Beep, beep, beep.

The high-pitched sound of the heart monitor filled the otherwise silent room. A warm soft glow illuminated the hospital bed, pushed up against the farthest beige wall. A cluster of machines crowded beside it, monitoring the vitals of a comatose young woman resting beneath the powder blue sheets. Her thick, brown hair lay in tangles over the pristine white pillowcase. Her dark eyelashes fanned out across her hollow cheeks. Then, for the first time in days, they lifted from their resting place.

Chell's vision was blurry as she slowly adjusted to the muted lighting emanating from the lamp on her bedside table. She blinked at least a week's worth of sleep from the corners of eyes and tried to lift her arms to scratch at her face but found them limp at her sides with exhaustion.

Where am I? She thought, taking in her surroundings.

The sterile room, cold tile floors, and sparse furnishings were all too familiar and she began to get the sick feeling she may once again be back there. As panic washed over her the beeping of the monitor accelerated, signifying her racing heart. She tried her very hardest to push herself out of bed but the sudden exertion nearly caused her to black out.

Suddenly the door burst open. The bright lighting from the hallway illuminated the figure of a young woman who rushed towards the bed. Panicked, she attempted to calm Chell, but the struggling ex-test subject would not comply. Instead, she strained against the other girl's iron grip, ignoring the angry screams of every single bone, muscle, and nerve ending in her body. The blond girl reached into the pocket of her pink cotton pants and pulled out a syringe. In the blink of an eye she flipped over Chell's arm and plunged the needle into the crook of her elbow. Shocked, Chell blinked at the sight of the syringe buried in her flesh and felt the sting of the liquid sliding out of the tube and into her bloodstream.

She looked up and locked eyes with the red-faced girl who was brushing a strand of golden hair out of her field of vision. It finally dawned on Chell that this young woman was a human. After all this time spent chasing her freedom in hopes of finding someone like herself, her dream had finally been realized. Joy began to swell in her chest but as the drug started to take effect she found herself unable to react. Chell fought uselessly to stay awake but as her eyelids drooped she was forced back into darkness.

"Welcome back," Chell heard as she awoke.

She turned her head and saw the girl from before standing next to her bed gazing down at her, a warm smile spread across her face. Tears pooled in Chell's eyes upon hearing the first real, organic, human voice in living memory. Relief spread through her with the realization that she was not the only human left after all.

"My name is Shelly, and I'm your nurse," the girl continued, "You're in the hospital."

Hospital. Chell remembered that. A huge building where you go if you get sick or injured. Therefore, her presence there meant that she must be one of those two things. She grimaced at the thought. She had no memory of becoming very seriously ill or hurt, so something must have happened that she couldn't recall. But what?

"You have been in a coma for just over a week. Now, that may seem like a long time, but considering the condition you were in when you got here that is actually pretty short. You are incredibly resilient."

Chell laughed to herself, wondering what the nurse would think if she knew that Chell had recently been in stasis for years.

Nurse Shelly turned away from Chell and pressed a button on the wall.

"I've just called the doctor," she explained, "he will be here in a few minutes to explain everything in greater detail."

Chell nodded, and struggled to sit up. Nurse Shelly scrambled to her side and placed her hands in Chell's armpits, lifting her up to lean against the headboard. Chell frowned, hating the idea of being treated like a weakling. However, she had to admit that she would not have been able to sit up on her own. Her body felt incredibly debilitated. Hopefully the doctor would explain why.

"Is that comfortable?" she asked, sliding a pillow behind Chell's shoulder blades.

Chell nodded and the nurse grinned.

"Good. Are you thirsty? Your body can't keep down anything solid, but water is ok."

Chell noticed that she did feel rather parched, and she nodded. Nurse Shelly trotted out of the room and returned a few moments later carrying a white plastic pitcher and a matching cup. She poured the clear liquid into the cup and placed a bendable straw into it. Then, she turned and guided the straw toward Chell's lips. Chell, appalled by the gesture, shook her head and refused the nurse's aid. Instead, she managed to lift her hands and reached out for the cup.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." Shelly warned.

Chell, determined as ever, shoved her outstretched palms closer to the nurse, insisting on holding her own cup. She was not a child, and refused to be treated as one. After navigating countless test chambers and staring death in the face more times than any human ever should, she was more than capable of drinking water on her own. Shelly glanced down at Chell warily, hesitantly placing the cup in Chell's hand. Chell grinned triumphantly, but to her dismay her hands began to shake so violently that she was unable to bring the straw to her mouth and instead doused herself with water. Shelly quickly reached out and snatched the cup from Chell's quivering fingers, placing it on the nightstand. She stared at Chell sympathetically and Chell, mortified, looked away.

"It's ok!" The nurse said encouragingly, opening one of the nightstand drawers and pulling out a small towel, "You can't help it! You're very fragile right now."

Chell knew she was just trying to make her feel better, but her words had the opposite effect. A lot of things have been said about her but fragile was never one them. Her steadfast strength was always what carried her through the tough times. Now, she didn't even have that.

Shelly was dabbing at the dark splotches on Chell's pale grey hospital gown when a gruff looking middle-aged man in a long white coat entered the room. Ignoring Shelly he walked over to Chell and leaned down until he was eye level with her. His dark brown eyes bore into hers menacingly, his mouth set in a grim line. Chell gulped as he flicked his eyes across her body, surveying her current condition. He silently gauged her over for a few more moments, causing Chell's anxiety to shoot through the roof. Suddenly, he burst out in a deep laugh. A warm smile spread across his face and he shoved his giant calloused hand in her face.

"Hey there!" He bellowed, his voice a deep bass, "It's great to see you awake! I'm Dr. Mac Patterson, and I've been taking caring of you for the past week and a half. It's nice to meet you."

He jabbed his hand a little closer to Chell and she realized he meant for her to shake it. Tentatively, she placed her quaking hand into his and he grasped it firmly, pumping it up and down a few times. Chell smiled. She liked him; he was warm and friendly and gave off a welcoming air unlike her caretakers of the past. He grinned back at her and then released her hand, retreating to the foot of the bed. He picked up the clipboard hanging off the edge and flipped a few pages in, scanning the notes Shelly had jotted down earlier.

"Well well, it seems you've had a rough couple of weeks," he mused as he read her chart, "let's see what you've got here; a few broken ribs, internal bleeding, a linear skull fracture - that had to hurt - hairline fractures in your left wrist and several fractures in both of your ankles, a few gunshot wounds, burns, severe bruising, and plenty of cuts and scrapes."

Chell swallowed. She had the left Aperture a little battered and bruised, but this severely? There was no way. There was no question now that her memory remained impaired about what exactly had happened to her post-Aperture.

Dr. Patterson set the chart back down and took a step closer to her, "Fortunately, those things were pretty easy to fix. We stitched you, bandaged you, and gave you plenty of nutrients. But the poison has been much harder to treat."

Poison? Aside from the neurotoxin, Chell couldn't remember any other occasion she had been exposed to poison. The equipment at Aperture was not poisonous as far as she knew, and she hadn't come in contact with any gasses or liquids aside from the gels...

Chell sighed. That was it- the gels. Cave Johnson's prerecorded messages came flooding back to her, listing off all the side-effects of the gels in that brash, unconcerned voice of his. He had died from the poison in conversion gel! She had been drenched in all three varieties multiple times.

"Lucky for you, this hospital developed a very effective treatment years ago after the Combine attacks for people exposed to headcrab toxin. We've managed to get quite a bit out already, but you will still need several more treatments before you're in the clear. As a result of the effects of the poison and the harsh treatments your body is very, very weak and it's of the utmost importance that you remain calm and don't push yourself in any way. If you reopen any of the wounds in your current state you could very well bleed to death."

Chell nodded frantically, prepared to follow their instructions without hesitation. She was finally free, and she wasn't going to die now. Nurse Shelly patted her hand comfortingly as the doctor gave her a brief physical. He shined a light in her eyes, listened to heart and breathing, and checked her bandages. Once he was sure she was in a stable condition for the moment he straightened up and draped his stethoscope across his shoulders.

"Alright, well, you look fine for now. We'll wake you up for your treatments tomorrow morning, but for the time being just try to get some rest. In your condition rest is one of the best things for you," he informed her, turning on his heel to leave, "I'll check up on you tomorrow."

He shut the door with a click and Shelly glanced at her watch.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed, placing a hand on her cheek, "My shift ended 45 minutes ago! My fiancée is going to be so upset I missed dinner."

Fiancée. The word triggered more memories buried deep in Chell's mind. So this girl was in a romantic relationship. She would be getting married soon. But she looked so young! She couldn't have been any older than Chell herself. It dawned on her that she didn't actually know her own age. If one didn't count the years spent in stasis, then she was probably in her early twenties. But that was only an estimation. Was Chell also of marrying age? She couldn't get married yet! She hadn't even had a boyfriend, or at least she hadn't had one she could remember.

Meanwhile, instead of rushing home to her fiancée, Shelly picked up the cup from earlier and guided it toward Chell's mouth. Chell looked up at her, confused, and Shelly giggled.

"Eric can wait! Right now you are my priority and you're thirsty!" She nudged the straw to Chell's lips, "Drink up."

Chell pulled the little tube into her mouth and sucked, relishing the sensation of cold, clean water spreading across her tongue. In the facility she was lucky if she got a dribble of murky lukewarm dredge from one of the fountains in the hallways. This tasted like liquid heaven in comparison. She began to gulp at it with such vigor that Shelly had to remind her several times to slow down or her weak system would get overwhelmed. When she finished off the first glass, the nurse quickly poured her a second, then a third. After the last one she insisted that Chell go to bed. Begrudgingly, she complied.

Shelly helped lay her back down and arranged the pillows in a comfortable stack before dimming the lights.

"I'll see you in the morning."

She shut the door with a soft click, and Chell was once again alone. She closed her eyes and tried to compel her weary body to sleep, but her efforts were to no avail. Her mind swam with all the new information she had received but what plagued her the most was the question of what had happened to her in between the escape from Aperture and now.

She forced her thoughts to shut down. She could mull over everything later, but right now what she needed was sleep. And that was exactly what she did.

She awoke to pain.

Pain like she had never felt before. Her body ached so intensely that she could do nothing but lie there paralyzed. Each breath was more excruciating than the last.

She heard the door open and prayed that it was a doctor or nurse coming to her rescue. To her relief, Shelly's cheery voice sang out a morning greeting.

"Good morning!" the voice chirped close to the bed. From the sound of rustling fabric Chell assumed that she was checking all of the equipment.

"Oh shit! Your morphine drip ran dry. Whatever nurse was assigned to you last night is an idiot! How could she not refill your drip?" The blond stamped her foot in frustration, "Oh, there is going to be hell to pay for this! You must be in a lot of pain. I'll be right back with some more."

Thank God! Chell thought. The few minutes spent waiting for the nurse to return felt like several, miserable hours, until finally she heard footsteps that meant salvation had arrived. There was a crinkling sound as she changed out the bags, and in a few minutes Chell felt the sweet sensation of relief as her pain melted away. She opened her eyes to see Shelly pouring a glass of water. Chell drank it thirstily, downing another three glasses before Shelly once again put the kibosh on it.

Chell felt a pressing need from her bladder, and she motioned to Shelly, pointing frantically in that direction.

"What is it?"

Chell keep pointing directly at the area,

"Do you need to pee?" The nurse asked, "Oops, sorry, 'pee' isn't a very professional term. Do you need to urinate?"

Chell grimaced at the term but nodded urgently.

Shelly grasped Chell's arms and helped her stand. Chell nearly toppled over the moment she was upright. It took her by surprise just how weak she was. Days before she had been jumping down massive pits and leaping through portals. Now she needed help just to walk a few feet to the bathroom. Shelly dragged the pole holding the morphine drip behind them and placed it next to the toilet once Chell was seated. The nurse refused to close the door all the way, and stood right outside the bathroom in case there were any complications.

After relieving herself, Chell placed her hands on the sink and was able to haul herself onto her feet. She staggered and nearly crashed into the wall, but after a moment was able to steady herself by grasping onto the edge of the basin. She looked in the mirror and was absolutely mortified at her reflection. There was no way that was her. The person staring back at her looked more like a zombie from a horror film than a woman in the prime of her life.

Her skin was a sickly, unnatural shade of pale grey. Dark shadows sat beneath dull, lifeless eyes. Her cheeks were hollow, her lips cracked, and her hair frazzled. It was much shorter now, reaching just below her shoulders. She lifted a strand to study it. Shelly entered the room and frowned.

"I'm sorry about your hair," she said glancing at the mop of brown on Chell's head, "a lot of it was singed so I cut off several inches. I did the best I could, but I'm not a very good hairstylist."

Chell dropped the hair, and continued studying herself. A swirl of purple and green bruises spread down her arms and peeked out the gown. Tentatively she reached back and pulled at the bow tied at the nape of her neck. The flimsy material fell to the ground and she was confronted with the image of her damaged body.

Similar bruises stretched across her chest and abdomen in large ugly patches. Bandages were taped onto her ribcage where there were several large gashes crisscrossed with stitches. She looked down at her legs and saw lines of scabbed over burns where the thermal discouragement beam had made contact. Her feet were contorted from prolonged use of the long-fall boots and there were callouses where the strap had dug into her shins. Smaller cuts and scrapes were smattered across the entirety of her slight frame that had somehow become even slighter. It looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks.

Chell had never cared much about her appearance. She'd had more important things to worry about. But standing there, looking at her features marred with wounds and scars, she felt disgusted. She wanted to cry, but was too shocked to do so. Shelly silently bent down and lifted the gown off the floor. She helped Chell push her limbs through the sleeve and tied the knot in the back. Wordlessly, she helped her back to her bed and laid her down.

"You know," she said after a few silent minutes of Chell staring blankly at the wall, "this is just temporary. You'll have a few scars when you're healed up, but the rest of you will look very much the same as before. It looks a lot worse than it actually is, I promise."

Chell looked at her, despair evident in her sullen eyes. Shelly's eyebrows knitted together in pity while she stood there for a few moments, then trotted out of the room and returned clutching something in her hand. She held up a bristled object Chell immediately recognized as a hairbrush.

"I can't do much," she said as she sat on the edge of Chell's bed, "but I can at least brush your hair."

With gentle strokes she ran the brush down the length of Chell's hair, untangling a multitude of knots along the way. She sat like this for quite a while, both of them silent, as the nurse tried to coax Chell's thick hair into some semblance of order.

"Done!" Shelly declared triumphantly after a while, "You have great hair. Nice and thick, and really silky."

Chell reached around and ran her fingers down her scalp. She could hardly believe that unruly mop she had seen earlier felt this smooth now. Shelly was a master with a hairbrush. Chell turned toward the kind lady and gave her a small smile of appreciation.

"Anytime, Chell," She said.

Chell balked at her. How did she know her name? She certainly hadn't told her and it wasn't liked she had any I.D. on her.

"What is it?" Shelly asked.

Chell pointed at the nurse then back at herself, then crinkled her eyebrows in exaggerated confusion.

"How do I know you? No, no, um, how do I know your name?" Shelly guessed.

Chell nodded.

"Wheatley told me. He said he saw your first name in your file back in the labs. No last name though."

What? Wheatley? He was in space, or at least he was the last time she saw him. She gave Shelly a confused look again.

"Don't tell me you don't remember Wheatley!" Shelly cried: "He was the one that carried you to help!"

How could Wheatley carry her? He was a sphere hardly larger than her head.

Shelly rambled on about Wheatley, "It's amazing! He was able to get help even though he was injured and had extreme muscle atrophy. Seriously, it was as though his muscles hadn't been used in years, yet he was somehow able to travel miles with you out like a light. I'm telling you, adrenaline can do some pretty crazy things in life or death situations."

Now Chell was hopelessly lost. Muscles? Wheatley was a robot! He didn't even have muscles.

"I haven't even told him you're awake yet! I should do that now!" She turned to leave, but Chell grabbed the back of her light pink scrubs before she got very far.

She shook her head furiously, silently pleading with her notto tell him. If Wheatley was here she didn't want to see him, or talk to him, or even be in the same room with him.

He had made her believe he was her was friend. He'd gotten her hopes up by helping her escape and then once he had the power to actually make her dream come true, he punched her down a pit instead. Then, to add insult to injury, once she had made her way up from the deepest bowls of the facility he'd forced her to test for his own sick pleasure and then tried to kill her! She had trusted him, had put her faith in him, and gotten attached to him. In the entire facility he was the only bright spot, and he snatched that little bit of comfort away from her once he was in charge. Sure, the chassis had corrupted him somewhat, but that did not make up for everything he'd put her through.

"You don't want me to tell him?" Shelly asked, "Why not?"

Chell waved her hands angrily, but the attempt at communication went right over the nurse's head. "I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're saying. But it's probably better to wait. You have treatment in a few minutes and you'll be wiped out after that."

She patted Chell's leg. "I'm going to go do the rounds and I'll come get you when it's time for treatment."

She left, and Chell stared after her. She had absolutely no idea what was going on, but if it involved Wheatley, she didn't want to know.