I awoke the next morning to the sound of breaking glass. I shot up in bed, the images from my dream still fresh in my head, and raced into the kitchen. I had no idea what I expected to find, a toppled medical cart or the mysterious man? What I did find was my little brother standing in the middle of our kitchen. There was scattered glass all around his feet and amiss the mess I could make out toast, some now scrambled eggs and a little pink daisy.

"Uh oh." Jeremy said, looking up at me with big brown eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Oh Jer." Once I had gotten over the shock of being woken up so abruptly relief washed over me. He was here. He was okay. It really was just a dream. I reached forward and pulled him to me, hugging him tightly. "What were you doing buddy?"

"I was trying to make you breakfast."

"Breakfast?"

"Yeah, you have been so sleepy this week. You work a lot. So I thought I would make you breakfast as a treat."

I smiled and brushed a strand of golden hair off of his forehead. Jeremy was the spitting image of our mother. Messy golden blonde hair and a bright dimpled smile. The only way you could tell we were siblings was by our dark brown eyes. He reminded me of our mom too. She had always loved so much and Jeremy had the same quality to him, a kindness that knew no bounds.

"You are so sweet," I said, pulling him back into a hug. I reached into the mess and pulled out the daisy, bringing it to my nose so I could smell it. My brother smiled, obviously pleased that I liked his gift.

"Tell you what," I continued, picking him up and moving him away from the broken glass, "how about you go get ready for school and I will clean this up? Then I can make breakfast for you. And tomorrow I will wake up nice and early so that we can make breakfast together."

Jeremy's face lit up. "Yeah! Be right back."

He turned and scurried off to his room and I laughed. Jeremy was something else; it was too bad that I didn't get to spend more time with him. Ever since our parents had died I had to work longer hours at the hospital to afford for us to keep an apartment. I spent nights and some off days with him and for the rest of the time he went to our neighbor, Jega's apartment.

After I cleaned up the mess, I turned and dug through the cabinets, pulling out two bowls and a box of brightly colored cereal. It wasn't much but at this point it was the best I could do. I still hadn't gotten my paycheck yet. Five minutes later Jeremy returned and fifteen minutes after that there was a knock on the door.

"Jega's here!" Jeremy said and in a flash he was gone to answer the door. I followed him and smiled when I saw my friend.

"Hey there Jeg."

"Hey Gwen." Jega smiled.

I had met Jega just under a year ago. After dad died we could not afford to stay in our house, so Jeremy and I had to move to a group of apartment complexes in the middle of the city. Jega was the first person we met and ever since then she and I had been fast friends.

"I like what you did with your hair."

"Oh thanks." She ran one hand through her hair, smiling as the silver streaks stood out against the darker strands. Jega was from a water planet so everything about her had a somewhat marine quality. Her hair was a dark teal, her skin a pale blue that shimmered as she moved. Her mom could hold her breath for over seven minutes but since her father was human Jega always said she only got half of those superhuman qualities. Her family had moved to Earth when she was just four years old and she had grown up in the city ever since.

I moved back into the kitchen and swiped my bag off of one of the chairs before returning to Jega and Jeremy. They were now in the living room where Jeremy was showing her a book of Star Fleet ships. He had always been so fascinated with Star Fleet. It was a quality he no doubt got from our dad. I walked in just as he was finishing his thought.

"Every night I make a wish on one of the stars. Just like daddy used to do 'star light, star bright'-"

"First star I see tonight." I smiled and ruffled his hair. "Yeah dad used to do that with us every night. He said if we wished hard enough it would always come true."

"Like magic." Jega smiled.

I laughed half-heartedly. "Yeah, but magic doesn't do the whole job. The rest takes work."

"Speaking of which, what time will you be gone until?"

"Just six thirty. They are letting me off in time for dinner thank the lord."

"Alright, sounds good. Have a nice time at work."

"Thanks." I smiled and bent down, kissing the top of my brother's head. "Bye Jer, be good for Jega okay?"

Jeremy nodded. "I will. Bye Gwen."

If I had known that those were the last words I would hear from him for the next 72 hours I never would have left that house. I would have sat down right next to him and asked him to show me every picture in that book. I didn't need to see the Star Fleet ships up close. And I didn't want to. But we don't always get what we want.

OooooooooO

"Are you okay, Gwen? You seem a little on edge."

I glanced up from checking an iv and blushed as I saw one of the other nurses staring at me.

"Um, yeah…" I cleared my throat, pretending to double-check the tube. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a long night."

"Sounds familiar." She laughed. "Well when you are done with your shift you should come out with us. Some of the girls are going to the lunar bar and we would love to have you along."

"Can't," I smiled apologetically, "I have a dinner date with Jer."

"You certainly love your little brother. He's lucky to have someone like you watching out for him."

"Yeah." I said. I wanted to add I'm all he has left but I bit my tongue.

"Well," Carrie adjusted the papers in her arms, "I have to go deliver these to Ann so she can file them. Let me know if you change your mind about going out though."

I nodded. "Will do."

After she was gone I fidgeted for a moment, my eyes flicking towards the door. I had been fighting it all day but I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold up. I knew that it had just been a dream but something inside me had to check out room 305. I had to see it to convince myself that I wasn't insane. There was no blue-eyed man. I groaned softly as I scooped up my clipboard. This was crazy. Might as well get it over with though. So I slipped out of the room and down the hall.

Lucielle Harewood, were the two words that stared at me from the nameplate on door 305. Oh God. I felt my stomach roll. How could the name be the same as in my dream? I must have seen it somewhere, on a patient chart or something. But even as I had the thought I knew it wasn't true.

I pushed open the door and stepped inside, bracing myself for what I would see. The room was simple, just a single bed with a half curtain for privacy. A heart monitor and iv drip sat next to the bed, hooked up to the little girl that lay there. She looked so small against those blue sheets and my heart tugged. So she really did have cancer then. The poor girl.

"Was that what your mother looked like?"

I was so focused on Lucielle that I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard another voice. And when that voice registered I did not want to turn around.

No. I thought. No, no, no, no, no. That's not him. No. But when I turned my head I knew what I would see.

The man looked the same as he had in my dream: black boots, black shirt, long dark coat, and those bright blue eyes.

"Oh my God." I said softly.

A look of cruel amusement flickered across his face. "No, not God. Not nearly."

"Who are you?" I wanted to back away from him like I had in my dream but something kept me rooted to the spot.

The man smiled. "You're looking for patient history? Perhaps I can help you with yours. Name: Gwenivere Tarrah, Age: 23. Parents are Derek and Emmalyn Tarrah, both deceased. One more recent than the other."

"How do you know all that?" I gasped but he wasn't finished.

"You have been working here for almost a year now. No doubt to support your younger brother." I felt all of the blood drain from my face. The man smiled. "You do have a brother, don't you?"

There it was, that look in his eyes. The same one that I had seen in my dream and suddenly I didn't want to turn around. I was afraid of who I might see in that hospital bed.

"Please," I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. "Don't hurt him." Because somehow I knew, without being told, that this man had the power to hurt anyone he wanted to. And he would do it too.

He smiled as if reading my mind. "No one has to get hurt, as long as you come with me."

I have so much homework to do and yet all I have been doing is working on this story all day. It's freaking addictive. You're probably wondering why he chose Gwen, what does he mean about her mom, why does he want her mind? All in good time. I promise I wont leave anything out. I am looking forward to developing Gwen's character. She is not like Camilla (my character in the Avengers story) because she is not as sassy but she is brave and you'll see it. Thanks for reading!