Dream Escape

Unexpected Escape

Misti stared at the mirror. She was loosing all of her color. Her irises were fading to white, though the pupils were still black, and she looked paler then ever. As she pulled her hair back, she could see that the roots of her hair were even white.

She could live with that, but she wasn't sure she could live through the endless testing. Two days now they had been testing her to try to figure out what was wrong. It seems that her entire digestive system, from esophagus to colon, had stopped functioning and was collapsed in on itself. They sent cameras both directions to confirm that the entire system was that way.

At least Misti had learned some new tricks. The catheter that they had put in, while she was unconscious for the exam down the throat, had already been removed and was now being fed directly by her IV line, which she had also removed. They assumed things were improving because she was now passing fluid.

The really new trick was that Misti could make people see what she wanted them to see. As long as it was what they were expecting to see, they didn't fight it. They wanted to see a urine bag with yellow fluid, and they wanted to see the IV and catheter properly in place, so they never even tried to fight it.

It wasn't that the more outrageous visions were impossible. It was just that people fought against them, and could sometimes dispel the illusion. As long as they assumed what they were seeing was real, they accepted it.

Unfortunately, there was two issues that was keeping her trapped. One was her red blood cells. They were loosing their color and going gray. A sample had been sent to a specialist for further study.

The other was her collapsed digestive system. They were going to call a specialist in the morning to check her out. By the time Misti had figured out how to create visions in their minds, it was too late. They already had evidence of the collapsed digestive system, and refused to believe her visions of drinking.

That night, she had to be even more cautious, because the catheter would have kept her confined to her bed, but her new found abilities made her more reckless at the same time. She'd make changes to her appearance or cause phones to ring as she walked by nurses' desks. Doors that were closed would appear to remain closed. She even found herself in the previously forbidden nursery, enjoying the colorful new dreams of the infants there.

Misti got so caught up in the infants' dreams that she almost didn't make it back to her room in time. She even passed her own mother, but it was easy to convince her that it was someone else who had passed her.

Waiting on the inevitable made the morning drag on more than usual. No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't figure out how to avoid lengthy testing by the digestive specialist that was coming in.

To calm down her nervousness, she found herself drawing on her sleeping brother's dreams. She was well satiated at the moment, and didn't need them, but they helped calm her down. As she was in this state when the gentleman came in, she completely missed his entrance.

A mental voice broke her concentration, *A dream rider? How unusual.*

Misti looked up in surprise. Had she really heard what she thought she heard? The man was talking with her mother, and a subtle nod her direction was the only indication that he might be paying attention to her at all. *Who are you?* she thought back at him.

A smile crept into the man's face, *Full telepath? Have you tested the full extent of your abilities?* When Misti shook her head no, he added, *My name is Alan, and I'd like you to come to my place. We are looking for special people, like you.*

Misti suddenly became suspicious, *Why, so you can run more experiments on me?*

The man responded seriously, *No. Not unless you want to learn more yourself.*

Misti quirked a smile, *Are you sure?* With that, she released Alan from her illusion, and he could see that the IV and catheter were not properly connected.

This brought a visible smile to Alan's face, *Clever girl.*

Finally, someone who understood her and wouldn't think she was making things up. She could get the dreams that sustained her without having to sneak about. With the pressure off of her, something came to mind, which nearly brought her to tears. She looked at her brother, *Am I hurting them by feeding on their dreams?*

Understanding came through the thoughts as he comforted her, *Dream energy renews every night. You are not hurting him.*

With that response, she calmed down, *Yes, please take me away from here!*

Alan smoothly transitioned from the small talk he was using with her mother into the direct requests, "I have a facility that I'd like to take your daughter to. She will get all of the help she needs there."

Hope appeared in her mother's eyes, "You'll be able to fix her?"

Alan calmly responded, "We'll be able to take care of all of her needs. She will be well with us." Misti appreciated how Alan never stated that there was anything to fix.

"And how much is this going to cost us?" Misti could tell that this could make or break the deal. Finances were already very tight.

Alan's response was straight forward, "Nothing. We are independently financed, and you won't have to pay anything. In fact, we have already paid your daughter's hospital stay. Even if you choose not to send her to our facility, we will still cover the hospital bills."

With that information, Misti realized that she recognized the man. His picture was on some news station, "Independently wealthy philanthropist adopts daughter." Misti giggled to herself, *Are you going to adopt me too?*

Relief showed in her mother's countenance. "Thank you."

His response to Misti was startling, *Definitely not, one daughter is enough,* and the way he emphasized the word daughter had her sure there was more that he wasn't saying. Out loud he told her mother, "Could you go get your daughter checked out, while I get her disconnected?"

Her mother nodded, and left the room. Alan went through the motions of removing tubes and needles. "You know they have no cameras in here, right. It's just you and me." After getting untangled from the mess, she hugged Alan tightly.

Alan nodded, "Better safe than sorry, though," and he began to sway lightly and pulled away from Misti. It took him a moment to shrug it off, "We're going to need to get you some gloves. Until then, don't touch anyone. I think your touch has the potential to knock people out." A bit stricken, Misti avoided touching Alan again.

They continued the motions of getting her disconnected and dressed, and joined her mother who was in the midst of an argument. The nurse was telling her, "I cannot release her without the doctor's consent." Alan made an odd motion in the air, and the nurse blinked, and looked like she just saw something, "Never mind. I see it here. I'm sorry I missed it before." The nurse handed a pile of papers to the girl's mother, "Have a great day."

Another surprise waited for them outside. It appeared that their mode of transportation was a limo. Alan looked at Misti's mother, "I'll give you a ride home." The shocked and excited look on her mother's face told Misti that she wasn't going to turn down the offer.

Once they were on their way, Misti's mother had to ask, "Who is financing this?"

Alan just smiled, "An independently wealthy philanthropist."