"Hawk! How did you do that?" Ethan cannot contain it. He crowds around Hawk the moment they are back at the hotel, and the other three follow, everyone asking variations of the same question at once.
Hawk is sitting on the edge of his bed, trying not to move. His ribs are making themselves known again.
"Oh. Sorry, Hawk." Taylor says, realizing he has nudged him.
"It's fine." Hawk waves it off. He looks at them for a moment.
"I don't know how I did it. I just did." He goes quiet, thinking. "Actually, I think it might be the breathing thing."
"The breathing thing?"
Hawk nods slowly. "Yeah. You know how every time I move the wrong way my ribs light up. To manage the pain, I've been breathing the way the hospital physiotherapist showed me. A specific pattern. And when I called the fire just now, I was doing it without thinking."
He watches his friends' reactions carefully. No suspicion. No skepticism. Just curiosity.
