Nick awoke in a comfortable hospital room, if anything about a hospital room can be called comfortable.

“Hey,” said a familiar voice.

He turned to see Caitlin by the door. “They said I couldn’t visit without an adult,” she told him as she walked over to his bed, “but it’s amazing how little they seem to care when you pretend you don’t hear them.” She glanced at his bandages and the swollen fingers protruding from the white layers of cotton gauze. “It looks like you really did a number on your arms.”

“It couldn’t be helped,” Nick told her. “How’s everyone else?”

“We all survived,” she said. “Except for Vince, of course.”

Nick sighed. “Are we going to have to go resurrect him again?”

“Mitch already did.”

“Good,” Nick said, leaning back and closing his eyes.

“I know, right? After the first time, I’ll never look at jelly beans and spandex the same way again.”

Caitlin explained that Mitch was making a special trip to Colorado State Penitentiary to talk to his father, and that the newly re-re-reanimated Vince and his mother were leaving town, because they couldn’t risk the Accelerati finding him and taking away the battery.

“He told me they were going to Scotland,” Caitlin said. “I couldn’t tell whether or not he was joking.”

As for Petula, she had vanished entirely. “And if she ever shows her face around me again, she won’t have a face left to show,” Caitlin vowed.

Nick turned to look out the window. “Clear blue sky today,” he said. He reached up to her as best he could, and touched Caitlin’s arm with a fingertip. “There’s no shock.”

Caitlin smiled. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “I mean, I felt something.”

Nick could feel himself starting to blush, but before the moment got too awkward, he said, “Hey, did you see my dad and Danny around?”

“I know they were here—maybe they’re in the cafeteria getting lunch,” Caitlin suggested. “Hey, there’s a vending machine down the hallway. Why don’t I get us something to drink. We can make a toast to you for saving the world again.”

She left, and Nick looked out the window once more. A moment later, he heard someone enter the room.

“Your ability to foul the waters of everything you touch is truly remarkable.”

Nick turned his head to face a gaunt figure in a brand-new vanilla suit.

“You’re the only foul thing in here, Dr. Jorgenson.”

Jorgenson took a step forward and glanced at the machine that was monitoring Nick’s vital signs.

Nick got worried. “Are you going to kill me?” he asked.

“I have plenty of justification for ending your life and the lives of your friends. It would solve a myriad of problems, too. For that I would feel no remorse. Except for one thing. Quid pro quo.”

“English please,” Nick said.

“You saved my life when you didn’t have to,” Jorgenson told him, “and decency dictates that I spare yours.”

“So you’re letting me go?”

“Let’s just say I’m leaving your destiny in the hands of a higher power.”

It took several attempts before the vending machine accepted Caitlin’s money.

When she finally returned with two cans of sparkling Dr Pepper, Nick was not in his room. In fact, the bed had been stripped and the room was clean, as if no one had been there for quite some time. Her stomach began a long, bottomless fall.

“Excuse me,” she said to a passing nurse, her voice shaky. “The boy who was in this room—where did he go?”

“You must be mistaken,” the nurse said. “No one has been in this room all day.”

And when Caitlin demanded that they check the hospital records, there was no evidence that Nick had ever been there. Nor did she find Mr. Slate or Danny in the cafeteria or anywhere else.

Caitlin knew, without question, that the Accelerati had pulled yet another magic trick. Smoke and mirrors, practically applied.