-1Chapter 2
Shayera Hol placed the soup on a tray, arranged toast on the side, and placed a metal cover over it. Picking it up, she carried the meal down the Watchtower's corridors until she came to a door and knocked. "John?" she called. The sound echoed through the giant space station.
After a moment came an answer. "Come in."
The door slid aside and Shayera, known to the world as Hawkgirl, entered with the tray and set it down on a night stand beside the bed. "Feeling any better?" she asked.
John Stewart sat up in bed. "A little", he replied.
Shayera leaned over and touched his head. She could feel beads of sweat against his dark skin. "You're still feverish," she said. She stepped over the basin to wet a towel.
"Yeah, and I just had a lulu of a nightmare, too." the Green Lantern replied. He threw back the covers and swung his feet to the floor. "I'm late for monitor duty. Where is everybody, anyway?" John tried to get up but a wave of dizziness overcame him. He sat back down quickly.
"Let that be a lesson to you," Hawkgirl said, easing him back into bed and placing the compress on his forehead. "Big strong Marine or not, you've got to let the flu run its course." She sat down beside him and held his hand. "The rest of the League was called away in space on a mission. I volunteered for monitor duty. Someone had to stay behind to nurse you, anyway." Shayera stood up and stretched, unfurling the wings on her back to their full twelve foot span. "I must admit, though, it's gotten a little cramped after two days."
John smiled. "I guess it's appropriate to have an angel watch over me. You'd look more the part if you took the helmet off, though."
Shayera chuckled. "You think?" She reached up and pulled off the beaked helmet, shaking a cascade of red hair over her shoulders. "Is that better?" she said, closing her wings and sitting on the bed again.
"Lots," John replied. "Now I won't smash my nose when I do this-" He reached up, caressed the back of her head and pulled her into a kiss. After a few moments, his hands started to roam..
"Easy, tiger," Shayera pulled back and smiled. "Save that for when you're well enough to go a whole nine rounds. You don't want me to put you in intensive care, do you?"
"It might be worth it. But, you're right, Shay." John took the tray and uncovered it. "How did you know about chicken soup?"
"Lots of time in the library," she replied, idly nibbling a piece of toast. "Did you say you had nightmares?"
"A doozy," John said. "In my delirium, I dreamed I was fighting Solomon Grundy when he dropped a mountain on me. I was half crushed and the air was running out. I realized that my time was up so I figured that the last thing I could do was send my Power Ring out to find my successor. I willed it off my finger and out through a crack in the debris. I could see it shooting off and disappearing into the sky."
He held up his right hand. "I'm glad that was just a dr- Wha-?" He stared in shock. His Power Ring was gone.