Feeling the freedom of the air and the rumble beneath him, he reveled in the soothing early morning drive along the gulf coastline. Soon he had reached his destination, his solace he had longed for.

Images randomly scattered through his mind as he walked along the shore, waves crashing onto his bare feet.

Closing his eyes, feeling the warm breeze against his skin he inhaled the salty air. 'Home' he thought to himself before walking further along the shore.

'What took you so long' asked the  voice now beside him.

Smiling, he merely shook his head. 'You know why better than anyone' he responded.

'Yes, a difficult journey, to say the least. So much to endure along the way' he heard them say.

'It made little or no difference to a few. Somethings were never meant to be anyway' he stated.

'Is that why you came now' they asked. 'I'm sure someone felt differently, as a matter of fact I'm sure of it' they told him.

'You seem very sure of yourself' he said as they walked towards the house.

'Very much so, perhaps you need a reminder' they stated.

'What I need is this, home' he retorted.

'Yes, I understand and I'm sure you must be tired after all you've been through. We can talk more later. As you can see, everything is as you left it. Should you need anything, I'll be nearby' they told him before leaving.

Shaking his head, he walked through the house. Indeed everything was just as he'd left it. Taking the stairs to the balcony above he walked to the window. Again images flooded his mind 'why this, why now? Will I always be plagued by these visions' he thought to himself.

'You shouldn't have come home' said the familiar voice, now feeling a hand upon his shoulder.

He turned, a tear fell from his eye as they embraced. 'It was time' he answered.

'No, you're not finished'

'What are you talking about. Don't you think I've done enough' he replied.

'You're not a quitter. I know better'

'I'm tired, I can't, they've been through enough' he retorted.

'You owe them this, you have to go back'

'You didn't' he said without thinking.

They stared at each other, he regretted what he'd said. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean..' he tried to apologize.

'Yes you did..and you are right. Which is why you have too'

'It won't be the same' he stated.

'You don't know that. Just fight, like you always have. You're better than I ever was '

He closed his eyes while he shook his head as the images flooded his mind once again, now with more intensity. 'Come, you must go now'.

He opened his eyes, finding himself back on the shore, the water splashing on his bare feet, a voice muffled in the distance...

****

"Damn it wake up, I refuse to say goodbye like this" Mina demanded from Chance. She had found Tim asleep on his friends arm when she arrived. She had pursuaded him to go back to the bus to get some decent rest. Dr. Lyman was due any second to do another neuro exam on Chance. If he didn't show any improvement today, he was going to recommend the family take him off life support.

Dr. Lyman entered the room as Mina was reviewing the entries made overnight. His vitals had stayed stable, no change in responses. She had silently hoped that Tim's presence would have brought him out of the coma, but that's all it was, hope.

She turned the computer chart towards Dr. Lyman who quickly checked the entries before conducting his exam. Mina held her breath as he ran his fingers along the soles of Chance's feet. Still no reaction. He then checked his legs then arms for reflexes, still nothing. With each area he tested her hopes for his recovery dropped further. Dr. Lyman looked at her before checking his pupils. She let out the breath she was holding, she already knew. He continued the exam. The response was unchanged.  Thirty six hours after surgery he should have had some sort of normal response to stimuli, but there was none.

"You know what this means" he said to Mina.

"There has to be another reason. We need to run more tests " she tried to convince him.

He walked over to her "Jasmina, you know we've done everything we could. We've checked everything,  twice " he told her taking her hands in his. "His family needs to know... everything. A decision needs to be made. He obviously has already made his own."