Beep beep. Beep beep.

  The incessant chirping was low, and measured at a rate just to drive any sane person to the brink, but loud enough to raise me from my groggy slumber.

  The hot white fluorescent lighting singed my eyes, as I delivered an audible hiss like a vampire. A natural response, and one I was glad to have made with no other person around me.

  An IV drip was connected to my arm, in a small hospital room, sterile, but comfy. I tried to inch my way up in the bed, but found it difficult to do so with my energy depleted. A pale blue hospital gown was draped around me, scrunching loudly through my defeated lack of mobility.

  Where was I? What had happened? We landed, amazingly. Wait...we did land, right? If this was the afterlife, everyone in the world of the living had a rude awakening in store for them.

  A nurse stumbled on past my doorway.

  “Um, excuse me?” I spoke up, in hushed tones, drawing the woman’s attention.

  She smiled and flagged on someone else from down the hall. Loud footsteps echoed before a familiarly handsome face entered the frame.

  “Good morning,” Jack smiled, holding two white cups of hot coffee, steam curling from their open faced tops. “Finally decided to wake up, huh?”

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  Jack sauntered on in and let the nurse continue on with her own tasks, attending to other patients down the hall.

  “What happened?” I smiled weakly.

  “You must have gotten a pretty large dose of the agent that was used, put your whole system in quite a state. Guess the adrenaline kicked in pretty hard and left you empty afterwards.” Jack leaned over and kissed my forehead, before delivering the cup of coffee into my waiting hands.

  “Thank you,” I said, taking a sip of the overly bitter coffee and wincing in pain.

  “What’s wrong?” Jack fired out, standing back upright as he was about to sit. “Should I get help?”

  “Only if they can nurse this coffee back to health,” I grinned.

  Jack sighed, before letting out a chuckle of his own. “It’s all they had.”

  “Oh, trying to blame it on the coffee now, huh?” I sipped gingerly.

  “Maybe you can find someone else to chauffeur you around then.” Jack winked.

  “How will I get to Geneva then?” I smirked, which dissipated quickly as I reminded myself of the dire situation, images of my Father flashing in my mind. Laughter, and happy days which were drowned out by a looming darkness that crept in from the fringes of my mind.

  Jack watched quietly, before placing his cup down on the windowsill behind him and coming to my bedside.

  He unhooked the IV line, triggering another minor beeping alarm and reached around me, embracing me. It felt like home. I shivered as his hands grazed my bare back from behind my gown.

  Just then, he shifted and put his hands under my legs. His soft touch tickling them. I couldn’t believe what he was doing...in a hospital no less!

  “Jack...” I whispered, close to his ear, as he carried me from the bed and brought me to the window.

  Suddenly, a green city...an old world city, came into view. Tan rooftops and a large fountain off in the distance by the water...a famous fountain spraying up, reaching for the stars with majesty, unlike the pictures I had seen of it countless times before. An expansive lake served beyond, and we were surrounded by mountains on either side of us, as I looked on in awe.

  “How will you get to Geneva?” Jack said, a large smile brimming across his lips. “You’re already there.”