"Claire, honey," Pam said gently, "it's time to get ready. Your visitor will be here soon."

Claire looked up from the bed in shock. Pam wasn't carrying another hospital gown, she was carrying *clothes*. A whole stack of them, folded neatly, in Claire's size: pajamas, a robe, socks. And --- she couldn't believe it --- *underwear*. Plain white cotton underwear, the kind Myst wore.

Pam set the stack on Claire's bed, then placed a pair of slippers on the floor. These were *not* Myst's plain white terrycloth slippers. They were pink bunny slippers, with button noses, yarn whiskers, little pink ears, and round little eyes that stared up at her.

Claire whispered, "Why? Pam... why?"

"Because we want all of our girls to look their best for their visitors," Pam said, as she left the room.

Myst raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to leave while you change?"

"Don't bother --- you do it all the time in front of me," Claire said, grabbing the underwear and stepping into them while still shielded by the gown. She turned toward the wall, let the gown slip off her shoulders and drift to the floor, and put on the bra. When she turned back around, she stood grinning with her hands on her hips like a child pretending to be a superhero.

Myst snorted. "Get your clothes on right now, young lady!"

Claire laughed and pulled on the hospital socks. They were cheap, thin, and scratchy, but after weeks of bare feet on cold floors, they felt like a luxury. The pajamas came next: flimsy, institutional, but *pants*. A top. A robe with no belt --- of course --- but she didn't care. And finally, the bunny slippers.

"Claire Bear, you look *adorable*," Myst said, and the two of them embraced, laughing.

Pam poked her head back in. "Okay, sweetie --- we don't want to keep our guest waiting!"

"Can Myst meet her too?" Claire asked hopefully.

"No, sweetie. Not today."

Claire's face fell, but Myst squeezed her hand. "Maybe next time."

Claire followed Pam out the door and down the hallway toward the breakroom. One corner of the room had clearly been staged for this visit --- no other patients anywhere nearby, as if the area had been pre-emptively cleared. Paper holiday decorations covered the walls in a chaotic, over-inclusive jumble: Christmas trees and wreaths, menorahs and Stars of David, bright geometric Kwanzaa patterns. The TV played one of those channels that showed nothing but a crackling fireplace log.

*Oh,* Claire remembered suddenly, *it is getting close to Christmas.* It was hard to keep track in here. She counted backward in her head --- exams every Tuesday, she'd had one yesterday --- which meant today must be December 20th. The thought made her stomach twist; remembering the exam always did.

"Sit here, sweetie," Pam said, guiding her to a couch in the corner. Pam sat beside her, hands folded neatly in her lap. On the coffee table in front of them sat a vase of fresh flowers. Claire stared at them. She had never seen flowers in this hospital.

Across the room, in the opposite corner, Myst sat in a chair in her white robe, watching her. That was apparently as close as the staff would allow her to be.

Claire felt a flicker of comfort --- and then her heart skipped a beat.

The Doctor entered the room.

Her whole body went rigid. *Oh God, not him again...*

But then she saw who was walking beside him, listening intently to whatever he was saying.

Liz.

Liz, in her winter coat, her reddish light-brown hair looking windblown, her face reddened from the wind, but bright with concern and hope. Liz looked like she had been waiting weeks for this moment, as had Claire.

*Liz has no idea what I've been through,* Claire thought. Suddenly she realized she was not going to be able to tell Liz what it was really like in here. Liz was going to see the pajamas, the robe, the bunny slippers. Liz was going to think all of these things meant Claire was comfortable, and warm, and safe here. *I should have known that was why they wanted me to "look my best"*, she realized. *I'm just a doll to these people, they dress me how they want me. I was Corporate Claire, with my HR desk playset. Then I became Patient Claire, with hospital gown, no shoes. Today I'm Bunny Slippers Claire.*

Liz spoke first. "Claire..." she said, with the tiredness in her voice of someone who's been worrying herself sick and losing sleep over someone.

Claire stood up and threw herself into Liz's arms, leaning her head onto Liz's shoulder. Liz hugged her tight and stroked her hair the way she always had, the way she used to when Claire was little and scared. It made Claire feel safe in a way nothing in this place had since she got here.

And then the smell hit her --- winter air, laundry detergent, and that same warm perfume Liz had worn since college. Before Claire could stop herself, tears filled her eyes.

When they'd both sat down on the couch, the Doctor, who was sitting in a nearby armchair, asked, "Would you like some coffee, Ms. Allman?"

Simultaneously, talking over each other, Claire said "no" and Liz said "yes." Claire did not much care for coffee and rarely drank it, especially not here where even she knew enough about coffee to know that it couldn't possibly be any good, from the way it smelled.

"Pam," smiled the Doctor, "go and get Ms. Allman some coffee."

Pam stared at the man for a moment, with a look that was either indignation at being asked to complete such an errand, or reluctance to leave Claire's side.

Liz, again, broke the silence. "I'll get it myself, Pam," she said, and headed towards the machine. "Which pot is the decaf?"

"It's all decaf, Miss," said Pam, "we don't want these girls gettin' riled up on it."

*Of course it's decaf*, thought Claire. This coffee was purely ornamental. The always old, always burning smell of the machine was like a twisted parody of a scent diffuser --- as if someone actually liked that smell and kept the appliance running all day to create it.

"It's so good to finally see you in person, Claire," said Liz, in a cheerful tone that didn't actually sound much like Liz, "how are you feeling? I've been so worried about you."

"I'm...," Claire hesitated, "feeling ok, I guess. Better than I was," she lied. She didn't know what else to do. She couldn't possibly say what was really going on in here. Liz wouldn't believe it. *Liz will think I'm crazy if I tell her what it's really like in here.*

"How are they treating you? Are you comfortable?"

"I'm... ok. I'm comfortable. The food's pretty good. I'm making *friends* here. I want to come home," was all she could say.

"I know you do, Claire, I know. And you will as soon as your Doctor says you're better, as soon as it's safe for you to be alone."

*Yes, of course he's going to tell you I'm not safe. Oh, Liz, if only you knew what he was like*, was what Claire couldn't say. The Doctor was, of course, sitting right there, looking alternately at Claire and Liz.

"Ms. Allman," he said to Liz, "your sister is in a very fragile state, as you can see. We'll continue to re-assess her situation as needed, to plan her discharge."

"Tell me about your friends, Claire." Liz seemed to be looking for stuff to talk about other than getting Claire out.

"Well... all the girls in my therapy group, that I've met so far, are really nice. But the nicest one, and the coolest, is Myst. Oh, Liz, she's so smart, and she's an artist..."

Liz looked at Pam and the Doctor. "So, Claire is with patients with similar... situations as herself?"

"Yes, Ma'am. This floor of this wing is the low-security section. All of our patients in this area are low-risk, low-needs, just young women that need to be stabilized and put back on their own two feet..."

While the Doctor talked, Claire stared at her feet, and the bunnies stared back.

"Pam here," the Doctor continued, "is the charge nurse of this section, she sees the patients far more than I do, she can tell you what they're like."

"They're all a bunch of little sweethearts," drawled Pam, "they're all my baby girls and just the nicest little things, Claire is in real good company here."

"So, Claire, tell me more about this Myst, where's she from? How old is she?"

"She's 22, and she's from Atlanta. Well, *near* Atlanta, anyway. But she's going to school at State. She has a sister that lives downtown. Myst is studying psych, she wants to help people like her," Claire said, and then remembered to add, "and me. And she has a dog, Shadow, but he's back down in Atlanta. She misses him, she wants to bring him to live with her, when she gets a bigger place."

"Oh, she sounds nice. Claire, I'm happy you are meeting people." Liz sounded like she was just settling into the idea that Claire might be here a while. "If you're going to have to be somewhere you don't want to be, at least you have someone here with you that you like."

"Oh, she's wonderful, Liz, I can't wait for you to meet her. And there's also Nikki, she's a student at *your* old school, I mean where you went once you moved back here. She's studying game design. She's only a freshman, poor thing."

"She's a darlin'," added Pam, "and so is Misty!"

"As you can see, Ms. Allman, we've placed Claire in a circle of like-minded young women to help her recovery."

"Yes, Doctor," agreed Liz, "it certainly sounds like it. Claire, what do you do to pass the time in here?"

"Oh... there's all kinds of stuff. Drawing, crafting, board games, movie night..." Claire said anything she could to avoid mentioning the endless boredom of this place, punctuated only by moments of terror.

"Young women like Claire thrive in structure," said the Doctor. "We provide them a safe place to heal and grow. Our nurse-therapist, Laura, will tell you more about it when you meet with her next."

Claire wondered what kinds of things Laura was going to tell Liz about her.

"Claire," said Liz, "I need to get going now. I'll see you again as soon as I can, and I'll call you tomorrow."

"Liz..." Claire wanted to beg Liz to take her with her. "I love you!" She leaned over to Liz and hugged her, nestling herself into Liz's arms. The two stayed like that for a few seconds, again.

"Okay, Ms. Allman, it's time to go, Laura is waiting."

As Liz and the Doctor walked away, Pam added, "Nice to meet you, Miss! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day." Once Liz was completely out of the room and the door closed behind her, Pam said to Claire, "Ok, sweetie, you can relax now for a little bit. I'll be back," and left herself.

Myst immediately came over to sit with Claire, now that there was no one to stop her.

"Oh my god, Claire," she could hardly contain herself, "she looks exactly like you described her! I wish they'd let me meet her."

"I know...," said Claire.

"Here, trade," said Myst, slipping off her own slippers. "I want the bun-buns!"

Claire pulled her feet out of the bunny slippers and slid them into the pair Myst had just abandoned. They were loose --- one shoe-size too large.

Myst jammed the bunnies onto her feet --- a tight fit --- and propped her feet up on Claire's knee. "I need to see if I can get me a pair of *these*," she mused. "What's wrong, Claire Bear?"

"Oh, Myst, I couldn't tell her anything! I was so afraid, so afraid that anything I said would just make it worse. Make me sound like I actually am *crazy*."

"I know, Claire, I know," said Myst. "The same thing happened to me. We sat in a room with a videoconference with my parents, and Susan sitting right here in the room with us, and I... well, I tried to tell them, I really tried! I mean, I *did* tell them, but they didn't hear it. All they heard was me being paranoid and delusional and imagining things, just like *He* told them I was."

"Oh, Myst, I'm so sorry that happened," said Claire, placing her hand on Myst's right bunny, for support.

"I never tried again after that. Never bothered. I knew they wouldn't believe me. It's not their fault, really, I wouldn't believe me either if I was them."

Pam re-entered the room. "Claire, sweetie, it's time to change back, your visitor has left the building now."

"Change... back?"

"Yes, honey, I've got a new gown for you, let's go to your room so you can change into it."

"Gown? I have to go back to the gown?!"

"Yes, sweetie, this outfit is just for visiting times."

"This is bullshit, Pam, and you know it," said Myst, angrily.

"Missy, this is not your business," said Pam sternly, "come, Claire."

"Can I keep the bunnies?"

"No, ma'am. Those shoes don't fit you. You're gonna hurt your toes stuffing them in there."

"Well ya got any more of 'em?"

"I'll check. But this isn't about you, Missy. Don't make me call the Boys."

"It's always that way with you, isn't it, Pam? You're all nice until it comes time to actually be *kind*, and then you resort to violence instead. Calling in your hired goons over bunny slippers."

Pam pulled out her phone, pressed a few buttons, and said into it, "Security to 201."

Myst continued to sit with her bunny-clad feet on Claire's lap, blocking Claire from getting up and walking away.

Silently, the orderlies arrived. They did not pay any mind to Myst or Claire, they looked to Pam for orders.

"Get these slippers off of her, and get her out of the way from interfering with Claire."

One of the "Boys" grabbed Myst by the shoulders, while the other pulled the slippers off her bare feet and handed them to Pam. Then they both pulled her up off the couch and forced her to stand up.

"You motherfuckers better get your dirty paws offa me!" Myst said, her voice rising.

"Missy, don't make a scene."

"And if I do?"

"Take her to 423, boys, and make sure she stays there until I come back there. We'll give her a shot of something to calm her down."

"No," said Myst, trying to struggle out of the men's arms to no avail. "I didn't do anything! You can't..." They paid her no mind, and began to force her to walk.

"No!" she screamed and began flailing, trying to escape their grip. They picked her up, one holding her arms, the other her feet, and carried her away. She wiggled and struggled and shouted, "You motherfuckers! I'll get you! You're gonna have to let go of me sooner or later and when you do I'm gonna kick you in the nuts..."

The Boys seemed unimpressed, and disappeared down the hall with their wriggling quarry.

Claire tried to stand up, but her legs didn't want to move. Only after all echoes of Myst had died away, could she get up.

"Good girl, Claire," said Pam, "now follow me, let's get you changed. Don't worry about Misty - we'll bring her back to 217 with you once we get her stable."

Back in her room, Pam placed another blue gown on Claire's bed and said, "Go ahead and get changed into this, darlin', I'm gonna go take care of Misty."

After Pam left the room and closed the door, Claire slowly took everything back off. First the robe, then Myst's slippers, then her socks, then the pajama top, then the pants, then the bra. Everything went into a pile on the floor. She put on the gown before taking off her panties. Claire looked at the pile of clothing on the floor, and wondered if she should just stuff it into her dresser, maybe Pam would forget about it and let her keep it. *Now that IS crazy! I'll never get away with that*, she reminded herself.

She climbed onto her bed and covered herself with her blanket, not for warmth (the room was, as usual, quite a bit warmer than comfortable), but to try to retain the dignity she'd just stripped off. She wished Myst was here. She wished Liz had taken her home. She wished anything besides what had actually happened.

A few minutes later, a knock came at the door.

"Come in," said Claire, expecting Pam, but surprised she bothered knocking. People here usually just came in whenever they felt like it. It wasn't Pam --- it was Nikki and Anna.

"Can we come in?" said Nikki. "We want to wait here for Myst to come back."

"Ok, but I'm fine, I'll be fine." Claire wondered if there was some kind of backup system, where someone else was always ready to stand in for Myst as Claire's "guardian" whenever Myst was indisposed.

"We're here for Myst too," said Anna.

Without knocking, the door opened again and Pam walked in with the two orderlies, this time rolling a rickety-looking old gurney. Myst was laying on it, unconscious. She was wearing a hospital gown, not her robe. Pam was, in fact, holding the robe. The orderlies picked Myst up and laid her on her bed, flat on her back.

"No no, boys, turn her over," said Pam, "leave her butter-side-up!"

The orderlies rotated Myst over onto her belly, her face turned to one side. Myst grunted, but didn't wake up. The back of her gown was open, the bandages covering her injection sites visible through her panties, one in each buttock. Her bare legs and feet looked especially pale.

"For God's sake, Pam, cover her up!" said Anna, angrily, placing a blanket over Myst from the waist down.

Pam ignored Anna as she gathered up Claire's clothing off the floor. Pam and the orderlies left as abruptly as they'd entered. On the way out, Pam added, "Misty's gonna be like this a couple of hours. You girls might not want to wait around for her to wake up, you'll miss your lunch."

With Pam out of the room, Claire said to Anna and Nikki, "you guys can go to lunch. I'll stay with her, she's my roommate."

"Nope!" said Anna, sitting beside Myst, holding her hand.

"Let's go, Claire," said Nikki.

On the way to the cafeteria, while turning a corner, Nikki stumbled, looked like she was about to fall over, her face was briefly confused and dazed, but before falling she regained her balance, and resumed walking.

"Impressive!" said Claire.

"That right there, is why I'm here. *Fall risk* they call it. I'm supposed to be in a normal hospital, but they ran out of beds. I'm here as *overflow*. I really shouldn't be here."

"None of us should be," said Claire. "None of us."