Sorry about leaving you hanging with Yin. Switching back and forth between characters, I believe, is more interesting. Now you're back to finding out what happened to Eva.

Eva took a deep breath. Even with the aid of her specter band, she was becoming tired. And if she was, so was the XANAfied man that was chasing her. Their game had lasted for hours and now it was dark and very difficult to see. That was perfect for Eva. How many nights had she gone sneaking around town, hiding from dangerous men? The turf was in her favor, but for how long was the question. How long would her specter band hold up? She was sure that she could handle things without too much trouble if it should fail.

From her current position, the low branches of a tree, Eva could see the man searching for her. Her dark clothes provided the perfect camouflage and as long as she didn't move, she would be fine. But she would have to move soon. Even an experienced player of hide-and-seek, and someone who was used to running from someone, knew that the best way to remain hidden was to move.

Eva was close to the edge of the park. There were plenty of places to hide in plain sight in the city. She carefully climbed out of the tree and made a dash for the road. It only took a moment for the man to find her and he started after her.

Eva ran out of the park and into the street without looking. Her luck ran out and a taxi hit her. She hit the ground hard and didn't move. The man who was following stopped and looked at Eva's lifeless body. The job was done. The human was dead. The man let out a strangled cry as the specter left his body.

"Oh, my God," said the cabby in horror. He stood beside the kid he had hit. A crowd of witnesses had gathered around. "I never saw him."

"Call 911!" someone shouted.

"Is he alive?" the cabby asked as a man stooped beside the boy.

"Yes, he's alive," answered the man after checking for a pulse.

Matt Bluestone walked to the ICU of Manhattan General. He had caught the case of a teenager who was hit by a cab.

"Dr. Sato," he called.

An Asian doctor turned to see the redheaded detective.

"Detective Bluestone?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," Matt replied. "How is the kid?"

"She'll be fine," Dr. Sato answered. "It's a miracle that she isn't hurt worse than she is."

"She?" Matt asked, following Dr. Sato.

"Yes, she. We don't know anything about her. She didn't have any sort of ID on her. Whoever she is, she was dressed like a boy. The only thing we found in her pockets was a hunting knife and a penknife. She knew she was going to be on the streets."

"Do you think she's homeless?" Matt asked.

"No," answered Dr. Sato. "She's in good health for the most part. However, her body is covered in scars."

"Abuse?" asked Matt.

"Most likely," said Dr. Sato with a solemn nod. "The scars vary from old to recent, but there aren't any opened wounds." He opened a door. "This is her room. The painkillers she's on make her loopy, so it may be difficult to get any information out of her."

"Painkillers? I thought you said that her injuries were minor?"

"I said it's a miracle she isn't hurt worse than she is," Dr. Sato corrected. "She's still hurt."

"Thank you, Doctor," said Matt.

"Don't stay long," Dr. Sato said as he left Matt alone with the patient.

Eva knew where she was the instant she woke. She didn't have any pain and she could smell the disinfectant. She was in a hospital. Worse, she was on painkillers. Eva slowly opened her eyes and looked at the IV in her arm. She lazily lifted on hand and disconnected the IV so it looked like it was still attached. It didn't take long before she began to feel pain again. Her legs were what hurt the worst. Eva saw that they weren't in casts and the pain didn't feel like it was coming from her bones. Just muscle and skin pain. She was certain that they were going to be purple in the morning if they weren't already. On her wrist was a hospital ID bracelet. Eva was glad that it only read, "J. Doe."

She heard a door open and she quickly shut her eyes.

"This is her room. The painkillers she's on make her loopy, so it may be difficult to get any information out of her."

"Painkillers? I thought you said that her injuries were minor?"

"I said it's a miracle she isn't hurt worse than she is. She's still hurt."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Don't stay long."

XANA to finish her off? No, it would have done that as soon as she was down. And since she didn't know the voice, the only conclusion was that this man was a cop.

Eva opened her eyes and looked at the man. He had red hair and blue eyes.

"My name's Matt," he said. "I'm a police officer. What's your name?"

Yep, a cop.

"Mia Noone," rasped Eva.

"Okay, Mia," said Matt. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was running. Someone was chasing me," Eva said.

"Who was chasing you?"

"I don't know," Eva replied.

Keep it together, Eva. Don't let him know who you really are.

"I remember running out of the park," Eva said.

"Do you know what happened after that?" Matt asked.

Of course I do. I was hit by a taxi.

"No," she lied. "I'm sorry, Officer."

"Mia, I need your help," said Matt. "Who gave you those scars?"

Eva swallowed hard.

"Did your father do that to you?" Matt asked. "Was he the one chasing you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Eva.

"Mia, you have to help me so I can help you," Matt said.

"Don't worry about it," said Eva, turning away.

"Okay," said Matt. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. "If you decide you want to talk, my home phone number is on the back. Feel free to call me."

Eva said nothing as he left. As soon as the sound of his footsteps disappeared, she reached for the card.

"Detective? Sorry I called you 'Officer', Bluestone."

Eva pulled herself up and out of bed. She was really sore. She looked at her legs and saw that they already were purple. Nothing was broken thankfully.

Eva went into the bathroom and cleaned herself up the best she could. She had to get out of there fast. Looking in the mirror, Eva found something was missing. Where was her locket? Her chest became tight with panic. They must have had it somewhere. The nurses' station!

Opening the door just enough to peek around the corner, Eva saw that the nurses' sation wasn't far from her room. She crept out of her room and behind the desk. There was a box of clothes labeled "Jane Doe." On top was her black sweatshirt.

A telephone rang and Eva ducked under the desk. The phone stopped ringing. It gave Eva an idea.

"Do you think she's okay?" asked Yumi.

"It's Eva. She's fine." Even as Kayla said this, she began to worry that Eva may have bitten off more than she could chew.

The others had made it back to the hotel hours earlier. Eva should have been back long already. Something must have gone wrong.

The telephone rang and Kayla answered it. "Hello?"

"Ami? It's Mia."

The voice was unmistakable. It was Eva.

"Where are you?" Kayla asked.

"The hospital," answered Eva. "I'm just leaving."

"Are you okay? What are you doing at the hospital?" Kayla asked.

"What's going on?" asked Yumi.

Kayla waved her hand to keep them quiet.

"I got hit by a car," answered Eva. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Thank Einstein for me when you get the chance. Look, I gotta go. It's only a matter of time before you-know-who figures out I'm not dead."

There was a crash on Eva's end of the line.

"Mia, wait!" Kayla called, but the line went dead.

"Mia?" asked Jeremy.

"One of Eva's aliases," Kayla said. "I'll explain later. Right now we have to go. I think XANA knows where she is."

Eva took the box of her belongings back into her room and barricaded the door. She changed her clothes and slipped on her specter band. It looked like it was operational.

There was another crash, this one much closer to her room. Eva hurried to the window and opened it. She activated her specter band and turned into her LYOKO form. She called up her over-board and hopped out the window. Eva zipped around to another window and saw William with a pack of kankerlots.

William turned around, feeling like someone was watching him. There was no one in the hall and they were too high up for anyone to climb up the side of the building.

Eva breathed a sigh of relief and opened the throttle on her board. She headed south to the shore.

Back at the hospital, William found an empty room that was supposed to be occupied by a Jane Doe.

"Manta!" roared William, climbing onto the window ledge.

A flying manta flew up to the window and William jumped onto it.

Eva had a feeling that William would figure out that she was there and gone. She looked behind her and saw that her suspicion was correct. William was still too far away to see her, but it wouldn't belong before he did.

She quickly descended so that she was just clearing some of the larger apartment buildings. The shore was not too far away. Eva reached the shore and found a house that could conceal her position. She landed in the backyard and powered down, pressing herself against the house.

The manta carrying William flew overhead for a moment and circled back to the hospital. Eva smirked. William was smart, but she was smarter.

A dog barked, causing Eva to jump.

"Gilly, who's at the door?" came a man's voice.

The backdoor opened and a German shepherd came bounding up to Eva, growling like it was going to rip her throat out. The odd thing was that the dog had a harness, like one for a seeing eye dog. A man appeared at the backdoor with wearing a pair of sunglasses.

He's blind.

Eva let out a sigh of relief. It would be easy to get out of this one.

"Hello? Is someone there?" the man asked.

"Can you call your dog off, please?" Eva said in her best boy voice.

"Gilly, come here," the man said. The dog went to the man's side. "Are you all right? Are you lost?"

"Kind of," replied Eva.

"Come inside," said the man.

Eva cautiously approached the man and his dog. The dog growled low, but Eva kept moving.

"My name is Robbins. Jeffrey Robbins."

"Ricky," Eva replied.

"Are you hurt?" asked Robbins.

"No, sir," replied Eva.

"Liar," Robbins said. "I can hear the way you walk. Your legs cause you pain. Sit down."

"I'm fine," Eva insisted.

"Sit," said Robbins. "I'll get you something to drink. Do you like iced tea?"

"Water's fine," said Eva.

Eva took a seat in an armchair and looked around. The walls were lined with shelves full of books.

Robbins came back and Eva took her glass of water.

"What were you doing out there?" asked Robbins.

"I had a bit of trouble," said Eva.

"Is that how your legs were injured?"

Eva bit her lip. This guy wasn't going to let up about her legs, was he? "Yeah," she replied. She took a sip of water. She needed a way to get out of this. "I had a bit of an accident."

"The kind that could get you killed?" asked Robbins.

"Yes," replied Eva.

"You're welcome to stay the night here," said Robbins. "I don't mind."

"That's very kind of you, Mr. Robbins, but I can manage," Eva said.

"I insist," Robbins said. "You sound like you could use the rest. I have a guest bedroom that is not used often. I would rather you use it. I have company coming tonight or I would let you sleep on the sofa."

"Thank you, sir," said Eva.

Robbins showed Eva the room. He gave her what she needed to make the bed and gave her something to eat. Eva went to bed right after that.

Eva realized that she hadn't been asleep at the hospital long. It must have been because of the specter band and her minor injuries. It was only one in the morning. Eva laid in bed unable to sleep until one-thirty, when she heard voices.

"A boy came here?"

"And he's still here," Robbins answered. "He's asleep upstairs. He wouldn't tell me what happened, but I could tell that he ran into a bit of trouble. He's hurt, too. He has a bit of a limp."

Eva got out of bed and carefully left her room and sat at the top of the stairs. Robbins' friend had a thick Scottish accent. The thought of sneaking downstairs crossed her mind, but with her legs and with Robbins' hearing, the chances of getting away with it were slim. Eva went back to bed and fell asleep.

Anyone care to guess who Robbins' friend is?