If not for heightened emotions, Melissa might have noted the drastic change, the effects of heat expanding from limb to torso. Her mind, however, lost its filters, and the usually docile young woman began to ramble.

"I'm--" No, that wasn't correct. "We're okay. I can walk, at least." Grateful, Melissa took the handkerchief and blubbered into the cloth, appearing much younger than she felt. "But Captain McDonald. He's hurt so badly," came the conclusion. It likely did not need to be said. At least, it hurt too much to come to terms with the possibility, but his state was all she could grasp mentally.

For a valid reason, too. The aforementioned man remained still, as close as one could come to a corpse.