11:13 pm

We have been sitting here for more than twenty minutes without talking. Kate has lain her head down on her knees once more; her face is turned towards me, but her eyes are closed. I wonder if she has fallen asleep. I could never think of sleeping in this uncomfortable place. But I see that she needs some rest.

She doesn't look healthy. Since her eyes are closed, I can watch her without having to watch out that she doesn't notice. I carefully examine her face. There are large shadows under her eyes. Her skin is very pale, and tiny drops of perspiration run down her forehead. That worries me a little, for it's freaking cold in here. If she perspires, that means that she's either still exhausted from the fight (which I don't think; Kate is in excellent form, and the fight was more than an hour ago) or that she's feverish. And that's what worries me. We're out in the middle of nowhere here, and our cell phones don't work. No one's gonna find us until tomorrow.

I look at her a moment more, then I decide to risk it.

"Kate?" I ask softly. "Are you still with me?"

She gives a silent moan and slowly opens her eyes. She needs a moment to fix her eyes on me, and my concern for her grows. Her eyes look hazy. She's quite obviously very tired. No, more than tired - she's hovering on the edge of unconsciousness.

"Kate, what's wrong?" I cannot quite ban the concern from my voice, and of course Kate notices. She gives me another of those faint smiles.

"Well." she finally says, her voice quiet and a little hoarse, "there's something I haven't told you yet."

I look at her, but I don't speak. I'm racking my brains, trying to figure out what this might be. Has it something to do with her current condition, or is there something else she has been carrying around for hours, waiting for the right moment to tell me?

"Remember when we shot the Link, Nick?" she continues.

I nod. "How could I forget?" I say, forcing me into a grin. "You know how I love blasting those creatures into atoms."

"Well, yeah," Kate says. She draws a deep breath and sits up straight. She grimaces, as if it hurts. "You were busy firing all your ammo into the Link, so you didn't see."

"Didn't see what?" I turn fully to her. "Kate, what happened?" I don't feel like joking anymore.

"You remember these spikes the Link was covered with?"

"Sure I do."

"Well, one of these spikes hit me. At first it didn't hurt at all, it didn't even bleed or anything. I just picked it off and threw it away." Kate shrugs and then draws in her breath sharply through her teeth.

"But now. I don't know what happens, Nick, but the place where it hit me is burning like hell. And I feel dizzy, and hot and cold at the same time, as if I had the flu. Whenever I move, I feel as if I'm gonna faint."

I feel a short but intense wave of fear rush over me. I reach out to take her by the shoulders, but she hastily backs away.

"Don't!" she says.

This one word makes me freeze. Although it's a completely different situation, I'm close to being devastated. I had so hoped that she would never ever say this to me when I'm about to touch her.

Something must have been readable on my face, for Kate continues looking at me and smiles again. "Don't look at me like this, Nick," she says softly. "I just don't want that spot to be touched."

"Where is it?" I finally think of asking this.

"My shoulder," she says.

"Let me see it," I demand. "Maybe I can do something about it."

"You can't," Kate says, and I'm surprised at the determination in her voice.

"Let me see it," I repeat.

She throws me a glance which I cannot quite figure out, but she obliges. She carefully slides off the leather jacket she is wearing, revealing a tight white cotton pullover with a tiny whole in it on her shoulder. I see at a glance that there's no blood on the pullover and I'm starting to relax a little. Maybe she actually does have the flu, and the spike doesn't have anything to do with it. But then I see the unnatural form of her shoulder. It seems to be bigger than the other one. It takes me a moment to realize that it's swollen.

"Can you." I don't quite know how to put it, but she understands what I mean.

"It's freaking cold in here," she says, "so please be quick about it, will you?"

Then she pulls the pullover over her head. Under it, she's wearing a black tank top. Under different circumstances I would probably be a little distracted by the view, but now I can only gasp.

Her shoulder is swollen to almost twice its usual size. It looks like a horrible bruise, all blue and green. It must hurt terribly.

I hear Kate gasp beside me and remember that she also sees it for the first time.

"My goodness," she whispers.

I bend carefully over her shoulder and examine it more closely. I find the tiny little spot that's nearly black, where the spike has hit her.

"Kate, that's. that's." I'm at a loss for words.

Kate arches an eyebrow at me. "Gross?" she suggests. "Disgusting? Awful?" Her tone is strangely aggressive.

"Dangerous, I was gonna say," I reply. "You should see a doctor as soon as possible."

"Great, O'Malley," she hisses. "You happen to have one in your pocket?"

I'm slightly taken aback by her aggressiveness. But then I look in her eyes, and I can see the fear in them. Despite her apparent nonchalance, Kate is scared to death.

"Maybe we should cool it," I say calmly. "It's the only thing we can do here."

"Yeah, well, it's extremely cold," Kate says through clenched teeth. She already starts shivering, and there's gooseflesh showing on her arms.

"You should put on your pullover again," I say. "We'll find something, don't worry."

Kate looks at me and I can read her thoughts in her eyes. Find something, Nick. Please find it soon.