"What do you mean?" Oz questioned her, waiting impatiently for her answer. "Why haven't you said anything before?"

"Well," she paused, "I'm not sure if I can help, but, I want to try." Looking at Toby she drew in a deep breath. Releasing the breath slowly, she turned to Oz. "I have a similar gift."

"Really?" Oz questioned, trying to hide the growing excitement. "You're telepathic?"

She nodded quietly looking at the floor. She knew that exposing herself like this had never gone well. She also knew that this was a completely different situation.

"Yeah."

"So," he paused, standing at the foot of Toby's bed. "What's he thinking?"

"I don't know. When I try, it's really confusing." She looked at Toby. "There's something going on, I just can't hear him." Shaking her head slightly she closed her eyes. "Alright Oz, there's a way for me to hear his thoughts, I just can't do it alone."

"What? Whatever it is, you need to help him."

Slowly she explained to him that when she has physical contact with someone she cannot block the other person's thoughts. That if she had physical contact with Toby she should be able to hear what's going on in his head. The issue with it was that she was not able to block any thoughts of the other person, or stop it. She worried that she wouldn't be able to break the connection. What if she got trapped in his mind with him?

After discussing this with Oz for several minutes, she realized that she needed to at least try. Together they decided that after a few minutes of contact Oz would make sure to break the physical contact between the two.

Moving the chair toward the bed, Rachel looked at Oz then at Toby.

"10 minutes," she said, "no more."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it."

Rachel placed her hand on Toby's, closed her eyes and waited.

Whispers surrounded Rachel. It took several seconds for her eyes to adjust to the brightness around her. As she looked around the whispers became louder. The buildings around her were familiar, but she couldn't place where she was.

"Toby?" she called taking a few steps. There were people everywhere, walking aimlessly. She could hear their voices, but nothing they said made sense.

She began her search for Toby. Walking throughout the crowd, she called out Toby's name. Weaving between people she continued her search. The city around her still seemed familiar but she couldn't place it. She noticed there were no business names nor were there street signs. Her search for Toby continued. She felt like she had been walking for hours without any sign of Toby.

In the distance she could see a park and decided to take a break for a few minutes. "It's like finding a needle in a haystack," she whispered to herself as she headed toward a bench. Sitting down, she took in the surroundings. Looking for anything to help her figure out where she was. She could see the leaves on the trees moving, but the rustling sounds she anticipated were not found. The only noise she could hear were voices, hundreds of voices.

Rachel saw people walking aimlessly throughout the park, talking to themselves. There was a pond in the middle of the park looking as though the top of the water were a sheet of glass. Looking up, it was light but no sun or cloud cover.

Spotting another bench not too far away, she headed toward it. There was a man sitting on the bench, leaning on his elbows and rubbing his head. He looked frustrated but said nothing.

"Toby?" she called out as she got closer to the bench.

Hearing his name, Toby stood and looked around him.

"Toby!" Rachel exclaimed as she stopped in front of him. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"You can hear me?" Toby's eyes widened.

"Yes," she said with a smile. "I can hear you."

"Do you know what's going on here?" he paused. "Why won't people answer me?"

"I don't think they can hear you."

"So I take it, we're the only ones who can hear each other?"

"I think so. I haven't really tried to talk to anyone, I was looking for you." She sat on the bench hoping he would join her, which he did.

"Why were you looking for me?"

"Toby, you're sick. You're in the hospital, unconscious. No one understands why you won't wake up. I think something happened and you can't block everyone out anymore."

Watching her talk, he sized up the situation. He was in a town he didn't recognize. People were all over, people he didn't recognize. Only one person could hear him.

"If I'm unconscious, why are you here?"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that we find a way out for you. I think that you can't block out the voices anymore," she paused. "How did you block out the voices before?"

"Focusing," his blue eyes watched her intently.

"Have you tried doing that here?"

"Yes, it hasn't worked. Any suggestions?"

"Meditation maybe?" she leaned back on the bench. "Look Toby, this may sound weird, but I may leave abruptly, but I will be back."

"Leave?" he paused. "How can you leave? I haven't figured that out yet."

"I'll explain that later. For now we need to get started getting rid of this noise. It's giving me a headache." She smirked.

"Then let's get at it. Where do we start?"

"Meditation."