It took Jack a while to register that someone was speaking to him.  The pain was so intense, he'd - not blacked out exactly, just fallen into a kind of instinctive trance, while his body nullified and assimilated the experience.  He was, technically, awake, but not fully registering the fact.<br/><br/>So when he heard a soft, slightly shy voice offer him food, he rally took it for yet another of the phantasms that had plagued him ever since the drugs had taken hold.  He knew how this game went, this evil game his mind played.  It would start out as something beautiful and welcoming - a lovely angel, a pet from his childhood inviting him to play, a beautiful woman imploring him towards concupiscence - and as soon as he reached out for it, it would turn, metamorphose, into something evil.  A scaly worm, a dragon with hate in its baleful eyes, a black imp with pitchfork and forked tail.<br/><br/>He determined to ignore the bait.  But he was not dreaming now, and eventually his body decided, of itself, to break the deadlock.  He came fully awake, totally aware that he was in the realm of reality.  The bunk was soft underneath him, the rocking motion was still there, the faint tang of salt-laded air diffused through the open porthole.<br/><br/>And she was still there.  A beautiful girl, dressed in the staff uniform of the ship, a nervous smile on her face.  A gentle, heart-shaped face, almost childlike, framed by long hair in a soft, light blond/brown...  and, as if to balance the vulnerability of this, a body to die for, voluptuously curved.<br/><br/>"Wow.  You're beautiful!"  Whispered his subconscious, involuntarily, a last-ditch attempt to make its views felt, like a child who pleads for just another five minutes before bedtime.  And then he was fully awake, aware, mundane.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">I am Becky one of the attendants. I was wondering if you would like a bite to eat.</span><br/><br/>He shook his head, to clear the last vestiges of trance.  Managed to speak, though he was out of practice, for the last time he'd tried it had been around the last time he'd walked.<br/><br/>"Becky, I-"  he croaked.  "I..  I'm sorry,  I was dreaming, I think.  Is it possible you could find me...  maybe some fruit juice?  Orange?  Mango?  Something..."