It was a strange thing: moments after her conversation with Athos had ended, Sam found herself drifting. There was almost a fading feeling, and then she felt herself awaken. Her eyelids fluttered, but felt weighted -- fuck, she was exhausted, her body flooding through with tension and relief in a paradoxical and simultaneous way. It took only a few moments for her to start feeling the other emotions in the room, but she could block enough of it out, focusing instead on the nearest source.
She looked down her bed a bit, spotting the very familiar form of her father. Blinking away more of the sleep, she reached for his hand. “Have you been here this whole time?” she asked, her voice hoarse from disuse.
In Penny’s defense, he hadn’t been standing over her bed the whole time. That would’ve been weird. He’d paced plenty. Meditated in the corner, trying to dreamwalk or at least shut out all the worried people in the hospital. He’d left for food, and dragged Kady away for a few hours of sleep here and there. He’d traveled to the library a few times, but that shit was no help as always.
He hadn’t been standing over her bed the whole time, but he had jumped up and moved over to it when her heart rate monitor spiked worryingly. Which was why she woke up to him standing beside her bed with a deep frown that dissolved in surprise.
“I can’t believe that’s your first question.” Despite the reply, he sounded relieved. He twisted his hand to hold the inside of her wrist, placing his other hand over the top of hers. “You’ve been out for days.”
“Sorry, I can just feel your worry, so now I’m worried about you too,” she responded, and cracked a smile at his words, because they were very much him. She squeezed his hand a little, but frowned, her brow furrowing when he kept on. “Days? I don’t-- wow,” she said. “That explains the lost time, I guess. Or lack of it. We didn’t know what was happening.”
“Hopefully you’re getting more relief now than worry.” Penny’s voice went a little gravelly so he cleared his throat before squeezing her hand back and then letting go. Extensive contact was still a Thing. He glanced towards her monitors. Kady had gone out for coffee. If she wasn’t back in the next five minutes, he’d text.
“Four days ago, you and like forty some other people didn’t wake up.” His gaze snapped back to her suddenly. “Wait, who’s we?”
“Definitely,” she said, heart very warmed by the emotion she got from her father. She knew so well how hard it was for him, and she knew that this was a meaningful bit of it. She considered herself so lucky to have the parents she did.
“Four days,” she breathed, shaking her head. The number of people unconscious was a shock as well. His question got her attention, though. “Athos, the Musketeer. We were there together,” she said. “It was… strange. Like a simulation, almost. We… were stuck in fears, and had to help each other out of them? It was like that.”
“Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus. I just wasn’t sure who you got stuck with.” Penny was glad her partner had been the Musketeer. That was someone he related to at least, and someone who likely hadn’t made things difficult for Sam.
“I’m glad you’re awake. And I have a shit ton of annoying questions, but let’s just start with how do you feel?” Reaching for the bed remote, he set it down on the bed by her hand so she could sit up at her own pace.
“He was a good partner. He was able to ground me,” she said, nodding.
She used the remote to adjust the bed a bit, sitting up in it and finding that the position stretched her stiff muscles in a nice way. “More exhausted than I should after a four-day sleep,” she said, smiling a bit. “Happy to see you.” She winced a little. “Annnnd…. like I probably need a shower.”
“Uh, yeah, that’s gonna have to wait,” Penny snorted. No doubt she would feel a lot better after a shower, but an exam from one of the doctor’s and talking to Kady definitely needed to come first. He reached out to fluff her pillow a bit, frowning. He could probably just read her to get an answer to the question bouncing around in his head, but he tried not to take advantage of her openness if his ability wasn’t taking the choice away from him altogether.
“I’m glad that Athos guy helped. What…what was your fear?” He squinted. “Is it shitty to ask that? Or just good parenting prep?”
“Just keep pretending I don’t smell atrocious, and we’ll be good,” she responded, grinning back at him.
“It’s alright,” she said. “You’ll probably understand it better than anyone, honestly. I was swirling in emotions and couldn’t control them, and my anchors weren’t work. It was non-stop traveling, for what felt like forever, and I couldn’t get myself contained. I didn’t have Buck or Astrid or you or Mom there to ground me.”
“Oh. Well. Fuck,” Penny grunted. Her nightmare wasn’t too far from what his own would’ve been. It made his skin feel cold and clammy. He reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “I’m glad you got through it. I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you and make it a little easier. I tried to dream walk to you, then Syd, but it was like you were in a fucking bubble I couldn’t get inside.”
“Atlantis wouldn’t have made it easy, no,” she said, sighing. “It wasn’t like they say about comas, really… I couldn’t hear anything from outside of it, which I guess ties into that bubble you described.” She shook her head. “I’m glad to be back, and glad these markings are back to working.”
Penny managed to turn his glowering face into a genuine smile. “Keep that thought in mind when the doctors are poking at you, okay? I need to call Kady before I grab you a doctor. If I wait even two more minutes, she’s gonna break my nose,” he joked. Pulling out his tablet, he took a step towards the door before turning back around to pour her glass of water out of a pitcher nearby.
“Drink this,” he ordered, pressing the glass between her hands. “Don’t fall back asleep.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, grinning at the glass and nodding to his instruction. “I’ll be here, and awake, when you get back.”