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Sarah was awoken the next morning by knocking on her bedroom door. When she cracked her eyes open she found herself looking right into Erica's eyes.

"Hey there, beautiful. I think Jill's here with breakfast." Erica said.

"You don't seem to be in a big hurry to get up." she replied.

Erica smiled, "That's because I'm enjoying the view."

Sarah blushed and rolled out of bed. Erica sighed and followed suit, throwing a robe on before opening the door for Jill. "Good morning!"

"Good morning you two. Have a nice night?" Jill replied, holding a plate heaped with bacon and scrambled eggs.

Erica glanced dreamily at Sarah, "Oh, yeah!"

Sarah blushed again and turned to the closet to pick out clothes for the day. Jill laughed and handed the plate to Erica. "The rest of us are in the kitchen, come out whenever you're ready."

"Thanks." Erica said as she took the plate. Jill closed the door behind her.

"How did you guess it was Jill with breakfast?" Sarah asked as she dressed.

Erica sat at Sarah's desk. Frowning, she said, "I guess I must have tapped into your telepathy or something. I just knew she was there with food. Although I guess I could have smelled that."

Sarah shrugged before sitting on Erica's lap and stealing a piece of bacon, "Guess so."

Sarah insisted on feeding Erica, not that she minded. Once they were both finished and dressed they went out to see the others, with Sarah holding tightly onto Erica as if she'd vanish at any moment.

There were knowing grins when Mike asked how their day was, which caused Sarah to blush and almost hide behind a grinning Erica.

The others had already finished eating so, once the dishes were dealt with in their now-usual spectacular fashion, they retired to the living room.

"Are you ready for this afternoon?" Jill asked Sarah.

She nodded, "Yeah, I guess so. I'm not too worried about Nathaniel. The vision shows me, as Willow, being okay after all. I'm just not looking forward to Erica leaving."

Erica hugged her and nodded her agreement. "Just remember," she said, "that we'll only be a portal apart. And we can keep in touch telepathically whenever we want."

Sarah snuggled up against her and nodded.

"Are you packed yet?" Jill asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Erica said, looking reluctantly down at Sarah.

"Why don't we do it for you?" Jill suggested, indicating Tiffany and herself.

"Sure, that would be great." Erica replied, smiling down at Sarah.

Tiffany and Jill went to get Erica's bags packed. Mike was about to say something when the phone rang. He answered it, and then brought it over to Sarah, "It's your mom."

Sarah sat up and took the phone. After a brief conversation that started with a startled, "What?!" and ended with a reluctant, "Okay, Mom." she handed the phone back to Mike.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Mom got a call from the police because Dad got in a fight in a bar or something. He's in the hospital." Sarah said, stunned.

"Wow. Do you want to go see him?" Mike said.

"I'm not sure, but Mom asked me to. She said she was still too mad to see him right now." Sarah replied.

"And you agreed, naturally." Erica said. Sarah nodded. "Then I'll go with you. I still don't trust that man to be alone with you, even if he is in the hospital."

Sarah didn't argue. "Why don't we all come with you?" Mike suggested.

"We'll be done in a sec!" Jill yelled out from Sarah's room.

"How did she..." Erica started to ask, but Mike just tapped his head. "...right, telepathy. You would think I would be used to that by now."

He shrugged, "Who is? Even Jill finds it weird at times, and she's been dealing with it the longest. It's almost as natural as breathing for her now but it's still new."

A few minutes later Tiffany and Jill joined them with Erica's bags. They left them at the door on their way to Mike's car.

"If we're going to be traveling together a lot we might want to look into a bigger car." Jill mused as she watched Tiffany, Erica and Sarah squeeze into the backseat.

"Once we start selling stuff that shouldn't be a problem." Mike said.

The rest of the drive was quiet. As they were walking into the hospital Tiffany broke the silence, "It just occurred to me that we might never need this place."

"We still could end up here if something happens to one of us. Sarah can't always be there to heal us." Mike pointed out.

"But we have the healing water, and Erica doesn't need any of that." she replied.

"But if we're in a car accident or something we could end up at the hospital before we have a chance to do anything else." Jill said.

"I guess." Tiffany said thoughtfully.

"If that does happen we have to hold back on the healing, at least for now. Otherwise the doctors will notice us recovering too quickly. Not that it's an option for me. Or possibly for Sarah, either." Erica said, making sure nobody was close enough to hear her.

Perhaps we should keep this conversation mental, just to be safe? Vash suggested.

Good idea. What will we do if Erica ends up in the hospital somehow? She'd heal automatically and that would be pretty hard to hide. Mike thought.

We may have to rely on Vash or Jill to clear things up for us if something like that happens. Erica replied.

Can you actually do that?! Mike thought to Jill.

She nodded uncertainly, I think so. I've never tried it, though, and I'd rather not. Who knows what kind of brain damage or something I might do?

If done properly there should be no permanent damage, but it is a tricky thing to do. Also, the lack of memories can be as troublesome as the memories themselves. Even more so, in some cases. Vash added.

How could that be more troublesome? Tiffany asked as Erica asked the receptionist where Sarah's father was.

If someone's memory suddenly has a hole in it they are likely to try and find out what they've forgotten. That could lead to a lot of awkward questions. Vash replied.

Armed with the location of Sarah's father they headed for the elevators. Didn't we have this conversation before, about the FBI guy? Mike wondered.

I think so. Anyway, erasing memories should be a last resort. If we even consider it at all. There are too many problems, along with the moral issues. Jill sent.

Erica snorted at that, but didn't think anything that Sarah thought should be passed on. Uh, how about we just avoid hospitals?

Mike shrugged as he hit the up button on the elevator, We can try. I'd rather not need them anyway.

It is almost inevitable that one or more of you will find yourselves in a hospital at some point. But we should certainly attempt to keep that from happening for as long as possible. Once magic is better known, or Mr. Gardner has a better network established to keep it hidden, it might not be the problem it would be now. Vash said.

There was silence as they waited for the elevator. Nobody 'spoke' up until after they'd gotten to the correct floor. I wonder what he was doing getting in a bar fight? Mike wondered.

I'm wondering how badly hurt he is. Mom didn't say anything, but maybe she wanted me to heal him? Sarah thought uncertainly.

He's probably just beat up. Serves him right, if you ask me. Erica thought angrily.

Erica! Sarah exclaimed, barely managing to do so mentally rather than verbally.

What?! After all he's done I'm entitled to hold a grudge! Erica replied. You certainly won't do it.

A short walk later they reached his room. He was asleep. "He doesn't look too bad." Mike said.

A nurse came in to check up on him as they were about to walk into the room. Erica talked to her while Sarah hesitantly walked over to her father's side. She began feeling odd things from him, but couldn't put her finger on what it was. Vash? Do you feel this? she asked.

Yes. I'm afraid I'm not any better able to identify it than you are. Something is definitely going on with him, but what is still unclear. It might be best to keep an eye on him until it is; he could cause some problems or get hurt if we don't. Vash replied thoughtfully.

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To Be Continued…

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« A Fathers Rebirth — 6 — Unexpected Visitors »