Jim slowly opened his eyes as he woke up with a swirling headache.  Blinking a few times, he stared off at the hospital wall in front of him, slightly moaning and yawning from the sleep.  He tried to move his limbs, but as he did so, he felt something against his arms.  Looking down, he saw an some medical instruments sticking in him.  Blinking and shaking his head again, he pondered why he was stuck with all of these instruments and why he was in a hospital in the first place.

 Was there some reason he’d been placed in a hospital?  What’s more…why was he alone?  There was no one in the room with him at all.  Was this place even a hospital?  There were so many things flowing through his head that he just could not remember anything.  As he continued to wake up, however, he heard something from his left, near an open window.  Before long, a nurse had seemingly climbed in the window, settling herself down.  He was staring at her as she came in, but that wasn’t the biggest clue that he got from this situation. 

Through the window was an enormous female face.  She looked past the nurse, directly towards him, and smiled.  As the warm smile headed towards him, he naturally smiled back, but it also had a reaction in him.  As he saw Abby’s face, all of the memories of the prior day came rushing back into his head.  That day, he’d met Abby, Emily, and…Fran.  The torture he’d gone through that day and the near-death event he had experienced.  His arm twitched as his smile turned to a frown, remember what had happened. 

His arm and head twitched and shook as he remembered the events the unfolded at Fran’s house.  Everything he saw was shaking as he started shivering, as if he were having a long cold chill.  He was filled with a cold fear at the thought of being back at the University.  What would become of him now?  What if Fran came to see him at the Infirmary?  What would she do?  What would he do?  How could he possibly react and talk with her after what they’d been through up to this point? 

All of the thoughts were scaring Jim, but as he shook, a hand clenched onto his wrist, causing him to immediately stop.  His head jerked as he saw Sarah’s face looking down at him, smiling towards him.  She held his arm in place as she placed her other hand over his forehead.  “Easy, Jim.  You’ve been through a lot, but I promise you’re safe here with us.  I’m Sarah, your Nurse, and that big face at the window is your friend, Abby.  She’s been here all night, concerned about you.  We don’t want her to see you scared and nervous like this, do we?” 

Jim’s body couldn’t help but immediately halt as he heard all of what Sarah was telling him.  He was safe here?  No one like Fran would be visiting him?  The thing that hit him the hardest was her comment about Abby.  He stared at her, his jaw dropped a little.  He couldn’t believe that she, a friend of one day, stayed at the infirmary all night, concerned about him.  His expression soon turned to a smile as he nodded towards his friend, calmly thanking her.  Afterwards, he looked back as Sarah started talking about his injuries. 

“Now, you won’t be able to walk properly for a few weeks  and using that arm is a definitely no-no.  You were hurt a lot with all of this, so you’re going to have to take it easy and be very careful around all of the larger folks around  campus, okay?” 

Jim slowly nodded towards the nurse, taking in all of the advice she was giving him.  He’d looked at his injuries multiple times during the conversation, realizing just how much he’d gotten hurt.  He wasn’t just going to be able to get up and walk out of the Infirmary today.  Not without crutches or a wheelchair, he thought.  Letting out a sigh, he looked back at Sarah with a question in mind.  “E-Excuse me, Nurse, but...how am I going to move around when I get out of here?   Will I have a wheelchair or crutches to use?” 

Sarah looked over at Abby and then back at Jim.  She had a very conflicted look on her face, troubled by the thought Jim had intruded onto her.  The guy obviously couldn’t get around on crutches or a wheelchair.  The campus didn’t carry those items.  The rules for the injured were a little different at this University, taking advantage of some student volunteers around campus.  As she looked at him, she began to talk about everything that she was thinking at the time.

“You’ll be here for today, so let’s not worry about any of that yet.  If push comes to shove, I have a feeling that your friend over there will be the one to help you get around campus, and home.  You wouldn’t mind helping his recovery by taking him to his work station and home, would you, Abby?” 

Abby widened her smile and immediately nodded towards the nurse.  Slowly speaking, she expressed that she would be more than happy to take care of him while he recovered from everything he’d suffered and been through the previous day.  Jim’s face held less concern at hearing this.  He felt safe with Abby.  She had, after all, come and gotten herself hurt while protecting him from Fran.  She was the one he trusted the most at the campus and would’ve been happy to be around her. 

“Thank you, Abby…for everything you’ve don-“  Jim was in the middle of thanking Abby when a very loud phone alarm rang on the wall next to him.  A bright red light came up on a phone, to which Sarah immediately walked towards.  Picking the phone up, she began to answer.  “Yes?  Huh?  Hey, what’s wrong?”  Sarah seemed to start getting a little stressed out as her voice heightened through the phone.  “Wait…what?  What do you mean she’s here already?!  He just woke up!  He’s not ready to…what?  She’s already up on this floor?!  Okay, I understand.  Yes, thanks…bye.” 

Jim and Abby were both a little confused as to what was wrong with Sarah, who was sweating as she slammed the phone down and looked towards Jim, a worried look on her phone.  She was getting nervous and fidgeted as she began to talk to Jim.  “Um…J-Jim…y-you have a visitor, coming here right now.  She’s h-here already and should b-be here any minute.  It’s, umm…your…your….” 

The speech was broken as the door on the other side of the room flew up, slamming into the wall.  Within the doorway stood a shadowy figure, not yet having come into the light.  From it came an ear-piercing scream.  “WHERE IS MY JIM?!  WHAT HAVE YOU PEOPLE DONE TO HIM?!” 

Abby stood there, confused at the voice, while both Jim and Sarah froze in place.  They stared towards the doorway, chilling, arms shaking.  Their reactions were almost in complete unison as Ruby King stormed into the room, walking straight towards the bed, which held her husband, face red and sweat running down her own forehead.