Steady beeping woke me, and I fought through a haze to open my eyes. White walls greeted me, and I panicked for a moment. The machinery next to me wailed before sparking and dying, and I forced myself to calm down before I caused any more damage.
"Easy, Harry," Murphy's voice was thick from sleep, but she was there at my side in an instant as I took in my surroundings.
"Hospital," I grimaced. "I need to get out of here." Her hand pressed down on my good shoulder before I could try and sit up.
"I made sure you got a room at the end of the hall, far away from any critical patients or delicate equipment. I'm not sure that monitor's gonna make it, though." I looked over my shoulder and groaned as Murphy laughed. The screen was blank, and there was a thin tendril of smoke wafting up and blackened pieces where it had sparked.
The door burst open and two nurses rushed in with a crash cart. I flopped back onto the bed as Murphy intercepted them and explained that the monitor had mysteriously sparked and shut down. They gave me odd looks as they replaced the machine and checked my IV before leaving us alone again. Murphy had moved to stand by the window, and I waited a few quiet moments before speaking.
"What time is it?"
"About three o'clock in the afternoon," she said as she walked back over to my bedside. "When we came back, it was almost noon."
I heard the question in her voice and nodded. "Time runs different over there," I said. "We're lucky it was only a few hours. I've heard of people losing whole days after being gone a few minutes." I relaxed back into pillows that were infinitely comfier than the ones I had at home. "Where's Anna?"
Murphy stepped aside and looked back to where Anna was huddled beneath my coat, sleeping soundly on the small couch against the far wall. Her breathing was even and shallow, a good indication that she was out cold. Murphy turned back to me and gave me an odd look as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"I...I'm not really sure how to thank you, Harry." Tears filled her eyes but they didn't fall. Her fingers slipped into mine, and I squeezed them instead of responding. I didn't really feel like a hero, and her adulation only drove home just how much she didn't know about me.
"What happened after we got back?" I didn't remember much after the battle, to be honest, but we must have found the Way back and gone through. I could vaguely recall a searing pain, but I tried to block that out as quickly as possible.
"You came through right after us, then you just collapsed. I didn't know what else to do, so I called Kirmani. I told him someone had contacted me about Anna, and that we'd met him at the lake." She hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath as she continued her story in a flat tone. "He set his dog on you, but you managed to fend it off while I drew my weapon. I shot him once but he and his dog fled. Neither of us got a good look at him." I nodded at her not-so-subtle information; if questioned I'd know what to tell the police. It wasn't a perfect story, but they'd buy that over "we used magic to go to a realm of supernatural creatures and save Anna from being devoured by telepathic cats." She squeezed my hand again and looked me in the eye. "I think I understand now why you were always so evasive. It's easier to avoid saying anything at all than to come up with a lie."
"Yes it is," I affirmed. "I don't like lying, Murphy, and I know you don't either. But it really is safer if they don't know."
"I know," she sighed. "What about Anna? I don't think I can lie to her, and I'm not sure she'd believe me anyway. What do we tell her?"
I balked a moment at the "we" but I managed to hide it. I looked over at the sleeping girl and thought about the question. What did one tell a ten year old who had just been kidnapped by supernatural creatures? I could trust Murphy to keep quiet, but preteen girls were notoriously talkative.
"That's up to you," I told Murphy finally. "If you want, we can all sit down and I can tell her the truth. Though that largely depends on whether you think she can keep it a secret or not. If not, then I have no idea. We could tell her she'd been given a hallucinogen, that she'd imagined all the scary stuff."
"She won't buy that," Murphy shook her head.
"The truth then?"
"I think it's best. She's a smart kid. If we tell her why it needs to be kept secret, she won't tell anyone."
I trusted Murphy's judgment more than my own at this point, so I just nodded and closed my eyes. "I'm really tired," I whispered. "Did they drug me?"
"No," she said quietly. "I made sure they didn't give you anything. I wasn't sure if you'd react strangely or not."
I tried not to take offense to the way she treated me differently now that she knew, but I couldn't really help it. I was tired and drained – both emotionally and physically – and so I snapped at her.
"I'm still human, you know."
"I didn't say you weren't," she shot back in typical Murphy fashion. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."
I felt like an ass but I was too exhausted to apologize. Instead I gripped her fingers tighter for a moment then released them. "You should take Anna home and get some rest."
"The doctor said when you finished your IV you could leave." She glanced at the bag of fluids hanging on a hook over my head. "Should be soon."
"I'll call a cab," I insisted. "You need some sleep and I'm sure you want to get Anna home."
"I'm not leaving you alone, Harry." She stood up and walked over to Anna. The girl stirred as her mother shook her shoulder, and in a moment both Murphy girls were standing by the door. "We'll be waiting in the lobby when you're ready to go. And don't even think about trying to sneak out of here." She pointed a finger at me, and I couldn't help but grin and lift my good arm for a sloppy two-fingered salute.
"Roger that, Lieutenant." She rolled her eyes as she left the room behind Anna, and a few minutes later a nurse came in. I tried to think happy thoughts as she disconnected wires and pulled the ludicrously large needle out of my arm. She handed me a prescription the doctor had written for painkillers, and she showed me how to change my dressing before pointing me toward my clothes and leaving me alone.
Checking myself out took almost half an hour as I finished all the paperwork Murphy couldn't when I'd arrived. I filled in all the necessary information, grimacing as I thought about the bill I was going to receive. My adverse effect on technology wasn't the only reason I tended to avoid hospitals. Once everything was squared away, Murphy grabbed Anna's hand and led the way toward the stairs. We descended the four flights wordlessly, and I was mildly surprised to see Kirmani waiting for us in the pickup lane. He scowled at me as I climbed into the front seat, but he didn't say anything to me. He turned around as far as his seatbelt would allow him and glanced at Murphy sitting behind him.
"We taking Dresden back to his place?"
"Nope," Murphy buckled her seatbelt and fought a yawn. "Doctor's orders. He can't be alone for 24 hours." Kirmani gave me a strange look but said nothing as he shifted the car into drive and pulled out onto the road. I turned around to protest, but Murphy glared at me and I quickly closed my mouth. She nodded satisfactorily and leaned her head against the window as Kirmani merged onto the highway.
Anna and Murphy were both asleep by the time we pulled up to their house. Someone had driven Murphy's car back from the lake, and Kirmani pulled into the driveway next to it as Murphy stirred. She tried to wake Anna, but the girl just mumbled groggily and turned away. Kirmani killed the engine and got out, jogging around the car and opening the back door wide enough to reach in and scoop the girl into his arms.
"Thanks, Sid," Murphy offered him a friendly smile and I felt a jolt from somewhere deep down. I shoved it back where it came from, ignoring the implications of said jolt until I was more coherent and in better control of my faculties. I swayed a little on the front porch, but I don't think anyone saw. Murphy stepped through the front door first, offering a quiet "come in" as the rest of us filed in behind her. I shot her a knowing grin, but its effect was somewhat lost underneath the exhaustion that suddenly overwhelmed me. Kirmani took Anna to her room as Murphy helped me pry my coat off. I sank down onto the couch, though I managed to toe my shoes off before I slumped over onto my uninjured side. My shoulder began to throb in protest, and Murphy hung up both of our coats before sitting on the edge of the coffee table.
"I'll send Kirmani for your meds," she told me through a fog, and suddenly I wanted to stay awake just a little longer to hear that conversation.
"Should go home," I mumbled. She rolled her eyes and unfolded the blanket from the back of the couch.
"You can't even stand up on your own, Harry," she chided softly as she draped it over me. I felt my exhaustion pulling me under, but the moment I closed my eyes a bright red flash and inhuman screams I'd never actually heard startled me awake. Tomorrow I was going to have to deal with the fallout of whatever the hell I'd done today, and clue a ten year old into the fact that there really were monsters out there in the darkness. My thoughts started darting around at a million miles an hour, and my eyes couldn't focus on anything.
"Shh," Murphy laid her hand on my forehead and my mind quieted instantly. "Get some rest, Harry." As my eyes slammed shut again I thought I felt her fingers slip through my hair, and I wrote it off as a wearied delusion until I felt her lips press into my forehead. Warmth flooded me that had nothing to do with the quilt, and my entire body relaxed as her hand ghosted over my head again. "Thank you," she whispered, and I managed a small, beleaguered smile before I slipped under and stayed there.