Somewhere in the distance, a phone was ringing. Callie stirred in her bed. She couldn't understand what it was that was making that noise. She started coming to, and realized it was her own phone that was disturbing her sleep. She reached out and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?" She said drowsily.

"Callie? Is that you? Are you alright?!"

Callie sat up with a jerk, her eyes now wide open. Last night played up in her mind. It wasn't a dream then.

"Hello?" Someone asked her.

Callie remembered she was on the phone with someone "Yes this is Callie"

"Oh you are there. We were getting worried since you haven't showed up at work yet. We know your car isn't that reliable, but we thought you would have called if you knew you were going to be this late."

Callie looked at her alarm clock. 10.12 am. Shit!

"Yeah, I'm sorry Bailey" Callie tried to think up a good excuse. "I have been sick: up all night. I'm sorry I didn't call."

"Don't worry, we were just worried something had happened to you."

"No, nothing except for the being up all night." Callie thought about last night.

"Don't worry Callie, stay home and feel better!"

"Thank you, and I'm glad you called to check up on me." Callie genuinely felt gratitude, no one would ever have done that at the last place she worked at. They would have just given her up for dead, and replaced her, or something like that.

"Of course. Take care!"

Callie hung up. She became aware of the room around her, the light, the smell, and the warmth of her bed. Then she saw her barricaded door. She threw her comforter aside, and put her feet on the floor. Her knees were still a bit sore from last nights ordeal. So was her neck, she realized when she moved her head from one side to the other trying to loosen up the stiffness. She was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

Callie went up and pushed the dresser back to its place, and unlocked the door. She took a deep breath, and walked towards the living room. She was half expecting the strange woman from last night to be gone, but when she entered, the woman was lying there just as Callie had left her last night.

Callie walked closer to the couch as quietly as she could. The wound had stopped bleeding soon after she had put on the clean compress, because there was only a small red spot on it this morning. She hadn't seen it last night, but now, in the light of day, she saw that there was some bruising around the woman's neck.

Callie figured she should let the woman sleep a while longer. As she backed away, she bumped into the chair she had sat in last night. She tensed up and closed her eyes, hoping that her clumsiness wouldn't wake the woman from her sleep. She opened her eyes to see if it indeed had. The woman started to move a little.

Callie didn't dare move. She watched as the woman started coming to. Her eyelids slowly opened, and Callie could see how she attempted to focus her eyes on the table in front of the couch, and then how she tried to move her head; trying to make sense of her surroundings. Then she turned her head and locked eyes with Callie. Callie wasn't sure what to do so she just stayed in the same position, and didn't even blink.

It was the woman who broke eye contact first. She probably figured if she didn't, they would stay like that for hours. She looked around her, taking in the small living room and then directed her eyes towards the kitchen. She made an attempt to talk, but only got as far as opening her mouth, and then put a hand to her throat as if to stop the pain she felt when moving her jaw.

Callie, who had been holding her pose all this time, straightened up when she saw the woman was in pain. She forgot about the awkwardness of the situation, and blurted out "Does it hurt?"

The woman relaxed and showed with her hand: only a little. Then she made a sign suggesting she wanted some water.

"Of course" Callie said and went into the kitchen to get the woman some water.

She came back in and handed her a glass. The woman tried to drink, but it was a bit difficult not moving her jaw and getting water in her mouth. Callie saw her predicament and said "Hold on!"

She went back into the kitchen and slammed a few drawers, then came back with a straw in her hand. The woman accepted it gratefully, and was finally able to quench her thirst. She put the glass down on the table. It was empty.

"Do you want some more?" Callie offered.

It seemed the woman was satisfied for now.

Callie didn't quite know what to do now that there was nothing else to focus on than the pink elephant in the room. The pink elephant, aka, the stranger on her living room couch.

Again it was the woman who broke the awkward silence, not by making a sound but a gesture. She was making the sign for writing by using her right hand to 'fake write' on her left palm.

"Of course!" Callie exclaimed, and felt stupid she hadn't thought about it herself. The woman was obviously in pain, and it seemed to get worse when she tried to talk or open her mouth too wide.

She handed the woman a notebook and a pen.

The woman wrote something down and held the note book up for Callie to read.

Thank you

"Don't worry about it" Callie said. When she thought about it, she felt proud of what she had done last night. Helped a complete stranger. Saved someone's life.

The woman wrote something down, and Callie waited for her to hold it up.

What's your name?

"Callie!" She realized she told the woman her name overly articulate and loud, like the stranger was deaf. She felt stupid.

She was just about to ask for the woman's name, when she saw she was scribbling down more words.

Nice to meet you Callie. Where is your bathroom?

"Oh, God, I'm sorry I should have asked you right away!" Callie now felt more embarrassed than stupid.

"It's down the hall to the right." Callie pointed towards the hallway where her bedroom was situated.

"It's the first door on the left."

The woman smiled, and put down the notebook, and pen on the table. She then proceeded to put her feet on the floor and tried to push herself up. As she did, Callie reached forward to help her. The woman turned her head, and Callie found herself looking into those eyes again. Callie felt heat rising to her face, but then tried to hide it by proceeding to help the woman come to a full stand. The woman then let go of Callie's hand, and Callie watched her walk slowly towards the bathroom.

Callie was alone in the living room now. She started looking around, getting conscious about how the place looked. It was like she needed to make a good impression on this stranger. She walked around picking up clothes that, at some point, had not made it all the way to her room, or the laundry basket. They still didn't make it there, but she made sure they were out of sight. That is, in the box beside the TV, along with her DVD collection.

She came into the bathroom, closed the door behind her, and went to look in the mirror above the sink. She turned her head to see the compress more clearly. Then slowly pulled it off, and examined the night old wound. She put the compress on the sink and opened the cabinet, and took out alcohol, cotton, and a pack of plasters. She cleaned the wound, then put on two plasters to cover the injured area.

She gently washed her face, making sure not to move around too much to cause the wound to start bleeding again. She wiped her face and looked into the mirror again. Her blue shirt had a big stain; her own blood. She unbuttoned it, and took it off. Considering how long she had been bleeding, it did not surprise her to see her top was stained with dried blood as well. She raised her left arm up in the air resulting in a short intake of breath. Her ribs were probably not broken, but definitely bruised. She ran her fingers through her hair, and looked one last time in the mirror before she went out.