Chapter 4

The rest of the first morning passed in a blur.

Jamie—sweet, trusting Jamie—was ecstatic, of course, and when I held him in my arms on my own free will, I didn't want to let go. He didn't suspect for one moment what Wanda's true plans had been; of course we were going to get her a new body; of course she was staying here with us. His utter innocence brought tears to my eyes. Luckily, there was already moisture trickling down my cheeks because of our reunion. He pleaded to go on the raid with me and Jared, his eyes shining eagerly, and I couldn't find it in myself to say no. I would do anything for him.

We walked to breakfast together: me, Jared, and Jamie, side-by-side. Jared's arm was wrapped around my waist; Jamie was on my other side, holding my hand. He kept bouncing around energetically, only my firm grip on his hand kept him beside me. As we neared the kitchen, Jamie let go of my hand and bounded forward, excitedly announcing my new freedom to everyone who was there.

I vividly remembered the silence which had often greeted Wanda when she was new in the caves, and I was expecting something similar, so I was surprised when an excited babble broke out as I rounded the corner. Everyone was curious. I answered a lot of questions and received many welcomes. Sharon and Maggie surprised me the most—I had been so accustomed to their hostility towards Wanda, and it truly threw me when they both greeted me with warm (if slightly hesitant) hugs.

Some of them—those who had been Wanda's friends—asked about her. I hesitated, but told them about our plans to go on a raid to find a body for her. I decided to leave it at that; I didn't really know what Wanda would have wanted me to say, and I would let her do any explaining after she was put into a new body. Did she want anyone to know that she'd intended to erase herself for good? It wasn't my place to tell anyone, and I carefully avoided all paths which led to that subject as I was pelted with questions.

Only Jeb seemed to see through my tactics. He had welcomed me back with as much enthusiasm as he ever had, but as I directed my answers away from the subject of Wanda's decision, he watched me thoughtfully. I wouldn't have put it past him to guess what Wanda had been up to.

Jared could see my slight discomfort as well, and after a while, he shooed everyone away and steered me to one of the counters. My stomach snarled when I smelled the food, and I immediately began shoveling down the eggs he brought me. This was another reason I knew Wanda had to stay with us—the food really had improved a lot since she had started going on raids, not that I'd paid a whole lot of attention to those sorts of things when I was just a presence in her mind. However, the notion of living on coarse bread and weak soup wasn't appetizing to me.

Jamie stayed at my side, chattering excitedly. He seemed completely oblivious to everything else, and followed me and Jared out of the kitchen. When we reached the main plaza, Jared paused looked at me questioningly. I knew that I wasn't expected to work today, and no force on Earth was strong enough to keep Jared from coming with me everywhere I went. I glanced at Jamie—he was still bouncing around happily—and then I looked back at Jared and inclined my head towards the south tunnel, the one which led to the hospital. Jared nodded and then turned to Jamie.

"Get to school, kid."

Jamie stopped his bouncing. "Aw, c'mon Jared, I can skip a day," he pleaded. He looked at me with round eyes, practically begging. It was hard to deny him anything when he did this, but this was one thing I didn't want him to see yet.

I tried to smile. "Don't worry Jamie, I'm not going to disappear anywhere," I reassured him, patting his tangled hair. He pouted, but turned and went down another tunnel, shoulders hunched.

I sighed and began walking towards the south tunnel. Jared stayed at my side, his arm still around my waist.

I tried to clear my mind of distractions and focus as we headed silently down the tunnel. There were plenty of distractions. My mind continually strayed to the feeling of Jared's hand resting lightly on my hip. There was a small area on my waist where my shirt had ridden up slightly, and his warm calloused fingers would gently brush the sensitive bare skin. Yes, this was very distracting. I tried, with limited success, to push it from my mind.

I needed a game plan. We were going back to the hospital to check on Jodi. Would she wake up? How long would we wait before we gave up on her? I was sure that Doc, or maybe even the Healer's human host, would be able to answer that question better than I could.

I could tell Jared was thinking hard, too. Probably about the raid. No doubt he was already planning when to leave and where to go. We would have to go somewhere far away from here, probably a larger city where we wouldn't be noticed.

We continued on in silence, both of us wrapped up in our own thoughts. Finally, I could see a light ahead of us. I didn't hear any voices as we approached the hospital, but I knew they were there. The first thing I noticed when we stepped into the bright room was Kyle.

I had seen many expressions on Kyle's face—most of them angry, and very recently, I had seen his softer side with the alien Sunny. But I had never seen him like this. His face wasn't hard. It was desperate. I swallowed against the lump forming in my throat as I processed his expression. I'd never had much sympathy for Kyle, especially after he tried to kill us, but I couldn't help feeling bad for him now. He was sitting on the cot next to Jodi's body; his eyes didn't stray from her.

There were other people in the hospital. I saw Doc with Trudy and the Healer's host. They looked up as we entered, the new woman's eyes widening in fear. I sighed, and loosened Jared's arm from my waist so that I could walk forward and get more introductions out of the way.

We stayed in the hospital for a long time. The Healer's host had remembered her name; it was Candy. She had been talking with Doc about healing. Doc was a good audience; Candy seemed eager to share her experiences with someone after her long imprisonment, and once she felt fairly comfortable, she began speaking animatedly. Doc was clearly pleased with how much she remembered from Summer Song's life as a Healer; her knowledge of healing would be extremely useful to him.

Kyle didn't say much. He continued to watch Jodi, ignoring most everyone else. I caught him looking at me and Jared once—it was easy to see why. The soul had been removed from my body, and I was awake. Jared had me back. Kyle wanted his Jodi back. He wanted to stand next to her like Jared was next to me, delighted to have his love back with him.

I was glad when my grumbling stomach gave me an excuse to leave. Trudy came with me and Jared to the kitchen; she stacked several sandwiches onto a tray and headed back to the hospital with them. We didn't follow her back; instead, we grabbed some sandwiches and water and began walking in the direction of our room, eating as we walked. I was beginning to feel the effects of my sleepless night; it was hard to concentrate on anything.

I paused as we passed Ian's room. I hadn't seen him in the kitchens; had he stayed in there all morning? I ignored Jared's disapproving look and moved the door aside. Ian was sitting on his mattress, leaning against the wall with Wanda's cryotank cradled in his lap. He didn't look like he had moved. I didn't bother trying to talk to him, I just set half my sandwich and a bottle of water next to him.

"Thanks," he muttered as I turned to leave.

"Anytime," I whispered before slipping through the door.

Jared was waiting for me; he took my hand and led me to our room. I was really feeling tired now; my eyelids drooped without my permission and my head felt detatched—disconnected from my surroundings. I yawned and blinked, trying to keep myself from losing my balance as my head swirled.

I stumbled into our room. Jared put his arm around my waist and tugged me down onto the soft mattress. I was mostly asleep when he turned me to face him and pulled me against his chest. My last conscious act was to nestle my face into the curve of his warm neck. Then I was gone.

AN: This chapter has been edited for style and grammar.