This Reality

16: The Memories

A/N
Haven't got much to say here, but thank you for all the votes and comments!
Enjoy,
Kori.

Senses all come to life at once. The pain returns. She opens her eyes and is met with bright light. She looks upwards and sees a ceiling. It is white. She closes her eyes again.

"Jax! She's awake," whispers Milla urgently, and they both run to her side.
Tiger is with them, and they take her hand. "How are you feeling?" They ask, quietly but urgently.

How exactly is she feeling? She is lying down, and in a bed, and above her is a white ceiling. She looks around and notices that she is in what seems to be a hotel room. The walls are pale cream and the curtains are light blue. There are flowers in a vase on the bedside table. It seems to be a peaceful place.

In response to Tiger's question, Astrid groans. Everything hurts and she feels tired. She also hasn't eaten in a while and her mouth is dry.

She remembers pain. And falling. And her dream.
There are images of a man, a woman, and a young boy that she sees every time she closes her eyes. She can't place them.

"Astrid, you are in a hotel room. You were out cold for several hours," says Jax softly with concern in his voice. "What do you remember?"

She takes a breath and begins to explain, her voice cracking with fatigue and dehydration, and slowly explains about falling, and the dream.

"Y-you had a dream, that we shot Xavier and he guards?" Asks Jax, astounded. Astrid nods.

"Th-that's exactly what happened," Milla says. "You were hit and you fell backwards over the balcony fence down seven floors, the guards shot you. Nothing lethal, the wound wasn't deep thank goodness, but it must have caused a lot of pain."

Astrid reached up to touch her head, which was bandaged on one side, and slightly hurt. She assumed she had been given some sort of painkiller, otherwise the pain would have been much worse. She couldn't get her head around the fact that what she had dreamed had actually happened.

There is an awkward silence, followed by Astrid clearing her throat and speaking. "Who are the people I can see in my mind? A woman with blonde hair, a man with black hair and a young boy?"
Jax opens his mouth to speak.
"Your real... family?"

In that moment, it dawns on them all. As she fell, as she dreamed, she regained the memories of her family.

There is another pause before Milla speaks up. "Tiger, Jax, could you give us a moment?" She asks, causing them to both stand up and leave the room.

Milla takes Tiger's place, sitting at Astrid's bedside and gripping her hand. "Astrid," she begins softly, "do you know what happened to your real family?"
Astrid thinks. She closes her eyes momentarily and projected onto her eyelids she sees things. She sees the sick boy lying still in a hospital bed. She sees the man and the women being injected with-

Her eyes fly open. She stares at Milla with a horrified expression on her face.
Knowing what she has just recollected only makes her grip Astrid's hand tighter.

"It's okay. We are your family now. We will take care of you, I promise," Milla says soothingly. "No more missions and no more danger, okay?"