I hadn't even realized that I'd fallen asleep, but since you can't wake up without falling asleep, I suppose I had. I blinked to be able to see clearly, and propped myself up on my elbows. Nobody else was in my room (that I could see), so, very carefully and slowly, I lifted the white sheet away from the lower half of my body. And let me tell you, saying I was surprised would the understatement of the century.

The perfectly white hospital shorts that I was wearing only came down to the top of my knees, revealing two badly singed, scraped up and tender-looking kneecaps. Below that, my shins and calves were pink in places and bloody in others. My ankle had all sorts of cuts on them and a bad scorch mark decorated my left heel. To my horror, I noticed that fourth toe on my right foot was noticeable shorter than it had been – but was covered in a bloodstained bandage so I couldn't inspect the damage. I didn't even want to see what my thighs looked like.

As far as I could tell, my arms looked normal, except for a few faint burns that you couldn't really see on my dark skin. Therefore, Calypso had started healing my arms first. Ergo, I'd been here a lot longer than I thought.

As I was staring blankly past my hands at my legs, I heard somebody come in. Without looking up, I knew it was Calypso, because I'd unwittingly learned to recognize her gait. She stifled a gasp when she saw the look on my face.

"I'm so sorry, Charles." I felt my eyes start to sting a little. Not because half of me was completely mangled. Not because I'd made my frankly very beautiful hostess upset. But because Silena was the only person who would ever call me by my first name.

"It's O.K.," I reassured her, awkwardly pulling the cover back over myself, "It's not your fault. In fact, thanks for, um, saving at least my top half." I winced at my choice of words, but she seemed to understand that I was grateful, and pulled up a chair next to me.

"Here," she said, handing me a photo. It was the picture of Silena that I had with me before the explosion. It was in perfect shape, not even a little bit tattered or torn. I smiled despite myself.

"She… she was your girlfriend, wasn't she?"

"Is."

"Of course, sorry," Calypso apologized, clearly embarrassed.

Silence.

"Do you think I could stand up?" I asked her suddenly.

"Yes, I think so."

So I carefully slid out of my bed and carefully tried putting weight on my feet. Then I tried walking. Then I tried walking further. And further than that. Eventually, I tried running. Then I tried running faster.

"Don't overexert…" began my hostess, but I was already out the door.

This was by far the most beautiful immaterial island I'd ever seen. The sky was, well, sky blue, with the occasional fluffy cumulus cloud floating around. The sun was noticeably smaller and more golden than it should be, and you could see its rays hitting the perfectly kept green grass and shining through the trees. It was clear Calypso was a gardener. There were plants everywhere; roses of all colors, several tulips, big hedges trimmed to look like various mythological creatures (including a couple of gods), a handful of petunias, brightly colored hydrangeas and a lot of other ones I didn't recognize but I'm sure the Demeter kids would.

"Wow."

"You like it?" Calypso asked. She seemed to have simply appeared next to me. I looked over at her, and her face seemed to glow ten times brighter in the sun. Her hazel eyes shone, and her hair looked glossier than life. And yet… she looked natural. I could tell she didn't wear any makeup (Silena had given me extensive lessons on how to tell whether or not a girl – or guy – was wearing makeup), and as far as I could tell, she didn't try to be pretty at all. She just… was. This is probably what Aphrodite looks like, I thought.

"Yeah," I said, not taking my eyes off her. She smiled while gazing off into the trees.

"You're not even looking at it."

"No, I'm not," I agreed. Shut up, Beckendorf, I told myself, Shut up shut up shut up.

She looked up at me with a scared look on her face, as if I'd suddenly grown another head.

"What?" I asked, getting really worried.

And that's when Calypso kissed me.