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conclusion I was a mess. My jaw
was in some kind of a brace, I had a soft cast on my arm, my chest was
bandaged, there was a patch over one eye, and I think my one leg felt heavy
like it had a cast. I laughed. It seemed futile to fix me up so I could die in
a day or two. Then I felt Red in my hair and his head on my forehead. My head
was probably the only place without bandages. I cried with joy—the
happiest day of my life.
    "I see you’re awake, Anna," Doctor Renata
said. "You didn't have to go to all this trouble to see me. You could just
have called." Her smile was warm. "How do you feel?"
    "Wonderful," I blurted in a strange sounding
voice, which caused her mouth to drop open.
    "I doubt that. How is your level of pain?"
    "I'm comfortable. But what happened?"
    "You don't remember?"
    "Oh, I remember the fight, if you can call it a
fight. It was a bit one-sided. No, afterward. He ran off with Red ... and Red's
back." I looked up to where his head rested.
    "I don't know all the details, but I know they
found the man who attacked you dead in the living room. It appears Red gives
you enough poison to keep the virus under control. He injected the man with
enough to kill twenty, which is strange. None of us thought the krait would
care who he latched onto so long as he or she had the virus, but he apparently
does." She stood staring down at Red. "Thank you for warning the
police the man was contagious. He could have caused another epidemic if you
hadn't. Oh, I have two very anxious people waiting to see you. They’ve been sitting
outside your door for more than forty-eight hours." Renata left, and
shortly afterward Joshua and Carola entered.
    "How are you feeling, Anna?" Carola asked,
tears in her eyes.
    "Lying here I feel fine, but I doubt I'd enjoy
getting out of bed." I gave a small laugh, which confirmed what I thought
as pain shot through my chest and face.
    "We are looking forward to you coming home
..." Joshua said, and I felt their conflicting emotions. They loved me but
were afraid.
    "No, Joshua, Carola. You wouldn't be comfortable
with me in your home now. And I love you too much to put that burden on you.
That man was the first, but he won't be the last. The Coaca Virus will drive
men to do what they wouldn't otherwise. And this time we were lucky he didn't
get anywhere near you."
    "We weren't lucky. You risked your life to keep
him away. We can't abandon you after that. Besides, we've come to love you over
the years." I felt the truth of that and saw it in Carola's misty eyes.
    "Thank you, but no. I feel fortunate to have had
four wonderful years with you. Let's not destroy that."
    They stayed for several hours and then left sad but
relieved. I was a dangerous person to have around, which led to the question I
didn't want to think about—where could they put me? I don't know how my
attacker found me, but he had upped my notoriety.

CHAPTER FOUR

 

A new beginning—again
    I stayed in
the hospital for two weeks while I healed and Adela tried to figure out what to
do with me. She had stopped in every other day, and we spent hours talking
about my stay with the Bordans, the school I attended, and life in general. I
liked her. What you saw was what she was, based on my growing awareness of
people's emotions. She wanted to help but couldn't figure out a solution. I
would pose the same risk to any family as I did to the Bordans, and she agreed
with me that it wasn't a good idea to go back to them—for their sake and
mine.
    Adela called
the day Doctor Renata cleared me for release and told me to be ready to go the
next day. I was confused, since I knew she hadn't come up with a place for me
to go.
    "Ready?"
she asked. "I have your clothes in my skimmer. The Bordans packed
everything of yours and had it delivered to me. You live a very Spartan life,
considering I know the Bordans would have bought you anything you wanted. They
really do love you."
    "I know.
I didn't need anything. I had everything I wanted. Things