Chapter 1

The wind whipped through his hair freeing him from the brutal heat of the 100 degree plus summer weather. Geo knew his parents will be mad at him later but when his buddy called to say his older brother was willing to drive them down to the beach he had to go. Now, sitting in a brand new Mustang along with six other teens speeding down highway 8 to the beaches, Geo felt like he was on an adventure. When word got out that they were heading to the beach others wanted to go and now they were racing against a SUV full of teens. The traffic thickened, as they got closer to the beaches as if everyone in San Diego that wasn't working had the same idea that they did. Soon, the drivers of the teen-mobiles were diving in and out of traffic taking deadly risks trying to beat the other to their destination. The last car that got to the beach had to buy the beer (even though it was illegal on the beaches) so the stakes were high. Angry drivers blared their horns at the reckless teens and soon, Geo wasn't laughing and was wishing he were back at home heat wave and all. The competing SUV had pulled ahead and soon cut off a semi as it was trying to enter the freeway. The driver of the semi leaned on his horn and swerved to miss the SUV. Screaming filled Geo's ears. Their driver was too busy texting on his phone to notice he was racing right into the semi until it was too late. The sound of screaming teens and screaming metal was the last thing Geo heard.

The irony of Julie's frantic drive to the hospital did not escape her as she rushed to meet her sister after hearing about Geo's accident. That damn kid! How could he be so stupid? Brushing the tears away from her eyes Julie immediately felt guilty for her thoughts. He's just a kid, after all. Yes, he should know better…but he was still just a kid. God she hoped he would be all right. Julie was so worried she didn't really pay attention to the fact that she was already in the parking garage and rushing to the Emergency Room. Her body was on automatic as her mind tried to grasp the horror of what had happened. The entry doors opened before her as if she had willed them blasting her with air to keep bugs out of the room. It didn't take long for her to find her sister, Dorothy, perched in the chairs closest to the interior hospital doors. Her eyes were fixed on those doors as if she could will a doctor or nurse to come to her with news of her son.

"Dorothy, have you heard anything, yet?" Julie asked as she rushed to her sister's side and enfolded her in her arms.

The distraught mother shook her head and swallowed back a sob. "Nothing, new. He's still not awake, broken bones …" a sob stopped her from continuing. When she regained her voice she went on. "He has broken ribs, collar-bone, and a broken arm. They are concerned about internal bleeding."

"Is George on his way?" Dorothy's husband, George Westwind, was away in L.A. for a conference.

"The first flight back isn't for hours so his co-worker is driving him back. Hopefully traffic won't be too bad."

"Good thing he's being driven. He will be too stressed out to be safe on the road."

Dorothy nodded in agreement. "That is what I said to him. When he told me that Robert offered I told him to take it. I can't do this alone and I don't want to be worrying about both of my boys."

Julie squeezed her sister's hands. "You'll don't have to go through this alone. I'm right here."

Smiling through her tears Dorothy squeezed back. "I know. I may not say it often enough but I'm grateful that I can always count on you."

From there the conversation turned to non-essentials and just staring at their surroundings while they waited. The waiting room for the emergency room was a clone of so many others across the country. The floor consisted of neutral, colorless tile and the plain walls echoing the theme. A few generic landscape paintings in plain wooden frames made futile attempts to add color to the room. The only point of interest was the saltwater fish tank on one side of the room containing Technicolor tropical fish. All the children in the room were attracted to the fish tank like moths to a flame. They formed a semi-circle on the ground cross-legged staring at the tank as if it was a big screen TV. Everyone else was either waiting in an odd wheelchair or in stiff chairs of minimal pastel padding that creaked with every weight shift.

Whenever a nurse emerged from the double doors all eyes were drawn to him or her. As the patient's name was called everyone else went back to their business in resignation hoping that their wait would be over soon.

Those who were only in the checking in stage were waiting in a line in front of a set of windows. Behind the glass sat hospital staff as if they were bankers behind bulletproof glass or ticket sellers for a movie that will never start.

The anxiety in the room was almost tangible, rising as more people came in and ebbing as others were released. Julie didn't know if the stress was making her ill or if it was motion sickness from the waves of emotion in the room.

As they waited for some news Julie stared out the window. The carefree attitude of the gently swaying palm trees seemed to be mocking her. It didn't seem right that the world didn't reflect her worry and anguish. The well-maintained garden of the courtyard proudly displayed their vibrant colors as if they were jewels.

She should get Geo some flowers. Do boys like flowers? Maybe some balloons, too, just in case.

Hours later they had good news. No internal bleeding, just broken bones, bruises, and strains. Nothing that couldn't be healed with some time. However, Geo still showed no signs of waking up and had slipped into a coma. The doctor was stumped. There was no reason for the coma and had no answers about it for the family.

Weeks later Dorothy asked Julie to meet her at a popular sandwich shop near the hospital for lunch. They were meeting near the hospital because Geo was still in a coma and Dorothy practically lived there now. Thankfully the hospital staff was understanding of her situation and let her be close to her son.

After the two ordered their food and were sitting in a booth with their sandwiches, Dorothy got to the point of why she wanted to meet. She updated Julie on Geo's current condition that hadn't changed much and wanted to know if her sister could be any help.

"Can't you figure out why he won't wake up?" she pleaded. "I thought your science was all about the power of the mind. Don't you have any idea of what's going on?"

Julie sighed and raked a hand through her hair. She had been wondering that herself but had failed to come up with any ideas. Since this is right along with her line of work of Noetic Science it is frustrating that she can't come up with anything to help. Noetics was all about the power of the mind and how it relates to surrounding energies. Her studies have proven that the mind is far more complex than anyone has ever imagined. She had even discussed her nephew's situation with colleagues but so far any idea that she had come up with had already been tried by the doctors or did not apply to his situation.

"I'm sorry, Dotty. I've been trying to come up with some new brilliant idea but can't seem to come up with anything that will actually work."

Tears filled Dorothy's eyes. "It's almost as if he's lost and can't find his way home. My poor little baby is probably lost in Oz."

Because of her name, Dorothy had always been an avid fan of anything Wizard of Oz; from the book, to the movie, and to the new musical Wicked. Julie used to tease Dorothy about it all the time especially when she dressed baby Geo as the Scarecrow for his first Halloween.

An idea hit Julie like a lightning bolt at her sister's comment. "Say that again!"

"What? You think he's lost in Oz? It's a joke! Or are you teasing me again. This isn't the time, Julie!" replied Dorothy testily as she nearly threw her sandwich back into the serving basket.

"No, no, no! The lost part," clarified Julie while ignoring her sister's irritation at her.

"He's lost and can't find his way home?"

"Yes!" Julie's eyes were shining now with her mental breakthrough. "What if that's it? He just needs help finding his way back?"

Dorothy raised an eyebrow at her sister. "I'm really trying to follow you, Jules, but I can't. Spell it out for me."

Julie leaned forward and grabbed her sister's hands.

"The trauma of the accident was probably too much for him to deal with so instead of facing it he got lost in his own mind. Kind of like when we daydream when we are having a bad day. Only for him it's much worse and now he can't find his way back."

"That does make sense. But is there anything we can do to help him?"

Julie grinned triumphantly. "We send him some ruby slippers."

"Let me introduce you to the DreamScape," presented Julie with a flourish.

They had all gathered at Julie's Blossom Valley home. Her place was equipped with her own personal lab. Now, her guest room had been remade into a room for Geo.

"I'll play the role of the skeptic," said George, Geo's father. "Explain all this please."

"Well, the best way to describe it would be to compare it to a virtual reality machine. Through small transmitters taped to Geo's head we can communicate directly into his mind. The way it works, however, is a bit complicated. You see Geo is lost within his own mind so we are going to help him find his way out. We are essentially going to create a world in which he will have to journey. Our hope is that by the end he will be able to use the journey as a way of dealing with the trauma and wake up."

"Your hope? You don't know?"

"Of course I don't know for sure. I only came up with the idea to help Geo. We've tested it but not on a coma patient. And even then the test was far shorter than I would have liked. Most testing takes years that we quite frankly don't have."

"So you want to experiment on my son?" growled George.

"Of course I don't want to experiment on him. But George, it's been almost a year. This will give him a chance. Don't you want your son back?"

"What if we just wait and see if he wakes up on his own? I don't want to risk hurting him more by trying to wake him up quickly if he may still wake up on his own."

Julie shook her head and sighed.

"From the studies that have been done of him he shouldn't be in a coma now. Sure, he could wake up on his own, or he could remain a vegetable for the rest of his life. Is this really the life you want for him?"

"He isn't a vegetable now…just asleep. What if you experiment turns him into a vegetable?"

Now Julie understood George's reluctance. He wasn't just being stubborn, he was protecting his son from a possible threat. She relaxed and forced herself to calm down. A heated argument would only make matters worse. George needed to understand that her project would be safe.

"I can guarantee that we won't harm him. First we will start out simply reading his brain waves. After that we will essentially be telling him a story but directly into his mind. That part of the project is not a new science but something that has been being developed and refined for quite some time now. If at any time he shows any form of distress we will stop." Julie continued to explain to George how the Dreamscape was inspired by the movie the Wizard of Oz. In the movie it appears that during the tornado Dorothy hits her head. When she wakes up she is in Oz and has an amazing adventure. At the end of the movie she wakes up back in the farmhouse surrounded by her family and friends. Julie's theory is that like the movie suggested, Dorothy is dreaming the entire adventure and when she finds a path home in the dream she is able to wake up. By creating an adventure for Geo do go through he can deal with the trauma of his accident and find a way to wake up again. The worst case scenario would be that he still won't wake up.

Eventually George reluctantly agreed. Getting permission to release him from the hospital was not quite as easy. This type of science is still relatively new and controversial to the scientific community. Besides, that, no doctor would be comfortable with his or her patient being experimented on regardless about how "safe" it appears. Lots of detailed releases were signed so that the hospital and doctors were not to be blamed for anything that went wrong while Geo was in Julie's care. Around the clock nurses were hired after passing background checks and signing privacy releases of their own. One doctor even agreed to stay on Geo's case. Dr. Jeanette Jordan would be making regular visits as well as being on call.

George did admit that Geo looked more comfortable in Julie's home. The bed was still a hospital bed but that was where the resemblance to the hospital ended. The rest of the room resembled a typical teenager's room even down to the bedding. Anything medically related had been cleverly hidden in specially designed cabinets. The framed posters by the head of the bed swung away from the wall on hinges and concealed the monitoring equipment.

Julie waited until her sister and brother-in-law had "settled" their son in even though Geo was unaware of his surroundings. Both parents had been insisting on being present when she began the DreamScape but Julie refused. She would need to concentrate wholly on her work and not be distracted by nervous parents. There is one visitor that refused to leave, however. On the bed stretched out alongside him was Geo's dog, Chelsea. The terrier-mix had somehow sensed that Dorothy and George were coming to Geo and insisted on coming along.

The parents tried to lock the dog in the house but she managed to force open a window and tore the screen to get out. Then she chased the car down the street. Eager to see their son both George and Dorothy decided to give in. Apparently she wasn't going to take no for an answer so for her safety and their sanity they would just have to bring her along. Chelsea had once been a stray and only survived because of her intelligence. It had been rather frightening discovering just how smart Chelsea really is. She had been with their family for years now and had protected Geo from harm more than once. Apparently, now she insisted on doing so again.

Geo's parent's finally left after many futile attempts to get Chelsea to go with them and Julie had to say that the dog could stay. She knew the dog well and wasn't worried about her getting in the way. In fact, Chelsea had visited Julie's home whenever Geo did so it really wasn't all that strange to her to have the dog here now.

After making sure Geo and his companion were settled, Julie and her assistant busied themselves by setting up the DreamScape. A complicated computer system was warmed up and activated in the room next to Geo's. Various screens displayed Geo's vitals, brain waves, and other various readings. After making sure everything was running properly, Julie settled herself into a comfortable office chair then put on her headset. The headset was how she planned to communicate with Geo. It was the type that gamers used with a microphone attached only it had additional aspects such as small scanners that read her brainwaves. With a nod to her assistant she clicked on the icon for her program.

"Initiating DreamScape."