Rejoining everyone was as much of a fuss as you might expect.
The three women who were waiting halfway down the ramp met us with wide-eyed anticipation looked as though they were holding their breath.  It took me only a moment, and a glance from them to Phillip back to them, to figure out what had happened.
I appropriately threatened and scolded them for revealing my secret, to which they simply stated that I was allowed to hate them for it, just as long as I were awake to do so. 
Hugs and assurances that I was alright followed. 
Other people were starting to notice that I was up and soon a crowd began to gather at the bottom of the ramp.
Despite my intense dislike of being the centre of attention and fear of public speaking, I knew that I owed it to everyone to speak with them, to acknowledge each of them and how they were feeling.
Almost an hour of hugs and, “I’m alright, really”s commenced.
It did not take much to convince most people that I was alright.  Anyone that knew me, knew how well I knew myself and how obstinate I could be once I made up my mind about how I felt.  If there is one thing that I cannot stand, it is people telling me how I feel.
I decided to make my way around the outside of the room, as I had learnt that there were showers in, what I had assumed were, the toilets.  Phillip, Phoebe, Julie, Jennifer and Amelia came along with me, stating their intention to use the facilities themselves.
About ninety percent of the people that we passed made a point either to acknowledge me or ignore me.  One woman, no guesses needed as to who, decided to confront me.
“You!” she bellowed as she stormed towards me and my entourage.
“Chasity,” I took a deep breath and adopted my most patient face.
“You!  You have a lot to answer for!” she said at, what was all but, a shout, “what do you have to say for yourself?  This is all down to you!”
As a teenager, I used to have a penchant for reacting to people in the same way that they were talking to me.  It quite often got me in trouble and no matter the situation, it would always boil down to being my fault.  As I hit twenty and moved out on my own, I started to take it in my stride, if someone came at me with attitude, I would simply listen and wait for the right opportunity to calmly think of a response and answer them or defend myself.  There were many people who would never give me the chance to respond and eventually I grew tired of trying to get them to listen or be reasonable.  I would take it all in and, essentially, ignore it.  I became so much less stressed as a result.
However, as that irate woman approached me, I could feel my heckles rise in a way that I had not felt in years.  It was as though all of her anger and frustration were being transmitted directly into me.
“Give it up, Chasity,” Jennifer declared, “don’t start this kind of crap again!”
“Don’t start?  She is the reason that we’re all here!  It’s because of her that all of my friends and family aren’t here!  Don’t you dare try to defend that little bitch!”
“None of this is her fault!” Phoebe jumped in, “you’re alive because of her!”
I put my hand out to indicate to Phoebe to stop, “it’s not worth it,” I told her, “you won’t change what she believes, no matter how wrong she may be.”  The last part of that sentence escaped my mouth before I could stop it, a strong sense of indignation was rising within me.
“How dare you!” she all but screamed, “I lost everyone, and who did you loose?  No one!  You cannot possibly imagine how much pain the rest of us are in!”
I took a step forwards, chin up, eyes defiant, “your husband, daughter and granddaughters are all alive because of me, and how can you possibly say that I didn’t loose anyone?  Do you think that because I didn’t know them or remember them that I feel nothing over their deaths?  They are all dead because I didn’t know them!  It is a fact that I cannot change no matter what I say, do or act!  You have no idea how broken I am inside!” 
My voice had steadily and unavoidably risen to a shout, waves of self importance surged through me.
My friends stood aghast, never before had I reacted like that.
They were not my thoughts or feelings, I clenched my fists and tried to force myself to calm down.
“You selfish bitch!” Chasity flung at me, “the whole world is dead and gone and all you can think of is how you feel.”
My fists began to shake.
“You make me sick!”
“Shut up!” I could feel the anger and frustration.
“Don’t you tell me what to do.  I bet you volunteered, I bet you even knew what was going to happen!”
“Chasity, please,” I began to beg, hot tears born of stress streaming down my face, as I attempted to expel the unwanted emotions from my body, “you don’t have to be like this!”
“We should throw you off the ship, that’d get rid of that pesky guilt for you.”
“Stop, enough,” a pressure was building, I felt like I was about to burst.
“You deserve to die, you little fuckwit.”
“NO!”
As I cried out, it felt as though a force was flung from where it had been building in my chest.
I flung my arms up, opening my fists as a reflex, pushing the energy out of my fingertips.
Chasity let out a cry as she flew backwards, straight across the mattress behind her, causing her to collide with the people stood beyond it.
The emotions were gone.
I felt like myself again.
There was silence as I pulled my shaking hands towards my face, staring at them as though they did not belong to me.
“Laura.”
Emma was crouching down by her mother’s side.
I was only just about able to shift my eyes to look at her.
“What did you do?”
“I…  I don’t…”
I looked around me and wherever my gaze went, people began to flinch or back away.
A hand on my shoulder jolted me into a run.  I sprinted forwards, people falling over themselves to get out of my way.
Reaching the toilets, I discovered that, although I had been there a few times, that was the first time that I was seeing them.  The room was divided into about twenty or so smaller rooms made from heavily frosted pale blue, glass partitions.  Each section housed a toilet, a sink, a shower and what appeared to be a full body air dryer.  I headed for the furthest cubicle and, locking the door, slid to the ground.  Lights came on around the outside of the glass, making it impossible to see in.
Fear and confusion swirled in my chest and mind.
Not just my own, but that of the people in that room.
I heard the footsteps of a selection of people coming cautiously through the cornered corridor after me.
“Laura?”  My mum's voice wad clearly suppressing a tremor.
“Laura, it’s alright,” Phoebe’s rang out in earnest, “we know you didn’t mean to do that.  Can you talk to us?”
“I’m in here,” I had to all but force my words out, I was terrified, as though I did not want to be found.  The fear was real, however it was not mine, I struggled to keep that fact in mind.
The footsteps approached my location.
“Are you alright?” Julie’s knack for simplicity almost caused me to laugh, I heard a snort or two from the others as well.
“I really don’t know how to answer that Jules,” I knew that she meant well, so I continued by saying, “I’m not hurt if that’s what you mean.”
Jennifer’s voice came next, “I guess that’s not something that’s happened before then?”
“Ahh no, not that I can recall,” my thoughts were beginning to calm down, the fear replaced by cautious apprehension, “I’m fairly sure I might have mentioned it if it had.”
“Any idea how it happened?” the curiosity of everybody hung on Phoebe’s question.
“I’m not one hundred percent sure,” I started, “but I think I’m an empath.”
“An empath?” Marti’s voice asked, “like a witch?”
“A witch?” I heard someone mutter to which Marti replied, “from a TV show.”
“I think it’s similar,” I said thinking back to the show that she was referring to, “I could feel everything Chasity felt as though they were my own feelings, that’s why I snapped back like that.”  I needed to make myself clear, “those were not my feelings or my thoughts, what I was shouting back there.”
“Yeah, you didn’t exactly sound like your usual self,” said my mum.
“It was like all of her feelings were energy that started to overwhelm me.  But, once I was aware that they weren’t my feelings, I was able to direct them, push them out of myself through the tips of my fingers.”  I sighed and held my hands up to my face, waggling my fingers to see if they felt any different “I guess that the emotional energy became kinetic energy, somehow.”
“That is incredibly insightful,” Orthus's voice came from a little further off as he entered the room.  “You are correct in your Laura MacPhaid, the emotions that you felt were, indeed, those of that woman’s.  When we activated your neural link, it opened ‘pathways’ shall we say, between you and all those that you know.  These pathways act as conduits between you.  The stronger the emotional connection between yourself and the other person, the more naturally the emotions will flow and the stronger the emotion, the more intense your perception of them will be.”
“So that’s why she was comatose for so long,” Amelia spoke, “she must have been overwhelmed by all of the pain and sorrow that everyone was feeling.” 
“Yeah,” said Julie, “then she must have come around because people were getting more relaxed and starting to come to term with what happened.”
I felt a little disappointed, “and here I was thinking it was… no, never mind.”
“I thought that to.”  Phillip’s voice came softly through the glass, so close to where I was sitting that he must have been directly behind me.
“If you are referring to the idea that love woke you,” apparently Orthus had little to no tact, I doubt that he was even aware that such a thing existed, “you are not wrong in thinking that it was what drew you from the negative emotions.  As the others became more at ease, the pressure upon you would have started to decrease.  However, it would not have been enough release you.  It was the strength of this man's feelings and his joy at discovering that you reciprocated those feelings, that pierced the metaphorical bubble of emotions that were oppressing you and allowed you to regain coherent thought.”
I am sure that the following round of “awwww” could be heard back in the main room.
The heat that rose to my cheeks must have painted me a wonderful shade of red. 
I had spent so long assuming that my feelings were one-sided, that the sudden onslaught of happiness, relief and embarrassment made it difficult to breathe.
Again I felt the wave emotions wash through me.
Overwhelmed with the urge to dash out of my confinement and basically throw myself at Phillip, I tried to hold myself together.  The energy, once again, began to build until I could practically feel it pulsing.  With a gasp, I instinctively released the energy.  This time, without direction.
It burst out of every part of me, every inch.
The force was such, that it pushed me up off of the ground and away from the door.  The water in the toilet bowl and in the taps splashed everywhere as the metal that contained the liquid warped and cracked.
I cried out in alarm.  Tears began to stream down my face as I felt the growing worry and confusion, my own mixed with theirs.
Everyone was calling my name from the other side of the door.
“Laura?  What happened?”
“Are you Alright, Laura?”
“Open the door!”
On my feet, I backed into the shower which came on automatically as I stepped over the lip that contained the water.  Ducking past the stream, I put my back against the wall, balling my hands into fists as I lowered into a crouch.
“Get away!  Please, before I hurt someone!”
Love, hate, fear, confusion, concern, anger, happiness, sorrow, excitement…
I could feel all of it at once.
The intensity came and went in waves.
My head was beginning to spin with the effort of concentrating on holding the energy inside of me.
The voices quieted down and I heard Orthus say, “Laura MacPhaid, if you wish to, I can take you to a different part of the ship so that you have no chance to hurt anyone else. “
Half a dozen voices protested this offer.
He calmed them down with gentle words, “Laura MacPhaid is currently reacting to the emotions of every last human on this ship.  Whilst removing her will not stop your emotions from reaching her, I can take her to a place where she cannot hurt anyone else or herself, where she can stay until she can gain control of her new found ability.”
Reluctant agreement murmured through them, Orthus continued, “ultimately, the decision lies with her.  Laura MacPhaid, what is your answer?”
I made to move across to the door, only to find a need to tense my body in an attempt to keep myself together.  Walking stiffly across the space, I unlocked the door and stepped back without opening it.
“I’ll go,” my voice came out surprisingly calmly, “just please, don’t let me hurt anyone else.”
The door was gently pushed open, Phillip’s head appeared in the gap.  He stepped gingerly into the cubicle, stopping as he saw me take a step back.
The words I spoke next felt as though they were tearing me apart, “please, don’t come any closer.”
His back straightened and he began walking towards me, “you won’t hurt me.”  His voice was so certain, it caused me to relax a little.
“I don’t want to,” I all but whispered, knowing just how scared and pained I must have looked, “Phillip, I can’t control it.”
“Yes you can, you’re doing it right now.”  He reached out and ran his hand from my shoulder down to my hand.  His fingers gently prized mine apart, sliding them together until they held each other. 
I breathed in deeply and, tilting my head forward, leant against his chest for a few moments.  His free hand moved smoothly around my back and pulled me in close to him.
The longer that we stood, pressed together, the faster my heart beat.  At that proximity, I could feel his pulse racing to match mine.  As I breathed, I took in his scent and his warmth.
It took everything in me to extricate myself from his embrace without giving into the urge to relock the door and push him up against it.
The look in his eyes told me that he shared my desire.
We shared a rueful half smile before he planted an intense kiss on my forehead and we turned to the door.
My fears that had been momentarily forgotten, returned full force as we stepped through the door and came face to face with so much concern.
My entire body began to shake, Phillip squeezed my hand.
Admittedly, my biggest shock came from seeing Orthus for the first time.
He approached confidently and extended his right arm in greeting.
I raised my free hand to shake his, forcing myself to control my facial expressions as I marveled at how much warmer his hand was than I was expecting.
“Laura MacPhaid, it is wonderful to meet you properly.”
“Orthus,” my words failed me, and as I stood struggling to find what to say, the emotions began to swirl again.
I tensed up and dropped his hand.
“Sorry, I, I’m still... “ I tried to explain.
He shook his head, “do not apologize for that which you have no control over.”  He extended an arm toward the door, “shall we?”
I squeezed Phillip’s hand.  Mine was still shaking and sweaty, yet he never let go.
I reentered the main room, surrounded by some of my closest friends and family.
The general clamour of conversation died down to a murmur as we became noticed.
All eyes were on me, from one end of the room to the other, however I was so focused on containing the energy, that I barely noticed.
We came to the mattress that I had landed next to when we had first arrived.
My bag and coat had been placed neatly on top of it by some kind soul.  I had lost track of when I had last seen it, so its appearance was a relief.  I felt, and still feel, that I can survive anything as long as I have it with me.
Reaching out to pick it up with my coat, was a mistake.  Three mattresses went flying to my left.  Fortunately, there were no people next to or beyond them so they flopped harmlessly down a couple of rows over.
Phoebe and Amelia picked up my bag and coat and handed them to me.  They helped me to hook the bag over my shoulder and then my coat over my bag, attempting to put the coat on would probably have been catastrophic.
We made our way to the top of the ramp, my entourage was made up of Phillip, Phoebe, America, Jennifer, Julie, my mum, my dad, Marti and Seb. 
Orthus informed us that anyone would be able to visit me at any time, however due to the ship’s policy, it would have to be one at a time.
“For this first transfer, it is advisable for one person to go along so that they can confirm to the others on their return that Laura MacPhaid is safe and comfortable.”
“I’ve got to stay with the kids.”
“I’m in charge of a grief group that’ll be starting soon.”
“My mum needs support right now.”
“I actually need the bathroom.”
“I can’t leave my husband.”
“Phillip would go.”
“Yeah, that’s the best idea.”
“We know he can calm her down.”
“They deserve some real alone time.”
The last sentence was whispered between a few of them, yet it was clearly audible.
Had I been more aware of this conversation at the time I would have been mortified, however I was only just aware that we had even reached the platform. 
It is hard to know whether they were truly concerned with my sudden romantic prospect, or if they were simply to unsure about the idea of being left alone with me at the time.  I suspect it was a mixture of both and I blame them for neither, I would probably be just as nervous as they were.
“Laura?” my mum’s voice brought my attention to them, “is that alright?  Phillip will be the one to go with you now, to get you settled.”
I gave Phillip a sidelong glance.
The smile on his face was one of incredible embarrassment, yet he nodded, “I’ll come with, if that’s okay?”
It took me a moment to digest what was happening, with more than a few glances from one person to the next and back to the man holding my hand.  I spoke at length, “yeah, that’s good, that’s fine.”
I managed to bid them a shaky, “see you all soon.”
I nodded to Orthus.
The door opened.