She drifted for a long time. She didn't hurt, and didn't feel much of anything – although she was very much aware of Talon being with her, constantly communicating with her even though she never answered him and he never expected her to. It was more like he wanted to make sure she knew he was there and was doing so by simply babbling. Which wasn't something he normally did. It was this oddity that eventually brought her from her drifting.

Talon?

Hmmm?

What are you talking about?

She felt amusement from him, and a lot of relief.

Nothing important, Hot Shot. How are you feeling?

She didn't answer immediately, knowing that if he was asking – and he was inside her, so he knew how she was feeling – then he wanted to know about her mental state, and to give him an honest answer she actually had to stop and think about it.

I'm okay. What happened?

I almost got you killed

She was confused by the self-loathing in his 'voice'.

It's not the first time.

This time was different, Melony, he told her seriously. The Wraith was something we should have stayed away from – and I never should have let it feed on you just to see what made it tick. I almost lost you to it

I made the decision, she said. Not you.

I told you to trust me

And I did, and I do. I'm not going to die, am I?

No

Then my trust was well placed. Did you find out anything interesting? Did it do any permanent damage?

I learned quite a bit, but I'll tell you later. You need to start moving around a bit – you've been out for a long time and I want to make sure everything is working like it's supposed to be

How long?

Almost a week

"A week?"

She was so startled, she spoke aloud, and opened her eyes at the same time – and about gave Carson Beckett a heart attack.

The doctor had been at her side as consistently as he could be over the last week. After the first twenty-four hours after the Wraith hunt, her heartbeat and breathing had settled into a far more normal rhythm and he'd been slightly relieved, assuming that Talon had gained the upper hand on whatever had been wrong with her. That relief had lasted about ten hours before it had given way to more concern when she hadn't woken up in what he'd thought was a reasonable amount of time.

A day had passed, and then another, and still she lay motionless on the bed, giving no responses to anything he tried – although her reflexes were good, and her bodily functions all were normal. The wound to her side had healed completely – there wasn't even a scar. That told him that Talon was doing something, but it also made him suspect that there was far more wrong with her than the physical – something that maybe Talon couldn't fix?

The others wanted to know how she was doing, but he didn't have any information for them. He didn't know. She was sleeping, he told them repeatedly. When she woke up he'd know more. It wasn't much, and he could tell they weren't satisfied with that answer, but it was the only one he had, and it was all he could tell them. So they'd go away for a while, but would eventually return asking the same questions, and receiving the same inadequate answers.

So he stayed close by, leaving her side only long enough to grab a quick bite to eat occasionally. He slept in a chair near her bed, and when he was awake he spent endless hours looking through medical books and disks, hoping to find something that he might be able to do to bring her out of whatever it was that had hold of her. He'd been in the middle of rereading the same article on comatose patients that he'd already read a half dozen times when she spoke up – her voice surprised and strong, but nowhere near as surprised as he'd been to hear her speak.

He dropped the book with a clatter and almost fell off the chair. He looked over at her, his heart racing, and found that she wasn't just speaking, she'd actually opened her eyes and was looking around her.

"You're awake."

There was relief in his voice that echoed Talon's, and she noticed it immediately.

"Yeah..."

"How are you?"

He had a penlight in his hands instantly, and was leaning over her, shining it in her eyes, checking her pupils.

Melony squinted.

"I'm fine."

"Any headache?"

"No."

"Blurry vision?"

"I don't know." All she'd seen so far was the light from his penlight.

He moved the light out of her eyes and held his hand up in front of her.

"Any trouble focusing on my hand?"

She shook her head.

"Can you follow-"

"Carson..."

"Yes?"

"Give me a minute to wake up, okay?" She reached out and took his hand, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but she wasn't ready to deal with a battery of tests or a lot of questions. She felt lethargic – mainly since she'd been asleep for a week – and not quite ready to face the world, or anyone in it.

He squeezed her hand gently, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She closed her eyes.

Don't go back to sleep

"Are you going back to sleep?"

"No. I'm just... resting."

"You've been resting..."

She could tell he'd been worried, and she felt a pang of guilt at the thought of him worrying about her for a week.

"I'm sorry..."

It's my fault

"Don't be." With the hand she wasn't holding, he reached over and brushed his fingers against her cheek. It wasn't the touch of a worried doctor, but Melony wasn't aware of the difference just then. She was still trying to gather her thoughts.

Don't be so hard on yourself. We made it, right? No harm done.

It could have been much worse

It wasn't, though. Stop feeling so guilty, I think it's making me feel guilty, too.

She felt amusement at that, and knew that even though he wasn't completely convinced, he would be eventually.

You need to pay attention to your doctor, Hot Shot. He looks like he could use a little reassuring

She was surprised to see that Talon was right. Beckett looked awful. Worry lines around his eyes that she was sure hadn't been there before, and he looked exhausted. Relieved, but exhausted.

"Carson?"

He must have realized she was aware of how tired he looked, because he smiled reassuringly and squeezed her hand.

"I'm fine, too, Melony. I was just worried about you."

"You look tired."

"I am, a little."

"Go get some sleep."

"I will. In a bit. Can you eat? Are you hungry?"

"Starved..."

Can I eat?

The more the better

"I'll go get you something to eat..."

He started to let go of her hand, but Melony squeezed it once more before he could. She was almost reluctant to let him go, and figured it had to be some kind of crazy side-affect to whatever had been wrong with her. Maybe she didn't want to be alone? She certainly didn't really want him to leave her.

Almost as if he understood, he leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead as he let go of her hand.

"I'll be right back."

She nodded, and closed her eyes.

"No soup, okay?"