-The Daughter-  It had been a while since she had been awake.
Gretchen moaned in pain as a knife of agony shot through her,
from her core to the base of her spine in a circle bounding her
middle.  "She's awake!" she was dimly aware of hearing as she
struggled to shift back into an upright position on the folded
cot forming a pillow behind her.  "Hey, girl," said a comforting
voice in her ear. "Easy. Just lie down for a second and breathe,
alright? You shouldn't be doing that."  She opened her eyes and
was blinded for a few seconds before blinking through the
fluorescent white and resolving images through the acid wash of
light against her quivering pupils. The voice was coming from a
man in a long white labcoat and a surgical mask. He was fiddling
with a dispenser from the IV at Gretchen's bedside, and as he
turned a tiny worm gear attached to it, Gretchen felt the
residual pain from her earlier movement subside.  "Synphene. A
powerful painkiller. You should be alright to move a little
under this dosage," th