Loki's Mark

Epilogue

The fact that I woke up at all surprised me immensely. The fact that I woke up in a hospital did not. At first, I only moved my eyes, trying to take in my surroundings and see what I could ascertain about my situation. Carefully, I moved my neck, and was surprised to find that I wasn't paralyzed. Slowly, limb by limb, I moved each part of my body, checking to see if I had full range of motion, and if anything was held immobile or broken. Surprisingly, while everything hurt like a mad bastard, I didn't think anything was actually broken.

The last thing I did was raise my left wrist to my face, only to find it wrapped in gauze. Frustrated, I ripped at the bandage, yanking enough of it away that I was finally able to see there was no mark anymore. It was completely gone. Just how long had I been in here? Painfully, I tried to sit up, and that must have triggered some alarm because two nurses came practically running into the room. One stepped forward to help me sit up, and take my vitals, while the other one dipped back out.

A couple minutes later she entered the room again, with someone else trailing behind her. I looked over, and was taken aback by the regal stateliness of the woman who stood before me in a doctor's coat. Had I been in any condition to fall to my knees and genuflect, I would have. As it was, all I could do was lay there and watch her approach.

"Welcome back." She said simply, with a warm smile. I opened my mouth and tried to croak out a response, only to find my throat too parched to respond. She smiled again, and moved to the bedside table herself, to help me take a drink of water. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

I opened my mouth again, and shook my head. "I'm not really sure. Everything hurts, which makes sense I guess. But, I don't feel like anything's broken or anything like that, so..." I trailed off, then looked at her. "How long have I been in here?" I asked.

After consulting the chart at the end of the bed, she looked up at me. "About 22 hours, at this point. You were really quite lucky to not have any broken bones or internal bleeding, you know that? Especially considering the fact that your heart stopped twice while you were enroute to the hospital. Outside of that, and a myriad of cuts, scrapes, and bruises, you're just about the picture of health. It's almost a medical miracle." she said, with just a small hint of clinical wonder in her voice.

"Is the little girl okay?" I asked, softly.

"Oh? Oh yes, that is noted here on your chart. She did come in for a couple nasty scrapes, but overall she is unharmed and well. You saved her life." she paused, and consulted her chart again. "Now that you're awake, I'd like to observe you for a couple hours, then send you home. Do you have anyone you can call to bring you clothing or to take you home?"

I shook my head. "Just a cab, as long as I still have my purse and wallet." I stated, blankly.

"No matter, we'll figure something out for you. Let the nurses check you out and take care of you, and I'll see you in a bit, okay?" I nodded, and she left the room. I brought my wrist back to my face, and looked at it for a while, before the tears threatened to form and I dropped it back to the bed. So, my heart had stopped. Technically, I had died. The spell was done. The bond was fully broken, the curse finally fully lifted. I'd finally completed the quest he had given me when we first met, and I had saved a little girl to boot.

Now, as to why I wasn't dead, or paralyzed, or in a body cast from neck to foot at the very least, I could only hazard a guess. Perhaps a combination of all the runes, and the remnants of his mark, had saved me. I'd never know. It didn't matter at this point, anymore.

It was closer to four hours later when I finally stumbled up my steps to my apartment, carrying the bag containing the remnants of my destroyed clothing and other belongings with me. They had found some old scrubs to let me change into, that were ill-fitting and smelled funny, but it was better than wearing a hospital gown that left half of my dignity hanging out for the world to see.