Nicholas woke up, not knowing where in the hell he was. When he saw Mattie, at first he didn't know who [i]she[/i] was and he screamed. Why wasn't he at the warehouse?! Where was Alisa and mom?!

"Wh-Where the hell is my arm?!" he half-whispered, half-screamed, and then cried out again in pain, panicking. Then, he started to remember. His erratic breathing started to calm down and he sunk back into the couch. Cole started to wail softly, but soon stopped and drifted back to sleep. Nicholas wiggled around on the couch, head leaned back in pain. "It's so hot," he whined. "Mattie, it's so ho-ot!"

---

The commotion being made out in the living room woke Jacob from his already restless sleep. He jumped to his feet, grabbing his revolver off of his nightstand, and charged into the room.

"What's going on?" he asked, concerned.

"It's so hot," he heard Nicholas saying.

Immediately, he went over and crouched beside the chair in front of Nicholas. He put a hand to Nicholas' forehead and cheeks, then withdrew it and shook his head. "God, he's got a fever," he muttered.