Spyfall

Busted Up Much?

Two Days Later...

There was a loud rumble as the sleek WOOHP Jet finally touched down in the main aircraft hanger at WOOHP headquarters. Once the vehicle was safely powered down, the main hatch swung open and Britney dashed down the steps of the gangplank with a considerable look of worry on her face. She was greeted at the bottom of the steps by Jerry, who had an equally sombre expression on his face.

"Britney, thank goodness you're finally here," said the head of WOOHP sincerely.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, Jerry," said Britney apologetically, "but we had some trouble with Boogie Gus to sort out first at the Sydney Opera House. Has there been any change with the girls?"

"I'm afraid not much has improved since I last contacted you," answered Jerry. "However, the doctor reckons that Alex should be coming to at any moment now and Sam and Clover have been both patched up as well. They're currently resting in the infirmary as we speak."

"If only I could have gotten out of Australia sooner," sighed Britney. "I'm sure the guys would have appreciated some company right now."

Jerry coughed. "Ah yes, well now that you happen to mention it..."

******

The first thing that Alex became aware of as she finally became conscious was the smell of disinfectant in the air. She wrinkled her nose at the distinct odour and let out a small groan. Then she became aware of the vague sound of excited voices and slowly, tentatively, she began to open her eyes. At first she thought she was looking into a hazy mirror, but as she blinked, her vision cleared and a familiar figure came into focus.

"Mummy? Is that you?" spoke Alex in a hoarse voice.

Blinking back tears of joy, Carmen smiled in relief and gave her daughter a delicate hug. "Oh, honey, thank heavens you're awake! We had all been so worried about you."

As Alex returned the hug, another thankful voice spoke up.

"Hey Alex, welcome back to the land of the living," said Clover, happy that Alex was back with them.

Alex groggily rubbed her eyes with her left hand, trying to get her brain to kick into gear. As she did so, she could feel the cotton fabric of bandages wrapped firmly around her head, as well as the cannulas of an oxygen line tucked into her nostrils. She also could not help but notice that while she had been unconscious, she had been changed out of her spy uniform and was now wearing the kind of gown commonly worn by patients in hospitals.

"Ohh, what happened? Last thing I remember was this rush of snow and then... nothing."

"Now just you relax, Alex," said Carmen tentatively. "You took quite a nasty blow to the head and the doctor says you got yourself a concussion, though hopefully not a serious one."

"Jerry managed to reach the three of you in time and get you back to WOOHP," clarified the voice of Clover's own mum, Stella. "You had your mother and friends really worried, young lady. You've been out of it for the best part of two days!"

"Yeah, we were beginning to think you were never going to come round, Alex," added Sam's voice in relief.

As Alex gathered her senses, she became more aware of her current surroundings. She was currently tucked up in bed in what seemed to be the WOOHP infirmary, with Carmen sitting intently on a chair next to her. Sam and Clover were laid out in beds on the opposite side of the room facing Alex, also dressed in hospital gowns like hers, with their own respective mothers sitting by their sides. A substantially large collection of colourful balloons, flowers and 'Get Well Soon' cards had been placed by each of the girls' beds, giving a bit of decoration to the otherwise drab room. As Alex took all this in, she suddenly realised what a sorry state her two best friends were actually in.