Part 10

Hours later, Sherry woke up and looked around. This place looked familiar ... Medlab. "Ugh," she groaned to herself, this being one of her least favorite places.

Michael heard the sound coming from her and was relieved to finally have her awake. She did actually wake up once during her trip to Medlab, but Jace quickly sedated her again, not only to keep her in as little pain as possible, but because they all knew she needed the rest. She had not gotten much sleep the last week. And the constant stress and strain she had been under were exhausting.

"Michael?" she called to him.

"Yes. You're in Medlab," explained.

"So I see. Remind me to get mad at you later. Doc?" she asked, needing to know the condition of her friend.

"He's in the room next door. He's still sedated, but Jace thinks he will be fine in a couple of days. As long as he's still, he doesn't spasm."

Sherry sighed and closed her eyes. She was reliving those few moments in her mind. Seeing Travis stretched on that torture device, hearing him warn her just moments before Leroy would have certainly done major damage with his knife, watching Leroy crumple to the floor after being shot, only to have him come at her again as they tried to leave. It was a nightmare she would be living with for a while.

Michael realized where her thoughts were. "Hey, it's over. You're both okay. Everyone is back at Section. Let it go," he whispered as he brushed back her hair. A few tears ran down her face, and Michael wiped them away.

"He was going to slash my face, Michael. He was trying to destroy my face so no man would ever want to look at me. And I don't think he would have stopped there. Travis saved me."

Michael nodded as he continued to caress her face. "I know. I was just outside of the room. I heard everything. I'm glad he was there for you. You made the right choice. If we had waited, he might have passed out and not been able to warn you."

Sherry nodded. "And then I'd be either dead or very disfigured." She shuddered at the thought and Michael squeezed her hand tightly.

After a few minutes, she spoke again. "Leroy. Did you find out anything about him?"

"You were pretty much right all the way down the line. He worked at the resort as a janitor/maintenance man. He apparently saw you there and you smiled and said hello to him. He was immediately obsessed. He's never been married, had a crush on a girl in school, but when he dropped out, she had nothing more to do with him. He owns all of your books. He kept a journal where he lived his fantasy life. He was in love with you and believed you were his."

She nodded but was stopped from having to say anything when Jace walked up. "Hey, I see sleeping beauty is awake. Let me check your wounds and I might just let you out of here, provided you listen to your doctor and take it easy at home for a couple of days."

Sherry smiled. "Best news I've heard in a while." Jace stood there smiling and she laughed. "Well, get on with it Doc. I want out of this place." He nodded and then looked to Michael, wanting him to leave so he could examine his patient. As Michael headed for the door, Sherry called out to him.

"Michael, I want to see Doc before I go home." He nodded and then walked out of the room, pacing impatiently outside the door while Jace did his thing.

Nahla walked in and saw Michael pacing. "Is something wrong?"

Michael shook his head. "No. Jace just wanted to examine her before he let her go." Nahla nodded. Michael stopped pacing and looked at her. "Thank you."

She looked confused. "For what?"

"The transfusion."

"Michael ..." she began but he cut her off.

"I know what you're going to say. But I want you to know I'm grateful. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her."

Nahla nodded and smiled. "She feels the same way about you. And being the sucker that I am for love and romance, what else could I do? By the way, I'm glad you two worked things out."

Jace came out of Sherry's room, pushing her in a wheelchair. She was grumbling and growling about doctors and their stupid rules. Michael and Nahla laughed.

"Well, I see you're as good as new," Nahla quipped.

"That's what I told your boyfriend, but he won't listen. You need to work on training him a little better," Sherry growled.

Michael then took her to see Travis for a few moments before getting her settled in her quarters.

Two days later Sherry went to visit Travis. Jace had informed her that he was now awake. He was still in pain but it wasn't anything like it had been earlier. She stopped and took a deep breath before walking into his room.

"Hey Doc, how are you doing?" she asked once she sat down beside his bed. She carefully picked up his hand and held it in hers.

"He smiled at her. A lot better now that I see you. I was scared to death when that nut came after you with that knife."

"Nut? Since when did you start calling people 'nuts'?" she quipped.

He laughed and then grimaced when the pain hit. "Since I've now had first hand experience at what they can do," he answered.

"Are you okay?" she asked, hating to see him in pain.

"Yes, stop worrying. The pain is nothing compared to what it was before. Jace says I can probably get out of here tomorrow."

"Great!" Sherry smiled. "Let me know and I'll come and get you, help you get settled."

"Thanks, but you don't have to," he answered, his attitude slightly changing. It was subtle, but she noticed.

"I want to," she answered and then took a deep breath. "I know we're both dreading this conversation, and I don't want to start it if you're not up to it." Travis shook his head. "No, it's okay. And before you say anything, let me. When you pulled away from me the other day, I knew. It finally hit me what I was doing to you and I'm sorry. It wasn't fair. You are engaged to Michael, I knew that. I realize that if there was no Michael we'd probably be together, and that hurts. But the truth is that he does, and I have accepted it. I had a lot of time to think while I was with Leroy. I knew in my heart the moment you pulled away that I had lost. I think I knew it beforehand, but just didn't want to let go of the dream. I'm sorry I put you through that. I hope you can forgive me."

Sherry felt a couple of tears start down her face and swiped at them. "It wasn't your fault, Doc. Honestly. Once Michael arrived and found out what was going on," she paused at the look of surprise on Travis' face. "Yes, I told him everything. It was the only way to make sure we found you." He nodded and he continued. "Michael knew something was off. He had my blood tested. It seems Operations and Madeline were drugging me. They put one of those new hypno-suggestive drugs in my perfume. The more I used it, the more I fell in love with you. It wasn't your fault at all."

Travis sighed. He now had his answer. The dream was gone. She would have never gotten that close to him if it hadn't been for the drugs. He should have realized it himself, but he was just so happy to think she might actually want to be with him, that he pushed everything else aside.

Sherry watched the resignation come over his face. "I'm sorry, Doc. I know I hurt you and I would give anything for it never to have happened. They used you. I won't let them do it again. I promise."

Travis squeezed her hand. "Hey. If it's not my fault, it's definitely not yours. You were the one that was drugged. At least you have a good excuse."

She smiled at him. "Okay, enough of that. I just wanted to apologize and to let you know that I still care about you very much. I hope we can still be best friends."

Smiling at her, even though his heart was breaking, he nodded. "Of course we can. I wouldn't be able to survive this place without you, you know."

Michael walked in and heard the last part of their conversation. He didn't intrude until there was a lapse, then he moved in behind Sherry.

"How are you?" he asked his one-time rival.

"I'm fine. Thank you for saving me," Travis held out his hand to Michael, who took it and shook it gently, not wanting to cause him pain. Sherry watched these two men who meant so much to her and again, a couple of tears escaped.

"Hey," Travis said, spying her tears. "If us getting along is going to make you cry, then I guess we'll have to go back to hating each other."

"Don't you dare!" she ordered both of them. She got up from her chair, having a feeling that these two wanted to have a private conversation. She leaned over Travis and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for saving my life and for understanding."

He nodded and held her hand for a moment longer. "Once I'm out of here, if you need to talk about Leroy and what he did to you, you know my door is open. I think you'll need some help with that one." She nodded, knowing he was right.

"Thank you. And I'll be by in the morning to take you home. Be good," she threw a glance at both of them and then kissed Michael and walked out of Medlab.

The men stared at each other for a few moments and then Michael spoke. "Thank you."