By the time she awoke she couldn’t even remember if she had a dream or a nightmare. There had only been a deathlike peace.

Amanda had way too much time to think being at the hospital without any friends. She didn’t want to dwell on her thoughts for too long lest the wrong ones might emerge. She was hoping to forget what happened to her.

Now to tell ya about our fellow inmates. Pay attention because there are a bunch of us an’ we each have a story.

By dinnertime, Amanda had managed to pick off all of her red nail polish purely out of habit. She was disappointed and silently cursed at herself when she remembered not having anymore to put on. She stared at her fingernails for about twenty minutes for lack of something better to do.