And on we go. Let's see what happens!

Oh, God, I feel awful! What's wrong with me? And why am I not in my bed? I'm on some kind of…metal table or bed. Let's see if I can hear anybody… Yep, my ears and my head seem to be clearing. I hear…two people whispering.

"Liz, she's awake! Go tell the others." I think that's Abe. I try to sit up, but his hand and a gut-wrenching pain in my belly stopped me. Then I felt Liz return with Red and…John?

"What happened?" I managed to mutter, but it just made my head kill me. Wow, what did happen?

"You've been out for about a week," Abe explained.

"Since when?"

"Since the first mission you were allowed on," John told me.

"I thought you got reassigned to Antarctica."

"Huh? No, I'm still here."

"So it was before that…"

"What?"

"Never mind. I don't remember what happened."

"Well, it was right after we talked in the library. We had to go to the outskirts of the city." I didn't react, so he continued. "The creature was…huge, to say the least. You, Liz, and Red were fighting if close, so we agents couldn't fire upon it. It ripped up a telephone pole and swung at Red, but it shattered on his arm. One of the shards—" He stopped, as if he couldn't finish.

"One of the shards went through your stomach," Red finished. "Then the creature knocked you back and you hit your head on a rock or something."

"I finally burned it and it died," Liz added.

"We rushed you here—" John began.

"And I fixed you all up," Abe finished. I turned towards his voice and held out my hand. He took it.

"Thank you," I whispered. He patted my hand and I let go, though I didn't seem to want to. "If I was hurt a week ago, shouldn't I be able to at least get up?"

"No, you had extensive injuries. The shard almost went all the way through you," Abe said quietly.

"I thought we had lost you," John said. I put my hand on the side of his face.

"Oh, John." I sighed. "You can't get rid of me that easily!" I smiled and, when I felt him smile, moved my hand. Then I closed my eyes, though it made little difference, and laid back. "So none of it happened…" I whispered.

"None of what happened?" Red asked, but I didn't answer. "Laura?"

"Who read to me while I was…out?" I asked instead of giving an answer. Everyone was silent.

"I did," Abe finally said. "Myers told me that you love to read, and I thought…I thought it might help." I opened my eyes and turned to him.

"It helped a lot." I felt him relax.

"You still haven't answered Red's question," Liz said.

"I know." They waited. "This past week, I've had this…I guess you could call it a dream, but it was so real."

"What happened?" I shook my head.

"Doesn't matter. It didn't happen." She didn't push me, but I said something else anyway. "It was weird. I don't exactly remember that fight, just coming back and going to—" I paused; "—to sleep. It felt just like an actual week going by." I couldn't tell them what had happened, because I wanted to live a little longer.

"A week did go by," Abe said.

"No, I mean that things happened in the 'dream' like they were happening in real life. When I slept and woke up the next morning, I felt like I do on any regular day. It just felt…normal."

"How did you know that I had read to you?"

"Every day, if there was time, we would meet in the library and you read to me from non-Braille books. I have never heard or read those books before, so I couldn't have been subconsciously reading them or remembering them. That meant they came from an outside source. And at night, I would read from my few Braille books to—" I stopped, mentally berating myself for letting myself slip.

"To whom did you read, Laura?"

"Myself." I tried to sit up, but Abe stopped me again.

"I still don't think you should sit up yet."

"Just a little so I'm not lying flat?"

"All right." He put a pillow or two behind me to support my back.

"Thank you." I relaxed into the pillows. "So, what else has happened?"

"It's actually been quiet since…" John said, trailing off.

"Ah. They're waiting for me."

"Maybe." He seemed serious.

"I was kidding. It's just coincidental. I'm not important enough for them to be waiting on me."

"That's what everyone thinks; it's not true. You fight one and the rest are out to get you." I laughed.

"That's comforting." Then someone entered the room.

"Myers, come with me." I think it was Manning.

"Yes, sir." He turned back to me. "I'll see you later."

"I'm sure you will."

"Sorry…again." And he was gone. Liz took his place and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Glad to see you awake," she said.

"Thank you. It's good to know that no one else was injured as badly." She squeezed gently and left, pausing to whisper something to Red. He moved up beside me when she left.

"Um…" he began.

"You don't have to say anything. I wanted to say thank you for rescuing me. Both of you."

"No problem," they said in unison.

"Will you tell Liz I said thank you, as well?"

"Sure," Red answered. I laid my head back on a pillow. "I'll let you rest."

"I've rested all week!"

"Actually, there's a difference. Your body doesn't really rest when you're in a coma," Abe explained.

"I know. I was just being sarcastic."

"Anyway, I'm going to go." Red gently patted my shoulder. "Glad to see you on the mend." I nodded and he left. I moved the pillows down slightly so I could lie back a little more, but still not be completely flat.

"Is there a cover on the bed?"

"Yeah, sure." Abe pulled up the sheet and laid it over me. I lay back, then tried to roll onto my side, but the pain was too great.

"Do you have any pain medicine?" I wheezed.

"Yes, but it's a shot."

"I don't care." He moved my left arm straight and flat. Then he quickly cleaned it and injected…whatever the stuff was. It worked almost instantly.

"What exactly is hurting?"

"My abdominal area."

"Not your head?"

"A little, but not nearly as bad."

"I'll be back in a moment."

"Thank you," I said before he reached the door.

"For what?"

"If you have to ask, you're as blind as I am. Plus, I've thanked you twice already."

"You're not really blind. You just don't use your eyes to see."

"You know what I mean." He moved a few steps back towards me. "Thank you for helping me, for being a friend to me, and…for reading to me. You don't know what it means to me." When he didn't say anything, I continued. "Will you be back soon?"

"Certainly. Get some rest now." I nodded and fell into a drugged sleep.

--

I don't know when, but I awoke later. A lot later. My head had stopped killing me and my abdomen wasn't feeling horrible…until I sat up. I ignored it, though.

"What time is it?" I asked, not oriented enough to know who it was in the room.

"I don't have a watch. Should you be sitting up like that?" It was Red. He was sitting with me. His question, I ignored.

"How long have you been here?" Hey, I'm not getting that tingly feeling! I thought.

"About 15 minutes. I just made Abe get some rest. He's been sitting with you for a while."

"How long has it been since I first woke up?"

"A little over a day."

"Wow."

"You feeling any better?"

"Yeah; my head doesn't hurt."

"What about…"

"Not as bad." I paused and leaned back a little on the pillows to ease the pain. "You said you sent him to get some sleep?"

"Yep. He's in his tank."

"Was he with me the entire time?"

"Almost. It's been about 16 hours since he last slept, so I told him to go back."

"Ah."

"And we were in here a lot."

"'We'?"

"Liz, Myers, and me. That reminds me, he wants to talk to you when you're awake."

"I'm pretty awake now." I felt him stand. "He's being reassigned to Antarctica, isn't he?" Red tensed.

"I don't know, but he told me before that he likes the cold." Before I could say anything else, he left.

TBC

Why is that tingly feeling gone?

What does John have to say?

Why doesn't Laura remember what happened?

Find out next chapter!

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