I wasn't sure just how long I spent staring blankly at the glass wall in front of me before I realized I was awake.

Wow. The Kymari must have some good painkillers.

Why had I thought that? It must be true though... right? The last thing I could remember was of a Kymari catching me, and I had been in very bad shape then. There had been so much pain...

But now my entire body felt fuzzy, like I had been wrapped in super soft furs that could somehow still breathe easily. I was very warm, and I felt a pleasant heat filling every part of my body as if I was sprawled out in the noon sun. But I was pretty sure I wasn't outside. Whatever I was laying on didn't feel like dirt or a tree branch, and the heat felt steady and constant, without the occasional dimming I would expect from clouds or the cooling from random breezes. The angle of the warmth felt wrong too - it wasn't coming from above me, but from somewhere behind me. It was just a nice, constant warmth from... something.

I realized I could just glance up to find out where I was, but... it felt really good to just lay there and stare at the glass. Moving would mean effort, and I just didn't want to. The slight reflection in the glass showed a silver dragonet with a dopey, checked out expression on his face, and beyond that was a larger room and then a blank wall, and I was more than happy with that view.

Time passed - it might have been minutes, it might have been hours - and I heard a shuffling sound from somewhere.

"Oh, you're awake. Here, let me get you some food."

There was another shuffling sound as somebody got to their feet, and I saw movement through the glass. Something shifted and pulled away - a door opening? - and I saw a green hand slip inside. It dropped something in front of me, then it pulled back through the door.

I kept staring at the glass for another hazy moment... then the scent of something sweet and tangy reached my nose. I sniffed, recognizing it, then slowly tilted my head downwards. It was hard to focus through the happy fuzziness, but the scent was exciting enough to keep me moving.

I stared at the bright peach slice resting on the floor before me. It looked yummy...

I stretched my neck slowly forward, opening my mouth as I went... and finally closed my mouth over the edge of the slice, sinking my teeth through the soft skin of the fruit. Flavor dribbled onto my tongue as the juices flowed from the peach, and I heard myself start to thrum in delight.

The peach was delicious. I was quite certain it was the best thing I had ever tasted, and I lay there with my jaws closed around it. Chewing would take way too much effort, and this felt nice. Everything felt nice...

Gentle laughter came from beyond the glass wall. "Looks like the sedative is still in your system. Here, let me help."

The hand came back into view and slipped through the door in the glass wall. It reached for the peach in my mouth, grabbing it... then it pulled them away. I let out a desperate creel as the taste vanished, and my head slumped the rest of the way to the glass floor.

More charmed laughter reached my ears. "It's okay, don't worry. Just give me a second." There was more shuffling from beyond the glass wall, along with the clinking of plates and a muffled slicing sound, then I saw the hand reappear in my vision. A second joined it and they reached past my head, going too far back for me to keep in my vision - at least, not without moving my head, and I felt way too good like this to waste that much energy - and then I felt the hands scooping underneath my wings and body to lift me up.

I let out a pathetic sounding squawk, which was all I could manage. The hands pulled me through the door in the glass and I felt a disconcerting light-headedness as the world spun around me and grew colder.

The hands settled me gently onto my back in a lap, and my body sprawled limply against something warm and soft.

It reminded me of lying against Susie at night.

I stared blankly at the wall across from me, still awash in that fuzzy happiness. It was quiet for a moment... then the voice spoke up. "Here you go."

The sweet, slightly acidic scent of the peach reached my nostrils again, and I caught sight of the hand again. It pressed something against my mouth, and I reluctantly expended the energy required to open it... then the hand slid a tiny slice of fruit into my mouth. I savored the taste for a few seconds before my instincts prompted me to swallow. I was glad they did - it was still far too much effort to try and swallow on my own, and my stomach lazily added to the warm, fuzzy feeling as it received food.

"Sorry about all this. We had to keep you under while the vet was working - the eagle left you in really bad shape, and..." The voice grew sadder for a second. "Senica wasn't sure if you would make it for a bit there."

There was a slight pressure against my lips, along with the taste of a peach, and I opened my mouth to accept the new slice. I almost managed a half-chew this time, but it just felt so good to lay there, and my instincts swallowed before I could.

"You lost a lot of blood, so the medicine will take longer to work through your system. The doctors are still learning things about fire lizards, so they aren't going to get everything right every time."

I felt another peach at my mouth, and I let the Kymari - my brain felt really slow, and it was so hard to really think about anything, but it had to be one of the Kymari holding and feeding me, right? - slip another slice into my mouth. I was too distracted trying to work out the answer to what was feeding me to summon enough energy to chew, and it rested lightly against my tongue until the instinct to swallow took hold.

"You're adorable. Alec's notes said you were out of it when you were on this tranquilizer, but they didn't say anything about how cute you are."

Adorable...? Another sliver of fruit prodded at my mouth, and I opened it. This time I managed to actually chew once before I swallowed. The fuzzy feeling actually got a little warmer. Somebody thought I was cute?

"I can't wait to see you when you're better. I know you probably won't let me near you then, but... it'll be nice to see you without all these bandages and splints and casts again."

Another slice of fruit. This time I managed to chew and swallow the piece.

The voice sighed and I felt the leg shift a little beneath me. "Here I am talking to myself. You can't understand a word I'm saying, can you?"

I tried to think. The voice was wrong; I could understand it. And it was nice to have a friendly voice again. Even if I hadn't understood it, it would still be comforting to hear, like when Susie had used to bark at me. I had missed that a lot in these past few months, ever since that awful Kymari had shot her.

Something flickered beyond the haze of warmth that covered me. There was something I was forgetting, something I wasn't putting together.

It was so much effort to try and figure it out, though. Not when I could just rest here and watch the wall instead.

Another taste of peach teased my mouth, and I opened for it, too distracted with the effort of thinking to try and chew again. What was it... Why did it feel like it should be important... Why did it feel like something was wrong...

"Getting full?" The voice seemed to notice I had slowed down right as my instinct to swallow took hold. "That's probably enough for now, then. You should be full enough to last until the rest of the medicine wears off, and then I'll bring you some more if you're hungry." The voice went quiet for a moment, then returned in a quiet whisper. "I wonder..."

One of the Kymari's fingers came into view between me and the wall I was staring at. It paused, backing up a little as if in concern... then it reached closer. It was warm against my head, and it stroked gently down my neck.

It felt nice. I felt myself tilting my head to lean into the touch, and I heard the soft thrumming sound as my chest rumbled. I could stop it... but it would be so much effort, and there wasn't really any reason to.

There was a soft 'aw' sound somewhere above me and the gentle fingers moved back to my head, starting over.

The Kymari pet me a few more times before the hand shifted to scoop me up again, and I felt the same light-headed disorientation as I was carried back through the air. I passed back through the doorway of the glass wall, and felt myself get settled down into a pile of warm sand. I marveled at the feeling. I hadn't felt sand in... in years, at least. There hadn't really been any in the park, only dirt and rocks, or mud as I got nearer the river.

It felt good against my chest. I wiggled a little to try and sink into it, then tried to fan out my wings so they could absorb the warmth from the sand and from the heat source I could once more feel behind me... but neither of my wings would move. One of my hind legs wasn't really moving right, either.

I felt a bit of unease at that - my wings should be moving, shouldn't they? I could definitely feel each of them folded in against my sides, so it should be just as simple as always to stretch them out. I tried again but they simply wouldn't move, not beyond the slightest of wiggles. Anything more than that was met by a strange pressure. Something must have been holding them firmly in place.

Oh well. I didn't really need them to move to enjoy the warmth and fuzziness.

I stared at the glass wall before me and thrummed happily against the sand until I slowly fell back asleep.