“Wh…wha…what happened?” Zoe asked after waking up. She considered asking where she was but forgot about that after failing to move when she tried to sit up. “Why can’t I move?”

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” a voice said.

“Cl…Claire?”

“Yeah, you’re at my clinic,” Doc Brown replied. Zoe tried to focus on the voice, but her eyes wouldn’t comply.

“I can’t see well either,” Zoe said with a hitch in her voice.

“Try to sip this,” a deeper male voice said. Zoe felt what must be a straw pushed between her lips. She sipped a little and found she was very thirsty. The straw was pulled away entirely too quickly for her liking. “That’s enough for now.”

“Zane…” Zoe whined after recognizing the voice.

“Sorry kiddo. It might not seem like it, but it’s best not to let you drink your fill right now. Besides, your body is getting plenty of fluids from the IV we gave you.”

“So, are you two going to tell me why I can’t see anything but blurry shapes and more importantly why I can’t move?” Zoe asked after a short silence.

“You broke your spine,” Claire said gently as she sat on the edge of the bed. Zoe started crying and Claire took Zoe’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Zoe did her best to squeeze back. “Your systems took some damage, but nothing major. Your Kaisers are out of whack and that’s why things are blurry.”

“Zoe, you’re lucky to be alive,” Zane added. “The police say you were going 150 when you crashed. That’s a lot of momentum that came to a very sudden stop when you hit the delivery van. On the plus side, you put a Zoe shaped dent in the back of the van that I have pictures of that I’ll share with you once Claire fixes your eyesight.”

Zoe laughed a little through her tears. After a few minutes she had regained her composure.

“Doc, you said welcome back to the land of the living. What did you mean by that?” Zoe asked.

“You’ve been in a light coma for two days,” Claire answered.

“What?” Zoe asked in disbelief. She started to breathe hard and fast.

“It’s true Zoe,” Zane said. “But you’ll be fine, so, calm down please. We don’t want you to hyperventilate.”

“I’m going to give you something to help you sleep,” Claire suddenly said before injecting a tranquilizer into the IV. Zoe’s breathing slowed and she started to drift off to sleep. “When you wake, we’ll get you something to eat and discuss treatment options.”

*

“What are you thinking?” Zane asked his wife.

“I’m going to suggest Alimpetinum Bone replacements,” Claire answered as they watched Zoe fall into a deeper sleep.

“Claire, we can’t turn the girl into a special forces’ solider,” Zane said. “Dense Bone or carbon fiber replacements would do just fine and be cheaper for her.”

“I don’t intend to turn Zoe into a solider or merc. The Alimpetinum is me trying to make up for not preparing her properly for that run to the Bratva she did for us,” Doc retorted.

“And it’ll allow you to get her to do more runs for us,” Zane said. “Are you planning to just charge her costs for the Alimpetinum?”

“Yes, on both counts,” Claire admitted.

“She’ll still have to pay some unless you’re planning on using her a lot,” Zane said.

“I know. We’ll discuss it with her,” Claire promised. “Why did you mention Dense Bone?”

“I don’t know. I guess because it’s cheaper and would give her strong bones,” Zane replied shrugging his massive shoulders.

“Really? No girl that small wants to weigh over 200 pounds,” Claire said mock glaring at her husband. He shrugged again.

“I’ve met a few that might.”

“Oh? Do tell,” Claire said as they exited the room.

“I think I’ve put my foot in my mouth enough already,” Zane said. “I’ll contact Kristine Simpson or Clarence, the mechanic, at the Knight dealership on Zoe’s behalf. I’m sure the bike is under warranty, but who knows how much that covers or if she opted for the insurance.”

“Good idea. She’s not going to be happy when she finds out what happened to her baby,” Claire replied. “Let’s keep that under our hats until she’s recovered though.”

“Yes ma’am,” Zane said throwing Doc Brown a salute.

“I’m going to let her family and work know Zoe’s awake,” Doc said. She smacked Zane’s ass and headed to her office.

“I’ll get you back for that.”

“Promises, promises,” Claire said giving Zane a grin.