It was very quiet in the hospital as I started waking up from the chloroform-induced sleep and I immediately noticed the strange feeling of being alone. A feeling both new and at the same time old to me. Then I remembered.
Wanda?! I thought urgently.
Wanda... But even as I thought her name I knew it was useless.
Of course she wasn't going to answer. If I'm alone here in my mind then Doc must have already honored her request. Even through the relief of feeling my own body again, the smooth sheet over my legs, the humid air on my skin, what I felt most was the lump forming in my throat and then the hot tears seeping past my eyelids. Tears of grief for Wanda's sacrifice and tears of gratitude for what she had given back to me. Someone close by must've noticed my tears - the only indication that I had woken- for I heard a soft intake of breath, and a voice I'd recognize anywhere.
"Mel?"
