I had a hard time with this chapter. It was like a 'I want to write but I don't feel like it' bug. Not a true writer's block, but something just as deadly if you let it do its thing. I think a part of me was already mentally trying to figure out what I'm going to do for the next two chapters. It's gonna be a two-parter.

Thank you for reading!

"What if she never wakes up?"

"Do you want me to come over there to slap you? Because that's how dumb you sound right now."

"Skuld, she's in a coma."

"And the doctor said she's doing pretty well. I was at a greater risk of death than she is."

"But Skuld-"

"Don't you 'but Skuld' me. I will throw this donut at you and I will make it hurt."

"You know, if I wanted to be patronized by my mother, I would have just asked her to come."

"As if Miss Ava has the chutzpah to actually correct you for anything."

Anora felt weightless as she started to wake up. The feeling in her body seemed to come in pieces- first it was her legs and toes, then it traveled to her torso and her head, and finally to her arms and fingers. Her eyelids still felt too heavy to open, but she was becoming aware that someone was holding her hand. Not only that, whoever was holding her hand was also gently brushing their fingers against her knuckles. Anora, still floating between here and there, gently flexed her fingers in the person's grasp. The one holding her hand only tightened their grip.

"Ava does too correct me for stuff."

"Oh yeah? For what? It's obviously not for sneaking into Anora's dorm every week."

"Not every week." There was a small shuffle before the mumbled addition of, "Sometimes it's twice a week."

"Unbelievable."

Finally, Anora was able to open her eyes- which meant that she was easily greeted with a sudden flash of bright overhead lights. She jerked upwards in reaction, letting out a sound of surprise as well. The movement definitely caught the attention of the two that had been talking. Anora blinked as her eyes adjusted and realized with a jolt who was in the room with her.

Ephemer was the one holding her hand; he sat on the edge of the bed with Anora's hand almost resting directly in his lap. The young man was now looking at her with wide eyes and a paling face. Sitting on a chair not far from the hospital bed as Skuld. There was a small powdered donut in Skuld's hands- one that she had been in the process of eating before Anora had moved. It took a moment to locate it, but the bag of mini donuts had been placed on the bedside table.

Still trying to collect her bearings, Anora looked down at her hand in Ephemer's grasp. She was able to move it now -because Ephemer seemed to be in some amount of surprise- but only moved it to his wrist instead.

"Anora." the young man finally breathed before immediately diving in to kiss her. Anora let out an odd 'hmm!' that was a cross between surprise and bliss.

"Get off of her, you idiot," Skuld then demanded, "She needs to breathe!"

But this only inspired Ephemer to deepen the kiss. He didn't even bother to let up until a good minute had passed. Skuld gave a noise of disgust as she finished eating her mini donut, then got up to roll the top of the donut bag closed. Anora's eyes fluttered as Ephemer moved away from her. He also started to get up, apparently someone had brought their schoolbag and filled it with nothing but junk food. Ephemer offered the bag up to Skuld so she could drop the mini donuts in.

"We need to call the nurse." Skuld noted, more to Ephemer than anyone else. "Or the doctor- whoever's on call right now."

"Wait..." came the feeble objection from Anora. "Where…?"

It was Skuld who answered before Anora could finish. "Where else?" she smirked. "It's our favorite place in the world; the hospital."

"Why?"

"You don't remember?" Ephemer questioned. Anora looked over at him with a confused raise of her eyebrow. Slowly, carefully, she started to shake her head in disagreement. It as quick, but Ephemer gave Skuld a worried glance that as easily returned.

"What's the last thing you do remember?" Skuld then wondered as she leaned her head into her hand. Ephemer had to sit back down on the hospital bed like he expected far more devastating news. Anora gave them an odd side glance before she tried to retrace her memory.

"I had a quiz in language arts." she told them in a small tone. "We had lunch off campus and then promised to have lunch together again the day after."

"Anora," Ephemer muttered- his face growing even paler, "That was on Monday."

"Yeah?" she carefully replied as she looked to both of them. Their slowly growing looks of mild horror were ones she was not expecting. Anora unconsciously sat a bit straighter before letting out a confused, "What?"

For a long time, a dead silence filled between the three of them. Skuld was the one who broke it. In a voice so soft that it was barely audible, she asked her, "You… you don't remember anything that happened on Tuesday?"

Again, she shifted her gaze from Skuld, to Ephemer, and back again before giving a small shake of her head.

"Sweet Ub Iwerks." Skuld remarked while she stumbled back slightly. "I… I think I'm going to get the doctor now."

No one stopped her as she did just that.

It did not take the doctor long to arrive. He turned out to be the same doctor that had helped Skuld not that long ago, and the two gave a little greeting in passing. The doctor took Anora's vital signs and scheduled her for several tests to make sure that what happened wasn't the result of a brain malfunction. When the doctor started to explain how one would usually go into a coma, Anora quickly came to realize why Ephemer and Skuld had looked so worried.

Anora had been unconscious for three days. Combined with her not remembering what she had done on Tuesday before passing out, there was a grand total of four days she could not account for. It was with a jolt that she realized that the week was nearly over. What a way to spend it. The doctor told her that after some physical and mental exercises, she'd be able to get back to campus before the weekend was over. Once he gave one more check of Anora's vitals, he wished the three teens a good night before heading on out.

"I think I'm going to head out too." Skuld told her friends as she gathered up the backpack with snacks in it. She looked over to Ephemer to ask, "Are you coming back to campus tonight, or…?"

Ephemer glanced at Anora for a second before looking back to Skuld. "Yeah." he admitted. "Just don't save a plate for me at dinner."

"Didn't plan on it." Skuld smirked before leaving. This now left Ephemer and Anora alone together since she collapsed. The duo looked at each other with the same pensive expression.

"Anora-"

"Ephemer, this isn't your-"

Ephemer shut Anora up with a possessive kiss. When he pulled away, tears had started to form in the corner of his eyes. "Don't leave." Ephemer begged, giving her a firm kiss on the lips. "Please." He gave her another worried kiss. "I don't ever want to lose you..." And he gave her one last, one very desperate kiss that perfectly illustrated his concern.

It didn't take much for Anora to realize that Ephemer must kiss people more when he's worried about them. At this point, it was more of a given.

Once he was done with his worried kisses, the young man reclined a bit to look Anora over. "You're not going on the field trip this week." he informed her.

For a moment, Anora just blinked at him. "Field trip?" she repeated in a confused tone. Ephemer agreed with a nod.

"The one where we Seventh and Eighth Year students go for a hike around a local nature preserve? You're not going. I won't let you."

Hearing this made Anora furrow her eyebrows at him. "Ephemer..." she started to say in an admonishing voice. "You can't-"

"I can and I will, Anora!" he immediately argued back. "There's no way you're ready to go back out there! What if… what if something happens? Something that we can't treat or take care of right away? I won't let that happen! Not again! Not… not again..."

Tears started to stream freely down Ephemer's face now. Anora didn't bother to stop him. Instead, she moved her hands to place on top of his.

"Ephemer," she quietly said to him, "We'll go together."

He looked up at her with a particularly dark glare. In a low tone, he informed her, "Don't ever tell me those words in a hospital again." before kissing her once more with certainty.