I woke up with a start.

I squinted at the fluorescent lights overhead, my eyes sweeping around the unfamiliar space. There was nobody in the white-walled room except for me.

On my left were strange apparatuses and machines that were attached to me with wires and tubes. One of them had a screen showing my heart rate and was beeping constantly, showing that my heart was beating normally. There was an IV stand on my right with some liquid bags hanging on it.

An IV? Am I in a hospital? How did I get here?

When I couldn't think of an answer, I instead continued inspecting the place. Maybe I'll get some clues.

On my right was a table full of empty water bottles and Styrofoam containers, which made the surface look messy. A lone plastic chair sat beside the table and was bit slanted, looking like it was facing me.

Was someone watching me the whole time I was asleep?

Across the room, the door opened and revealed Uncle Ben carrying a plastic bag with his one hand. He was looking outside and was talking to someone. He talked for a few more seconds before saying a 'thank you' to the person he was speaking with, who turned out to be a nurse, and turned around and closed the door.

Sighing heavily, he ran a hand through his hair and started mumbling something under his breath. He then looked up and his eyes bulged out when he saw me.

"A-Amelia?" he said, his mouth slackening. The bag he was holding fell from his grasp, its contents scattering across the floor.

I weakly smiled. "Hey, Uncle Ben," I said, my voice raspy.

He shuffled to my side and held me into a bone-crushing embrace. "I-I can't believe it! You're awake!"

I coughed. "C-can't. . . breath. . ."

He let go of me and sheepishly smiled at me. "Sorry, Mel. You have no idea how glad I am that you're awake."

My lips parted to say something to him, but no words came out except for another dry cough.

"You need water," Ben said, picking up the plastic bag from the floor, fishing a water bottle and handing it to me. "You didn't have any food or water lately."

"Thanks," I said. "How long was I out, by the way?"

Taking the bottle from him, I began drinking in big gulps, the water passing through my parched throat and quenching my thirst.

Ben hesitated before he spoke, "You were unconscious for, um, almost a week."

I breathed sharply, making me choke up. I coughed, the water sputtering out of my mouth. I continued coughing for several moments until the scratchy feeling in my throat was gone.

When I was finally done, I cleared my throat to make sure the itchy sensation was gone. I then stared at Ben, my eyes wide.

"A week?" I exclaimed. "But I—it felt, like, that I passed out yesterday!"

"Mel, I—you. . . you got yourself into an injury-induced coma," he said, his tone suddenly cracking. "The doctor said that you could have been unconscious for more than a week, maybe even months or years." His eyes glossed over. "He said you could be brain dead and that whatever happened to you took a toll on your body But thank god he was wrong. I don't what I'll do if. . . if— "

Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, I hugged him with all my strength. A second later, he began shaking and sobbing, clutching my hospital gown tightly.

I stroked his back, making an effort to comfort him. "Shh. . . It's okay. What's important now is that I'm awake, okay? Everything's going to be fine. . ."

He sniffled. "Dmitri would kill me if something ever happened to you."

"Don't say that. I'm sure he would understand if he were still here," I said. "Besides, it wasn't even your fault."

I felt him shake his head. "I should've protected you, Mel. I should have," he said. "But I couldn't. Now look at what happened."

"No! I should've when you got knocked out by that bomb!" I said, my voice breaking. "You were just. . . there beside me, but I pushed Robert away first and—"

"—you did the right thing," he cut me off. "Don't ever change that, Mel."

"But. . . but. . ."

"Shh. . . Don't say anything else," he said.

That's when tears streamed down my face. Ben started stroking my auburn hair to console me.

We both continued weeping, still embracing each other for comfort. The room went still, save for the steady beeps of the medical equipment nearby and our cries. After a while, we let go of each other.

Ben smiled, his eyes red and puffy. For a second, the scars on his face made him look. . . different, like he was a stranger, but deep down, I knew it was still him under all that burns and scars.

"You look different with all your. . ." I gestured at his face.

"Oh, you mean these?" he said, touching the marks on his face. "They make me look like a motorcycle gangster, don't you think?"

"Seriously?" I laughed. "Where did you get that from?"

He grinned. "I thought you teenagers like gangsters for some reason."

I giggled. "Not really. Where in the world did you know that?"

"From the. . . Internet?"

I roared in laughter, slapping my thighs in amusement. When I didn't stop, Ben laughed along for a good while.

After our heartfelt moment, Ben called the doctor to check on me. When the doctor, whose name was Dr. Solomon, arrived, he began examining me while asking some questions about how I was feeling.

"Do you feel nauseous?" Dr. Solomon asked.

"No."

"Seeing in doubles?"

"No."

"Disorientation?"

"No."

"Do you feel. . . off?" he asked. "Like something is not right?"

"Not really. . ." I answered. "But I do have a slight headache right now."

"Interesting," he muttered as he took down some notes on a clipboard. After a few moments, he gazed at Ben who was standing beside me. "I suggest that Amelia gets some rest for today. I'll prescribe her some medicine that she'll have to take for a few weeks before she gets discharged."

"And when will that be?" Ben asked.

Dr. Solomon gave me a quick glance, then smiled. "Tomorrow."

Ben let out a relieved sigh. "Those words are the first good news I heard since last week."

I gave Ben a questioning look, but he ignored me. "Thank you so much, doc."

"No problem," the doctor said, then turned to me. "Eat something for now, alright? But not too much, since you just woke up from your coma. We don't want something to happen to you again." Ben grimaced. Dr. Solomon looked at Ben apologetically. "Sorry for that. Now, if you'll excuse me. . ." He headed to the door and went out.

Excusing himself, Ben went to the hospital canteen and bought food for my grumbling stomach. He got me a large cup of spicy instant noodles, a fried chicken leg, a can of soda, and a chocolate bar for dessert.

Ben said that those were the only food available, since hospital service won't serve the next meal for a few hours. Even though it wasn't a healthy meal for someone who didn't eat for an entire week, I wholeheartedly ate the food given in front of me.

I let out a satisfied burp after I took the last bite of my chocolate bar.

"Ah, that was so good." I sighed.

Ben smiled. "Full?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Hey, I was wondering. . ."

"Hm?" Ben took the empty noodle cup from the table and started cleaning up my mess.

"What happened after I passed out?" I asked, then started sipping my soda.

Ben paused and looked up.

"Why do you want to know, Mel?"

I shrugged. "I just want to. Don't you want to fill me in?"

He went to the garbage bin across the room and threw the trash. "It's better you don't know."

"Why?"

He sighed. "I. . . I don't want to recall what Athena told me."

"Why? What happened?" I asked. "Did something terrible happen?"

"No, Mel, everything was fine," he said. "It's just. . ." He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

"Will. . . will you show me instead?"

Ben perked up. "What?"

I hesitated. "I don't know what excuse the Olympian siblings told you, but I. . . I have mind reading powers."

His forehead creased. "Mind-reading powers?"

"I swear I'm not making this up," I quickly said. "I discovered it when I first got into Olympian High. It was crazy to me at first, but really, I could read people's thoughts like—"

"I believe you, Mel."

I paused. "You do?"

"Your friend Athena told me everything that happened while you were asleep."

"S-She did?"

That's. . . a relief. How did she say it to him though?

He slowly nodded. "It took me a while to digest what she said, but yeah. She also told me you saved them from the archer's attack."

What? I saved them? But I don't remember doing anything. . .

"She said you also have some sort of telekinesis powers." He gazed at me with worried eyes. "Whatever it was, it drained you so much you got into a coma. I-I don't want you to use your powers on me if it will make you unconscious again."

"It's okay, Uncle," I said nonetheless. "I already know how to use my powers. Trust me."

"I don't know, Mel. . ."

"Please, Uncle Ben," I pleaded. "I can't help it but want to know what happened."

He sighed. "Okay, Mel. If you insist."

I took his hands and gripped onto them tightly. I closed my eyes and exhaled.

I want to see his memory. I chanted in my mind. Show me his memory with Athena. Show me.

Visions began popping inside my head, and along them was a discord of distant voices, cries and laughter. They were all different images and sounds, but they all had one thing in common.

Ben was in every single one of them.

When I looked closer at some of them, I saw myself, but I looked younger.

Those must be Ben's memories with me when I was a child.

Before I had a chance to ponder at one of them, a dark swirling vortex materialized in front of me and pulled me, leaving the kaleidoscope of memories behind.