Music in the Night (Logan 4)

My tongue was swelling and I couldn't get any air. I felt myself drooling and then I started to scream, or at least I thought I did. Then, all went black.

When I woke this time, I was back in my room. A man in a white lab coat was taking my pulse and one of the night nurses was beside him.

"She's stabilizing," he said. "Laura? How are you doing?"

I blinked rapidly.

His voice echoed.

"Laura, how are you?"

"Laura . . Laura . . ."

"NO!" I screamed, or at least I thought I did. My whole body began to tremble terribly. It was as if the bed were coming apart beneath me. "I'm sinking!"

"Hold her!" the man said. "Easy. . ."

There was a pinprick in my arm and then, after a few moments, a wave of darkness washed over me. My body sank deeper and deeper into the bed. I felt like I was going underwater. I tried desperately to stay conscious, but wave after wave of blackness was rushing in, pushing me farther and farther down. The sound of my name drifted off, and then, I was asleep.

When I woke again, there was sunlight streaming through the curtains. I heard the sound of water being run in a sink and then a nurse emerged from the bathroom with a washcloth and a pan. She put the cloth on my face as I blinked and blinked, trying to focus in on something that made sense to me.

"So you're finally awake. Good," she said, twisting her mouth. "You gave everybody a bad time again, I heard."

She lifted the cloth from my forehead and gazed down at me. I opened my mouth, but my voice wouldn't work.

"So, let's hear about it. How are you now? Do you have any pain? Any nausea? Well?" she demanded when I was silent. I shook my head. "Are you hungry?"

I thought about it. I was a little hungry, but when I went to say yes, nothing happened.

"Well?" she asked. "Can't you talk this morning?"

Talk? I thought. Could I ever talk? I tried to speak and only a deep guttural sound emerged. The nurse looked surprised.

"What is it?" she asked.

I lifted my hands and as naturally as people speak, I began to sign.

"What the . . ." She stepped back and watched as I spoke through my hands.

"Yes, I am hungry," I told her, "but where am I?" I asked. She shook her head.

"This is a surprising turn of events," she said, looking quite impressed. "The doctor will be here in an hour. If you want to eat any breakfast, you should get up now," she said.

I signed okay and rose from the bed. I felt groggy, but strong enough to stand.

"Some more clothes were brought here for you last night," she told me. "They're all brand-new apparently. Everything still has a tag on it. Some of it is in the closet and some is in the dresser. Choose what you want to wear, get dressed, and come out to breakfast," she said. "Well?"

I signed okay.

"So you can't talk now, is that it? Fine. I could use a little more quiet around here," she said. "I'll see you in the cafeteria. Get dressed," she ordered and left the room before I could ask her where the cafeteria was.

Confusion resembled a great cloud of smoke circling me. I moved slowly, unsure of myself, making discoveries about the room and the bathroom as if I had never been here before. How long had I been here? And where was here?

I paused in the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. The face I saw seemed to change right before my eyes, and for a moment, I thought I was looking at a boy. It only lasted a second or two, but it made my heart pound and took my breath away.

After I dressed, I poked my head out of the room and looked up and down the corridor. The floors gleamed under the rays of sunshine that came through the windows. Suddenly, the door across from me opened and a girl about my age stepped out. She looked sickeningly thin.

"How are you?" she asked softly. "We were all worried sick about you last night."