He didn’t know how, but he had to get back to the dreamworld. The longer he waited, the less likely Lorelai could survive in the real world, with her family; with him. Kilian knew that he might have to stay in the dreamworld with Lorelai.

When he got home, Kilian fumbled with the lock on the door, and finally got inside. Not bothering to shut the door behind him, Kilian ran to his room and over to his bed. With shaking hands, he pulled back the cover and lay down. With every second counting against him, Kilian was all too aware of how long it was taking him to fall asleep.

Rebecca was sobbing by the time the EMTs got to the carnival. Her sister was getting colder to the touch and the color was starting to leave her cheeks. Rebecca watched as they loaded her sister into the ambulance; she realized with a start that she might never see her sister again. Sure, she would see her at the hospital, but not as her sister, only as an empty husk, hooked up to machines that did everything but let her wake up. Machines could make her breath, but something beautiful might never take her breath away. They could make her heart beat, but never in anticipation or excitement.

Months went by, and Lorelai still couldn’t wake up. Rebecca’s birthday came and went. Her parents were so preoccupied with Lorelai in the hospital, they hardly even noticed Rebecca.

After the carnival, Kilian stopped going to school; he spent all of his time in the dreamworld, looking for Lorelai.

As the months went by, Lorelai was slipping further into her unexplained coma. When she had first been rushed to the hospital, her pupils had still dilated at the light; now they stared uncomprehendingly at her sister and the world around her. She slowly stopped reacting, and by her sister’s birthday, she didn’t respond at all. After Rebecca’s birthday, Lorelai slipped further into her dreamworld. At the hospital, she lay nestled in a cocoon of the machines and wires that kept her heart beating.