Chapter Twenty-two: Waking Up

"Ken, wake up!" a voice kept saying.

Kendra moaned, trying to turn her head away from the loud voice. But, when she turned, something pulled. She slowly managed to open her eyes, to find a glaring white light overhead, with four dark shapes forming a circle around her.

"Mommy, she's awake!" a voice shouted, causing her to wince again.

Another figure came into view. This time, it wasn't a child's head. Kendra saw her mother's face, etched with worry and relief.

"Kendra, how do you feel?" her mother asked.

"Moth...er," Kendra managed to get out, her voice tired and scratchy from disuse.

"Shh, it's alright. Oh, Kendra, I am so sorry. Please forgive me," her mother immediately started.

Kendra laid there, unable to form a coherent thought. Forgive her, for what? Where was she? Why was there all that beeping in the background? Wasn't she at home? Kendra turned her head and her questions were answered.

She was lying in a hospital bed, with a breathing tube attached to her. The beeping sounds were the machines that she was hooked to. And the reason she was here was now obvious. She was bandaged up tightly.

"Kendra, after you get out of here, you are coming home. You are coming home, my daughter," her mother said, breaking into her thoughts.

Kendra turned her attention to her mother, still trying to piece things together.

"Mother, what...happened?" she managed to get out.

"There was an explosion at your apartment. You were thrown, but the door protected you from any fatal injury. You've been unconscious for almost two weeks now."

Two weeks? But she was in Middle Earth for far longer than that? How was that possible?

"The doctors said that after you heal, you will be able to return to work but you are to take it easy. They want to make sure that there will be no lasting injury."

Kendra smiled at this news and suddenly yawned.

"Ken, you can't be tired. You just woke up," one of her sisters said.

"But she hasn't been feeling well. Let us go so she can really sleep," her mother said, herding her four young children out.

Kendra watched the door shut behind them.

A/N: At this point, I would really like to have some reviews. I wish to see how people think this is going to turn out. As I was writing this, my sisters kept bugging me to finish and they kept guessing about what I was going to do to end the story. For those faithful readers who have dealt with my unusual update schedule, I wish to see how you think this should end. I will upload the last chapter at a later date. ;P