Disclaimer: I don't make money off this.

A/N: This is one of the longer chapters. I would like to clear up that Chris was extremely lucky that the mountain lion didn't crush his windpipe, and I know that that's uncharacteristic behavior, but it just worked. Thanks to Jack for beta-ing. She rules. Please review. I currently live for reading my reviews because of the morale boost it gives me.

Chapter 14 – A Light in the Darkness

I stood next to Chris's hospital bed, watching the soft rise and fall of his chest and listening to the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Theresa, he will not wake up any quicker for you standing here watching him," the Professor said from behind me.

"Am I allowed to talk to him?" I asked. "To try to wake him up?"

"He needs to wake up on his own time, Theresa. For his own good."

I turned around and stared at him. "What am I supposed to do, then?"

He shrugged. "Well, you could interact with your peers. Or you could explore the grounds, or the mansion itself. You could do any number of things."

"I guess I'll go outside, then." I turned and marched out of the room. He was right. I needed to get outside for a little while. Maybe the fresh air would clear my mind.

As soon as I got off the elevator on the first floor, though, I realized that I was lost. Kitty's "tour" hadn't actually included any of the hallways, or explanations of how to get from one place to another without walking through walls. Maybe she could do that, but I, for one, couldn't.

I decided to go left. I figured that if I went in the same direction long enough, I would find the outermost hallway, which would almost certainly contain a doorway to the outside.

Of course, it couldn't work that way. I had to pick the direction that led inwards. Great. So, I ended up in the Rec Room. However, there were quite a few people in there, a few of whom I knew, so I could get directions.

"Hey, Theresa!" Kitty called, hopping off the couch. "What're you up to?"

How I managed to keep from grabbing her arm and shaking her, I may never know. I guess I took a deep breath. "I'm fine. I'm just trying to get to the garden, and I've gotten lost."

She didn't pick up on my distinctly chilly tone of voice. "Oh, I'll show you. Come on!" With that, she looked around for a few seconds, then grabbed my hand and pulled me through the wall to my right.

"Once you've… been here a… while," she said between walls and sometimes people, "you learn… how to get… around." As she finished telling me this, we emerged through the last stone wall and into the garden. I glanced past her to my left and saw the door, not five feet away.

"Thanks," I said, resisting the urge to smack her for not taking me through the halls so that I could actually learn how to get around.

She grinned. "No problem," she said brightly. Then she turned around and disappeared back through the wall.

I turned back to the garden. Now that I got more than a two-second glance, it was quite large and just as beautiful. Despite the fact that it was winter, the sun was shining brightly there, and there was no snow. Storm must have been controlling the weather. I stepped onto the stone-lined path and started walking. Every so often the path branched off, but I kept following the center road. My logic was that if I went towards the middle of the garden long enough, I would find a good place to sit and think.

When I was about fifty yards away from the mansion, I stepped off the path into a medium-sized grassy field. It was empty save for a few benches and an upright stone in the center. I walked over and studied it for a few seconds. Then I smacked myself in the head and went to the other side of the stone, as the side I was looking at was bare.

It was a tombstone. Inscribed on it was a name: Jean Grey. Then it hit me – Jean Grey must have been Scott's fiancé.

I wandered over to the nearest bench and sat down. It was amazing how the temperature out here was so mild, while the rest of the world was freezing over. I started wondering what this Jean Grey might have been like. Judging by the fact that there were flowers in front of the stone, people came out here and paid their respects fairly often.

I heard a soft sound from behind me, and Mr. Summers came walking down one of the paths and into the clearing. He was carrying a daffodil, and looked just as lost and hopeless as he had the first time I had seen him.

He dropped to his knees in front of the stone and put his flower with the others. Then…silence.

I just sat there watching him. I didn't want to intrude on his private moment, but at the same time, I was afraid that I would disturb him if I moved, since he didn't seem to know that I was there.

This went on for about five minutes. At that point, I really would have loved to know what was running through his head, but I could almost hear Professor Xavier's voice running through my head: It is unethical to read another person's mind without permission, Theresa. But what if I just touched it briefly, to gauge his emotions? I wouldn't read it. I would feel it, but not read it. So I reached out carefully, closing my eyes. Before I even made contact, I could feel his misery. Did I really want to get any closer? I might be able to make him feel a little better.

Most people hadn't noticed when I touched their minds. Mr. Summers, however, jumped straight up and looked around wildly. "Jean?" Then he spotted me. "Oh, I didn't see you there…" He turned around and hurried off down the path he had just come from.

Jean Grey must have been a telepath. It stood to reason that he would have spent enough time around her to recognize when someone was reaching for his mind.

I stood up and stretched. Scott's sadness seemed to have spread out to encompass me; however, it may have just brought my own to the surface. I shuddered, thinking again of Chris dying. I forcibly pushed the image out of my head. I really needed to walk around and get this off my mind.

The great thing about the garden was that no matter how far I walked, I wouldn't get lost, because I could still see the mansion. Not that I was too worried about getting back. Being in this warm weather amongst beautiful flowers and trees and soft green grass was quite therapeutic, and I definitely needed the relaxation.

I ended up meandering back to the door of the mansion just before lunch. I opened it and stepped inside. It felt strange to be back indoors again, after walking around the garden for the whole morning.

Since I had absolutely no idea which way to go from here, I went right. It didn't much matter where I ended up, so long as I met someone I knew and could get directions – And as long as that person wasn't Kitty.

Luck was with me, and I had scarcely taken two steps when Rogue came around the corner ahead of me. "Rogue!" I called. "Which way is the kitchen?"

She jogged up to me and stopped. "It's down that hall," she said, pointing to where she had just come from. "You take two lefts and a right, then follow that hall to the end, and you'll find the kitchen."

"Thank you. You are my hero!"

"See ya!" she said over her shoulder as she continued down the hall.

I was really hungry. I didn't really care if I got there during the rush or not. I just wanted something to eat. I was still suffering the after-effects of going without food for two days.

There were about a dozen people milling around the kitchen when I got there. Bobby was there, as well as Storm, who was making sandwiches.

"Do you want a sandwich, Theresa?" she asked. "We have bologna, ham, and turkey."

I thought for a moment. "Ham, please."

Storm laid a few pieces of meat on a bun and handed it to me on a paper plate. "The vegetables are over there," she said, nodding at the table.

"Thank you very much." I turned around and walked over to the table and looked over the veggies. Lettuce, pickle, cucumber, green pepper, tomato, onion, and several other things that certainly had not appeared on my school's old sandwich bar. I chose lettuce, cucumber, green pepper, and tomato. I decided against the pickles, even though I was sure the ones here wouldn't give me food poisoning.

I had just settled down in a corner with my sandwich and a glass of Kool-Aid when people started flooding in. And I mean flooding in, about twenty of them trying to get through the door at once. Now, that I recognized from school.

When I looked over, Storm had abandoned the sandwich-making. It was every man for himself, or, actually, everyone for themselves, because the former always struck me as sexist.

I suppose that I got lucky. Nobody came over into my little corner to talk to me. It's not that I'm particularly anti-social, but too many people scare me just a bit, and if one person came, you could just tell that at least ten more would come. But, I got the corner to myself, so I was happy.

Saturday, December 3rd

I'm really beginning to like it here. Even through the nagging worry of Chris still lying downstairs in the hospital room, I'm starting to enjoy myself. I got to play air hockey against Rogue, and I kicked her butt! Yeah!

It's really amazing to me that people really like me here. I'm so used to being weird and shunned, and I keep expecting people to edge away from me like my un-cool-ness might be contagious, but nobody here does. It's nice to feel so normal – to actually have friends numbering in double digits. It's a very new experience for me.

I got Bobby to show me around a bit after lunch, so now I know how to get to places like the front door and the kitchen and the Rec Room without going through the walls. Now I don't have to ask everybody for directions anymore! Hooray!

Well, I don't really have much more to say, so I'll end this before I start rambling.

Just as I finished writing, I heard a sharp, urgent-sounding knock on the door. "Theresa?"

I jumped up and flung the door open. Storm was standing there. "Theresa, we need you down in the infirmary."