Life's Second Chance

Happy!

The sounds of the heart monitor beeping at a soft constant rhythm echoed in the small, yet cozy room. The scent of white roses filled the air, and with the dimmed lighting, it was really hard to grasp that the girl in the bed, plugged with all the wires and machinery was actually their Ray.

As the light echoes of booted feet tapped upon the tiled floor, the heavy eyelids of Rei flickered as she stirred. The first thing that came to her attention was the sound of the heart monitor.."Beep...beep....beep.." that fearful quiet murmur..then that cackling laugh.

"AHHH!" the girl jolted up right only to grasp the right side of her chest and hunch over. "Just a dream.." she sighed only to look up to meet the smiling warm faces of her fellows as they'd walked in a few moments later. "Guys!" she exclaimed with a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

"Ray!" they all shouted in unison.

Throttle was the first to make it to the right side of her bed, and for a flicker of a moment the warmth in the girl's eyes seemed to shine through. His golden-tan furred hand gently took her right cheek into his palm. "Ray.." his quiet voice seemed to echo as he pulled the girl into a relieved hug, much to the girl's surprise.

Modo, Vinnie and Charlie didn't take long to settle themselves all along her bedside either; with Vinnie, and Modo standing to her left, while Charlene sat behind Throttle on her right.

The wide eyed Long Ryu Reilyn just gasped as she was embraced, a tug in her gut seemed to overwhelm her with emotions. Everyone she ever cared about was right there..and as she pulled back, and looked into Throttle's eyes, she seemed to have found a certain securing familiarity-but just for a mere moment. To her surprise she could see a matted streak set into his cheeks where tears streamed down across his fur, making her gently reach for his specks and take them off to wipe his tears with her fingers. "What's wrong?" came quiet words.

Throttle managed a short laugh and clapped a hand over the girl's which settled itself on his cheek wiping his tears. Smiling, he cupped his palm around her face, and as he pushed her long fringes behind her ear he was surprised to find a scar that cut across her right eye, starting from a little above her eyebrow to half way down her right cheek. The image of Carbine flashed across his mind making him freeze, which forced an uneasy reaction from Rei.

"I got that from a car accident when I was little," she chuckled nervously as she quickly hid the right side of her face with a curtain of hair. She pulled her gaze away and dropped it onto her hands. "It also messed up my left knee so yea.. heh I'm a clutz what can I say" she joked lightly.

Vinnie and Modo read Throttle's silence and just exchanged soulful gazes, ones that Charlie didn't care to read as she jumped for the opportunity to engulf the patient in a mighty hug. " I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!"

"Ahk!" Rei laughed as she hugged her best friend back, "Sorry about that." Wearing a sheepish grin, the younger girl's happy-go-lucky- persona seemed to have resurfaced. Sitting up right, Rei gently and playfully nudged Charlie away only to find that she wasn't completely dressed. "Meep!" Rei squeaked as she pulled the blanket over her chest blushing and laughing sheepishly.

"Ooops" Charlie chimed in laughing only to turn to Vinnie who's eyes seemed to have been popping out of their sockets, "Ooops is right sweet heart," came the masked Martian's smooth, flirtatious tones. "Ow!" he exclaimed a moment after Charlie punched his harm. 

"Ugh, MEN!" the mechanic huffed.

The creak of the door behind the group seemed to spill tension as the Doctor walked in with a clipboard and a small plastic tube filled with prescribed medicine. Rei didn't know exactly what had conspired while she was out cold, but the sadness in the Doctor's eyes seemed very obvious, forcing her to ask, "Everything all right Doc?

(Author's Note: Just remember that Rei and Ray are the same person. 

Rei: The version that had her memories wiped clean.

Ray: The name that the agents, and the mice used to refer to the Agent they knew. )