Teal's lids fluttered open, to three pairs of eyes staring at her. She slowly looked at each one of them and shrunk back into the pillow, holding her head. She had no idea who they were, why they ogled over her, nor, where she was. In fear, she recoiled further into the mattress, vaguely remembering where she'd been last.

I've been caught by humans! Why?! Why has this happened to me?! 

"Don't hurt me!" The rims of her eyes filled with tears. "Please!"

"Oh! Honey, no. We're the good guys." Gisela smiled reaching for Teal's fingers. 

Shrinking back, Teal displayed undeniable, intense fear in her eyes and Gisela stopped the movement of her hand obviously coming to the conclusion she should not touch the human-looking zombie on the gurney. 

Teal trembled.

"Teal, we are human, but we work with Marc." Art let his words sink in. "I'm his younger brother. This, is my girlfriend Gisela and Liz here, is just an immune, insane human who loves danger."

The three of them laughed and Liz playfully punched Art on the shoulder.

"What?!" She felt light-headed and cradled her head. "You're humans who work with Marc?" She closed her eyes processing the information. "And, you're, his brother?" Wide eye and still afraid, she thought she might die. "I didn't know he has a brother. He never-" 

Now that she paid attention to his face, she saw the resemblance. The hair was the same texture as Marc's, yet, Art wore his longer. It covered his ears and was left in its natural, tree-trunk brownish color. His eyes were a brighter green, and he was wider at the shoulders.

"Do- do you all live on this side of the fence? Or the other?" She was baffled and obviously living under a rock.

"Z-town." Art gave her the same wink Marc did, the night they met. She noticed a slight resemblance in their mannerisms. "How do you think he gets stuff done during the day?" They all chuckled.

"Are you feeling OK?" Liz asked concerned. "You were shot and grazed in the arm. Plus, Kaya hit your head pretty hard. You, bled... a lot. You'll be Okay according to the doctor."

Teal turned her attention from Art to Liz's beautiful face. It was smooth and darker than the rest of the human faces in the room. There was black under both her lower eyelash lines, which made her eyes seem large and grey in color, like a cat's. 

"Teal?" Liz addressed her again.

Slowly, Teal shook her head, but then looked at her arm and winced in pain, holding it. "Where, where's Marc?"

"He's going to be okay too."

"What happened to him?" Teal panicked.

"You're pretty special Teal, and not only because you-you bleed, but he walked in sunlight for you. That's what happened to him." Gisela interjected. "He carried you all the way to the van after you fainted."

Teal's head pounded again, she could feel her heartbeat and slight perspiration atop her lip, and at her nape. "H-he did?" It was incredible, he'd done something like that for her. 

Art creased his bushy brows. "What's the last you remember?" 

"A phone call, then shots. Also, Marc's eyes coming towards me. It gets hazy after that."

"It's a lot to process, I know." He sighed. "Don't worry, we'll let you rest. We're gonna go check on my brother."

"Can you let me know, how he's doing?"

Art nodded, "Sure. It was nice to finally meet you, Teal."

Dumbfound, Teal smiled. One of those smiles that seem to be plastered on, instead of genuinely there. She was trying to wrap her brain around what just happened, and who those people were. 

Her first humans. She'd met Humans! They were there. In the room. Inches away, staring and talking to her. And, not just any humans. Marc's brother, and friends... who were living on her side of the fence. 

Common sense and understanding left her. The thoughts came and went, at a mile a minute. With the sensation all brain capacity left her body, it shut down and she, dozed off. 

When Teal awoke next, she was alone. The lights above, hurt her eyes and the dingy, bare walls gawked at her in silence. A single chair was next to the bed, and a small table with a plastic pitcher of water stood across. Uncomfortable, a shiver ran her spine. She wondered how long she'd been at the hospital. 

For a while, Teal stared at the sterile-white, fluorescent-lit ceiling, calming her breathing. She felt better even though her head felt light. Reaching to feel around it, she noticed her hair had been shaved, cleaned, and stitched around the wound at her nape. In her arm, she felt pain no longer and removed the gauze covering the scar, where she'd been shot.

The skin on the path of the bullet died off, leaving a dry, flaky mark. She picked at the dead skin around the deepest part of the wound, attempting to clean it some more. It was barely noticeable. It now looked as if she'd been shot weeks ago. Teal wondered if it had, and she slept through it, or if she'd healed that quickly.

Grimacing she sat up. If Marc was still in the hospital, Teal wanted to see how he was doing. Her brain soared, as she identified newfound respect and love for him. She'd felt an attraction before when they met at the bar. But now, it was different, deeper. 

Spending time with him was extremely enjoyable. He was smart. A zombie who said what he thought and did what he said he would. He was truthful. Too much sometimes; if there ever was such a thing, yet private with his life and past.

Even if the reason they were both hurt and in the hospital was the kiss they shared at his office, the memory of the moment, now burned her lips. A slow bubbling churned her stomach and she felt warm. If Kaya hadn't walked in, Teal wouldn't at that moment realize, how much she liked him. So much, she'd consider over his proposal of a sexual relationship. 

Trying to find some kind of reasoning behind her feelings, Teal concluding she rather have that, than nothing at all. She hadn't admitted to herself then but did now. After almost losing her life. And he, practically giving his, to save her. 

She'd grown by leaps and bounds since they'd met, and although she believed in romantic love, no zombie could ever realistically give her that. She knew this. Teal had never wanted a zombie, until Marc. She'd be open to just sex with him if that was all he could give because regardless of what he said, he cared for her.

Confused and nervous, she swiveled her body, flinging her legs to the side of the bed and stood up. They felt weak under her weight making her wobble. Reaching out with her hand, Teal stabilized herself and took small steps toward the door.

The air smelled musty, and the walls in the hallway were dingier than her room's. There was a large clock above the empty nurse's station, indicating it was 4:44 AM. No, no one was around. It was quiet and in her search, Teal decided to open the corridor doors along the way.

The first few rooms closest to hers were empty. The next one over, had a sleeping, something? Someone? She wasn't interested in finding out if it was human or zombie. Speedily she exited, once she figured Marc wasn't in it. A few more doors and finally, she opened the one revealing a sleeping Marc.

Relieved, she wobbled in, taking a seat facing his bed. Her breath heavy, because of the effort she'd put forth, walking the long distance. Her eyes raked his peaceful face. Pale gray and veiny. His brown hair no longer showcased spikes. The green dye lay flat against the rest of the straight strands on his head. Like this, his hair resembled his brother's.

Taking a deep breath, she recalled Gisela's words: He walked in the sunlight for you.

She glanced him over for burn marks or scars, but he had none. He'd healed well. Sighing in relief, Teal placed a hand on her chest and looked at him with different eyes. Loving eyes, full of admiration.

Sensing a presence, his lids slowly opened and a smile reached his eyes.

"Hey, you." 

Teal noticed his voice sounded weak but upbeat. 

"Hey, you." Teal smiled back wincing when she gingerly got up from the chair.

His face shadowed with concern. "I'm so relieved you're OK."

"Me too. That you, are OK... not me. Well, I'm good with that too, of course." She laughed nervously. "Both. That we're both good."

Marc chuckled lightly at her jumbled words. "You probably shouldn't be here." He said matter of fact.

"I had to see you. I have no idea how long it's been since we got here. Plus, I wanted to thank you. Face to face." She placed a hand on his head and caressed the long strands back from his face. He, stared into the cobalt of her eyes, comforted by the touch.

"It's been four nights since we were brought here. I've been in and out of consciousness, but I was told you were out for three solid nights after you woke the first time."

"I've been sleeping for three days?!" She blinked, shocked at the news.

He nodded.

"Has my mother been told I'm here?"

"Yes. Someone from my team went to your house. Liz, it might have been Zane. I can't recall. She's been by to see you every evening since, but today she left early. Work."

She nodded. "Is she angry?" Her eyes grew, "Is my father?"

He nodded. "A little. I think concerned more than anything."

"Are they angry at you? They shouldn't be. This is not your fault." 

"They asked. Your mom. She was very vocal with her opinion of what happened."

"Was she?"

"Stood right there." He pointed with his mouth. "Where you are. Read me my rights." He chuckled. "Then hugged me. Thanked me, and said she knew you're stubborn as a mule, and I wasn't to be blamed, entirely."

Teal couldn't hide her embarrassment. Her face warmed. Something she'd never felt before. "I-I, I'm so sorry. My mother can be a bit much, sometimes."

"Don't be. This was my fault."

"What?! No, no. Really, I want to thank you, for saving my life. And, I'm sorry the sunburned you." She said apologetically.

"It only poisoned me. Luckily, since it was so early in the morning, the UV rays weren't sufficiently strong to burn, or cause permanent damage." He looked embarrassed. "It was my fault you were put in that position in the first place. I owed it to you." He briefly looked away, then back at her face searching, for forgiveness. "I'm sorry. For what Kaya did. You kinda knew, didn't you?"

She nodded. "That something was off? Yes. It's not your fault she's unstable."

"She tried to kill you, Teal. Almost did. Heck, almost killed both of us. I wasn't paying close enough attention to who's surrounding me. She could have tried to kill anyone. Especially someone from my human team."

Not unless they were a personal threat to her Teal thought looking down at him. 

"Maybe. What, happened with her?"

"Haven't decided yet. She's in my version of jail. I had to improvise. A jail cell didn't exist on our side of the fence until I had to have one for her. At least not for that purpose."

"Oh, right. I see." She stood silent for a while, then cleared her throat. "I met your team." She paused. "Your human brother, Art. I know we're not really friends but, I think you could have mentioned him when I told you about my aunt." She paused carefully tiptoeing around the subject. "He and his girlfriend seem charming. Liz too."

He looked at her for a long moment hesitating. There was a lot he needed to say, yet, he didn't want to say anything at all. "He introduced Gisela as his girlfriend?"

"Yes, they are lovely together. I can tell they love each other." The romantic human inside Teal could tell. "The look in their eyes, was just as described in my romance novels."

She sensed he grew distant.

"Probably so... Anyway, I didn't feel it was relevant." He shrugged.

"You didn't?" She was shocked. "My aunt and your brother are both immune and human, yet you felt it wasn't relevant?"

"Not really. I wanted to focus on finding your aunt, not on me and my human brother, as you put it."

"I wasn't trying to be insensitive. It just came out that way. I mean, he is human and your brother. Right?"

He nodded but didn't say anything.

"Anyway," she continued. "I'm available to talk about anything you want. I've been thinking a lot about our last conversation. Before all this chaos happened, and-" She gave a nervous laugh.

"Me too," he interrupted. "After all this fiasco, I think you made the right decision for us to stay in a professional relationship."

"You do?" Obvious shock sketched her face.

"Yes. I'm sorry I came on so strong. It was insensitive of me to say, I just want sex. That wasn't fair. I understand you don't. You're looking for something else. It's that simple. Plus, you're leaving soon. It would make no sense." He said dryly, unnecessarily reminding her. "You might find it there. With a human."

Her unblinking eyes sadly stared beyond his. Quickly, Teal made the decision, she wasn't going to sell herself short. If he wasn't willing to open up to her or admit there was more between them, then maybe they weren't destined to have a relationship at all. 

"I see. Well, I guess then. Once again, you made the decision for both of us, thinking it best." Quickly she tried to convince herself that settling for someone who was frequently either hot or cold, would make her unhappy. "I should let you rest, then." She shrugged, shaking her head.

"Yeah, thank you. I do think it's probably the best decision for us." He evaded her eyes pulling up on the bedsheets.

She stood still for a few seconds, seeking his eyes. When they finally lifted to hers, she replied. "Yes, it probably is."

Music By:
Rhianna*Love On The Brain