Back to Where It Always Begins

"What I asked you was if it would be safe to move her?" William's annoyed voice cuts through the darkness and flames that have been dancing before my eyes.

"And what I told you, sir, was that it is not advisable to move her right now," a voice just as annoyed and just as firm pierces the air, punctuated by a slight southern accent.

"But I can move her, right?"

"There is no need for that. We are fully capable of caring for her. I realize that you are concerned about..."

"You have no idea what I am concerned about. We have to get back home and I don't feel I need to pay to have her transported in an ambulance if it is not necessary."

I know that it is not the cost that concerns William, but the nurse apparently thinks it is a valid concern, "Well, let me see what the doctor says and then work up the release papers. You will, of course, be responsible for any negative affects this premature release will have on the child."

"Of course," William says.

I hear the sounds of soft-soled shoes scuffing off down the hallway as I tilt my head toward the door, peering at the flimsy cotton curtain that blocks my view. The curtain rustles and William appears from within its folds. He smiles at me reassuringly.

"You missed the fireworks last night."

"Fireworks?"

"Yes, Dragon Lore and Terredw set a couple of Decay dragons on fire over the city. The authorities are still looking for whoever set off fireworks so dangerously close to the heart of the city."

He continues with the same reassuring smile, "Don't worry. I'm working on getting you back to SD headquarters. You'll be much safer there."

Before I can respond, I hear the scuffing of feet behind him and the curtain opens. A different nurse than the one I had seen last night looks me over speculatively for a moment, "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better," I say though the cuts on my back still feel as if they are on fire and my head still aches from whatever was in the Decay dragon's breath.

William smiles at me as the nurse gives him a sharp look, "Have you been coaching her?"

"No," I answer for him, smiling through the pain as I sit up, "I really feel much better, but I want to go home."

William winks at me over the nurse's head as she leans over to get the clipboard from the foot of my bed. After consulting it, she gently disengages the IV in my arm. "Roll over and let me look at those cuts."

I roll over, biting my tongue to keep the screams in and hoping she can't see the tears that are welling up in my eyes. I hear rubber gloves snapping into place and then warm gentle hands are removing the swatches of cotton from the gashes across my back. She inhales as sharply as I want to as she first views the damage but gently runs her gloved hand along the stitched flesh. Pain tears through me, but I maintain my silence.

"You poor girl," she says softly, "It should heal correctly though and there are no signs of infection."

The pitch of her voice elevates as she addresses herself to William, "We'll give you prescriptions for some more antibiotics and some pain medication. She is making a good show for me, but she has to be in a great deal of pain. Wait here while I find a wheelchair for you."

Her soft shoes scuff back out into the hallway and we are alone again. "Do they know?"

"No, they think you were attacked by a bear."

"And they are not Decay?"

"No, no, they are innocents. They aren't even aware of the battle for knowledge."

I open my mouth to speak again, but something squeaks in the hallway outside the room and another nurse appears. This one is a slightly overweight man with a friendly smile and a well-trimmed beard. He smiles at me as he wheels the chair in and begins disengaging me from the monitors.

"Francesca doesn't seem to want to let you go. Not often she gets a cute little girl to baby back to health," he says.

My only response is a thin smile as I look at William over his shoulder, and he continues, "We'll have you out of here in no time."

The other nurse appears again, pulling the curtains and shooing the male nurse and William out of the room as she hands me some clothes. They are definitely not the ones I was wearing, but they seem to be my size and aren't ripped to shreds and soaked in dark oil and blood.

"Here you go. Put these on," she says, turning her head to fill out some papers on her clipboard and give me a little privacy.

I pull the t-shirt she handed me over my head, noticing its blatant advertisement of some sort of drug as she finishes writing something on the form, "All done? Good."

She barely pauses long enough to see if I am completely clothed before she pulls open the curtain. The male nurse quietly returns to cleaning up the room as she hands the clipboard to William and points to all of the lines he has to sign. It occurs to me I don't know how long his last name is, but I hope it is short or we may never get out of the confines of the hospital.

I gingerly step onto the floor and situate myself in the wheelchair as she continues flipping pages and pointing, "Sign here and here and one more. There you go. And here you go."

She hands him a few squares of paper that must be prescriptions and then turns to me, "Be more careful next time you are in the woods. Your father may not be so lucky as to rescue you next time."

An accusation is buried under her words, but I am too excited about heading back to safety to notice. After looking over the forms one more time, she motions to the nurse, "Lance, see them to the parking lot."

Then she is gone and we are on our way out to the air of the city and then back to the secret world of SD headquarters. Despite William's assurances, I am sure some chastisement awaits me.