Judith knew she was lucky to be alive, but at the moment she didn't feel very lucky at all. Her stomach was in an immense amount of pain, as was her entire right leg. She heard voices around her and opened her eyes.

"Here she comes!" said an elderly healing warlock, smiling down at her. "You gave us quite a shock there, little missy."

She blinked several times, then looked around at the other occupants of the room. The room was filled mainly with nurses and warlocks, but there was also Commander Kelp, an elf and a dwarf. She sat up a little on the hospital bed, and realized her stomach was wrapped tightly in bandages and her right leg was taped to a splint. "W-where am I?"

"Your in a hospital, where else?" The dwarf said, tapping her right knee.

She winced and looked up at Commander Kelp. He was staring at her, his eyes filled with regret. "Leave." He ordered the nurses and warlocks. "I need to speak to this young lady about her internship at the LEP."

"But sir!" began one of the warlocks.

"NOW!"

The medical personnel filled out of the room. Commander Kelp collapsed into a chair and looked at Judith. "How do you feel?"

She thought about it. "Honestly? I feel like crap. How long was I out?"

"Three weeks!" replied the dwarf. "We thought you'd never come to."

She jumped. "Three weeks? I can't be here! I-I've got midterms! And a job. And…oh no! How am I going to pay the medical bill? There's no way my mom can pay it! She barely makes enough to keep the house! And…"

"Calm down." Said the elf, whacking the dwarf on the head. "You've only been out a few hours. Your really very lucky."

"Yeah, I know." Judith murmured. "Thank-you. Your Holly Short, right?"

The elf, Holly, smiled. "Yeah, I am. I didn't catch your name though."

"My name's Judith."

"Root." Kelp added. "Her name is Judith Root."

Both Holly and the dwarf gapped at Judith. "Julius had a kid?"

"Well, no. She's Turnball Root's daughter."

Holly ground her teeth. "Your Turnball's daughter?"

"Uh…yeah. You've met him?"

She smiled bitterly. "Yeah, I have."

Commander Kelp stood suddenly. "Well, I need to go have a word with Major Newt-"

"Oh no!" Judith said hurriedly. "Don't do that!'

He looked at her, frowning slightly. "Those boys should be in jail right now. There's going to be a tribunal. What they did to you…I cant help feeling responsible." He stared at her for a few moments. "The LEP are paying for your medical bill. It's the least we can do." He left the room.

Judith looked at Holly. "Can I ask you something?"

Holly sat in Kelp's abandoned seat. "Yeah, sure."

"Whose Artemis Fowl?"

The dwarf looked at her. "Where'd you hear about him?"

"Him? Isn't 'Artemis' a girl's name?"

"Well, yeah."

"Who are you?"

"Why, I'm Detective Mulch Diggums. I helped rescue you."

"No you didn't. You wanted to leave me there."

Mulch frowned. "What's with all these accusations, kid? Back to your question. Artemis Fowl was the first human to correspond with the people."

"Human?"

"Yep." Said Holly. "He kidnapped me once. We became close friends though. Very…close." Her voice trailed off and her eyes misted over.

"Were is he now?"

This question seemed to bring the elf back to reality. "He…died." She breathed, her voice filled with sadness. "About twenty years ago. I was there." Her voice cracked and she covered her face.

"He was forty-seven." Mulch continued. "Which is still pretty young for a human to die at. Middle-aged. About five hundred for an elf like you."

"How?"

"Well, he was on a mission. To help the people. But, something went wrong. His bodyguard and his sister, Butler and Juliet, both died trying to protect him. Then someone tried to shoot Holly. Artemis took the bullet." He glanced at Holly, who had begun sobbing, and leaned closer to Judith so only she could her. "His last words were 'I love you, Holly'."

Judith blinked, and suddenly she wanted to go home. "When can I leave?"

"Right away." Mulch said automatically. "We'll give you a lift. Where do you live?"