Whimpered James. "but did I?" He looks down. "this isn't the first time I've encountered death James. There was this one time that the fire station caught fire and I blacked out." He gulps. "I'm not scared of putting my life on the line for others." He nodded slowly. She smiled kindly at him. "I just need to rest and then I'll be back at the station tomorrow. I'm more worried about Aria then anything." She looked back up at Ellie. "have you heard anything on her?" she asked. Ellie shook her head. "no. I'm sure she's okay though. I'll go and check on her for you." James gulped. "I'll stay here with Penny." Ellie nodded. "alright." She headed out of the room. Penny took James' hand. He had a fast pulse.
Ellie checked in with one of the nurses. "hey there I was wondering if I could receive word on Aria's condition." The head nurse looked up at her. "Arian is doing just fine. She will be discharged in about an hour." Ellie smiled. "can I go and see her?" the head nurse nodded. "yeah her room is to the right of Penny's." Ellie knocked on Aria's door. "hey." She greeted. Aria looked up from her book. "oh hello there. I take it you're a friend of Penny's?" Ellie tilted her head to the side. "how do you know?" Aria pointed at the logo on her shirt. "Penny had the same thing on the back of her shirt." Ellie sat down in one of the chairs. "I just wanted to say thanks for saving my life. I don't know what would have happened in that fire if Penny hadn't of come to my aide." Ellie smiled. "it's no problem really." Aria sighed. "I don't know what the museum is going to do now. A lot of the artifacts were lost in the fire." Ellie thought for a moment. "maybe we can do something to help replace what was lost." Aria shook her head. "Some of them can't be replaced. I'll have to check with the professor once I get discharged." Ellie handed her a small note. "once you do give me a call." Ellie returned to Penny's room. "Aria is doing just fine. She's really thankful that you were able to get her out of there." Penny leaned back on the bed. "just a part of the job." Ellie sat down next to James. "she's worried that the museum may not be able to replace the items that were damaged. I told her that maybe the fire station could help with finding a way to replace the items." Penny nodded. A nurse walked in. "you guys may want to consider heading home now." Ellie nodded. "I'll be by to check on you again in the morning." Penny laid back down on the bed. "have fun guys."
Sam waited for Ellie and James to return to the fire station. He saw them pull up. "Hey Sam." Greeted Ellie. "so how is she?" he asked. "she'll be fine. They're keeping her overnight for observation. She'll be ready to come home in the morning." Sam let out a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad she's okay." Ellie handed him the keys to Venus. "did you guys find out what caused the fire?" she questioned. "it turns out that some faulty wiring from one of the exhibits set the building on fire. I've got Arnold and Elvis there now to help clean things up a bit." Sam looked to James. "James how about you clock out early? I bet your pretty tired from today's events." James shrugged. "not really. Will you guys be able to manage without me if I leave early?" Sam patted his shoulder gently. "yeah we'll be fine." James clocked out for the day. He put his ID card back on his belt. "have a good night James." James waved at his Uncle as he left.
James trudged through the door of the café. Bronwyn hugged him gently. "How was work?" she asked. "it was eventful. There was a fire at the museum. No one was hurt but Penny is in the hospital being treated for shock." Bronwyn kissed the top of his head. She could smell the smoke on his skin. "go upstairs and get cleaned up. Dinner is almost ready." Sarah finally came home. She put her bag down on the chair. "hey mom." She greeted. Bronwyn turned around. "hey Sarah." Sarah saw her brother sitting at the table. "so how your first day?" she asked. "it was eventful." Sarah sat down next to him. "I heard about the fire today. I just got down typing up the story for it. I hope no one was hurt." James took a sip of his tea before replying: "no, no one was hurt. Penny and Aria have been treated for shock though. Aria I believed was discharged this afternoon but Penny will be able to come home in the morning." Bronwyn sat down and had dinner with her kids. Hoshi was the last one to come home. He walked in through the door tired as could be. He huffed a small greeting to them as he headed upstairs. "poor Hoshi." Whispered James. "he works so hard for us. There must be something we can do for him." Bronwyn thought for a moment. "I'll have to think on that James."
James went to bed that evening. He laid down on his side welcoming the comfort. He closed his eyes drifting off.