Chapter One: Dreams

White.

That's all everything was in this place; white. A glossy white slapped with a sickening combination of lime green tiles and pale blue hues. She tried to remember how many times she had counted the tiles on the ceiling as well as the floor.

It was so boring here. It was her fifth night in this place, wait, no..., correction sixth. Yet, she still didn't even know what exactly had happened to bring her to such a place. The doctors had said that she had received a concussion. A concussion from what, they didn't really know. Or at least that is what they have been telling her. Sometimes she believed that they were lying to her, or at least holding something back.

She gazed out her window, squinting against the sudden light flooding her vision. 'What happened to her?' She tilted her head to the side as she tried to think back.

She cringed, another headache was coming on. She really should stop doing that to herself. Every time she tried to remember, the back of her head sent an overwhelming spike of pain to the front of her forehead.

She closed her eyes and took three calming breaths before she opened them once again to examine the tree outside her window. She stared at the its gnarled form millions of times before, but something about the tree always drew her back to it. Maybe it was because she envied it. How it was outside in the fresh air, feeling the wind through its branches. She wished she could do the same.

It was very lonely here. Everyone was polite and tried to make her feel comfortable, despite her little situation. She looked at the bandages placed at various parts of her body. She still wasn't really well enough to journey outside of her room yet, so she really couldn't speak to any of the other patients.

She would see them walking in the garden outside or pass by her room on occasion, but none of them had the nerve to talk to her. Sure, the nurses would come and go, checking her injuries and how they where healing; paying attention to her needs if she had any. Yet, they didn't really talk to her. She was just another patient to them.

So she had to keep herself entertained somehow, and found herself taking to books easily. They seemed to be a lot easier than people. Even if she did make a friend at the hospital, what would she have to say to them? She didn't know what happened to her. She didn't remember her name, her past, hell she didn't even know what her favorite color was.

She looked across the room to a mirror that been placed on the dresser that was pressed up against the wall. Her hair had become a jungle of knots, a product of her restlessness the previous night. She ran her hand through the tangled mess, grimacing at its oily feel against her palm. It had been a long time since she had taken a shower. Releasing her hand from her hair she glanced once again at the image of herself in the mirror.

She supposed she did look rather sickly, which would explain why the doctors took such care in handling her. She looked as if she would break if you grabbed her shoulders too roughly. Her skin was pale and her cheeks were rosy from the fever that had come upon her the night before. She chuckled slightly. She reminded herself of a child you see photographs of in magazines, the ones who live in third world countries. She was that skinny.

She looked at her face; she still couldn't believe that this face actually belonged to her. She looked intensely trying to remember. The pain started again, and she absent mindedly took her hand to the bandage that covered the stitches on her forehead. Nope she still couldn't place a name with her face. Perhaps she never will. The thought was very unnerving. She took to studying her features again in hopes that maybe a glimmer of recognition would phase into her memory.

She sighed. She looked rather plain; unhealthy at best. Her pale completion intensified the dark circles under her eyes; which looked drawn out and weary of their surroundings. Her eyes where green, that much she can tell, even from this far off. She didn't have to stand in front of the mirror to know that. She was still too weak to journey out of her bed to get a closer look at herself. Even at such a short distance.

She scoffed at her likeness across the room. She was sick of being here, sick of not knowing who she was or how she got here, but most of all she was sick of being sick.

She turned back to the window, and glanced back at the tree once again. With a knowing frown, she laid her head against her pillow. The pain in her neck had become unbearable. It was still a bit early in the day, three o'clock she guessed, the latest. Yet, this day already seemed through for her. Feeling the heavy droop of her eyelids, she settled herself into her into her bed, shifting slightly so as to avoid any strain on her wounds. Only one thought lulled her to sleep, 'Who am I?'

"Wake up."

"Wake up."

"You have to wake up." A voice silently whispered in the dark.

"Wake up!"

Startled the girl's eyes flew open only to view an endless void of darkness.

"Wake up! Wake up...you have to wake up!" a chorus of morbid voices howled. Her eyes darted everywhere in search of its owners. .

"Who-who are you?" she asked, trying to remain calm.

"...Help us." The voices echoed.

"You have to wake up." They quietly repeated.

"What's going on? Where am I?" she shouted, her head whipping in every direction. She felt a small cool breeze caress her face.

"Help us." The voices whispered.

"Help you with what?" Only darkness greeted her. Receiving no answer she panicked.

'If only I could see!' she thought. Narrowing her eyes in the darkness she strained to see if anyone was there. Suddenly she felt her eyes burn, as if she was staring directly into the sun.

"Please! Wake up!" the voices chanted loudly.

Aggravated she rubbed her eyes, trying to alleviate the pain that started forming there. Desperate she shouted.

"Show yourselves!"

Suddenly she felt the burning in her eyes intensify, making her crouch down holding her head and scream in agony. Then as soon as the pain had started, it had finished. Gasping she looked up and noticed a wall of flames had encircled her.

"What?" she gasped in confusion. She tried to view the area beyond the flames, hoping to see were the voices where coming from. No one was there, only darkness.

Standing up straight, she could feel the slight rustle of cloth against her skin. She looked down at herself taking in her appearance with the aid of the firelight.

She was wearing a black dress, with many folds that hung all the way down to the floor. A blood red coat with sleeves that were bunched up to her elbows was layered over her body. Taking in her attire she noticed she was grasping an object tightly in her right hand. Relaxing her fingers she noted that she was holding something composed of wire that gleamed in the fire light.

"What is this place, why am I here?" she asked the voices. Just then the flames grew taller, its color changing into a pale blue and purple hue, which danced higher nearly licking the hem of her dress, yet she could feel no heat.

"Please help us...You are our only hope." The voices whispered, fading slightly. Suddenly the girl feared that the voices, whoever they may be, where leaving before they could answer her questions.

"Wait! Please wait!" she cried in desperation. "Who am I, what happened to me?"

"You are our only hope." They repeated, quieter now.

"Wait! Who are you?"

"You are our only hope, hope...hope...hope." The voices chanted, fading softly in the distance.

"She called me... hope."

She gasped, the last voice she recognized, was her own.

"And how are we this morning?" said a chipper voice. The girl stirred as the nurse pulled at the blinds of her patients' window, letting the rays of the afternoon sun to shine through.

The nurse closed her eyes and smiled, noticing the pale girl in the bed was just waking up, despite how late in the day it was.

"Rise and shine kiddo, the sun is shining and birds are singing, as well as crapping on my nice clean car!" The girl sang sweetly.

"Hmm?" The girl gave a muffled response as she cracked open one of her groggy eyes. Despite the haze that surrounded her vision, she still recognized the high pitched voice of the young nurse named Heather.

"Good morning!" the girl winced at the decimal Heather's voice had reached.

"How are we feeling today, little Jane?" Heather smiled, while still adjusting the blinds.

The girl grimaced at the nick name. Heather didn't like the fact that she couldn't address her by her name. So, she unfortunately gave her the nick name of Ms. Jane Doe, so that she could feel more comfortable during her stay at the hospital. Not that she minded the name, in fact she thought it was kind of nice of Heather to try and be her friend. It was just that it wasn't her name, and it reminded her of the fact that she didn't have one.

"Oh. Umm...better." The girl stated quietly while trying to sit up. Heather smile broadened as she took in the girl's appearance. She did look a little better; the permanent blush on her cheeks had faded signifying the passing of her recent fever. However, the dark circles under her eyes were still apparent and her skin tone didn't make it any better.

"Well little Janie, you're definitely looking better than yesterday." She admitted while feeling her forehead. "And your fever seems to have gone away."

Jane grinned at that. She was glad she was making some improvement.

Heather winked. "Let's have a look shall we?" she stated while going to the young girls side, signaling her bend forward slightly so as to view the wounds on her back and neck.

Jane had to smile. Despite her distaste for the fact that Heather treated her as a child, it was still nice to have someone around her age to talk to. Heather was one of the few nurses that she had a relationship with, well as far as talking went. She worked at the hospital part time, about every other day. Jane looked forward to those days. Heather had a way of getting someone to smile, even if they were in the sourest of moods.

Heather reached into her pocket and pulled out her glasses. Balancing them on the bridge of her nose, she narrowed her eyes and pulled at the bandages on Jane's back to view their progress. The deep gash on her back seemed to be healing nicely. She frowned a little. It was definitely going to leave a nice scar though. It was deep and long, extending itself from in between her shoulders down to her lower back.

'What could've happened to this girl?' Heather thought to herself as she pulled at the cotton padding placed on the gash at her neck. It too seemed to be healing well.

"How is it?" Jane asked softly, worried what the answer might be. Heather quickly replaced her frown with a grin as she placed the bandages in there original position.

"It's looking good." Heather stated with a smile in her voice as she turned to look at Jane. Jane's green eyes sparkled at the comment. This was the first good news she had heard in a while.

However the moment was short lived as Jane noticed the glasses that adorned Heathers face. Jane's eyes widened in realization.

"Glasses!"

Flashback

Gasping she looked up and noticed a wall of flames had encircled her.

She looked down at herself taking in her appearance with the aid of the firelight.

She noticed she was grasping an object tightly in her right hand.

Relaxing her fingers she noted that she was holding something composed of wire that gleamed in the fire light.

End Flashback

'I was holding glasses in the dream.' Jane thought.

Heather noted the sudden change in Jane's mood. "Jane? What's wrong?"

Heather's eyebrows knitted together when Jane didn't respond. "Jane?"

When Jane didn't respond again, Heather started to get a little nervous. That's when she noticed that Jane wasn't breathing. Taking hold of Jane's shoulders, Heather gave a gentle but firm shake.

"Jane!" Jane snapped out of her little trance. Blinking her eyes and taking a breath, Jane turned to look at Heather's concerned face.

Seeing that Jane was back to normal, Heather let out the breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding in. "Jeez girl, you had me scared there for a minute. Are you alright?" Confused Jane gave questioning look.

"Man you were really out of it for a moment there. One minute you're here, and the next your miles away." Heather paused, thinking of Jane's injuries. "Is there anything wrong?" Heather asked.

Jane blushed, thinking of the dream she had had the previous night. She hadn't realized how much it had affected her. "No... I'm fine." Jane stated quietly.

"You're sure?" Heather probed, a little bit skeptical. Seeing her doubt, Jane smiled and nodded reassuringly and turned to look out the window.

Seeing her gaze outside, Heather was reminded of a conversation she had had earlier with Jane's Doctor.

"Hey, I've got some great news." Heather said with excitement. Jane tilted her head towards Heather once again, and quirked her eyebrows a little in response.

"I've been talking to Dr. Holt to see if I can take you outside to the gardens today,"

Jane eyes seemed to light up at the prospect; her stay here had been a gloomy experience so far. She didn't know how much longer she could go with out sunlight.

"...and judging by your progress," She paused, doing a once over, on Jane's appearance, making Jane sit up a little straighter. "I have a feeling he is going to let me."

Jane lips cracked open to reveal a smile suddenly her stay at the hospital seemed a little brighter.