The pounding in her head is the first thing that she's aware of. It roared in her ears like a heartbeat, loud but steady. There was a slight beeping noise that was constantly going every few seconds. She heard a door open, and then soft footsteps that seemed to be coming towards her.

With difficulty, Wash slowly opened her eyes. She recognized that she was in the infirmary, but everything was too blurry to see anything clearly. She blinked a few times to clear her vision, and was wondering what she was doing in there. She tried to lift her head but she fell back down with a soft groan as the throbbing made it almost impossible to move.

"Lieutenant?"

Wash slightly turned her head and saw Dr. Elizabeth Shannon standing next to the bed with a surprised look in her eyes.

"Dr. Shannon?" Wash asked. Her voice was raspy and a bit slurred, and Wash hoped that she didn't sound as bad she thought she did.

"You're awake!" In her excitement, the doctor almost ran right outside the room to spread the news, but she remembered to tend to her injured and very confused patient. She rummaged through some medical supplies looking for something as Wash watched confusedly.

Wash opened her mouth, about to ask what had happened and why she was here but Jim came into the room looking tired.

"Zoe needs to - " he stopped, his face brightening as he spotted Wash. "Wash! You're awake! I've got to go get Commander Taylor! He was so worried…" his voice faded as he quickly walked out of the room and down the hall.

Dr. Shannon grinned as she helped Wash sit up, propping her up with a couple of pillows. "How do you feel?" she asked, checking the screen monitoring Wash's vitals.

"Bruised and tired," Wash admitted. She shifted slightly, finding it hard to move, as if she was swimming in jell-o. Her head was still hurting, but it had drifted into a dull but distant throbbing.

"Well, that can be expected after taking a hit from a sonic cannon," Dr. Shannon said. "You're lucky that it hadn't hit you directly."

The Commander rushed into the room followed by Jim. "Wash, I'm mighty glad to see you're awake," he said with a smile.

Wash smiled back at him wryly. "That's about all I've been hearing so far," she said with a cough. Dr. Shannon quickly filled a cup with water and helped Wash to drink.

"What do you remember last?" the doctor asked, placing the cup back onto a counter.

Wash narrowed her eyes, trying to remember. "You mentioned a sonic cannon…the girl! There was this girl…" She trailed off, not sure if she was remembering correctly.

"Yes, there was a girl. She prevented Lucas from shooting you," Taylor said. As he mentioned Lucas, his expression turned wistful.

"What happened with Lucas?" Wash asked, confusion clouding her thoughts. "And where is the girl?"

"She's in the room across from here," Dr. Shannon said, gesturing to the door across the hall. "And Lucas…" She glanced at Taylor.

"He escaped, but wounded. The portal is destroyed. We won, thanks to you," Taylor said with a smile.

Wash gave a slight smile, glad that her plan had worked. Then she remembered the girl again. "What happened after the cannon? I remember…she was still alive?"

Taylor leaned forward in the chair, putting his elbows on his knees. "After you were hit by the cannon, you were taken to Lucas again. That girl put up a hell of a fight, but after the hit she wasn't able to fight off all of the soldiers," he said, shaking his head. "Lucas was going to try to shoot you again, but as soon as he pulled the trigger, the girl somehow had the soldier holding her on the ground and she threw herself in front of the blast. She flew right into the side of a housing unit pretty hard, knocking her out. After that, Lucas had you two sent somewhere else."

"We think that they took you to the brig, which is where we found you two days ago after we came back," Jim offered. He was standing next to the door with his arms crossed. "We haven't identified the girl yet, either. She doesn't seem to have come on any of the pilgrimages."

Wash closed her eyes, deep in thought. They didn't even know who the girl was, yet she had risked her life to save her. Who was she, and why?

"You were in pretty bad shape when we found you, Lieutenant," Dr. Shannon said, interrupting her thoughts. "You should rest."

"Yes, uh, Elizabeth…" Jim whispered something to his wife, presumably about what he had been going to tell her about Zoe earlier. Dr. Shannon nodded to him and he led them out the door.

"I guess I'd better go," the Commander said, rising from his seat. "I'll be back later to check in on you." He strode towards the door. Pausing before he left the room, he turned around. "Wash?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Thank you." With that, he exited the room, closing the door behind him quietly.

Wash laid in the bed with a small smile, trying to think about everything that had happened, but exhaustion overcame her and her thoughts clouded together as she drifted into sleep.