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rested on his hand, elbows on his knees, and watched her. She certainly was beautiful, that much was obvious even through the dark bruising around her eyes. He like d the texture and color of her skin, like warm chocolate, and the shape of her full mouth. He just knew that her smile would be as radiant as her soul.
    His eyes wandered down to her throat , where he detected the slow but steady cadence of her pulse. He placed his hand to his own throat and found that the rhythms matched. He kept his hand pressed there and his eyes on her throat as he drifted off to sleep once more.
     
     
     
     
    Amir did not aid Shayla’s healing in any way for the next week. He knew that his assignment did not require him to remain by her side constantly, but he still couldn’t bring himself to leave her. There was something magnetic about this woman’s soul; the radiance of it pulled at him like a magnet.
    Almost against his will, he found himself standing over the hospital bed, his mind delving into her thoughts and memories. He knew he was being invasive, but found it hard to stop. After seven days he knew almost everything about her. It was quite an unsettling experience.
    He had never taken the time to get to know one of his assignments before. Outside of the inner workings of their physical bodies, he knew nothing other than the basics: age, weight, height, names of family members, illness, and the fact that Father wanted them saved. But this woman he knew everything about, and it made him want to help her more. It made him want to be there for her.
    He supposed that was it, really. The more he swam through her memories, the angrier he became at the realization that no one had ever been there for her. Amir decided that he would be.
    On the seventh day, Amir decided that it was time to move forward. He stood and walked back to the side of the hospital bed where Shayla lay, unconscious. He stretched his hands out over her body and did another inventory of her injuries. Her legs, both set and in casts, were healing nicely. He gave them just the slightest nudge, knowing that being stuck in a hospital bed was sure to depress a woman like Shayla. She would want to begin rehab as soon as she was able. His hands stopped over her abdomen . H e knew there was damage inside. He closed his eyes and visualized her organs, concentrating all of his energy on mending what was damaged.
    He was so intent on what he was doing that he did not notice her stirring in the bed. His mind was so fully focused on what was happening just beneath his hands that he did not feel her reaching for consciousness. His eyes were closed, and so he did not see hers open.

Chapter 4: Awakening
     
    As Shayla fought for consciousness, the first sensation she experienced was pain. Excruciating , to the point of being nearly unbearable, it almost caused her to retreat back into darkness. Never one to give up easily, she fought against the pain and forced her eyes open. The brightness of the fluorescent lights overhead caused her to snap them shut again.
    Her throat was sore and her mouth dry; her tongue was as rough as sandpaper. She remembered stepping off the curb just as the bright lights of a speeding car came careening toward her out of nowhere. She decided that she must be in a hospital . B ased on the intensity of her pain she guessed she’d been hit by the car and was badly hurt. The fact that most of the pain was radiating from her legs was a good sign that she was not paralyzed. Her deepest fear now pushed aside, she decided to try opening her eyes again.
    When she did, they stung from the brightness of the lights but she forced herself to endure it, knowing that she would adjust in time. Above her, the lights hummed. It was annoying, but she figured she would eventually get used to it. She turned her head slowly toward the equally annoying sound of the machine by the bed monitoring her vitals. Then she saw movement in the corner of her eye and turned toward it