I woke up in a hospital bed. There was an IV in my arm, but I didn’t feel the drain of iron. That arm was immobilized, but I wasn’t restrained. I said a silent prayer of thanks. Roy entered. “Look who finally woke up.” “What happened? Why are we here?” “You passed out.” “It isn’t the first time.” “It’s the first time you took a few days to wake up.” “Days?” I had pushed myself that much? “You’ve been out for two days. The hospital had fun trying to care for you with your special needs. They wanted to give you iron shots for your anemia. I kept insisting you can’t have it. I finally told them you’re allergic to iron. Then they were afraid to even give you an IV. A nutritionist came up to ask about a menu, not that you could eat. Finally, the chief phoned a friend who sent out a doctor who seems to know just what to do. She even brought a set of instruments that were made from non-iron metals.” I groaned inwardly. “Who?” I was afraid I already knew. “She never gave her name. The chief already knew her. I should probably let them know you’re awake.” He left without letting me respond. A few minutes later, a blonde walked in. “Doctor Knox.” It could have been worse. She smiled. “Yesanith, it’s good to see you awake.” “Call me Sean.” At least she didn’t call me specimen forty-nine. “All right, Sean. It’s good to see you again, though, that you don’t feel the same way. You really should have worked with the local doctor about your unique health needs, so I didn’t need to be called. “I don’t know what kind of spell you cast, but it drained almost every nutrient in you. We’ve been giving you high doses of everything. I strongly recommend no magic for several days. And bed rest. You need to stay here at least for another day for observation.” I always avoided hospitals for fear of being discovered. Doctor Knox had been one of those who experimented on me. And while she had been one of the more considerate ones, she still had been involved. “Sean, I know this is difficult for you, seeing me, and I don’t blame you. Right now, you have a choice. You almost died. I know you heal faster than humans do. If you cooperate, we’ll get you back on your feet quickly, and I’ll be out of your hair.” I nodded. Unfortunately, the only way to be free of her was to cooperate. Again. “Good. And one of the things you need is a good healthy lunch. I’ll let the kitchen know you’re awake.” She left. “I won’t even ask what’s between you two,” Roy said. “Robert went by your building to check for storm damage. You’re one of the lucky ones. The building is fine. A tree fell, just missing the place. There was plenty of damage around town. Those are from your neighbors.” He pointed to a bouquet. “Those are from Lorraine.” He indicated more flowers. “You better call her. And those are from us.” He pointed to a flowering plant. Perhaps Roy knew me better than I realized. I much prefer living plants to cut flowers. Two days later, I was released. I was to take it easy for a few days. I’d recover better, quicker, in a place without iron, so I went to the one place I could, one place I was truly alone.