"Doctor? Doctor Guerin?"

Maria blinked and realized that she had been so caught up in her thoughts she forgot about her surroundings. She turned around and put on her best smile.

"Is everything alright?" One of the nurses asked her. Maria cleared her throat and shook her head.

"Hmm...yeah. It's just really early in the morning," Maria said. The nurse smiled at her and nodded in agreement.

"I understand. Um...have you finished typing in the prescription for Mr. Nash?" The nurse asked.

"Oh yeah!" Maria turned around finished typing the prescription then clicked send. When Maria finished the nurse came over and handed her a new file.

"There is a man in the office waiting to see you," The nurse informed her.

"Thank you," Maria said and made her way to the office.

When she opened the door the man she saw waiting for her caused her to freeze up. She hadn't seen this man in so long.

"River Dog," she breathed. River dog turned around and gave her a warm smile, reminding Maria of her grandfather.

"Maria," he said,"or I mean Dr. Guerin."

Maria smiled and waved it off. "It's OK. Maria is fine. Please, have a seat."

River dog did as was told and Maria walked up to him.

"So, please tell me that this is a social visit and not something serious," Maria said.

"It's been a long time Mrs. Guerin," he said and Maria had to take in a deep breath at the sound of 'Mrs. Guerin.' She had always loved being called that.

"Please call me Maria," she reminded him and he smiled, nodding in understanding.

"Maria...you surely have found your own path," he said not letting his eyes leave her.

"Yes, I have," Maria mumbled. "It's given me nothing but misery," she added and then regretted saying it.

"Why?" River Dog asked. Maria sighed. She wondered how she could feel like she could tell him anything and that he'd understand.

Maria shrugged, "I was happy. But, that happiness gave me the worst pain I could ever feel," she concluded.

"Michael," he stated and she nodded. "He...loved you so much. He visited me regularly after the ritual in the reservation. It took him a while to open up, but he did and all he could talk about was you. In the beginning, it was about how much he hated you, how stubborn and foolish you were, and annoying and irritating."

Maria smiled.

"But, then it changed. It drove him crazy how you were able to get under his skin so well. But, all that hatred suddenly turned into how much he loved you. How beautiful you were, how you kept him alive, how smart you were," River Dog said.

"That is how I felt about him," she said.

"He told me that he would have dreams some nights or he'd stay up late thinking and that he'd wake you up in the middle of the night because he couldn't wait to tell you. Because he wanted to hear what you'd say. And he was always so amazed about the way you would wake up in the middle of the night and just listen to everything he had to tell you," River Dog said.

"I loved hearing his voice," Maria mumbled. "I still stay awake at night and try to imagine him talking to me, telling me about something new he saw or dreamt about."

"Maria, you will hear his voice again," River Dog said. "All is not lost. Maybe Michael is still alive."

"Then why isn't he home? Why hasn't he come back?" Maria asked, defensively. She hated thinking that Michael was alive and wasn't with her. It made her think that maybe he didn't want to be with her. "He's dead."

As if River Dog knew how she felt he said, "Maria, just because he could be alive doesn't mean that he doesn't want to be with you. Maybe he is stuck somewhere and can't get to you."

Maria was about to respond when she saw something flicker in River Dog's eyes. Something suspiscious to her, like maybe he knew something she didn't. Like maybe he was trying to hint about something. She shook her head of it.

"No," was all she could crack out of her mouth. River Dog gently placed his hand over her heart.

"His heart beat matches yours," he told her. "It's a message. Your sorrow and loss of hope will cause you not to hear it. You must listen carefully."

Maria didn't know what to say.

"Michael is your soul mate. Your heart beat is not normal because he makes you normal," he said.

"I know," Maria breathed. "But, he's dead."

River Dog shook his head. "No, he is alive in you. You just have to listen to him." River dog grabbed her hand and pulled her to kneel down. "We shall pray."

Maria nodded and closed her eyes to pray with River Dog.

Tron was happy that it was very late and that most if not all the doctors had left already. If anyone knew that the 'water' patient, Michael, had woken up they'd immediately be up in his room testing him and asking him billions of stupid questions.

Tron paced Michael's room trying to think of what to do now. Something told him to keep all of this a secret.

"I know you care."

Tron stopped pacing and looked at Michael, who now finally had his eyes open. They were squinted because of the light, he hadn't opened them in 3 years, but they were still open and looking at Tron.

"You were the only one who cared," Michael said. Tron wasn't sure what to say. He didn't want to tell Michael that it was true, nobody else cared much about him, but it had been the truth. To everyone he was just some freak show from Planet Water. It angered Tron when he thought about it. So, he tried not to.

Michael sighed heavily, "Can I tell you something?"

Tron nodded and walked over to Michael's side.

"On Planet...Water," Michael stopped to think and then he smiled slightly as he said, "my planet. I lived...in this town called Roswell. We came out of these pods looking like six year-old humans. And we had no parents. Does this planet have orphanages?"

Tron nodded. "Orphanages, yes we have those."

"They are horrible," Michael said. "But, they took myself and the others in, not knowing what we were. And I was sent to this home, to a father who didn't love me. I never felt at home in Roswell. All my life down there I felt like an outsider, because I was. My mission to find where I came from never stopped. In fact, it almost tore my life apart. And then...I met Maria."

"Your wife," Tron said. "The most beautiful person?"

Michael nodded and this time his smile was much bigger. "Yes, the most beautiful person, my wife. She was the one who knew the truth about me and never once treated me like an outsider. She was the one that put up with my shit."

"Shit?"

"Oh, maybe you don't have that word here. On Ear--Water it means...like bad stuff."

"Oh OK."

"Anyway, she never let me get away with anything though and I'd fight her til no end. I refused to be in love with her, but in the end I couldn't fight it and she wouldn't let me. I finally asked her out and we were married six months later. But," Michael sighed deeply, revealing pain. "I still had to find home. And then I finally found a way to come back and I wanted to come here and find out who I was. You know, what my home was. But, it wasn't until too late that I realized she was my home. And now I'm here being treated exactly the way I never wanted to be treated like on Ea--Water. I'm more of an outsider here than I ever was and I'd give anything to just see Maria again, even if just to smell one of her crazy perfumes or oils," Michael chuckled, but stopped because it hurt his throat.

"Michael, I promise to do anything I can to get you back to Maria," Tron said and touched Michael's hand to let him know he was telling the truth. Michael smiled at him.

"Thank you." Michael closed his eyes and imagined Maria's smile. "You know, It's almost like I can feel her. It hurts so much, because it's like I can feel her pain."

"It wouldn't be a surprise if you could. Although our bodies are mainly the same they are still different in some ways. It's like a magnet, a negative and a positive stick together. That's the way you and Maria would be like because she is a waterling and you are an earthling. So, you are bound to have a different type of connection...a more stronger connection," Tron explained. Michael started to chuckle. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I was just imagining what Maria might say to being called a waterling. She'd probably say something like, 'Great, so I'm the alien.'" Michael said and they both laughed. Michael started to cough because of the rawness in his throat.

"Hey, now you get some rest," Tron said. "You need it. Tomorrow we will think of something to get you better, out of here, and into the arms of Maria. Which may I say that Maria is a very strange name. Of course, we have different names here. So, down there Tron is probably quite strange," Tron said. Michael nodded.

"Maria, would probably call you something like 'PC boy,'" Michael said.

"'PC Boy'?"