Since it didn't have the clip-on finger monitor attached, Max took Denise's left hand in his. Pressing her hand between his palms, he concentrated. A silver glow emanated through his hand and down her arm; in moments, it suffused her chest, then her neck and head. Max focused… And saw a large man scooping to pick him up, a smile on his wide, craggy, bearded face… A dark-haired man in a wheelchair, dressed in a tuxedo, putting a wedding ring on his finger… A nurse holding twin babies, still mottled pink-and-red… His hands setting onto a gleaming desktop with a nameplate that read DENISE DOBBS, VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING… The black sedan careening toward them in the intersection, with no time to stop, no choice but to throw his arm to the side to protect his daughter in the front seat… And then Max was back in his own mind and body. He released the woman's hand and let it drop to the bed, where her fingers twitched slightly. In the dim light, they retained a visible trace of his glowing silver energies.

Max looked at the machines and was gratified to see that the signals had gotten stronger and louder. And while bruises and contusions were still very visible on her face and arm, the woman's breathing didn't seem nearly as labored.

Staggering slightly, Max moved around the bed and toward the door. One down, one to go, he thought.

Room 126 was two rooms down, and Max again checked the charts to be certain he was in the correct place. "Shania Janet Cameron." This was the right room, but the door to this one was already open.

Max stepped in and closed the door behind him. The room was much like the other had been, except that there was a bag and some personal effects near a bedside chair. The girl in the bed was less externally bruised than the Dobbs woman had been, but Max could sense that her internal traumas were far worse.

She appeared to be sixteen or so, about the age Liz had been when he'd saved her at the Crashdown. He took her hand, as he had done with Denise Dobbs, and began sending his energy outward, his own limb the conduit.

As his mind reached out to link with the girl's, Max was surprised to find himself seeing not flashes of her life, but instead seeing himself inserted into some kind of static, stable mental setting. He was in a grand cathedral or temple of some sort, wooden pews stretching out nearly to infinity in front of him and behind him. Ornate stained-glass windows arced high above, raining multicolored light down on him as if he were in a kaleidoscope.

Near the front of the cathedral a girl knelt in prayer. What she faced, though, was not a crucified figure of Christ in agony, but a smiling, comforting statue of Jesus, his arms outstretched and his robes swirling about him.

As Max approached, the girl turned. He was startled to see that it was Shania, the girl in the hospital bed. The girl he was healing even now. Max couldn't recall a time when he had seen a manifestation of the person he was healing while he was doing so; usually, he saw through their eyes.

"I'm not ready to go," Shania said, her tone slightly defiant. "There are a lot of things I haven't done yet. “

Max knelt next to her. "I'm not here to take you away, Shania," he said softly. "I'm here to take you back. “

"Back? “

"Back to life. Back to reality," Max said, holding out his hand toward her.

She didn't take it. "How do I know you're here to help me?" she asked.

Max wasn't sure how to answer that. He looked around for inspiration. "Well, you were praying, right? And I arrived. I'm here, in the church. And I'm not recoiling from all this religious imagery, so I'm not some devil or something. “

"True," Shania said, clearly weighing Max's words. "So you're saying you were sent by God to answer my prayers? “

"Not exactly." Max was uncomfortable. He wasn't sure he believed in God, or at least the one that many Earth religions espoused. But he didn't want to cause any rifts in the girl's metaphysical mindscape by getting into a theological debate.

"I'm here because what happened to you yesterday afternoon was wrong, and I want to right that wrong," he said simply, hoping it would be enough.

She considered his words for a moment, then her face brightened. "Okay, I can accept that." Taking his hand, she rose to her feet.

They began to walk down the aisle through the colored lights, toward the vaulted doors that loomed in the far-off distance. "It's very pretty here," Max said.

She smiled serenely. "Just like I imagined it would… “

A loud noise interrupted her, and a harsh voice echoed from in front of Max. "What the hell are you doing with my sister? “

Max felt himself pulled away from Shania's hand, sucked back into his own body in an instant. The dimness of the hospital room was a stark contrast to the colorfully bright cathedral he'd found in the injured girl's mind. It took him a moment to focus his eyes enough to see a twenty-something woman standing next to the opened door of the room. Her expression was guarded but slightly hostile.

"I asked you a question," she said. "What the hell are you doing with my sister? “

"Can we get some help here, please?" Isabel called out. Kyle was leaning on her, and she struggled to keep him on his feet. He wasn't exactly light.

A male nurse stood up from where he was sitting with Liz in the waiting area. "What's the problem?" he asked.

"My boyfriend just got really dizzy and passed out," Isabel said. "And he's having trouble breathing. “

"Let's get him over here," the nurse said, pointing toward an area that had several gurneys and hanging curtains. He took one arm, and helped move Kyle.

Isabel was about to say a "thank you" to Kyle, when a burly security guard stepped up beside her and grabbed the other arm. "Let me help you there, miss," he said.

"Thanks," Isabel stammered. Where had he come from? How many other guards were patrolling the hospital? She and Kyle had watched from the outside as Liz and Maria had performed their distractions, and no guards or orderlies had been evident.

As the nurse pulled up Kyle's shirt, he put a stethoscope to the young man's chest. "Breathe in, breathe out. Not so deep. Okay, that's fine." He let the stethoscope go, and it bobbed on the rubber cords that connected its earpieces. Taking a penlight, he lifted one of Kyle's eyelids and shone the light into his eye.

"Have you been drinking, or taken any drugs tonight?" he asked.

"No, sir," Kyle said, each word punctuated by a breath.

"Is he going to be okay?" Isabel asked.

"I don't hear anything in his chest, and his pupils are responsive. How did this happen? “

Isabel did her best to blush. "We were… making out in the car, and suddenly he couldn't breathe. “

The guard standing nearby smirked, and the nurse nodded. "Just kissing," the nurse asked, "or something more… strenuous? “

Isabel was both amused and interested in the question. At times, she had been attracted to Kyle, but she never would have acted on those feelings, especially now that she was married. But the nurse didn't know that, and they were buying Max time. "Well, you know, we weren't doing the freak or anything like that, if that's what you mean. “

As she looked toward Kyle, Isabel saw his eyes suddenly widen. She realized that he was looking past her at something. At the same time, his breathing started getting ragged.

"He's doing it again!" Isabel said, concern in her voice. What is Kyle up to? And then she heard Kyle's voice in her head. Do anything you have to do to distract them. We're on the TV news! As the nurse started treating Kyle, Isabel let out a wail and flung herself at the security guard. "I don't want to lose him! Help him, please! “

The guard put his arms around her protectively. "It's okay, miss. The nurse will be able to help your friend. Why don't we go over here to the waiting area? “