*****

She came to, gasping for air. The sunlight shining through the window blinded her, shooting sparks of pain through her head. A groan escaped her when her body objected her futile attempt to sit up.

Sarah laid back, rested her head on the pillows and covered her eyes. Her bedroom door opened and she relaxed as soon as she caught scent of her visitor.

After a brief interval she opened her eyes slightly, testing their sensitivity to the sunlight. When the pain didn't manifest as badly as it had before, she opened them completely.

"Oh good, you're back with the living," Jenny commented. "You were beginning to scare me there for a little bit."

Sarah moved her head from side to side, trying to dispel the residual fog in her head, but that turned out to be a bad idea. Her body protested all of the movement, her stomach began to churn. She was forced to minimize her movements until she no longer felt the threat of vomiting.

"How long have I been out for?" She asked after she'd swallowed back the vile.

The vocal sound that passed her lips did not resemble the voice she knew as her own. Her dry throat produced a low raspy tone, nothing like the soft and smooth sound she was used to. She cleared her throat a couple of times but her parched throat needed liquid before it could return to normal.

"What time is it?"

A glass of water appeared before her. Sarah reached for it greedily and even though she wanted to drink it down like it was the last drop in the desert, she took measured sips instead. Immediately she felt the waters soothing effect as it slid down her throat.

Judging by the sun light streaming through her window, Sarah judged it to be early afternoon. She must have slept all night.

"What time is it?'' she asked again, not taking her eyes from the window.

She hated seeing the worry in Jenny's eyes.

"It's a little after one."

That was a surprise. Sarah did the math in her head, only fifteen hours. On other occasions, less severe ones, she'd been out for longer than twenty hours.

Could it be that she was growing immune?

Her thoughts must have been transparent because Jenny shook her head. "It's one o'clock, Tuesday."

Her fingers went numb as all of her blood migrated south. "That's almost a week!"

Jenny reached for the glass before it fell through her suddenly weak hand. Lost to her own fears, she barely registered Jenny's movement.

Now she understood the reason for her dry throat, her sensitivity to the sunlight and the weakness she felt throughout her body. She'd spent almost seven days lying unconscious in her bed. The length of time filled her with dread.

Almost a total of seven days lost.

Sarah slumped against her pillows and closed her eyes. She inhaled slowly and listened to Jenny's footsteps as she went around the room. Her light steps helped to calm her and after a minute or two she was sitting back up and opening her eyes to look at Jenny.

She refused to wallow in the fact that she'd lost a week of her life. Thanks to her weakness she'd lost a whole lot more. She couldn't waste any extra time on self-pity.

"What have I missed?"

"Not much, the full moon is tomorrow. Everyone has been preparing for the run. It's just you and I here until dinner time."

The last bit of information was unnecessary. If someone was around to overhear them, Jenny would not be acting so kindly. She wouldn't be speaking so freely either.

The lack of news was a relief. So many bad things could have happened. So many things could have gone wrong.

Her imagination supplied her with a number of catastrophic scenarios that filled her with dread.

Sarah eyed Jenny. The past week seemed to have taken its toll on her also. Nervousness radiated from her as she walked around the room, straightening things that did not need it.

Jenny slammed on of her dresser drawers shut and Sarah realized it was not just nerves but irritation too. Apparently her senses were still off; she should have scented her anger long before now. As it was, she had only recognized Jenny's anger through the loss of control and not due to her senses.

Jenny stood before the foot of the bed and pointed an accusatory finger at her. "I do not want you out of this bed until you have completely recuperated."

"That's not going to take more than twenty-four hours."

Jenny glared at her. It was obvious there was plenty she wanted to say but she kept her mouth closed and her thoughts unspoken. The silence surprised her and Sarah raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Nothing I say is going to keep you in bed." was Jenny's answer to the unspoken question, "and I cannot tie you to it. What's the use of wasting my breath?"

Every word dripped with accusation. Jenny's discontent was rightly deserved and Sarah did not speak in her own defense. She'd gone against Jenny's advice more than once in the last couple of years and more often than not, it had landed her in trouble.

Most of those times, her punishment had landed her in the very same spot she was now occupying. And Jenny, charged with the task of cleaning her wounds, was forced to endure her cries of pain every time.

It had not always been that way. Years before, the most Jenny had to do was clean a messy room. Her mistakes caused a domino effect that brought change not just to herself but to Jenny also.

Remorse filled her, caused her to want to hang her head in shame for all of the pain that her actions had inadvertently caused Jenny.

"I'm sorry," Sarah confessed. "I really am sorry for everything I keep putting you through."

Jenny sighed in defeat. Her affront deflated like a popped balloon, she went to sit at the foot of the bed. She did not like the worry that she was being put through but she liked the alternative even less. Sarah's determination was being driven by a demon that she could only try to understand. In her place she would have buckled long ago, she knew.

"Do not apologize. You know there is no need."

"There's every need," Sarah interjected.

Jenny shook her head and started ticking off reasons with her fingers. "You are going to stay in bed until I have decided that you are strong enough to be up and about. Tomorrow night you are going to the full moon gathering. You are going to shift, putting more pressure on your already sore body and if that is not enough, you are going to exert yourself even more by going on that run."

Looking at Sarah expectantly, Jenny paused and waited for her to deny it. The denial did not come and after a second she continued; "do not apologize if you are not prepared to do otherwise."

"May I say thank you at least?"

A small smile graced Sarah's lips it was there just for a second and then it disappeared. The short glimpse of that smile reminded Jenny of the child that she used to be. It also reminded her of-

Jenny shook her head to dispel her thoughts. No point going there, no point at all. Nothing could be undone and she was better off using her energy thinking of ways to help instead of the 'what ifs'. What her father had done was wrong and she would do everything she could to help.

"If you plan on being up and about by tomorrow, we need to get your strength back up to snuff." She patted Sarah's leg and pushed herself back on to her feet. "A good stew is what the doc recommends in cases like this, I'll send it up in a bit."

A rumbling sound emanated from Sarah's midsection. "I think my stomach likes the sound of that."

Jenny chuckled and left her to rest.

Sarah stayed in bed for the rest of the day, only getting up to stretch and use the restroom. The next morning she stayed on her feet a little longer after her morning ablutions but was sure to conserve her strength. She was going to need every bit of it for the run.

****

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