Even though Nick had been slipping in and out of consciousness, he was aware of his surroundings—a hospital room full of monitoring equipment, or rather a clinic. He remembered Ruth telling him that he was in her cousin’s clinic. The IV and the wires connected with sticky pads to his body meant that he was really sick. But he still hadn’t figured out what was wrong with him.

Ruth was there every time he opened his eyes, looking worried and asking how he felt. He even remembered the redheaded doctor with the big boobies checking on him once, or was it twice?

Her tall assistant had taken measurements at least a couple of times, maybe more if he’d done it while Nick was out. Sometimes he could hear the guy and Ruth talking in hushed voices.

But every time Nick asked what was happening to him, the answer he got was that they were still running tests.

He wasn’t sure, but he thought he’d also heard Eva’s voice. Had it been a dream, or had she come to visit him?

She’d probably come.

His boss was like a mother to him, so naturally she would visit him in a hospital when he was so sick. Maybe even dying.

But mostly it was just him and Ruth in the room. Her presence was reassuring. Sometimes, he would know she was there only from hearing her heartbeat or smelling her unique fragrance. Not the perfume, but what her skin smelled like under it.

Nah, that didn’t make sense. He must’ve been imagining it, or had dreamt it. The few times he’d actually opened his eyes, she was either sitting on a chair or lying on a cot. Neither the chair nor the cot was close enough for him to hear her heartbeat or smell her skin. It must’ve been just a comforting memory from the many times they’d slept together entwined in each other's arms.

“Nicki? Are you awake?” He could feel her hovering over him, her warm breath caressing the cold skin of his face.

Hey, did it mean that his fever was gone?

“I think so,” he croaked.

“Let me get you some water.”

Water sounded heavenly. His throat was so dry.

“Here you go.” She stuck a straw in his mouth. “Just don’t drink too much at once. You might get nauseous.”

He couldn’t even if he wanted to. His throat was so tight that it could only handle a few drops at a time. Slowly, though, he finished everything in the cup.

“Can you get me more?”

“I’ll ask Julian. I’m not sure it’s okay.” She made a move to walk away.

Feebly, he reached for her wrist. “Don’t go. I don’t want to be alone.”

“Oh, Nicki.” Ruth bent and kissed his cheek. “I’ll just poke my head out the door and call him. He must be in one of the other patient rooms. A Guar… I mean a guy broke his leg, and Julian is resetting the bone.”

“Then leave him to it. I can wait.”

“He’s probably done.” She pulled her wrist out of his weak grasp and rushed to the door. “Julian, Nick is awake. Can I give him a second cup of water?”

“I’ll be right there. And yes, you can give him another cup. Just have him sip on it slowly.”

Nick heard the guy’s answer as if he were in the room with him. The doctor must’ve been standing right there in the corridor.

Ruth refilled the cup, brought it over, and held the straw to his mouth.

“I can hold it.” He took it from her. He was weak, but not completely enfeebled.

His hand shook a little from the effort, and a few drops of water spilled on the sheet.

Nevertheless, it made Ruth grin from ear to ear as if he’d just finished a marathon. “I’m so glad you’re feeling better. Your fever is down, and your blood pressure has stabilized.”

“Good. Now would someone tell me what’s wrong with me?”

She lifted a finger. “Wait just a little longer. Julian needs to run one last test.”

Tests usually meant waiting for results, not an immediate answer. “Can you tell me what they suspect? They must have some idea of what’s going on with me.”

As Ruth opened her mouth to answer, the young doctor entered the room holding a small metal tray. “I’ll take care of this, Ruth.”

Looking relieved, she stepped away from the bed to make room for the doctor.

After wetting a gauze square with a strong-smelling disinfectant, the doctor took hold of Nick’s hand. “I’m going to clean your palm and then make a tiny cut.”

“Why?”

“I can learn a lot from how fast the bleeding stops. Don’t worry. You’re barely going to feel it, and the discomfort is going to last only a moment.”

Which in doctors’ lingo meant excruciating pain. But whatever, he needed answers, and if he needed to suffer through some “discomfort” so be it.

“Go for it, doc. But after that, I want some answers. You must at least suspect something.” Either that or the doctors in this clinic were incompetent and didn’t know what they were doing.

If he didn’t get a reasonably satisfying answer, Nick was going to demand he get transferred to a proper hospital.

As the guy lifted a small surgical knife off the tray, Ruth approached the bed and leaned to observe him make the small cut.

It stung, but it wasn’t as horrible as he’d expected.

Surprisingly, the doctor didn’t object to her breathing expectantly over the cut. Nick didn’t mind, but it proved to him that they didn’t know what they were doing in this crappy clinic. Didn’t they care about their patients getting infected by germs from visitors?

Ruth shouldn’t have brought him there.

A long moment passed with Julian, the-doctor-in-training, and Ruth hovering over Nick’s palm.

At first, the blood welled over the cut and trickled down his palm, but then the bleeding stopped quite quickly. Still, the two kept observing the cut with rapt attention.

The sight of his own blood wasn’t something Nick could watch without getting queasy, so he concentrated on Ruth’s hair. It had so many shades. He hadn’t noticed it before.

“I’m going to clean your palm,” the doctor said as he picked up a clean gauze square from the tray.

Gently, he wiped the blood away.

Ruth gasped and put a hand over her mouth.

“Take a look, Nick,” the doctor said.

With a grimace, he hazarded a quick glance, but what he saw made him take a closer look.

There was no cut.

Had he imagined the incision? Had they played another hypnotic prank on him like the one Jackson had pulled?

Nah, it didn’t make sense. And Ruth hadn’t faked the gasp.

“Where did it go?”

“It’s healed,” the doctor said.

“Impossible.”

“Ruth? Do you want to take it from here?”

With the guiltiest expression Nick had ever seen on her face, Ruth nodded. “I will. Thanks, Julian.”

“My pleasure.” He turned to Nick and offered his hand. “Welcome to Oz, Nick.”

“Huh?”

“Ruth will explain. When you’re done, call me, and I’ll remove the catheter and the IV.”