I woke slowly, as if from a long dream. I hurt—oh, how I hurt!—all over, as if I was one solid bruise from head to toe. I cautiously opened my eyes, just a little, and found myself in a dimly lit room. My arm felt strange, and I turned my head to look—there were tubes sticking into it, held in place with clear tape wrapped around my arm and my hand. I stared at them for a minute, then I tried to sit up, but it just hurt too much. A hand pressed gently against my chest, pushing me back down. I looked over and into Dr. Ayame's eyes. "Doctor?" I croaked, finding that my throat hurt, too, and that my voice didn't sound quite right.

"Hi, kiddo. I can't tell you how glad I am to see you awake. You gave us all quite a scare, you know that?" she said, with a lopsided smile.

"I... I did? What's going on?" I closed my eyes, trying to think. The last thing I recalled was being in bed with Mikhail after I finished my morning chores. "Where... where's Mikhail? I-I was at home with him... so how did I end up here?" I opened my eyes again and looked over at her, waiting for some explanation.

She looked at me sharply. "You don't remember anything after that?" I shook my head, bewildered. "Cam apparently came to your house and found you two together. You don't remember that?"

I shook my head again, then I closed my eyes again and thought. I remembered waking up and tending to my chores, and how afterwards I was shivering with cold as I sat in bed next to Mikhail, gulping hot tea... then kissing... making love... falling asleep in his arms.... Then suddenly my memory returned and I quickly sat up and leaned over the low rail of the bed, throwing up on the floor. "S-s-sorry," I whispered, as I leaned back, still queasy at the memory of that fight with Cam.

"It's okay, kiddo, you've had a rough time." She went and called for Hiro to clean up the mess, then stuck her head back in. "I'll be back in just a minute, Alice. I have a couple other patients I need to check on." Then she disappeared.

Hiro stepped in a moment later, and he cheerfully waved off my apologies as he wiped my face and cleaned up the floor. "No problem. You're pregnant and injured. So don't worry about it! But just in case you feel sick again, here's a basin you can use. Hopefully you won't need it!" Then he left, and I was alone.

I pulled the covers down and found I was in a hospital gown. My legs and arms were covered with dark bruises and scored with a number of scratches, scrapes, and gashes. I still didn't remember anything after... after Cam taunting me that his one-night stand was better than me. Just remembering that much made my stomach knot sickeningly. I couldn't bring myself to even try to remember anything after that.

Dr. Ayame returned and saw me inspecting my injuries. "Hang on, kiddo. You were half frozen when Mikhail brought you in. You might think you feel warm enough now, but you've been through a lot and your temperature regulation may not be quite up to snuff yet. You just keep under those blankets for now. There will be plenty of time for you to admire your legs later." She tugged the blankets back over me, pushing me down yet again.

I looked up at her. "What do you mean, brought me in? What happened? I don't remember anything after... after fighting with Cam... and... the things he said."

She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, then said, "Well, why not get it straight from the horse's mouth?" Then she opened the door, and Mikhail stepped in. He hurried over and sat in the chair next to my bed, reaching out to cup my face in his hands, relief evident in his face.

I saw that he, too, was injured—he had a swollen lip, and he moved as though his side pained him. "Mikhail? What's going on? What happened?"

"You... you don't remember?" he said, glancing up at the doctor with concern.

She just shrugged. "She's been through a lot. Sometimes temporary amnesia accompanies trauma. It'll very likely return soon, though I don't know how much more there is for her to remember."

He turned back to me and picked up one of my hands in his. "Do you remember I spent the night with you?" I smiled and nodded, reaching up to stroke his cheek with my free hand, wincing a little at the pain caused by the movement. "Then Cam came to your house...."

Again the nausea rose, and I quickly sat up and grabbed the basin. I hadn't much left to expel, but what little I had came up. The doctor, who had been standing in the doorway, hurried over and took the basin from my shaky hands, grabbing a towel to wipe my clammy forehead and my mouth.

"Are you okay?" Mikhail asked, rubbing my back and looking worried. "Is it morning sickness?"

I shook my head and leaned back against the pillows. "It's... every time I think of that fight with Cam and the things he said to me, I...." I fought down another wave of nausea.

"Then I'll skip past that to spare you. You ran off—understandably—and Cam and I got into a fight. Purely verbal at first, but it soon turned physical. We'd probably have continued until one of us was unconscious, if I hadn't looked up and seen your mare trotting down your driveway... riderless. And I saw, too, that the blizzard was closing in. Cam and I stopped our fighting and took off to search for you. I rode your mare, and he went to get his horse. I told him to take the tunnel to Konohana and check your farm there, and if you weren't to be found, to ride up the mountain from that side. Meanwhile, I would start up the mountain from the Bluebell side. However, your horse seemed to know exactly where to go and resisted any and all efforts to turn to the side. We reached a spot on the path by a slope, just on the far side of the peak, and she stopped and wouldn't budge. So I got down and looked around, and then I spotted a glimpse of red on the snow below.

"Let me tell you, my heart stopped—then I realized it was your crimson scarf that I saw, not blood as I had initially feared. I slipped and slid down the hill and found you near the frozen river, unconscious and covered in a light blanket of snow, lying so still that my heart nearly stopped again. But you were breathing, if shallowly, and although your face was white, it wasn't deathly white, nor quite yet frostbitten. I'm sure it wouldn't have taken much longer, though, especially since the blizzard was all but upon us.

I somehow managed to carry you back up the slippery path to your horse and laid you over her back. Then I carefully led her down the mountain towards Konohana, meeting Cam just past the bridge by the waterfall. I have to say, as much of a jerk as he's been lately, he looked more frightened than I'd ever imagined possible when he saw you so limp and still. I thought he was going to faint, until I assured him you were alive, if urgently in need of medical attention. Anyway, he helped me to get you here to the clinic, and just in time--the blizzard hit just as we carried you in through the doors. The good doctor insisted we stay on, too, as we were both suffering various injuries from our fight earlier as well as being half-frozen—though nowhere near as badly as you were. Hiro braved the blizzard to take the horses to Kana's, and he's been caring for them ever since. And now you're awake, thank the Harvest Goddess."

I sat processing all that. Then something he'd said suddenly struck me as odd. "Wait, what do you mean, Kana's been caring for the horses 'ever since'? It's only been a few hours at most... hasn't it?"

Mikhail and Dr. Ayame looked at each other, then she stepped forward and knelt down next to my bed. "No, kiddo. You've been out for close to three days now."

I just stared at them, looking from one to the other in shock. "N-no, that can't be right. I... I...."

"And I'm afraid there's more. Mikhail, will you leave us for a few minutes, please? You may wait outside—I'll let you know when you can see her again."

He nodded and turned to give me a gentle kiss on my cheek. "Take care, my dearest Alice. Rest and get better. I'll see you again soon." Then he left, closing the door tightly behind him.

The doctor turned to me and held my hand in hers as she looked at me. "Alice, there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to come straight out and tell you. I'm afraid you're bleeding."

I looked at her, uncomprehending. "Bleeding?" I said, numbly echoing her voice.

"Yes. Not very heavily so far, but enough to cause concern, especially given the circumstances. You will need to stay here on bed rest for at least a week, quite likely longer. Possibly even for a long time. But... despite all our care and precautions, there's still a chance that you may lose this baby."

"Lose... lose my baby?" Everything felt so unreal, I just couldn't comprehend it. "Am I... this is just a bad dream, isn't it? This isn't really happening, right?" I clutched her hand—the only thing that felt real to me at that moment.

She squeezed my hand, and I was surprised to see a faint glimmer of tears in the corners of her eyes. "I wish it was, Alice. Truly I do. But it's not a dream. You had a very bad fall—it's a wonder you didn't hurt yourself worse than you did. I'm assuming it was due to all the snow everywhere, cushioning you somewhat. But you did get pretty badly banged up, and you lay in the snow for who knows how long. You had a massive bruise all along your stomach and side, and it's possible that your fall hurt the baby, too. The bleeding could be due to any of a number of things. For example, there could be a small tear in the placenta, which with rest and care might heal and allow you to proceed with a normal pregnancy. But it could also be a sign of an impending miscarriage—and there wouldn't be anything we could do at this point to prevent that. We'll just have to have you take it easy, keep you off your feet as much as possible, and keep a close eye on you. And that means you'll need to stay here for a while."

She stood up and gave me a half smile as she crossed to the other side to examine the IV bags and tubes. "Ash and Cheryl have already volunteered to tend to your farm in Bluebell while you recover, and Nori and Dirk offered to check on your fields here. So you don't need to worry about your farms for now, anyway. Small comfort, I know."

As she spoke, there was a sudden commotion in the hall, and then I heard Cam's voice bellowing, "Let me go! I want to see my wife!" Then the door to my room banged open, and Cam burst in, both Hiro and Mikhail trying to drag him back. Despite his injuries—his arm was splinted and in a sling, one eye and much of his face was bruised and swollen, and a wide swath of bandages spanned his bare torso above his boxers—he still outmatched the two of them together. He stopped and stood frozen, panting from the struggle, when he saw me lying there, startled by the intrusion. We just stared at each other for a moment, everyone too stunned to speak, then he shook the two men off and dropped down next to my bed. He reached for me with his uninjured hand, but I shrank away, fearful and uneasy.

"You... you're alive. You're okay," he mumbled, and I could have sworn I saw a tear slide down his cheek. "Alice, I'm... I'm so very sorry for... for everything. I've been such an asshole to you. When I saw you... when I thought you were...." He closed his eyes for a moment and shuddered, then looked again at me. "That was when I realized nothing else mattered. Just you—you and the baby."

I was still trying to take in everything that I'd been told, though, and I wasn't in a forgiving mood. Tears filled my eyes and blurred my vision, so I closed my eyes and turned away. "It... it hardly matters now, does it? It's too little, too late, now that I may be losing her. So you don't need to bother yourself with us, since it looks like your problem may be going away soon, anyway."

"Wait, what? You what? What do you mean, losing her?" he said, with rising panic in his voice.

I looked back at him, and I did not look upon him kindly. "I got pretty beat up when I fell, Cam, and now I'm bleeding. I'm on bed rest for now, but even so, it might not be enough to save her."

"Bleeding? You mean... you mean we really might lose our baby? Sh-she might die?" he said, horrified, as he staggered painfully to his feet and looked to the doctor for confirmation.

That did it. I struggled to sit up, despite Dr. Ayame's restraining hands, my eyes snapping with anger. "What do you mean, 'our' baby? She's mine—my baby. You rejected her, remember? Rejected both of us! You've nothing to do with either of us anymore!"

The doctor stepped around and gently pushed Cam backwards towards the door. "All right, Cam. That's enough. You're upsetting her, and I won't have it—she's in no condition to be getting worked up like this. Right now you're only making things worse, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You need to get back to your own room, anyway—you shouldn't even be out of bed."

"Wait!" he said, then looked back at me with desperate eyes. "Alice, do you really want a divorce? Truly? Is that... is that what you want?"

I closed my eyes and looked away, swallowing hard as I silently nodded. There was a long pause, then with defeat in his voice, he replied, "Then if that's what will make you happy, I... I won't try to stop you anymore. Just... make those appointments whenever suits you, and I'll come to them. I'm... I'm so sorry, Alice." Then he left.