Thanks again for reviews! Owning ashes=not me!
It was the middle of the night. She was surrounded by three others. Two were asleep and one had been still for hours. She stirred in the bed. Her hand twitched and she sighed underneath the oxygen mask. Shaz, who had been staring at her deep in thought, noticed. "Did you see that?!"
Chris and Ray both woke with a snort. "Whuzz goin' on?" Ray managed.
"She moved again!"
The doctor came in to see what the commotion was. He removed the mask from her face. "She seems to be breathing normally on her own," he said.
Her lips parted and muttered something that no one could hear, except Shaz, who was the closest.
"Gene…"
The doctor checked her over once more.
"What does this mean?" Chris asked.
The doctor turned around and looked at him. "She's coming back."
She was coming back, because it wasn't his fault.
**
Alex was lost in thought. How was she supposed to get back? She couldn't leave Molly behind, and she wanted to come back to 2009, so jumping off a building was out of the question. She wished she had Sam's notes with her, but he had been assigned to a different psychologist in the wake of her injury. Her head throbbed, something that happened quite frequently nowadays. The doctors had guaranteed her that the headaches would occur less frequently, but she would always get them.
Something was different though. Her side hurt too. It felt like she had a stitch in her left side, but she had not been doing anything active for hours. As quickly as it had come, the pain disappeared. She flipped through the channels on the television, and stopped at a children's program. She smiled, remembering how much she watched children's programming in the eighties.
The lights flickered and went out. Even though it was midday, the flat was pitch-black. The television flickered back on. Shaz's face appeared on the screen, but through a fog. Eventually the fog cleared and Alex was left staring at Shaz, who seemed to be staring back.
"Ma'am, if you can hear me, I want to tell you something." Shaz's voice finally broke the silence. "We're all beggin' ya to come back, and the doctors say you are. But I heard what you said when they took the mask off. "
Alex got down off the couch and crawled closer to the screen. "What did I say Shaz? What did I say?"
"The thing is, I know you two had a falling out, but the Guv, he didn't mean it. He's so torn up ma'am. If fear of the Guv is holding you back, please, don't be afraid of him. You know what I think ma'am? I think that he…"
The television cut out. Alex was left on the floor, staring at the children's program. "You think that he what, Shaz?" She said to the television. It didn't change back.
"SHAZ! SHAZ! YOU THINK THAT HE WHAT?! COME BACK! WHAT DO YOU THINK SHAZ?!" Alex was screaming at the television and the door opened.
"Mum? What are you doing on the floor? Are you okay?" Molly was home.
Alex started.
"Mum come on, you need rest. Let's get you to your bed." Molly was helping her up. Alex looked at her little girl, and gasped. Her birthmark was gone.
TBC
