It was gradual at first. He could see for maybe a minute. He looked around like a newborn baby, as if just getting his first glimpses of the world. Several people spotted this, and they got exited. They bustled around, trying to do things such a check his pupils. Mal hated it, an tried to swat them away. His arm seemed to have become disobedient in his minds absence, and only weakly lifted. That was when he fell back into darkness again, but it was okay. The voices were back. Amy's, Ken's and Kai's. Not Natara's, and this worried Mal. What had happened to her? Why had her voice suddenly stopped? The next time he opened his eyes they were all there, except her. The others said words to him he didn't understand, as if now that his eyes were working the world was set in mute. He didn't understand why it was such a big deal, he had woken up. He knew he had some kind of accident from what he heard, but was he really hurt that bad? He asked how long it had been, surprised his speech was slurred and slow. He willed himself to speak normally, but couldn't. No one seemed to wanted to answer him, staring at each other as if waiting for someone else to answer.
Amy was the one who spoke first "Mal, I'm sorry. I-".
"How long?" he said, attempting to sound forceful but his slurred speech made him sound stupid.
"Three years" she finally said. There was a long pause in which her words finally hit.
"What happened?" he finally asked after her words sunk in.
"You-you were in an accident".
For some reason this sent his mind into wild places, crazy situations immediately coming to mind.
"A car accident" Ken added. Mal wanted to slap himself for being so stupid. What other kind of accident would it be?
Suddenly his mind jumped that Natara had been killed in the same accident, and he had to remind himself that she had to be alive. Her voice had once called out to him, however long ago that was.
"Where's Natara?" he asked.
"She went back to the FBI" Kai answered. He was shocked at the professional manner he seemed to have taken. The person who he had once teased and gotten angry at was a complete stranger. As if he were a child who had grown up and left Mal behind.
"How long ago?" he asked.
"About two years ago". Mal felt betrayed. How could she just leave him behind, broken and alone? Had she been forced to go, or had she simply given up on him? Either way she was gone, and so were the people he knew three years ago.
