As I slept, I didn't think much of anything. The only thing I could recall thinking about time and time again was that I wished I could return to my heaven, my void. I couldn't do anything but lay there and try not to think in the blackness. Once or twice I mistook this blackness for my void until I remembered that I couldn't be thinking if I were in my nonexistent spot.

Every now and then I'd hear a voice. Most of the time I couldn't tell who the voice belonged to, but from the words that were said I sometimes had a bit of an idea. Once I thought I heard someone say, ". . .didn't say anything about you speaking you know. . .might have found out though. . ."

I only heard bits and pieces of the conversation though. . .it was as if some invisible force was turning the volume up and down on the scene. I recognized the voice as belonging to Elladan, and for the first time since I ran, I actually began to think. . . I remembered that I had spoken on the archery range. . .that I didn't mean to, that it was wrong.

Once again though, that little thought which I had so easily repressed before came back. The little voice in my head once again piped 'But was that really so wrong?' And then it hit me like a rock in the forehead. Elladan heard me, he knew. . . he had to be talking to me earlier, not someone else. And that meant that he was in the same room where I laid semi- conscious.

I made my best effort to wake up and open my eyes, but these things are easier said than done. Despite my best efforts, my body was not responding to my demands and screamed back in pain. I decided to take it slower, one step at a time. I concentrated on bringing myself to full consciousness, which was hard at first since my body wanted to stay in its unconscious haze. Once I stopped slipping between states of consciousness, I tested my eyes by rolling them around beneath their closed lids. Next came the hard part and the part I almost wished I hadn't done, opening my eyes. I tried to open them a crack at first, but the incredible light was a shock from seeing only the dark of the back of my eyelids for who knows how long. I tried again and this time was able to squint my eyes against the light, leaving them open just enough to see around the room.

I was laying on my bed, in my room I was pretty sure, and sure enough, Elladan sat on a chair not to far away from my bed. He was rambling on about this and that, but from where I stood, it looked as though he was talking to himself because aside from me, there was not another soul in the room. Once my vision adjusted to the light, which wasn't all that bright to tell the honest truth, I opened my eyes all the way and blinked a few times to clear the blurring from my eyes. I looked around a bit and watched Elladan talk to himself for a good few minutes before he glanced at me and realized I was watching him.

"You're awake! Oh thank the stars, I was worrying you would never wake up." He said, the surprised look on his face melting into a calm smile. I didn't know what he was talking about because as far as I knew, I'd only been unconscious for a day tops. I looked at him questioningly because I was genuinely confused.

"You don't remember what happened?" he asked with a strange look in his eyes. If I hadn't known better, I would've said that he was worried about me. I shook my head yes, I remembered well what had happened.

Elladan paused and looked me in the eyes for a moment before getting up and walking to the open window. "You didn't wake up or even so much as move a muscle for six days. . .nearly a week."

This news came as a shock to me, there was no way I could've been asleep for that long and not realized it. I let this fact digest in my mind and apparently, so did Elladan as he stared out the window.

" When you ran, I followed you." He said, taking a breath of the warm summer air that filtered through the window before walking back towards the bed and standing at the chair but not sitting down. " I've never seen someone run off that fast before, but the look of fear and confusion in your eyes was unmistakable, so I followed you as best I could." He paused again, moving the chair closer to the bed and sitting down on it before he continued. "I was a bit frightened too, and plenty confused. I didn't know where you were going or why, but you stumbled a fair amount of times, leaving me time to listen for you, find you, and catch up."

He looked me in the eyes and held my gaze as he continued. "I heard a loud thump and feared for the worst as I continued to search for you. When I finally found you however. . ." he paused again, staring off into space for a moment as if watching the scene unfold before him. "When I found you, you were lying on the ground. . . I feared you were dead because you were ghastly white and lying in a twisted heap, not moving at all. I can remember my heart speeding up as I knelt down beside you and checked for a pulse. I was relieved when I found that you were still alive, but only just. I listened for your breath and you were barely breathing at all. I picked you up carefully and brought you back here where my father and another elven healer tried to make some sense of what happened and what condition you were in."

He looked at me sadly, probably remembering what I looked like lying upon this bed, all broken and mangled. "You looked so fragile and hurt, like a newborn fawn that had been stepped on. . .it was a very sad sight. My father said that you could make it with elven medicine which relieved me, but his tone of voice was very unsettling. . ." He shivered a bit as he paused. "He made me tell him what had happened to you, but I didn't tell him that you spoke. I've been keeping an eye on you ever since, I'd imagine that waking up from a fall like that all alone wouldn't be too pleasant." He smiled as he said this. "You'll be almost good as new fairly soon, but you were very broken up you know."

I felt guilty listening to Elladan's tale, I was beginning to realize that I was acting fairly crazy to do what I had. I knew what was coming, so I wasn't surprised when Elladan said, "Why didn't you say anything before?"

I didn't answer him. Not because I was angry, but because I honestly didn't even know myself. "I've thought about what you said before for days as I watched you. I spoke to you oftentimes about it, but I doubt you heard me." I had heard him, but I didn't say that. Instead, I just looked into his eyes hoping maybe he somehow could read my mind.

"Well, when you're ready to speak I'd love to hear your voice again. You've really captured my curiosity Meredith." Elladan said. Those words really sunk into me and made me open my mouth. I caught myself though and closed it back up again before any words leaked out.

'How long can I keep this up. . .' I thought miserably as I looked into Elladan's eyes again. They truly were full of curiosity. . .and that curiosity was about me.