5. P R E D A T O R S : Nightmares

Part II: CHAPTER IX

Snake sat bolt upright and shouted, "JUST DO IT!"

"AH!" Bari jumped in his chair, startled.

Snake blinked.

Bari blinked.

Snake licked her lips, eyes wide. "Uh... where the heck am I?" she asked.

Bari cleared his throat, regaining his composure. "The hospital," he told her. "You... you were in a slight coma. You just woke up."

"Coma...?" Snake hesitated and then smacked herself in the forehead. "Ohhhhhh," she groaned. "Right. I made ya electrocute me."

"That you did." Bari smiled. "I'll admit, you gave me quite a scare."

"Sorry," Snake said, wincing. "I thought it'd be a cool hero moment. Seemed like it at the time, anyway." She glanced at a corner of the room, where her best friend Taxi was sleeping in a chair, head back and drool bubbling in her mouth as she snored loudly. "I slept through that?" Snake asked incredulously.

"Yes, you did," Bari confirmed. "Lucky for you. I was unable to rest all night."

Snake paused. "Because... because of the snoring, or... because you were... worried?" she asked, somewhat timidly.

"I would say an even mixture of both," Bari replied lightly, leaning toward her.

Snake's face turned bright red as Bari kissed her softly, and a girlish giggle escaped her lips as he pulled away. "Consider that recompence the one you gave me," Bari told her with a grin.

Snake grinned back—then she suddenly shouted, "Holy canoli! Your dad! We gotta go save 'im!"

"KEEP IT DOWN, I'M TRYNA SLEEP!" Taxi barked, waking up as abruptly as Snake had.

"Take it easy, both of you!" Bari ordered, holding up his hands. Turning to Snake, he said, "Snake, we have a team prepared to travel to International. Taxi will be piloting—"

"Not a chance," Snake interrupted, leaping out of the bed just as the doctor and nurses entered the room. "I'm takin' the wheel on this one."

"I think that would be where the phrase 'not a chance' applies," the doctor said, shooting Snake a look. "It's nice to see you're awake, Miss Snake, but you're in no condition to fly."

"Ain't no such thing for me," Snake snapped. "I can fly any way, anyhow, anytime."

"You just came out of a coma," the doctor pointed out bluntly.

"That don't matter!" Snake turned and grabbed Bari's arm. "C'mon, Bari—let me do this! We started this together, so let's finish it!"

"Snake—"

"Do you trust me?" Snake broke in.

Bari opened his mouth, closed it as he thought about his answer, and then sighed. "I do," he replied reluctantly.

Snake grinned. "Then let me fly," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.

Bari glanced at the doctor, who shook her head, glared at him, and mouthed, "NO."

"Alright," Bari said at last.

The doctor threw up her hands and walked out of the room.

Bari sighed and told Snake, "Get dressed—and be quick about it. We leave in an hour."

Taxi rolled her eyes and went back to sleep.