This is an afterward of Finding Katherine and a forward to Isabael, My Love

Afterward/Forward

"Katherine…Katherine…Kaaaatherine…wake up…it's time to wake up…I'm coming for you…Katherine…"

Katherine's mind slowly rose from the subconscious of dreams and back to reality. She awoke and kept her eyes shut, trying to remember where she was and how she had gotten there. She felt as if she had been in a state of suspended animation mixed with a constant déjà vu. Her thoughts were jumbled and she could only think of one solid memory, the voice. The tiny soft voice that had called her back from death that night, the tiny voice that continued to call her and tug at her over the weeks she had been laying in the infirmary.

She twitched one of her fingers and found it was no longer painful. She tested her toes as well and found them to be in fit condition. She attempted to bend her legs and felt a throb of pain run through her body.

"Not quite there yet I guess," she thought to herself.

She wanted to open her eyes, but wasn't particularly interested in seeing anyone that might be in the room. She slowly peeked through her eyelids and tried to survey the room without moving her head. It appeared to be empty so she opened her eyes fully and looked around.

She tried to remain as calm as possible, but it was hard to manage. She was hooked up to multiple IV's and to a machine she assumed was monitoring her heart. She noticed it started beeping quicker once she saw the needles in her arm. She looked down at her legs and saw they were both in Velcro braces.

"Better than plaster I suppose," she glanced at her left arm and saw it was not so lucky.

Her head started to throb and she assumed it was from her increased pulse. She tried to calm down so no one would come in and check on her, but it was near impossible. All the memories of what had happened to her started to flood back into her mind. It was like they had been sent away by that tiny voice so that she could recover in peace and once she was awake they could not be held back any longer. She felt her eyes begin to prickle and hot tears ran down her cheeks. Inconveniently a man walked into the room immediately after this.

"Ah, good, you're awake, and crying, that's good too it means your brain isn't damaged," the doctor walked swiftly across the room and turned off the beeping machine, "Don't expect you'll need that anymore. Do you think you can manage to eat and drink? We can take the IV's out if you can and send you to your own room," he looked at her without smiling, but his face didn't look cross either. He spoke matter-of-factly like it made no difference to him how Katherine got here, only that now she was well enough to leave.

"I don't really know, I don't know how long I've been asleep. I feel strange," Cat tried to access whether or not she was hungry or thirsty. Her mouth felt dry, but she didn't think she needed water, or even food.

"You've been asleep for three weeks. You won't feel hungry or thirsty for a couple hours after the IV's are removed. After that you will most likely feel very sick. You'll have to eat a very small amount at a time, your stomach won't be accustomed to food. I'll have them put you on a liquid diet for a little while," as he was talking the doctor pulled out the two IV's at the same time.

"OW!" Katherine yelled and jerked away from him which sent a jolt of pain through her body again, "owww." She started to cry again and the doctor patted her head.

"It's best to get those over with quickly, they stick when they've been in so long. I'll give you some oral medication for the pain. Would you like me to have a nurse take you to your room or would you like me to call Walter?" the doctor pushed the machines away from the bed and brought a wheel chair out of the corner.

"I don't want to see anyone I know," Cat looked down at her feet and frowned. She felt embarrassed about what happened to her and she wasn't sure why.

"I'll call a nurse then," the doctor turned around to leave.

"Wait…I don't really want to see anyone new either," she glanced up and was surprised to see the doctor was smiling slightly.

"That's fine, I'll take you myself," he turned back from the door and came over to the bed, "I can give you a shot for the pain before I move you," Katherine's eyes widened, she hated needles, "That's what I thought, it will be quite painful, but it won't be as bad as getting a shot if you're afraid of needles."

Katherine nodded and the doctor took this as the go ahead. He scooped the sheet around her to spare her any indecencies and placed her into the wheel chair in one smooth movement. She grimaced at the pain, but it only lasted a brief second.

"See, not all that bad," he tucked the excess sheet around her legs so it would not get caught in the wheels and began to wheel her towards the door. Before he wheeled her out he peeked into the hallway, "It looks like the coast is clear." He pushed her swiftly down the hall and to an elevator that was hidden in a wall panel. It opened quickly with a tap of his foot and he slid the chair in and pressed the third floor button.

Katherine glanced at the numbers and noticed they weren't on the first floor, but on a floor below that.

"The infirmary is underground. It's the safest place if the house is ever under attack. Not that it is very often," he shrugged absently.

The elevator moved quickly to the third floor and when the doors opened the doctor peeked out again. When he saw no one in the hall he pushed her out and proceeded down the hall in long strides. He stopped quickly in front of the door to her bedroom and opened it. The room was very dark and Katherine let out a small gasp.

"Here," he reached into his pocket and handed her something small and cold. She pushed the button on the end of the object and the tiny flashlight lit up the room. He pushed her through the door and closed it behind him, then walked over to the bedside lamp and turned it on.

Cat glanced at her bedside clock and saw that it was 11:00 pm. She felt like it could be any time of day.

"You're sense of time will come back in time," he chuckled at his pun.

Cat stared at the strange man while he turned down the bed covers and fluffed the pillows. He was dressed like a doctor and he acted like a doctor, but it just didn't seem like he was a doctor.

"Are you really a doctor?" the question came out before she could stop herself.

He looked up at her and his face remained as placid as always, "Of course I am, what else would I be?"

"I don't know, maybe imaginary," the thought had crossed Cat's mind that she was actually dead and her way of coping was creating a dream of being alive.

"Don't worry, those ideas will go away in time. You've been sleeping and dreaming for three weeks. It's like when you wake up from a very vivid dream and you aren't sure if it was a dream or reality. It takes your mind a moment to adjust and then you realize you're in your bed and it was only a dream. You've been sleeping for much longer so naturally it will take your mind longer to adjust to being awake. If you're ever very unsure just give your legs a good wiggle. Dreams have no pain in them. They'll set you straight in a jiffy," he walked back across the room and wheeled her hair up next to the bed. "Brace yourself one more time," he picked her up from the wheelchair and set her down on the soft mattress.

"Thank you," Cat looked up at him, "I know doctors don't usually do this kind of thing."

"Most doctors are quite busy all the time. I only work for Hellsing, so I've got quite a lot of time on my hands when there isn't a war going on. I don't mind being able to see someone to the end of their recovery. The nurses shouldn't get to have all the fun," he smiled and patted her head again.

"Oh, here, your flashlight," Cat offered the tiny gold flashlight back to him.

"You keep it," he pushed it back towards her and pulled something else out of his pocket, "Take this as well. Walter has the receiver. You just push the button that corresponds with your needs. There's food, drink, bored, and toilet," Cat made a face at toilet and he laughed, "Don't worry the toilet one goes to the nurses' station."

"What do I do if I need you?" Cat blushed at the question. She wasn't sure what she would need the doctor for. It was obvious he was giving her a clean bill of health.

He did not seem to notice her blush, "There's a blue button on the back, press that one." He patted her on the head one last time and then made his way towards the door. "Try and get some medication free sleep, I'll send up some ibuprofen later. If you need anything stronger just let us know, but I think the ibuprofen will be enough. Integra will also want the monitors back, don't worry I'll just bring the heart monitor up after you're asleep. It will just be a sticker, no needles."

"Alright," she tried to think of something else to say, but couldn't.

"Bye, then," he waved and closed the door behind him.

Cat stared at the door for a while and then set the remote and the flashlight the doctor had given her on her bedside table. She started to turn out the light, then changed her mind. Darkness was the last thing she was interested in now.

She stared at the clock and watched the minutes tick by. Around 12:30 am she felt herself start to drift into a restless sleep.

Her dreams were white and empty. She was blind and all she could hear was a whooshing sound. She thought maybe it was the wind. Maybe someone had opened her window. The whooshing continued. It was a calming sound. She liked it. She let it take her deeper into sleep. Deeper and deeper until everything was silent.

Katherine...Katherine…it's time to wake up…there's a vampire waiting in the hall…

Katherine willed herself to awake from the deep sleep she was in. Was the tiny voice warning her or was it tormenting her?

"Are you awake?" a strange voice spoke.

Cat's eyes fluttered opened, ""It's…you," she spoke weakly.

"Me? Who would I be then?" the tiny voice asked.

Cat opened her eyes more, fighting the sleep that was trying to take her. The girl in front of her looked like the maniacal girl she had seen that night in the library. But, this girl was different. Her eyes were a cool blue and her voice, her voice was different. It was the tiny voice Katherine had been hearing in her dreams.

"They're different…your eyes…are different," Cat couldn't stay awake any longer. She had so many questions for the girl, but they would have to wait for another time. That was, if the girl even existed. She drifted back into a deep sleep. The calming whooshing noise returned and Katherine let it lull her off to a safer place.

As she slept, the small golden flashlight pulsed with light at her bedside.