Abigail's eyes fluttered open softly. Everything looked like a big white blur. All around beeps from machines rung in her ears. The smell of sterile cleaning, and bed sheets filled her nose. Was this the hospital? It had to be; where else had the stench of an entire bottle of floor cleaner dumped carelessly onto the ground?

A bluish blob, which Abigail guessed to be a nurse, came in and then quickly scurried out. A few minutes later, she returned with another discolored blob.
"You're finally awake." The doctor sighed in relief.

She attempted to clear her raspy throat, but it felt as if it was out of use; like a rusty pipe. "How long have I been out?" She croaked.

"Is that including your hyper-sleep in space or just your arrival to this medical center?"

"Since I got back, I guess."

"Just about five months."

She sat up in alarm, "Months?" There was no way! The whole thing seemed like days...even minutes. Then she remembered the last thing she saw before slipping into a coma, "What about my father?"

Abigail's vision had started to clear up, and she could see the nurse give an eerie look towards the doctor. "I'm afraid he's been in jail the whole time that you've been here and, as far as I know, he still has a few years in prison.
This was all too much. What had her father done to deserve that? She had never known him to be an unreasonable man. Whatever it was it had to do with her being rescued from that travel pod.

"May I go see him?"

The doctor smiled sympathetically, "I'm sure you're anxious to see him, but you are still not fully recovered. Also, we have to make sure that your extended stay in the coma didn't do any permanent damage. It would not be wise to send you out of this facility quite yet, but we can start rehabilitation as soon as you're ready."

Abigail pursed her lips. All she wanted to do was leap out of bed, and dash out into the real world. It had been so long since she had had a real conversation with anybody, or the taste of food. Just the thought made her stomach groan violently.
"You're probably right. Can I start rehabilitation like tomorrow?"

The nurse glanced at her clipboard, "Yes, I think there is an opening in the morning shift. I'll sign you up for a nine o'clock appointment."

"Great," the pilot exclaimed excitedly, "but first I'd really enjoy a meal."

Abigail was a bit disappointed when all they brought her was a small bowl of soup, but they explained that anything heavier might not stay down. She persuaded them to compromise: She would eat the plain old bisque, but in trade she could go to the cafeteria to eat with other people. The nurse reluctantly agreed, and took her down in a wheelchair to the first floor.

"I can take it from here," Abigail said pushing herself along using the wheels. She received her soup, and started looking around for a place to sit. There was a seat next to a girl who was chatting with a boy, but she didn't seem like great company. There was another boy that she noticed. He had books piled high next to him, and when he smiled she noticed the metal line that braces made on his teeth. He's gotta be like thirty, she thought to herself.

After scanning pretty much the entire room she finally spotted a young man, about her age, that sat quietly with one other person across from him. His hair was dark, and he had the San Fransokyo Asian/American look to him. His face was handsome, but there something about his smile that just seemed to light up the room. It was genuine, not fake or falsely charming, just simply a enjoy-life kind of smile.

She calmly made her way in his direction and halted in front of his table, "Hi, do you mind if I pull up and eat?" When she was close enough, she saw scars; or burns more like. They had turned more of a pinkish color, but they stretched out like a protruding veins up the left side of his face. She could clearly see where the flames had licked his eye, leaving it a paling brown. The scars also went down his neck, and even his arms. They didn't ruin his friendly appearance, but it was obvious that something terrible had happened to him at one point.

The man pulled the seat next to him out of the way so she could roll up to the table, "Sure, go ahead."

"Thanks," she replied.

The guy that the scarred man was talking to got up, "I gotta get going, see you later."
"See ya," he turned to the girl, " so...introduction?"

She set down her spoon, "Abigail. How about you?"

"Tadashi," he answered holding out a hand which she took gratefully. On his wrist, was an IV cord that ran up his arm. She didn't really get what it was for until she heard the heavy breaths he took in through his nose.

"Hey your, uh, kind of stopping the circulation in my wrist."
Abigail abruptly let go, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hold on for so long, or stare."
He chuckled a bit, but she heard a hint of sadness in it. "That's okay, it's not the first time, and it certainly won't be the last." The statement did not make her feel better.

"Been here very long?" Tadashi inquired pushing his meal away.

"Well, technically five months, but actually awake, about an hour."

"I see."

They talked for a while, well Abigail knew she did most of the chatting. She began rattling off what she remembered from her childhood: Her mother dying, her father and her moving into the central part of the city, and the job he took at a college, her going to pilot school...

Tadashi grinned, "You're a pilot?"

"Yeah, my dad wanted me to put my talents toward inventing; but that was mostly just a hobby for me. Flying has always been my passion."

"That's pretty cool, actually I'm the opposite, I went into inventing. I attended the School of Robotics for a couple years," he said taking another bite of his soup.

Abigail pushed a strand of her chestnut brown hair out of her face, "No way! That was where my dad taught. You probably know-" she stopped short. What if he did know her father? He went to prison, what if it was for something horrible? As much as it sound selfish, she really didn't want her new friend to be aware that Robert was her dad.

"Actually, you may not," she said. It was pretty lame cover up, and she could tell that Tadashi had picked up on it.

He raised an eyebrow, "Really? Cuz you look familiar. What is your last name?"

Ugh, keeping secrets was not one of her strengths even if it was only a minute one. "Callaghan," it slipped out before she could stop her self. Abigail, you freakin idiot, you just said that you didn't anyone to know.

Tadashi's gaze started to lower, which made her feel worse than ever. He knew? How? Well it must've been on the news, no doubt.

"Oh, I-" his voice began to crack, "I'm so sorry,"he replied wistfully. The way that he said it, and the fact that his demeanor totally changed from the friendly attitude he had before threw Abigail off guard. After all, she had just met him so she wasn't exactly compelled to try and comfort him.

"There's no reason to be sorry," she tried assuring.

Tadashi shook his head, "No, but there is. I went into the fire to save him, but once I got in there the building exploded. I couldn't do anything, I could barely move, let alone save someone. Days later I was found by a group of kids that were messing around in the rubble. They took me here. When I finally gained consciousness, I was told that your father was killed."

How could he not know that Robert was taken to prison? She guess he just wasn't informed.

"Tadashi, my father was sent to jail five months ago. For what, I haven't been told."

His head came up, "I-I can't believe it, he's alive, but how?" That was when it clicked,

"The microbots. He used them to protect himself from the fire."

"Microbots?" She asked confused, "what on earth are they?"

Tadashi gave a slight grin, "They were an invention that were being displayed during the showcase." His smile disappeared, "Professor Callaghan being arrested though, I can't even imagine what for."

A man from the table behind them, not helping from hearing the conversation, turned to face them. "For thievery, arson, and attempt murder of four of his students and a young boy."

"Arson?" The Hamada boy gasped in disbelief, "you mean to tell me that he set that fire on purpose? I don't buy it, why the heck would he do that?"

The man put his hands in the air, "Excuse mister, but you wanted to know. The police report said that he stole an invention created by a candidate at his showcase."

Almost as soon as he said it, Tadashi got the gist: He stole the microbots and the little boy that he almost murdered was Hiro. That was it, he didn't care what the doctors said about his poor condition; he had to get back to his brother."