I can't see anything, nothing but black, it's a warm black but it's all I can see. For once, no one is looking at me.
"What the hell did you do to her?" The voice hurts my ears and I want to open my eyes but I can't.
"Why would I do anything to that little thing?" She spoke with contempt, she always does.
"Leave it Mercury, take her to the med bay." The black moves and I feel sick, I think I make a sound but I can't be sure, I can't feel anything but the black.
"I believe it best you speak to the Commander before I do Helen."
"Is that a threat?" She laughs, I hate it when she laughs, it hurts so much but the black makes it stop, even when it's moving like it is now, like a ship, I wonder who is going to have me on their ship.
"Hang on Herse, just hang on, we're almost there." Mercury must be making the black move, it's a strange thing for him to do, but maybe something happened that I don't know about yet, something to do with this black. I'm not afraid of the black anymore.
The black's stopped moving, it's still and I can feel something along my back. It's not the ground, it's smooth and soft. I like it. The voices talk and I can hear them but I don't know what they're saying. I wonder what they're talking about. I feel like I can open my eyes now, I'm going to.
The world is very blurry, I can't make out anything but shapes. I want my family, I want Mercury, I want the Shadow, I want to go home. The blurry shapes are scarier than the black was.
"How you feeling Herse?" A woman with hair like my father's is talking to me softly now; I like the sound of her voice.
"Ok." I manage past the lump in my throat; it feels like I shoved a rag down there, maybe I did. I don't think I did, I don't remember.
"Do you want a drink?" I nod; it feels too strange to talk. The liquid is cool and it tastes good, I'll only have a little bit. The world is coming back into focus.
"When did you last have something to eat?" The nice lady has soft, cool hands, they feel so nice on my forehead.
"I don't remember." I think she is frowning, but that might be the light, I hope I haven't worried her.
"Ok, I'll talk to your captain in a few minutes then."
"No!" I can't help it, the words just come out. "Please don't tell her where I am, please."
"Herse, calm down, it's ok. What is she talking about?" I can't hear her properly anymore, the world is making the sounds all blurry, maybe some more of that liquid would help, I push my hands to my ears.
"Her old captain, she's going to be on the Shadow soon." Everything feels so heavy, Mercury can't be talking sense, I know that my family love me but there is no room on the ship for me. It's not going to work out, I'm going to have to go back, I don't want to go back, I can't go back, don't make me go back, please, I can't go back, please, please, please…
"Herse, snap out of it!" The world drifts back into focus. "You aren't going back, you're staying with us, I promise." The edge of the cup presses on my lips.
"Drink this, you'll feel better." I take a sip, it's still the nice stuff from before, I like it, it makes everything seem all right. Maybe it will be. My father has come in, I want to smile at him, but my lips feel so heavy I don't have the energy to move them. Maybe if I just look at him he'll know I'm ok. But my eyelids are heavy too. So heavy. And I'm tired. I haven't been tired in a long time. I'll just let my strength come back before I say anything, I'll close my eyes and then I'll open them again and my father will be here and so will Mercury and maybe even… my friend… and maybe she won't come… she won't come… she won't… they'll stay though… they'll stay… stay...
A/N: Thought I'd bring back this story, it's a change from writing thrid person narration... Enjoy!
AbsolutelyNoSoliciting: I just want to say thank you for the review, you reminded me about Herse, and for that I'm glad. I hope you like this chapter, I had some fun writting it.