Rogue, it's me. Keltie.

You may be confused. You may be wondering how this doctor has a note from me. You may be wondering what else this doctor knows about you, if he has somehow intercepted our other letters (Don't panic! This is not the case!). You may, by now, have noticed the name of this doctor. You maybe have noticed that it sounds a little familiar?

Have you figured it out yet?

This doctor is my Dad, Dr. Adrian Matthews!

"How odd!" You're thinking. "What is Keltie's Dad doing standing in my Boston Massachusetts hospital room, when his medical practice is Salem Center, New York?"

WELL. Let me tell you a story.

It turns out I kind of forgot to mention the whole Legacy Virus thing to my Dad. I'm sorry, but I've been a little distracted lately! Which I will explain to you shortly, but first I have to explain something else.

So I was sitting in my living room, watching the news with my father. (This is a lie. My father was watching the news. I was going over blueprints for the schools heating and ventilation systems, but more about that later). All of a sudden, I start to hear some familiar words.

Words like "Legacy" and "Mutant" and "Epidemic". Words like "fatal" and "urgent" and "Boston". I look up.

"Hey," I said. "My friend's got that."

My Dad's head just about flew off his neck. Really. I very nearly had to scrape brain matter off the wallpaper, that's how quickly my Dad's head snapped when he heard that.

"Explain" He said, in his elaborate way.

So I did, a little shocked at his reaction.

Did you know that you're not the only one who has this virus? Did you know that the hospital you are staying at is currently one of the only hospitals on the Eastern Seaboard that is accepting mutants with your virus? Did you also know that before my father became a General Practitioner, he was trained in the area of outbreak control and epidemics?

(Yeah, I know I might have mentioned that earlier. But like I said: Other things on my mind—and I didn't know that this thing was at Outbreak level).

Anyway, it turns out that my father has been fielding a lot of calls lately, from people who are trying to figure out how to contain this virus. People who have been offering to fly him all over the world so he can speak at conferences and help more important people figure out a solution. In general he has been turning these down, because he has me and Emma to think about, and he cant just jet off to Geneva whenever he pleases.

But when I told him you were in Boston and they were treating you there, he made a few phone calls.

And then booked us a flight to Boston.

That's where I am right now. Boston. At a hotel just down the street.

It turns out the WHO has set up a conference at the University to discuss North American containment, and they are delighted to have my father's assistance.

And I am delighted to finally have a chance to meet you.

Only if you want to, of course! I understand if this is the very last thing you would want, and if you don't want to see me, just let my Dad know, and Emma and I will go shopping, or something, instead.

I really hope that's not the case though.

Send a reply back with my Dad, okay?

Love,

Keltie

Dear Keltie,

ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Of COURSE I want to see you! How soon can you get here?

Rogue

Rogue,

This is going to be a disaster. Keltie is going to take one look at you, and your dirty hair and completely disastrous life, and say two words: See ya!

Just watch.

THE COLD HARD TRUTH ASSOCIATION

Rogue,

When was the last time you sent a letter to Kitty or Jubilee, huh? What about Logan? Don't you think it's time they heard from you? Don't you think it might be a good idea to try to work things out with him?

Maybe before you get too excited about meeting a girl you've barely known for 3 months, you might like to think about some of your other friendships, huh?

Sneeringly yours,

The Best Friends Club

P.S. I mean, if a Complete and Total Stranger knows about your kiss with Logan before your best friends do, something is seriously wrong

Rogue,

Please let us do something about your hair, first. How much can you do in five minutes?

Dye over the white? Give yourself a perm? A deep conditioning treatment?

Can you brush it?

We are wringing our hair combs anxiously,

The Manager,

International Department of Hairpieces, Toupees, and Wigs.

Relax,

Keltie will love you. You'll get along fabulously. Everything will be okay.

Deep, cleansing breathily,

The Take A Deep Breath and Calm Down Society

Well. I think that went better than any of us expected.

Colour us astonished.

The Association of Teenagers

In conjunction with

The Society of Beautiful People,

The Best Friends Club

And

The Take A Deep Breath And Calm Down Society

Keltie,

Was that not totally the weirdest thing ever?

And my "weirdest" I mean "most awesome"?

I can't believe you never told me how gorgeous you are. How in the world Ben decided to go for Leah or you is completely beyond me (I just Facebook creeped her on Logan's Blackberry-she looks like giraffe). I felt like a leper next to you in the waiting room.

But a very happy leper, because it was so nice to finally talk to you in person. And I'm so glad I got to explain the Logan thing to you while you were there, rather than having you read it. It made me feel so much better, seeing your reactions after each part of the story. The way you nodded along, like everything I did made total sense (even though I know it was totally deranged) did more for my nerves than you can understand.

And the way you introduced yourself to Logan!

"And you must be...Scott?" With your face dead serious! It makes me dissolve into giggles just thinking about it! Even John was impressed, and he is the king of deadpan.

And I'm so glad you could tell me all about what happened with Ben! I can't believe he actually apologized to you! (Not that it wasn't Completely Overdue) I can't believe that he didn't realize that you and Leah have basically stopped being friends, either! Boys are SO dumb sometimes.

It just occurred to me that our meeting may not have been as enjoyable for you. Maybe you were just being nice, and now that we've met, you're starting to think "hmm, not sure I should waste my time with this Rogue person."

I don't think that's what you're thinking. I really hope it's not. Because I had such a good time today. I feel like a whole new woman.

Love and hospital staredowns,

Rogue

Rogue,

Don't be silly! Of course I enjoyed meeting you! I more than enjoyed it! It practically made up for the last month and a half of crap that my life has been.

And what are you talking about, gorgeous? Have you looked in a mirror lately? Woman, if Logan isn't seriously suffering from a mad case of blue balls every time you walk out of a room, I'll eat my hat.

I just got a really cute new one this afternoon, as well. So you KNOW I'm serious.

It was so nice to talk to you too. And dude, of course I understand about the Logan situation. If I had received your letter before I left for Boston, I'm sure I would have felt the same way. I'm glad I made you feel better though.

Love and new friendships,

Keltie

P.S. Did you manage to convince him to let you and John come to the hotel to go swimming? I know he might be reluctant to let you out of the hospital again, but he's obviously welcome to come too. I'd like to see him in a pair of swim trunks (if you don't mind my saying so!)

Keltie,

Convincing him would be rather difficult, as he still refuses to be in a room alone with me.

But I'm working on it.

Rogue.

FOR ROGUE WHEN SHE WAKES UP! A LETTER FROM YOUR FRIEND KELTIE!

Rouge! I hope you read this letter before you start to freak out!

I'm writing this from beside your hospital bed. You look very peaceful and calm right now, and I am very relieved about this fact. I hope when you wake up you remain peaceful and calm and don't start asking questions until you read this letter.

It's just occurred to me that in a certain context it would be considered very creepy for me to watch you sleep. I'm watching you sleep because we've all just been through a Very Strange Ordeal, and the doctors said you probably won't remember anything. I don't trust anyone else to give it to you straight-hence, this letter.

So what happened was this: You somehow managed to convince John to convince Logan to take you to my hotel so that we could all go swimming in the hotel pool. Logan was really not impressed with this idea, I could tell. He insisted on waiting down in the hotel bar while we went upstairs to change. Emma said that when she went down to get him he was drinking whiskey and writing furiously on some cocktail napkins.

You borrowed a bathing suit from me, and even though I know this is not exactly relevant to the discussion, I just want to tell you that both Logan and John were not exactly unappreciative of how you looked in it. It certainly helps that your boobs are about two sizes bigger than mine (bitch! You probably could have mentioned in your letters that you've got a rockin' body-if we hang out again, you're wearing a muumuu, okay?).

So we went down the pool and Logan sat down and kept writing and ignored us. You tried to get a look at what he was writing but he yanked it away and got a little pissy about it. You looked kind of affronted, but completely cheered up as soon as we got into the water.

Since the hotel was pretty dead that night (the concierge was reading a magazine when we first came in), we had the pool to ourselves. And since there was no lifeguard, we took turns seeing who could do the biggest cannonballs into the deep end. Logan was not impressed, as you can imagine.

Then we were just swimming, splashing around when you decided to do some laps.

Emma and I watched you as you glided through the water like you were Lance Armstrong or something. Or is it Michael Phelps? Whatever. You looked like a boss. Logan even looked up from his napkins and watched too, and John sat on the side, flicking his lighter.

You reached the end of the pool and put your hands in the hair and yelled something. It sounded like a foreign language. Suddenly, the water got really cold, and a layer of frost appeared on the walls and the floors, and just as quickly melted, steam rising from the ground. The rails on the side of the pool and under the diving board started rattling. You went under. I watched, completely confused, as bubbles appeared on the surface and you started to sink. Logan was up in a flash and John's lighter clattered onto the ground. They were both at the other side of the pool before I could blink. Logan backed up, preparing to dive in after you, but John held out his arm.

"You can't."

"She's going to drown!" Emma screamed. I swam over to you as fast as I could, but John yelled: "Don't touch her!" He turned to Logan. "You can heal her. I can't."

He then proceeded to dive in after you. It seemed like he was underwater forever, and Emma was crying (I realize now that it was mostly because of Logan, whose claws came out, cause of the stress I guess) but he didn't move, his eyes glued to your blurry form. Finally, John broke the surface, but it was only for a moment before he started to sink. Logan reached in and grabbed his arm, managing to pull him out. John was grey, and veins were popping out all over his neck, but he never loosened his grip on you.

"Keltie!" Logan barked at me. "You know CPR?" I nodded, swimming as fast as I could to the side of the pool and hauling myself out. I knelt down beside you, but Logan yanked me away. "Don't touch her." I looked at him, confused, and he pointed at John. I scrambled over and looked at him, terrified at the colour his skin had turned and the veins that looked like they were pulsing all over his body. I started panicking for a moment.

My Dad insists that Emma and I take our CPR recerts every year, but at that moment the knowledge flew right out of my head. I looked up at Emma.

"I'll call 911," she said, but it sound more like she was asking me a question. I took a deep breath. I felt calmer, and I nodded.

"Tell them we have two people who are unconscious. Make sure to tell them they're mutants." No point calling for help if the paramedics didn't come prepared-or worse, refused treatment. Apparently it's happened before.

Emma ran out of the room and I looked down at John. I titled his head back and pulled his mouth open. He wasn't breathing. I didn't have face mask, I realized, but I had to make a decision. I decided, to hell with it, and gave him two breaths. Then I started compressions.

It was just as creepy as my CPR instructors always said it would be. I heard a gross cracking noise that sounded like the breaking of ribs, but I knew it was the cartilage between his lungs. I forced myself to keep going, to keep the compressions steady. Water bubbled up out of his mouth, and I rolled him towards me to get it out. He still wasn't breathing when I rolled him back.

I looked over at Logan, who had his hands on your face. He cursed when you didn't move. I stopped compressions to give John another two breaths, and then started again.

Logan never took his eyes off of you. I'm telling you, Rogue...he may have hurt your feelings, but you should have seen the way he was looking at you. It wasn't like his whole life was flashing before his eyes-it was like you were his whole life, and he was watching it slip away. I've never had anyone look at me like that. That man is in love with you. And when he leaned down to give you breaths-well, let's just say, I've certainly never been taught THAT method in my CPR classes.

I was giving John another two breaths when Emma came running back into the room. And she had the most beautiful thing I've ever seen: A portable AED machine.

"Take over compressions," I told her. She knelt down on John's other side, and started doing wonderfully even, deep compressions. I could have cried with relief. No one tells you how exhausting doing CPR is. I couldn't have been doing compressions for more than 3 minutes at this point, and my arms were already feeling the strain.

The concierge from the front desk was hovering around, looking terrified that her previously quiet night had taken a turn for the worse. I started opening up the defibrillator box. "Do you know First Aid?" I glanced up to meet her eyes. She nodded, but she looked so freaked out I didn't think she'd be able to help much.

"What's happening to him?" she yelled and pointed at Logan. Veins had started popping out all over his face, and I was so tempted to start crying, but forced myself to turn back to her.

"Go to the front to meet the paramedics. Show them in here. Okay?" I waited until she nodded and ran out.

I ripped the plastic backing off the pads. Emma had already wiped John's chest down with a towel, so I stuck the pads on the way the diagrams indicated, and connected them to the machine. I considered for a moment that perhaps you needed the machine more than John, but it was too late, and I figured Logan could take care of himself. I couldn't even bring myself to look over again.

The machine started beating. "Don't touch patient," it blared in a robotic voice. "Analyzing." Emma scrambled away and I watched as the machine kept beeping. It administered its shock, and then said: "Continue compressions." I looked at Emma, and she nodded and kept going.

I crawled over to you. Logan still had his mouth on yours, and veins were popping out over his hands and face. His eyes were wide open, terrified, but he would not let go. I could see colour creeping back into your face.

Blood started to gush from his knuckles, and he pulled his face away from yours, leaving his hands on your shoulders. He was starting to convulse and I wanted to pull him away.

The AED was giving another shock to John, and almost simultaneously, both your eyes popped open and you coughed up copious amounts of water. Emma started bawling in relief, but I watched in horror as Logan collapsed on top of you. I tried to pull him off (what is that guy MADE off? He's freaking heavy!) but I couldn't. That was when I pretty much lost it. I kept pushing and pulling him, but it was too much weight for me to handle. I knew you couldn't breathe and I was Freaking. Right. Out.

Of course, that was when the paramedics came in. One of them came over and helped me pull Logan off of you, and another wrapped John in a blanket. They made me sit down in the prone position and gave me a blanket and asked me if I was okay. Then they loaded both you and John onto stretchers (don't worry, I made sure they were wearing gloves so they didn't get hurt) and wheeled you out to the ambulance. Logan was still having what looked like a seizure, and since they'd only brought two stretchers, they put a towel under his head and basically had to wait until he'd stopped. Then they loaded all of us into an ambulance and took us back to the hospital.

I tried to answer their questions as best as I could, but I must have been in shock or something. I couldn't stop shivering, and my teeth were chattering so hard I couldn't speak. Emma wouldn't stop crying. I managed to tell them my Dad's cell phone number, but I guess they couldn't get a hold of him because so far I haven't seen him.

Oh, wait. There he is. He doesn't look happy.

He's out in the hallway yelling at someone. Hold on while I move closer and try to hear better.

He's speaking with a beautiful black woman with the most amazing white hair I've ever seen. They're standing right outside your room. She's nodding understandably as he keeps on yelling, and Emma is gripping his hand.

Okay, it looks like he's starting to calm down. She's saying something about how she understands, and that she's going to have a very serious talk with Logan.

Huh. She also just told him that he should be very proud of both his daughters. She said we both reacted well under pressure and if it hadn't been for our quick thinking, both you and John could be dead. She told him we were heroes, but she said it in a funny way, almost like she knew I was listening.

Well. I don't know about heroes...

Oh, Dad just poked his head in here and told me he was going to take Emma back to the hotel. He doesn't even look angry any more. I told him I'd really like to stay here with you, which he wasn't happy about, but the doctor even told him he'd like to keep me in here overnight for observation anyway. They want to keep Emma too, but she won't let go of my Dad's hand.

Eventually he relented, and now I'm checked into the room right across the hall from you. These hospital beds are seriously not comfortable.

From here, I can hear almost everything that's going on. I can hear John talking to that woman, explaining what happened. I can hear her yelling at Logan. She said that she can't believe he could have been so stupid to try and heal you himself. He's shouting back, and a bunch of nurses came in and told them to shut up.

They're speaking quietly now, but I can still feel the undercurrent of tension emanating from that room. The woman must be Storm, I assume? She certainly seems to live up to her nickname. She's telling Logan it was completely irresponsible to try and heal Rogue while leaving Emma and I to deal with John.

"Well, the kid did alright, didn't she?" he said. He's arguing with her, but I can tell he knows she's right. In my First Aid classes, they always talk about someone appointing themselves as a leader to manage the scene, and how you're supposed keep yourself safe before rescuing others. Logan was the oldest and most experienced, so I guess it was pretty dumb of him to knock himself unconscious.

But if he hadn't, you'd probably be dead. So I don't know how strong Storm's argument is.

Oh, she just came in here and introduced herself. She thanked me profusely for doing what I did. It was the most sincere thank you I've ever received, and I'm pretty sure my face is still burning. She also said if I ever needed any help from Charles Xavier, I just needed to let you know and help would be on its way.

It was SO embarrassing.

But also, you know. Nice, in a way.

Anyway, I asked Ororo if she could give you this letter, because I'm so exhausted I'm about to pass out. I don't know how you do it, Rogue. It's all so dramatic-hot men trying to save you, speaking foreign languages-I've been part of it all for two days and I'm already overwhelmed. Anyway, I hope you don't freak out too much when you read this. Hopefully I'll see you in the morning and you'll feel better.

Love and hospital jello,

Keltie