Stars Of Our Lives

Sittin' In A Tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Waking up didn't happen all at once.

First thing I knew was my head was killing me. Then I felt the softness of a mattress beneath me. Then voices - really loud voices. All shouting and talking over each other. But it was like they were talking underwater. To muffled and mixed for me to make out words.

A hand was touching me. I instinctively recoiled. The voices went quiet.

Aaaaah . . . . uuuuuuh . . .

I felt myself squint, straining my ears to make out the sounds.

Aaaaaah . . . eeeeeeeh . . . yeeeeeer . . . gaaaaaaah . . .

Ugh, my head felt like it had been cracked in half.

Gaaaaaaaaah . . . . gaaaaaah . . . guuuuuuuh

Was I floating?

Guuuuuh . . . geeeeeyeee . . . guuuuuuuy . . .

Wait a minute -

"Guys!" Krel's voice cut through the haze like a knife, a sharp sting going through my temples. "Would you get over here, she's waking up!"

"Wha . . . ?"

I had to blink for colors to come into focus, blurring back and forth before everything fit into place again. Like I had sludge for brains.

". . . happened?"

"Take it easy," Krel's voice said, but I couldn't find his face. "You've been out for a while."

"A . . . while?"

Jim's bright blue eyes appeared through the haze, his face pinched in concern. "Can you hear alright?" He asked, his voice soft on my ears. "Can you feel everything?"

"Think . . . so."

Krel's hand went over my hair and I realized my head was sitting in his lap. "Does anything hurt?"

"What . . . happened?" I tried again. My voice felt so sticky. "Where's . . . Claire?"

"She's okay," Jim said. But I caught the red tinge in his eyes. The lie hidden there.

"Where am . . . where am I?" I ran my eyes along the room, trying to piece it together. "What happened?"

"You're in the infirmary," Krel said. "Well . . . kind of."

"Kind of?"

"It's also a storage unit," Jim said. "Claire's in the actual infirmary. You're just on the other side of it."

"Help me . . ." I grunted, forcing my shoulders up. "Help me sit up . . ."

"Hey, hey," Krel's hand went against my back to hold me up. "What did I just say about taking it easy?"

My stomach lurched with nausea, making me dizzy. "Ugh . . ."

"I'll get you some water," Jim said, heading over to the other side of the cabin. I had a feeling he wasn't going to be coming back.

"God," I muttered, feeling the dried blood on my tongue. "How many times have we done this?"

"You mean me dragging your unconscious body away from a scene?" Krel asked. "Three times. That's got to be some kind of record."

"Where is Steve?"

"He's over with Claire," He said. "They needed a third Blue to combat all her . . . power?"

"Close enough."

"You know," Krel shifted a little beside me. "He's not so much of a bumbling oaf after all."