Cassandra was having a nightmare. It seemed to go on and on. She could not wake up. It was more horrific than any she had ever experienced. She was blind and paralyzed and there was an alien monster gripping her face with its tentacles down her throat. It was so hard to breathe, she felt like she was suffocating. Cassandra tried to scream, but nothing came out...her thoughts faded back into the black depths of unconsciousness.

For the next three and a half days Cassandra remained unconscious. Both of her parents had stayed all through that first night, checked on their daughter one more time and at the insistence of one of the nurses, went home for a few hours sleep, a meal and a shower. Cassie returned to the hospital at just after noon and Cassandra's condition was slowly improving. The doctor told her. "Her breathing and heartbeat are strong and steady now. I'm going to remove the ventilator and slowly reduce to flow of Propofol. We'll keep her on oxygen for another day or so. If all goes well, we'll bring her out of the coma in less than thirty-six hours."

Cassie nodded and whispered. "Thank you, doctor."

Cassie watched from behind a glass partition as the nurse and technician removed the ventilator, she had to turn away as they gently pulled the long tube from her daughter's throat. Cassandra did not even stir during this entire process.

The nightmare continued, but the horrifying visions, feelings of pure terror, and complete helplessness changed slightly. The alien monster which had forced its mechanical tentacles down her throat finally went away. There were claws on her arms and another squid-like monster on her face. Cassandra later remembered strange bright white lights without form...Finally, the monsters went away...

That evening Rajneesh returned to the hospital to wait out the night. Cassie was reluctant to leave her only child but he insisted. "Cassie, go home and get some sleep. I'll call if anything changes."

Cassie nodded tiredly. "Okay, you're right. I'll be back in the morning. Doctor Johansen said that she would wake Cassandra at noon tomorrow. I'll be back before eight."

They stood up, and Raj kissed Cassie gently on the lips and whispered in her ear. "It's all going to be okay."

Cassie nodded and walked towards to exit.

Was it hours or maybe days later? The nightmare was reduced to only one of struggling for each breath and the nightmare would not end... The final and most vivid nightmare was of complete and utter paralysis. She still could not move, not her toes, not her little finger, nothing. During the paralysis, there seemed to be a constant series of bright lights shining into her unblinking eyes. Finally, she slept without dreaming and never did step into the light...

Cassie returned to the hospital just after 7 AM. Raj was dozing in one of the chairs off to one side of the well-worn waiting room. She left him to rest and went to her daughter's room. The attending nurse greeted her with a smile. "Good morning Ms. Banner. Doctor J. has slowed the medication to a trickle. It will taper off to zero by ten this morning. Your daughter should wake within an hour or so after that."

Cassie gently gripped the young woman's hand and whispered. "Thank you so much, I'll go and tell my husband."

"I'll send the tech to come and get you when it's time."

Cassie went back to the waiting room and found Rajneesh frowning at a small paper cup of terrible vending machine coffee. She hugged him and told him the news. Raj finished his coffee and before he could sit down, Cassie took his hand and whispered. "Rajneesh, will you come and pray with me?"

He nodded solemnly and Cassie led him to the hospital's little non-denominational chapel. It was more than unusual that they would pray together. They were both devout, each in their own way but had never actually prayed together. Cassie was a Christian and Raj a Hindu. Years later Cassie told Cassandra that it was at that exact moment was when she decided that they both prayed to the same God after all.

A few minutes after her parents had left the Chapel, Cassandra opened her eyes and found that she was lying on her back. There was an oxygen mask on her face and she could hear the whirr and beeping of medical machines. She looked around and discovered that she was in a hospital room. Cassandra tried to raise her head and one of the machines started beeping louder. She hadn't actually got her head off of the pillow but managed to wiggle her toes, and finally managed to groan. "What, where...?"

Someone squeezed her hand and she managed to almost squeeze back. She was still very confused and noticed that all of a sudden the room seemed full of people. There were two women in medical uniforms and her mother was by the side of the bed and she was holding her hand. She was crying. Rajneesh was standing at the foot of the bed he was crying too. Cassandra mused thru the fuzz of her thoughts. My father never cries.

Over the next few days, things for her steadily improved. By the afternoon of the day after she woke up, they finally let Cassandra out of bed, they removed the tubes and sensors. This was nothing a 17-year-old girl or anyone else had as an idea of a pleasant experience. They finally let her go by herself to the attached bathroom and she was able to get cleaned up and felt almost human. Cassandra took a look at herself in the mirror and it was not a pretty sight.

Just slightly more than two weeks later, Cassandra finally left the hospital. The last week was not too bad. She wasn't hooked up to anything and was in a regular type bed. They never did figure out what bit her that day but kept her under observation nonetheless. One afternoon, Cassandra said to the duty nurse. "I feel more or less like a lab rat!"

When she was finally discharged, her parents were both there to bring her home. Raj took time off from work to drive her home; Raj never took time off work.

So within an hour, she was home. The 100-year-old farmhouse never looked so good. Cassandra was still very weak and couldn't help but shake as her father helped her up the steps, onto the porch, and through the front door. All she could say was. "Thanks, dad, it's good to be home."

Her usually stoic six foot four, dark-skinned father turned away to wipe a tear from his eye and then said warmly. "Cassandra..." And then he couldn't continue to speak.

She hugged him tight and said. "It's okay dad, what I think I want to do is take a nap in my own room without anything that beeps or buzzes! Then maybe you and I can go for a walk?"

Rajneesh Banner held onto his composure and managed to say. "Okay," as he left the room.

About that time, Cassie came into the room put her arm around Cassandra's waist. "Hon, all of this has been so hard. I have known your father since we were both nine years old. I've never seen him like this. A couple of weeks ago when we thought that we had lost you..."

Then it was finally Cassandra's time to cry. The gravity of the situation finally hit her full-force and started sobbing...

It was very difficult, but the Banner family got through it. April finally turned into May and Cassandra got stronger every day. However, even by the first of June, she was still not quite herself. She didn't sleep well. The nightmares and bad dreams were all continuous repeats of the previous nightmares and bad dreams. On top of all that, she had lost almost 20 pounds during the three weeks in the hospital and once she finally got home, she started having food issues. There were just certain things that she couldn't eat; even the smell of some things made her throw up instantly. She decided without thinking about it that once you throw up a couple of times trying to eat something, don't try to eat it!

Her list of I'm not eating that got longer. It didn't make any sense but it didn't have to; it was very real to Cassandra. Some days, all she could keep down was tomato soup and a small salad, other days were better. She was always tall and thin, and as a matter of fact, she was not only the tallest girl in the fourth and fifth grade, Cassandra was also the tallest kid in her class until the sixth grade when one of the boys finally passed her by. She was also the last in her class to change from girl to young woman.

Cassandra was a blending of the physical characteristics of her parents. Her mother was of average height, about five-nine. She has reddish-blonde hair, pale skin with a few freckles, and very beautiful green eyes. Cassandra always thought that Cassie had the warmest most wonderful and beautiful eyes that she had ever seen. Her father was also thin. He is over six-four and has dark brown skin, wavy black hair, and deep thoughtful brown eyes. With that heritage, Cassandra was also tall and thin, just like her father at a little short of five-ten. Her skin was light brown, some said olive but Cassandra always hated that term and responded to any who asked. "I am not a tree!" Her hair was as black as her father's but straight like her mother's. And, according to her best friend Janie, 'Cassandra totally had her mother's awesome green eyes.'

It took a couple of weeks after getting home from the hospital, but she finally got her mother to tell the story of how she found her on that day that she died...Cassandra was helping her mother unload the groceries and was still pretty weak and hurt all over, not just pain, more like every nerve ending burned and throbbed. Cassandra reached for the highest shelf in the farmhouse pantry and winced visibly and Cassie shouted softly. "Cassandra, sit down this instant!"

Cassandra started to argue with her but knew that she was right. She sat at the kitchen table and Cassie brought her a glass of ice water. She mumbled. "Thanks, mom."

She stared at the melting cubes and water drops condensing on the outside of the scratched water glass. After a few moments of silence said softly. "Mom, it's been long enough, I know how hard it is for you, but I need you to tell me about that day, you know when I got sick..."

Cassie shook her head as if to say no and then poured a glass of water for herself and sat down next to her only child. She tried to make a thin smile and then began. "Okay, if I cry it's your fault."

Cassandra nodded and touched her hand gently. Cassie started telling the story. When she was done, they both hugged and cried.

Cassandra never went back to high school. She finished a few assignments from home and completed all of her requirements. On the day of graduation, she was half-way across the state lying in a CAT scan machine. The results were unremarkable. She received her diploma in the mail in the middle of June.