The next time Jamie opened his eyes, the first thing he realized was that his vision was blurry. He automatically reached around with his hands to find where his glasses had fallen, but without success. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the couch, but he couldn't recall taking off his glasses or where he had put them.

He tried to focus his gaze and sit up, but found that it wasn't so easy. His muscles were strangely stiff, and his body felt unusually heavy. The simple act of lifting his hand cost him more effort than it should have, and Jamie began to worry. His first thought was that someone had broken in and injected him with something.

Although he still couldn't see anything, he started looking around with renewed determination, trying to make out some of the shapes to see if he was in his own apartment. He doubted that anyone would dare kidnap him from the Legion, but, given how he felt, nothing was certain.

He kept his head lifted for a few more seconds until it suddenly began to drop sideways, and he squeezed his eyes shut as the movement made him feel sick. Something was seriously wrong.

He heard sounds but couldn't make them out. The only thing he knew was that they hurt his ears, even though he could only hear them distantly. Maybe they were from outside?

He cleared his throat, feeling a scratchiness, and realized that not only movement and sight were giving him trouble, but also swallowing. It was as if he had been reborn and was learning to function anew. It definitely wasn't anything pleasant or something he could rationalize.

He was sure he had fallen asleep on the couch in front of the TV yesterday after breaking his alarm clock. Sure, he hadn't eaten properly for a few days, nor had he slept regularly, but he certainly shouldn't have been affected this much.

His second attempt to sit up was more successful, but just like before with his head, he now felt his entire body falling. Quickly—or at least as quickly as possible in his current state—he leaned sideways, landing his shoulder against the wall for support.

Despite his efforts to learn more about his surroundings and regain awareness, his eyes began to close on their own before he realized it, and he drifted back into unconsciousness.

Creak… click… thud.

Jamie opened his eyes, realizing that he had woken up to sounds in the room. However, as soon as he did, he was blinded by a bright light and quickly squeezed his eyes shut again. He attempted to lift his hand to his face but failed.

"Wha—" he tried to say, but his voice was weak, and the hoarseness reflected the scratchiness he felt in his throat. This forced him to remember his previous awakening and realize that he was still pressed against the wall in an awkward position, neither lying down nor sitting up.

"You're awake."

It took him a moment to register that someone had spoken and comprehend the words.

He blinked rapidly, squeezing his eyelids in an attempt to focus and wake up, but it was difficult without his glasses. Moreover, the blurry image was starting to give him a headache.

“Here you go.”

That voice again. Jamie was sure it was a man, but he couldn't tell if he knew him or if he was one of his colleagues. After all, he was still convinced that he was in the Legion building. However, when a pair of glasses landed on his face and his vision suddenly sharpened through the lenses, the sight of the yellow, scratched walls assured him that he had no idea where he was.

He looked around confusedly, as much as his heavy head allowed, until his gaze fell on a young man standing next to the bed. He looked slightly younger than Jamie and watched him with dark, worried eyes. A hood covered his equally dark hair, and overall he looked as if he were trying to hide, despite having addressed the hero twice already.

“I know you must be confused—” the unknown man began, which immediately gained Jamie's attention. He obviously had questions about what had happened to him, and although he had no reason to trust him, since he was most likely responsible for his condition, he still wanted an explanation.

The stranger sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pushing the hood back slightly.

“I don’t know where to start,” he said next, which provided the hero with no real answer. Immediately after, he stopped talking altogether, and his eyes widened as if he had realized something before quickly moving to another part of the room. Jamie tried to follow him with his gaze, but it proved difficult.

A few seconds later, he reappeared in front of him, holding something in his hand that the hero realized after a moment was a glass of water.

“Let me help you.” The young man brought the glass to Jamie’s lips and gently tilted it. The hero protested for a moment, refusing to open his mouth in case this was another attempt to poison him, but then his body took over. When he felt the cool liquid on his tongue, it felt like the first drops of water he had tasted in months. It was as if he had spent them in a desert and his mouth had turned into the Sahara.

The water eased the unpleasant feeling in his throat, but that was still the hero's least of his problems.

When the glass was almost empty, the stranger moved it somewhere to the side, in a direction that Jamie didn't bother to turn his head toward because he knew it would cost him too much energy. He preferred to save it in case he needed to defend himself, though he doubted he would be capable of fighting in the next few minutes.

“My name is Creed.”

The hero’s eyebrow slightly rose, as he hadn't expected this introduction and could barely control his expression in this situation. Furthermore, he slowly began to realize that, in addition to having trouble controlling his body, he was starting to tremble slightly, indicating that he was in worse shape than he thought.

“You were in a coma.”

The stranger's words were enough for Jamie to stop focusing on how he felt and shift all his attention to the claim. Rather, he focused on the lie the man had slipped in. He would have noticed if he had become so injured within 24 hours that he lost consciousness.

"I know it sounds crazy—" Crazy was an understatement. “But your last memories aren’t accurate. I don’t know how to explain it better.”

If this was the stranger's explanation, he wasn't doing a good job.

What was his name again?

While the unknown man searched for more words, Jamie turned his attention back to himself. Although he was shaking, he remained determined to move from the spot. Since his hands still weren't responding well, he decided to focus on his legs. However, they didn't obey him any better.

"You haven't used them for too long."

This was probably meant to be an explanation, but the hero refused to listen. He wasn't going to believe any crazy theory about being in a coma. He would know if something had happened to him. He certainly wouldn't wake up somewhere he had never been in his life with someone he didn't even know.

“You should rest.”

Jamie didn't react to the stranger’s suggestion. Staying put was the last thing he intended to do. He could finally see and swallow more easily, and this progress was enough for him to try to move his stiff limbs as well.

"I brought some medication for prostration. I thought it might help now, too, even though your abilities weren't what weakened you.”

This sentence provided Jamie with another important piece of information. Not only did the stranger know about his abilities, but he also likely knew his secret identity. Another reason not to trust him.

Prostration was a medical term doctors primarily used when talking about people with abilities. Everyone had their limits, and if they exceeded them, their body would slowly begin to shut down. Jamie had never reached such a state himself, but he had witnessed it when it happened to Solace. At the time, he was assisting with a train crash. Since he tried to save all the severely injured people who otherwise wouldn't have survived the transport to the hospital, he sacrificed his health for them. He then spent the next two weeks recovering in a hospital bed, and it took another week before his abilities returned and he could use them again.

"I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you to recover as quickly as possible."

The stranger's voice took on a desperate urgency, forcing the hero to focus on him again. He turned his head toward the man, though it cost him more energy than it should have, and he soon felt his head drooping toward his shoulder.

"Those people who had you captive—" The stranger didn't hesitate, and the moment he realized he had Jamie's attention, he started explaining again. "They will be looking for you. We can’t stay here long. I need to get you back on your feet as soon as possible.”

The hero tried to frown, but it was futile. Drinking water and trying to move his legs seemed to have drained him of all his energy.

“I’m going to give you the pills, okay?”

Before Jamie could protest, or even attempt to, the stranger opened the medicine bottle and put two pills in his mouth. Then, he held the same glass to the hero's mouth as before and the last sips of water quickly washed the pill down his throat. The hero was unable to prevent it.

Soon after, Jamie felt his eyelids grow heavy, followed by a strange feeling on his face. His head dropped onto the pillow, and once again, he found himself losing consciousness.