Soul Stone

Sweeper

White light. That was all Zeke could see. Yeah, more white light was exactly what he needed. He could still feel his stone on him, but it was resting on his chest, not in his hand as he'd remembered. Someone was next to him, and they had a stone, but that stone was so much like his that he didn't feel like he had anything to worry about. It had to be Sara. It was almost as though this light was making his sixth sense a tad more acute then it had even been before. There were a lot of stones in the room he was in. Hidden everywhere one could really hide a stone, but one of the other people in the room was wearing a necklace with at least seven stones on it. For some reason, though, he didn't feel threatened. Now that he had calmed down a little, almost everyone in the room had a stone.

I think he's coming to.

He felt like he should recognize that voice. It was vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. He felt a hand brush his, and pause for a moment, but he couldn't feel a soul stone connected to it. After a second, he felt the hand abruptly jerk away, as though the owner had been shocked.

I think his hand just moved!

If he didn't feel so serene in this state, he would've been bothered by his inability to figure out who had him surrounded, or where he was. Finally, he mustered a little willpower, and forced his eyes open, and his mind back into consciousness. In that instant, the entire room came violently back into focus. He was in some kind of annex, and the Janitor was leaning against the nearest wall, wearing a look somewhere between apprehension and dull interest. Sara stood nearby the bed, wearing her usual unruffled expression. Sitting next to his bed was Kaley, wringing her hands nervously. Kael stood in the door frame, looking interested in the goings-on in spite of himself, and even Kyle stood behind Kael, peering apprehensively over his shoulder. Zeke suddenly became aware of the fact that he was lying on top of a bed, still dressed in what he last remembered wearing, plus a whole new collection of bandages all over his upper body. "You feeling okay?" the Janitor asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Still kinda feel like I got hit by a truck" Zeke groaned "but mostly okay..."

The Janitor nodded, falling back into silence. Zeke craned his neck to get a better look at Sara, and Kaley. Sara's right arm was in a sling, and her hand was tightly bandaged up. Kaley just had a little band-aid next to her left eyebrow. Kaley looked pleased that he was finally awake, and Sara even cracked a grudging half-smile. Kaley cast Sara a nervous look, but Sara just shrugged. Taking this as some form of permission, Kaley bolted out of her seat, and leaned over to wrap him up in a vice-grip hug before he even knew what had hit him. She just sat there for a while, hugging him. Kael walked over, awkwardly patted him on his uninjured shoulder, and Sara offered him a curt nod. Even though some of them had trouble showing it, he could tell they'd been at least slightly worried about him. "I'm fine..." he grunted, finding his breathing restricted by Kaley's hug "Just a little beaten up."

The Janitor looked around for a minute, before speaking. "Can everyone please vacate the room for a minute? I need to talk to our little patient, in private" he requested, looking around the room in a manner which suggested that he wasn't asking.

Kaley reluctantly let him go, before following Kyle and Kael out the door. Sara lingered for a minute, shot the Janitor a questioning look, and departed after everyone else. She stopped for a minute in the door-frame, turned, and looked as though she were weighing some options in her mind. She cleared her throat, stuck her free hand in her pocket, and looked as though she had something she wanted to say. "See you in a bit" she said, finally.

"Yeah," Zeke replied "You will."

Sara nodded, awkwardly, rocked back and forth on her toes, and turned around, exiting the room. The Janitor closed the door behind her, and turned to look at him. For a moment, they just looked at one another, quietly. "I was really hoping something like this wouldn't happen" The Janitor grumbled "I've had enough of this bullshit to last a lifetime."