waiting and waiting…"

  "Go get some sleep," Rhapsody told her firmly. "I'll wake you up if anything happens."

  "Why are you helping us so much?" Harmony asked softly. "I'm not trying to be ungrateful, but you've spent almost every waking moment taking care of us. I feel like I'm monopolizing your life."

  "Because I've been looking for something special in this world all of my life," Rhapsody replied with warm smile. "Now that it has fallen right into my lap, I'm hardly going to turn around and walk away."

  "I don't know what I would have done without your help this week," Harmony told her sincerely. "Thank you for all you have done for us."

  "It has truly been a pleasure," Rhapsody told her with a bright smile. "You and Melody are extraordinarily wonderful people, and that is a rare thing to find in this world."

  "Is that Rhapsody?" Melody's voice came from inside Aria's room.

  "Yes," Rhapsody replied as she donned a mask and opened the door. "How are you doing this morning?"

  "Better, now that another friendly face is here," Melody replied with a grin. "Happy birthday!"

  "Ug!" Rhapsody groaned. "I just felt my IQ shrink. Now that I'm not a teenager, I don't know everything anymore."

  "Ha ha," Melody replied dryly. "Very funny. What brings you here so early? It's barely nine. I thought you would be sleeping in after staying here so late last night."

  "My stupid alarm woke me up," Rhapsody growled in mock exasperation. "One of the problems with my eidetic memory is that once I wake up in the morning, I can't get back to sleep."

  "Wow, that really sucks," Melody said sympathetically. "Maybe you should try falling out of another tree and see if it goes away…"

  "If I thought that would actually work, I might just try it," Rhapsody chuckled. "Speaking of sleep; I had a rather interesting dream last night."

  "Oh?" Melody asked curiously. "Am I old enough to hear about it?"

  "Melody!" Harmony admonished sharply.

  "Only joking, mom," Melody grinned impudently. "So what did you dream about?"

  Rhapsody related all of the details of her dream as they listened raptly.

  "Did you understand the words in the song?" Melody asked intently.

  "Yes," Rhapsody nodded with a teasing smile. "Would you like to hear them?"

  "Was that a rhetorical question?" Melody asked with a roll of her eyes. "Of course I want to hear them!"

  Rhapsody laughed lightly at getting the desired reaction. "Okay, here's what I heard."

  Look into the sky

  Can you see the moon across the ocean

  Coming close to me

  I can hear the melody

  Cry into the void

  Let my voice become the hand that reaches

  Out to you and leads

  To my long lost memory

  Carry me home

  I lost my way on roads ever weaving

  Home

  Where darkness fades and hearts are ever believing

  Carry me home

  I close my eyes and cling to you ever dreaming

  Find me

  Oh don't forget the child for whom you are grieving

  Voice that calls from there

  And the footsteps of its fallen angels

  Now becomes the beat

  Of my heart so incomplete

  Every night I bathe

  In the blue that washes over me

  And brings me to my knees

  In this longing I believe

  Carry me home

  I lost my way on roads ever weaving

  Home

  Where darkness fades and hearts are ever believing

  Carry me home

  I close my eyes and cling to you ever dreaming

  Find me

  Oh don't forget the child for whom you are grieving

  As she finished repeating the words, Melody and Harmony quietly walked over to stand next to Aria's bed.

  "God, I wish I knew what to do!" Harmony sighed out in a broken voice. "There has to be a way to bring her back to us."

  Melody hugged her mother from behind, closing her eyes as she rested her head against her back. "We'll find a way, mom. Just don't ever lose hope."

  Rhapsody swallowed a lump in her throat as she watched the two of them. Whatever else resulted from this tragedy, at least it had brought these two closer together.

  A growing noise from outside the window distracted her from her thoughts. She wandered over to see what was causing all of the excitement. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was seeing. Hundreds of people were marching around the hospital parking lot, carrying picket signs and banners. Her eyes narrowed as she read what was on the signs.

  Revelation 19:20 - And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

  Matthew 7:15 - Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

  "What are you looking at?" Melody asked curiously.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "Nothing," Rhapsody said quickly. She turned away from the window and grabbed them both by the hand. "Come on, you two; bed time. Get some sleep before you collapse. I'll wake you up if anything interesting happens."

  "Promise?" Melody asked.

  "Promise," Rhapsody assured her as she opened the door and herded them into the waiting area. The two of them had been sleeping on recliners for the past week. Getting either of them to go home for a night was next to impossible.

  After ensuring Harmony and Melody were going to stay in the comfortable recliners in the visiting area, Rhapsody walked back into Aria's room and stood over her unmoving form.

  "I wanted to thank you for what you did last night," Rhapsody told the slumbering girl. "I don't know what would have happened if they had succeeded in putting me in that cage, but I have a feeling it wouldn't have been good."

  If she had any doubt that the small girl could hear what was happening around her, it was banished when Aria started singing the same melody from her dream from the night before. It wasn't in English this time though. The notes seemed more powerful when sung in the foreign language, as if the words in their native language contained elements of power.

  Emily entered the room in the middle of the song. She walked up next to Rhapsody and stood silently until Aria finished singing. It was as if all of the elements for hope, love, and peace were intertwined into a single weave of channeled energy. The tiredness that clung to Rhapsody from her short night of sleep faded away, leaving her energized and optimistic.

  "Wow," Emily whispered quietly when Aria finished. "If God had a voice, it would sound like this."

  "And so she does," Rhapsody replied with a smile.

  They were both startled out of their reverie as a rock bounced off the window. Emily followed Rhapsody over to stare down at the angry mob below. Another rock hit the building next to the window as a less coordinated malcontent stood chanting slogans with his peers.

  "What the hell are they doing?" Emily asked in scandalized tones.

  "Religious fundamentalists," Rhapsody told her with a disgusted shake of her head. "They're convinced that Aria is the anti-Christ, so they're doing what any God-fearing Christian would do and trying to kill her."

  The hospital security staff was hopelessly outnumbered as the mob pushed past them and entered the hospital. Rhapsody stared in shock, unable to accept the fact that people could really be so stupid.

  "They're coming for Aria?" Emily gasped in dismay. "We have to get her out of here!"

  Rhapsody looked around, chewing her lower lip absently as she thought quickly. "Are there any empty patient rooms nearby?"

  "Right next to us," Emily replied uncertainly. "Why?"

  Rhapsody quickly went into the next room and climbed into the empty bed, pulling the blankets up around her. "Wrap my face in bandages," Rhapsody commanded Emily tersely.

  Emily stared at her without moving as her eyes filled with understanding. "Rhapsody..."

  "There's no time," Rhapsody snapped impatiently. "Hurry!"

  Emily reluctantly moved over and began wrapping her face in gauze. "The police will do something…"

  "They won't get here in time," Rhapsody interrupted her through the gauze.

  Emily's eyes filled with tears as she realized the seriousness of the situation. "Rhapsody, there's got to be something else we can do-"

  Her words were cut off by the sound of the mob arriving. Rhapsody took a deep breath, then began singing the same words she had just heard Aria sing. She knew she wasn't as good as Melody and Harmony, but it was good enough for the mob. They stormed into her room with a wordless roar. She refused to open her eyes as the first blows from blunted objects landed, trying as hard as she could to keep from crying out, lest they discover she wasn't really the coma patient they were after.

  Blow after blow slammed into her head and body, sending pain coursing up her arms, head, legs, stomach…everywhere. Tears leaked down her bandaged cheeks as she clenched her jaw as hard as she could to keep from crying out. Pass out already, damnit!

  The roar of the mob was suddenly interrupted by a sound of such discordant chaos that she lost the battle with consciousness and fell into blessed darkness.

  XXXXX

  Rhapsody frowned as she heard the sound of voices around her. So, there is life after death.

  "She's waking up," a voice said sharply.

  "Rhapsody, can you hear me?" Harmony's voice asked softly.

  Rhapsody tried to open her eyes, but she could only manage a small slit that let a painful amount of light in. She could just make out the outline of Harmony's form leaning over her.

  "I'm not dead?" Rhapsody asked in surprise, then frowned as she heard how funny her words sounded. It was like she was trying to speak with a mouthful of mush.

  "No, you're not dead," Harmony assured her in a tearful voice, gently running soft fingers through Rhapsody's bruised scalp. "Thank you for saving my daughter's life."

  "What happened?" Rhapsody mumbled through her swollen tongue and puffy lips.

  "Apparently Aria is able to do more than heal people," Dr. Lorenzo's voice answered from the other side of her bed. "After those people attacked you, she began singing in a voice that could best be described as the wrath of god. Most of the pottery and glass in the building is destroyed. Everyone within range of Aria's voice passed out until the police arrived and began escorting them to their new quarters downtown."

  "Is Aria okay?" Rhapsody asked in concern.

  "Thanks to you," Melody answered her, grasping her bruised hand tenderly.

  "Who's with her right now?" Rhapsody asked worriedly.

  "She's right next door," Harmony replied reassuringly.

  "We would like to try an experiment, of sorts," Dr. Lorenzo said tentatively. "Would you mind if we move you into Aria's room?"

  "What kind of experiment?" Rhapsody asked suspiciously.

  "We know that Aria can heal burn wounds," Dr. Lorenzo explained slowly. "But…we would like to see if she is capable of more."

  "What, exactly, is the extent of my damage?" Rhapsody asked carefully.

  Dr. Lorenzo took a nervous breath before answering. "Pretty much every limb in your body has been broken multiple times, and your head and face have suffered from extensive tissue damage. Without Aria's help, you're looking at months of reconstructive surgery and physical therapy."

  "Oh…" Rhapsody replied quietly as she felt Melody squeeze her hand gently. "How long have I been unconscious?"

  "About twelve hours," Dr. Cole answered from somewhere near the foot of her bed.

  "Okay," Rhapsody replied with a sigh. She felt a swell of joy in her chest as she realized her desperate plan had worked; Aria was safe.

  They rolled her bed into Aria's room and then began unwrapping bandages from various places on her body.

  "Do you mind if I record this on video?" Dr. Lorenzo asked tentatively. "I would like to study the process in slow motion later on, if this works."

  "Sure," Rhapsody replied, grimacing slightly when she tried to smile as pain lanced through her torn lips.

  "Are you okay?" Harmony asked concernedly.

  "Yeah," Rhapsody replied, careful not to smile. "I just need to avoid smiling."

  "That would be a true loss to this world," Harmony told her tenderly.

  Rhapsody felt her face flush slightly at the compliment. She had always felt self-conscious about her smile as a result of how wide her mouth was. While that kind of smile might have looked good on Julia Roberts, she felt like it made her look psychotic.

  "Are you ready?" Harmony asked Melody.

  "Ready," Melody nodded, taking a deep breath.

  Broken and torn

  Reviled with scorn

  I wander among the streets alone

  Fearing neither pain or death

  Fighting for my last breath

  I will ever defend my own

  Sight and sound bereft

  Senses so nimble and deft

  I hear, I see both light and tone

  I am all that you fear

  I am all that you hold dear

  I am the father and mother

  The sister and brother

  I am I am I am I am

  I am you and you are me

  Why is this so hard to see

  I am they and they are we

  Why is it we cannot be

  Living in harmony

  Live in harmony

  As Melody and Harmony began at the start of the song again, Aria's voice joined in with a complex arrangement of ascending scales. Shivers ran up and down her spine as the foreign words seared into her body painlessly, forging bone and flesh back into place once again. The skin around her face grew loose as the swelling dissipated and her eyes were finally capable of opening all of the way.

  Dr. Cole and Dr. Lorenzo were watching in stunned incredulity, their mouths hanging open in an almost comical manner. As the musical family finished their fourth rendition of the song, Aria's voice quieted.

  "How do I look?" Rhapsody asked nervously. She smiled without thinking when she heard the words coming out of her mouth in her normal voice once again.

  "There's that smile I love so much," Harmony smiled back at her through tears. "You look amazing; even better than you did before, if possible."

  Melody brought a mirror over and held it up in front of her. She gasped as she saw the face staring back at her. It was difficult to say what was different; there were dozens of subtle changes from her former appearance that created an overall effect of an almost completely different person. Rhapsody 2.0, she thought with a wry smile. Her smile widened as she realized it no longer looked psychotic. What a nice change.

  "Okay, stop admiring yourself already," Melody told her with a giggle.

  Rhapsody blushed self-consciously, and then laughed at the indulgent smiles of the small group of doctors and nurses watching her. "Fine, I'll stop admiring myself. It's hard though; I'm smokin' hawt!"

  Everyone laughed, wiping at wet eyes as they hugged each other in relief.

  "So, she really can heal just about anything," Dr. Cole noted, sniffling lightly. "I hate to treat her like an object, but I wonder if it would be possible to bring terminal patients in to see her until she wakes up."

  "I can assure you that she would insist on us utilizing her in such a manner," Melody told Dr. Cole seriously. "In fact, if we didn't and she remembers anything when she wakes up, she'll be very disappointed with us."

  "Where did you come up with that song?" Rhapsody asked Melody softly.

  "Mom wrote it about you while you were sleeping," Melody replied with a grin. "Too bad you're straight…"

  "Melody!" Harmony growled in exasperation as her face turned bright red.

  Everyone laughed good-naturedly as Rhapsody glanced at Melody with a coy smile. "Who said I'm straight?"

  Harmony's dark skin flushed even more as she avoided everyone's gaze. Rhapsody had always found oriental features to be far more attractive than Caucasoid. Harmony's mixed oriental and Caucasoid heritage had resulted in a woman of almost fantastical beauty.

  "What happened to your eyes?" Melody asked suddenly, leaning forward to look closely.

  Rhapsody blinked as she looked closer at her irises in the mirror. Her normally green eyes had small, almost invisible tendrils of lavender vines spiraling away from the pupils.