"Run!"

Her heart was pounding, fear and worry had already taken up residence in her tightened chest. She reached out for Ayrdaen, but couldn't find her. Panic took over and her head spun.

They were coming…

"Ayrdaen! Ayrdaen, it's not safe! Please! Please come out!"

It was black all around her. She didn't know where to look. She didn't know where to go. All she knew was that they were coming and that they needed to get out of there. The sound...they were so close. Too close. She thought she heard Ayrdaen and turned in hopes to grab the girl, but when she swung back around she came face to face with what she'd been desperately trying to distance herself from.

"Alex! Alex! Wake up!"

Her eyes snapped open and she tried to bolt from the bed, but she was held down. Panic was rampant in her body. Her chest pounding with panic, she was hyperventilating unable to catch her breath, her eyes darted around the room, and the sound of her own heartbeat pounded her ears. "Ayrdaen," she managed to get out before struggling to breathe.

"Breathe...Sweetie...calm down...look at me."

But all she could do was worry and look for Arydaen, wanting to see for herself that the girl was safe. She struggled against her mother's hold, but then her mother took both hands to either side of her face and held her so that their eyes finally met. Her mother's eyes were so blue.

"Breathe, Alex," her mother ordered.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she tried to focus on calming. It wasn't easy, not with what she had felt like was so real still circling her head. She could feel the tears forming, ones that she had wanted to keep back.

Her mother was smoothing her hair and then pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Shh...you're safe. You're home. You're with your family," her mother whispered.

As she stared at her mother, her breathing steadying, she wondered if they'd found out what was wrong with her. That she was slowly dying. Alex wished that she hadn't brought that burden back with her...that her mother didn't have to watch her die… She blinked a few times, focusing on her mother for a moment. "I'm sorry…"

"You have nothing to be sorry about."

"I'm dying, Mom…"

"You're just sick."

Alex smiled a little, not because she was amused but just at her mother's insistent faith that things would be okay. "I studied it for well over a year...there's no cure...that's why I was put in the pod...so that I could be woken up when they found a cure."

"And Ayrdaen? She doesn't seem sick."

"To keep her safe."

Her mother just nodded in silence for a moment. She pressed her hand to Alex's heart. "You have always had the biggest heart...have protected us all...even when maybe we didn't need it…" She paused. "But right now, you need to focus on you. I need you to stay positive."

"Mom, I'm just happy I get to see you again…"

"Why don't you tell me about this virus-"

"Mom-"

"Humor me, Alex," her mother said with a smile as she brushed her cheek.

"It was made by Cadmus," she started. "It's what killed the future version of myself. It's rampant. I have no idea how Ayrdaen doesn't have it, she's been exposed to it enough."

"Tell me more," Eliza insisted. "Maybe it won't help, but it'll make me feel like I can maybe save you...and right now, I need that…" She paused for a moment as she smiled down at Alex. "You know, you're not the only Doctor Danvers in this family…"

TBC…