Jay shot into a sitting position as soon as he entered wakefulness, and right on queue, a couple of nurses dashed over to him, forcing him to lie back down despite his determination to get up.

"Where am I?! Where are my friends?! Are they ok?!" He exclaimed, clenching his fists, still trying to get up. Luckily for the nurses, he was still in a weak state, and was unable to do much against them.

"Sir, please calm down. You're in the hospital, your friends are fine, they'll be in to see you soon." one of the nurses spoke, staying calm.

After her words, Jay settled down a bit, but was still on edge.

"... the... the people... in the building..."

"It's best we don't talk about that right now. What's important right now is that we make sure you're ok."

"I'm fine, I'm completely fine just..."

"Just lay down, and stay calm, ok? Everything is alright."

He gritted his teeth and let his head fall back onto the pillow.

"... fine."

"Thank you. You're mildly injured, so you'll have to stay here for a few days. After that you'll be free to leave."

He didn't reply, and after the women were sure that he was stable and not a second away from throwing himself out of bed, they left.

It was maybe half an hour until he got a visitor.

He pretty much spent the entire time brooding, thinking over his fuzzy recollection of the events at the mall. He felt... awful. A complete failure.

He... didn't save anybody. And almost got himself killed in the process.

Embarrassment filled him up to his core, and he started feeling quite sick with guilt and regret. When somebody finally came around, he almost didn't notice them.

But luckily, movement at the foot of Jay's bed alerted him.

A familiar blonde came into view. Lloyd very briefly smiled at him, pulling aside the curtain that gave him privacy, and stepped into the space.

"Hey Jay. How are you feeling?" He asked. Jay looked away, refusing to meet his eyes.

"... not great."

The green ninja took a seat next to his bed.

"You were hurt pretty bad. Nothing too serious, but... you gave us a scare."

"Mmmmh."

"... we were afraid you might not make it, all that rubble you were under..."

Jay didn't even reply with a noise this time.

Lloyd sighed, and rubbed his eyes. He clearly hadn't slept in a while, judging by the dark bags under his eyes.

"... are you upset with me about something?"

"What? No...?" Jay replied, finally looking at him.

"... then why the silent treatment?"

Jay was quiet for a second, thinking of how he could put his emotions into words.

"... I... I'm not upset with you... I'm upset with myself..."

"About not getting to them in time? Jay, you were incredibly brave. You ran directly towards a god damn bomb to save people, for heaven's sake. It's not your fault it went off before you got to them."

He looked down, embarrassed and ashamed.

"... I should have been faster."

"Jay... I know that you struggle with self blame and stuff... but... saying it's your fault that you didn't reach them is slightly ridiculous."

He didn't have the energy to argue, so shrugged and left it at that.

Lloyd got the hint, and changed the subject.

"I'm sorry I didn't come and see you earlier. The police were asking some questions. Sensei is gonna come in a bit as well, and Zane too, but other than that, I wouldn't expect the others if I were you."

"How come?"

"Well... Nya's staying with Kai for now. They removed the bullets from his arm, but he won't be able to use it for a while. Cole's still asleep. He hit his head pretty bad. Still managed to pull you out of the rubble though."

Jay hugged himself over the duvet, biting his lip.

"... he was the one who ran after me, wasn't he. That's why he got hurt."

"Yeah. But you can't blame that on yourself either. He decided to make the risk, not you."

Lloyd knew that despite his words, Jay was doing the complete opposite and blaming himself already. There really wasn't much he could do about it.

"Sensei called your parents. They may take a little while to get here from the desert, but they're coming to see you."

He visibly brightened up a bit at that, but still didn't say anything.

"Look. I'm gonna go see how Cole's doing. Do you want me to come and see you again in a bit?"

Jay shrugged.

"Do whatever you want. I don't care."

"Jay, I can tell that you do care. Please, do you want me to come and visit again or not?"

Jay huffed, but then nodded.

"There we go." Lloyd stood up triumphantly, "I'll try to bring you something to eat but it might be little more than crappy hospital snacks. I'll see you in a bit."

He walked out, giving his friend a wave, then leaving Jay alone with his thoughts once again.

It was insanely boring, alone in that room. Nothing to do, nobody to talk to, and god knew how long he would have to lay there, solitary and silent.

Sighing deeply, Jay settled into the covers and tried to sleep to pass the time.

But his rushing mind kept him wide awake.

—-

Kai and Nya didn't talk much. She stayed with him, and answered the occasional question he had, but other than that, he lay and thought and she sat and pondered.

The events they'd been through were certainly jarring, building up a lot of emotional shock and upset. Nya was trying her best to keep her mind away from the subject, while Kai could think of nothing else.

Finally, he spoke, building the courage to say what he'd wanted to say for a while.

"... Nya?"

"Hmm?"

"... can... can I ask you to do something for me?"

She looked at him instead of the wall she was staring at.

"... depends what it is."

Kai shuffled into a more comfortable sitting position, and refused to meet her inquisitive hazelnut eyes.

"... there was somebody in the rubble. Somebody I managed to pull out."

"... you pulled somebody out? Kai you should have gone straight to the hospital!"

"I know I know but, I didn't want to be useless!"

She left it at that.

"Anyway... the person I pulled out. I need to know if he's ok."

"... why?"

"... I just, I need to ok? Can you please go and look for him?"

"Kai I don't even know who this guy is."

"... he has brown hair. Wearing a gay pride t-shirt or something. About my height."

"Kai, many people there had brown hair and pride t-shirts, and it's likely their clothes got replaced by hospital ones."

"... Nya-"

"Kai there's no way for me to find this guy."

"Nya please-"

"Going to look would be pointless-"

"Nya! You'll recognise him!"

There was silence in the room for a couple of moments, and Kai started fiddling with his thumbs nervously.

Nya was quiet, then whispered a small 'oh' as she realised her mistake.

"... so... please... go check. I'd do it myself but I'm not allowed to get out of bed."

She nodded, then patted his arm.

"I'll be as quick as I can."

"Thank you."

He watched her leave the room, and then lay back into the pillows. He couldn't keep his mind away from the guy he uncovered. He needed to know.

———

When his sister walked back into the room, Kai was alert immediately.

"... so? Is he ok? Did you even find him?"

Nya was quiet for a few seconds, before giving him a small smile and a nod.

"Yeah. He got off pretty easy to be honest. His side didn't look to good but the most he'll come away with is a scar."

She sat back down next to him, as he relaxed deep into the sheets.

"... was there a reason you wanted to know so badly?" She asked, clearly quite curious.

"No. I just... I haven't seen him for so long and, pulling him out was a right shock. Maybe it was because I saved him personally." Kai replies, trying to explain as best he could.

Nya nodded, not saying anything but clearly not quite convinced.

He closed his eyes and sighed, deciding to have a nap without needing to tell her.

She studied his peaceful, resting face in detail. It looked pretty damn neutral, calm, tranquil almost.

So unsuspicious that suspicions couldn't help but arise.

Kai was hiding something. She was his sister and grew up with him, and while maybe he could fool other people, Nya had a knack of knowing when he had a secret. Something he was keeping from those closest to him.

The problem was, she had absolutely no idea what he could be hiding, or how to uncover it. The red ninja had pretty thick skin, and a temper to be reckoned with. The last thing she wanted was to be on the receiving end of an outburst.

Perhaps she was just a bit paranoid, and Kai's worries for the boy had been nothing but a rescuer's feelings. Worry for somebody that he used to know, or who at least owned a familiar face.

Perhaps Kai wasn't hiding anything at all.

Perhaps.