I took the sheets off my bed, then put them into the washing machine. I figured I might as well start with them, and then move on to the items in my b...ck pack.I looked into my refrigerator so I could use it’s emptiness as an excuse to go to the downtown diner for breakfast. I might be the last one left who called it that. It was in the old downtown, not the new downtown of the bigger and better Triboro merged city.Anyway, I found my excuse in the empty refrigerator because Thia kept her. Jack approached the examination table Audrey was on, reached out and laid the back of his hand against her cheek as he'd done so many times before. She wasn't there. That wasn't his wife; it was some stranger that just looked like her. The spirit, soul, essence ... call it what you will ... that made Audrey, Audrey ... just wasn't there any more. He stepped back, nodded to the nurse and left the cubicle. He saw the doctor. "What happens now?" I'm afraid there'll have to be a post-mortem," he. I struggled and yelled and the fire crept up my arm and into my chest. When it reached my heart I screamed and thrashed as the fire spread. It was not just like my blood was scalding and burning, it felt like my muscles were being pulled apart.Before long the only thing I knew was the pain tearing through my body. I did not see the blood leaving my body slow. It felt like my bones were in a forge as the marrow boiled away and the dragon blood replaced it. Vaguely I heard a girl screaming beside. You are full of surprises, aren't you?"He smiled, "I knew you needed some time to dry your hair, so I just wanted to make sure you started your day with a good meal. I'm sure it will be a long day."Jennifer for the first time that day thought about her father. She had been so at ease with her mother's comments the previous night that she had put all her thoughts and energies into letting Dave know she loved him and that she wanted him back. She sat solemnly in a chair as Dave pushed it in for.