Out Of Orbit

Epilogue

JARRYD

Jarryd slipped along the quiet corridor, making his way to the infirmary. It had been two weeks since the battle. According to the doctors, Rebecca's wound had healed but something else was wrong. She still hadn't woken up.

A coma. Jarryd ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. For that first week he'd almost slept in the infirmary. Or, he would have, if he'd been allowed to. As it was, he'd spent every waking moment by her side. He'd lost her once; he wasn't going to lose her again.

Michael had been pulled into helping with rebuilding after the battle. Victoria spent her time helping other recovering patients. Apparently she'd decided she wouldn't mind becoming a doctor. Brian was...well, no-one really knew where Brian went. He'd asked a few times but Brian just changed the subject. Each of them spent a good deal of time with Rebecca, but Jarryd had found nothing else to occupy his time.

A loud crash sounded from up ahead. Walking a little faster, Jarryd heard raised voices. He reached the infirmary and swung open the door. The room on the other side was covered with papers and shattered glass.

The bed was empty.

"Where's Rebecca?" Jarryd demanded, turning on the Yokindrin doctor and the Plette standing beside him.

"She...she woke up!"

"And?" Jarryd asked impatiently. The doctor winced, his ears quivering nervously.

"She screamed and ran off. I tried to speak to her but she wouldn't listen!"

Jarryd's heart sped up. "She ran off? Ran off where?"

"I don't know! She didn't know who I was! But we used to talk every day!"

"Sounds like she has some memory loss," the Plette noted calmly, trying to calm the doctor down.

"Some memory loss!" Jarryd exploded, anger rolling off of him in waves. "That's all you have to say?! She's still recovering some nearly being killed, she's running around an alien planet, possibly with no memory of it, and that's all you can say!"

The Plette cringed backwards, eyes wide in fear.

Jarryd let out a curse and headed for the door. Rebecca was wandering around somewhere on her own. He needed to find her. He couldn't lose her again.

REBECCA

She stumbled across the open hillside, the hospital gown sticking to her legs in the clammy air. Tears dripping down her cheeks, Rebecca's knees finally buckled and she collapsed into the soft grass. Fighting the blackness creeping into her mind, she curled onto her side, arms clutching at her sleeves in desperation. The harsh sunlight coloured the inside of her eyelids red, and Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut, trying to eliminate any trace of the situation she found herself in.

As she struggled to calm her mind, a cool shadow fell over her face. Her eyes flickered open and she looked up into a face shadowed by the bright sun behind it. Swallowing the lump of fear that rose in her throat, she gazed up, waiting for whatever fate she had fallen into.

"What are you doing here?"

Rebecca cringed at the harsh voice and felt tears slip down her cheeks, dripping onto her dusty hospital gown. The man standing above her let out a long breath and lifted one hand. Rebecca cringed back, her knees and arms pulling up to cover her face, waiting for a strike.

"Hey. It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you."

Rebecca opened her eyes to see the man crouching beside her, his hand stroking the side of his cheek in thought. His sky-blue eyes met hers and for the first time since waking up, she felt a sense of safety. There was nothing dangerous in his expression, but she couldn't seem to stop her body from flinching away when he reached out to touch her arm. She saw his eyes soften and made a concerted effort to regain control of her body.

Inching away from him slightly, she sat up, forearms rubbing her legs to keep them from shaking. The man gave a slight smile, never breaking eye contact.

"What are you doing here?"

Rebecca swallowed before answering, trying to clear the dust from her throat. Even so, her voice croaked when she answered.

"I...I don't know."

"You don't know what you're doing here?"

Rebecca swung her gaze away. He seemed incredulous, and she understood why. She was in the middle of nowhere, barefoot and in a hospital gown. Thinking back what she had just experienced, she started to shake uncontrollably again.

"Where'd you come from?"

Rebecca's eyes widened as the images flashed into her mind again. But it couldn't have been real. Maybe she had been hallucinating. Looking up again, she met the man's gaze, his eyes now narrowed in suspicion.

"There were...there were these creatures," Rebecca whispered, her throat working furiously to stop the tears from falling, "I think...I don't know....I think they were doing something to me..."

Unable to keep her emotions contained, she felt the tears slip down her cheeks again, starting as a single drop but building into a cascade that tried to wash her cheeks free of the grime they had accumulated in her cross country run.

"What's your name?"

His voice was gentle, his eyes worried but sympathetic. Rebecca opened her mouth to reply, then paused. Frantically, she searched her mind for the answer, and came up blank. Eyes widening in shock and fear, she met his gaze and shook her head slowly.

"I...I don't know."