Chapter Two
February 20th, 11:35 AM
"How is the arm, Miss Steele?"
Erin looked down at her forearm, at the white skin where the cast had been just minutes ago. She hadn't seen this part of herself in weeks, in almost two months. She turned her wrist and stretched out her muscles.
"It's stiff," she said, with a small smile.
The doctor nodded at her and grinned. "Well, that's to be expected."
She sat on the table of the fluorescently-lit doctor's office, wearing a green sweater (one sleeve hiked up), blue jeans, and black boots. As she examined her arm, she grimaced. There was still pain, for sure. But bigger than that was sense that she was finally getting her body back, a sense that filled her with immense joy.
"You've got to take it easy, this next month," the doctor said. "Don't go getting kidnapped again."
Erin shrugged. She didn't exactly appreciate the doctor's tasteless joke. But nothing was going to keep her down today, on this morning, when at long last her cast was gone. Besides, this man was hardly the first to make light of her ordeal. Everyone in the city knew about her kidnapping, about how she had been abducted from her apartment and held captive for days, about how only the intervention of the Blue Lynx had saved her. When she had first talked to the press about her story, their tone was sensitive, patient, sympathetic. They felt for the poor mayor's daughter and her broken arm. But in recent weeks, the narrative had slightly shifted. A sort of sarcasm had crept in; it was almost like people didn't want to believe she had actually been through something so strange and nightmarish. She had read theories on the Internet about how the whole thing was just a set-up: a way to endear the public to the Mayor leading up to another election cycle.
The city was insane. And it had only gotten weirder and wilder over the course of the Blue Lynx's long sabbatical. Erin had wanted to go out, had needed to prove herself after her last disastrous encounter with that Ninja. "No way," Margot had said, "You're good, Erin, but you're not that good. Give it some time. Let it heal properly. And then, you'll come back, a better Blue Lynx than ever."
Better than ever. Erin hoped that would be the case. But there was something about the fight with Steve that had... Changed her. And not for the better. She had taken punches before. There were even occasions-- rare, for sure-- when she had lost fights. But to be so thoroughly dominated by a foe. To be beaten down so completely, to be practically begging for mercy, to be nearly crippled, to be unmasked... It definitely had done something to Erin's morale. She wasn't afraid of Steve. No, of course not. She told herself that she wanted to see him again, was looking forward to exacting revenge. But like never before, she now felt a sense of her own weakness. She was mortal, like anyone else. She was a twenty-three-year-old girl in a mask and bathing suit...
No, that wasn't true. She was the Blue Lynx. She was a superheroine.
"Do not ever forget that," Erin thought to herself. "You're super."
"I think you're ready to go," the doctor said, after making a few final inspections.
"Thanks," Erin said, hopping down off the table. The doctor opened the door of the office and gestured her outside.
"Do be careful," he said, as Erin walked past him and into the lobby.
"I will," Erin replied.
She saw Margot sitting in a chair, phone in hand, stylish as ever in her slim black coat, black leggings, boots, and glasses. Her friend looked up at her and smiled.
"Back to normal?" she asked.
"I think so," Erin said, stretching her arm out. "Now let's get out of here."
Margot got out of her chair and the girls strolled out of the front door of the hospital. The February air was cold but crisp, and the day was sunny and clear, containing something like a promise of exciting events to come.
Erin took a deep breath. And suddenly, a woman was in her face.
"Erin Steele," she said, staring at her, her hands gripping a pad and pen tightly. "Your cast is off."
Erin blinked. She recognized this woman. Long curly dark hair. A pantsuit. Maybe her late-thirties? It was that one lady from the paper. That reporter, Julia Wright.
"Yes," Erin responded. "Thanks for noticing."
Julia locked her eyes on Erin and grinned. "So maybe now that you're feeling better, we can talk a little more about your, umm, predicament, from last month?"
Erin rolled her eyes. "Come on," she laughed. "Really?"
"There's just a few elements of it that aren't seeming to line up," Julia said. "For example, the Blue Lynx. You said when you first talked to me that she freed you. But police interrogation of that kid, that Jeremy kid, indicates that it was in fact he who let you loose."
Erin gulped. "Well, it's kind of, umm, complicated..."
Margot grabbed Erin by the hand. "We're not talking to you today, sorry," she said, pulling Erin across the parking lot toward her car.
"What's so complicated about it?" Julia asked, following the two girls.
Margot unlocked the car and got into the driver's seat, with Erin quickly jumping into the passenger's side.
Julia stood at Erin's window, tapping on the door. "Hey!" she called out. "The public has a right to know!"
"Crazy bitch," Margot said, putting the car in drive. The vehicle shot forward, taking Julia by surprise, and speedily moved out of the parking lot. Erin looked into the rear-view mirror to see Julia scribbling frantically in her pad.
"I'm not sure if that way the best way to handle that," Erin said.
"I don't care," Margot said. "She needs to leave you alone."
Erin nodded. Julia Wright had been a pain in the butt even before the kidnapping. For months, she had been the paper's main correspondent on the topic of the Blue Lynx. But her coverage didn't exactly paint the city's superheroine in the most flattering light. What Blue Lynx did never seemed to matter to Julia-- the only question of any interest was always, "Who is she under that mask?" She had been publishing rumors of secret identities on a near-weekly basis. And while she had never gotten close to actually figuring out the Blue Lynx's alter ego, this new investigation made Erin nervous. The inconsistencies she had spotted in Erin's tale... They were truly inconsistent. If Julia kept poking around, it might occur to her that the Blue Lynx hadn't been seen in more than a month. Hadn't been seen, in fact, since Erin had got her arm broken.
Erin didn't like even thinking about that "coincidence."
"I should meet with her," Erin said. "I need to set things straight."
"But you've already met with her countless times," Margot replied. "The bitch still isn't satisfied."
Erin shook her head. "No, Margot. I need to meet with her... As the Blue Lynx."
On to Chapter Three
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