"Eliot, please!" Sophie begged.
"What's going on?" Parker asked coming in through the door that had been left open a crack.
"I think he's waking up." Sophie answered.
"Really?" Parker beamed.
"Well…"
"Nate, Hardison, get in here!" Parker yelled out. "Eliot's waking up!"
"Parker… I…" Sophie started to say before the guys coming running in.
"Oh, Parker, if this is some kind of joke I swear to God…" Hardison started as he looked over at a motionless hitter.
"Sophie said.." Parker pointed towards her.
"Sophie, did something happen?" Nate asked her.
"Yeah; he responded to me. Only briefly, but that has to be some kind of sign, right?"
"What do you mean he responded to you?" Nate questioned.
"Did he say something?" Hardison asked. "Or did he grunt? That seems more Eliot's style anyway; who needs to actually communicate when a one syllable sound will do?"
Hardison and Parker shared a smile between them.
"No; he um… he squeezed my hand. It was just once, but ah… I'm…"
"Hey doctor." Nate called out into the hall as Donavan walked by to see what was going on. "Sophie felt… him… move. Um… do you think you can check to see if he's coming around?"
"Sure." He walked over to Eliot's bedside to check the dilation of his eyes for any kind of response to the light. "What kind of movement?"
"He clutched my palm." Sophie responded.
"How long would you say he held it?" Donavan asked her.
"A second, maybe." She said quietly.
"Doc, anything?" Hardison asked once it appeared his brief exam was over.
Donavan shook his head. "It's not uncommon for someone that's been inactive for a sustained period of time to exhibit muscular contractions…"
"No." Sophie interrupted him. "This wasn't some involuntary muscle spasm, Don, I'm well aware of the bodies natural sleep cycle. You can't tell me that it's not possible that he had briefly returned to a stage 2 before falling back."
"You're right; I can't say it's not possible, but there's been no proof that he's experiencing any normal sleep patterns."
"But you think it's more probable that…" Nate interjected.
"He was responding to me." Sophie declared.
"Sophie, I know you want to believe that." Nate said calmly. "I know we all want to believe that, but doctor Palmer knows what he's taking about. Logically it makes sense that as his muscles start to break down…"
"I'm not crazy; I know what I felt."
"I'm not saying you are; I believe you felt something." Nate replied.
"I believe you." Parker tapped her shoulder.
"Thanks Parker."
Hardison kept his gaze fixated on the prone hitter fighting the urge to walk over and try to shake him awake in order to end the debate.
"Sophie, can I talk to you in private?" Nate asked noticing the affect the conversation was having on the younger team members.
"No, Nate, I got it. You can't trust my instincts because you're too damn scared of holding onto what you feel may be false hope."
"Soph, you're tired, maybe…"
"Don't even..!" She glared at him for the notion of her trying to go back to sleep. Bad dream couldn't adequately capture what she had experienced; she'd rather go head on in a battle with Freddy Krueger then go back to that cemetery where she lost her friend. Instead Sophie pushed herself to her feet in order to walk out.
"Where are you going?" Donavan asked her feeling he had somehow betrayed her for not backing her claim.
"I need to get out for awhile. Can I use your car?"
"The key is by the door." Donavan nodded.
Without anyone noticing Parker had ducked out of the room and made it into the passenger's seat before Sophie made it out with the key. The grifter didn't say anything as she spotted the thief; just smiled.
"I was feeling a little closed in too." Parker remarked. Sophie reached her hand out to clasp onto Parker's as she turned the ignition. "I do believe you; he's gonna come back to us."
