The dim lights lining the long corridor flicker as Judith wanders in search of the exit. She hears faint scratching at the walls accompanied by feeble groans. Her heart pounds in her ears like slow drum beats but she feels as if a hummingbird is trapped in her chest.

The hall seems to go on endlessly and as she drags her bare feet against the gravel, she drops her gaze onto the thin gown tied around her skeletal frame.

"Judith – Sierra – Jefferson." A hoarse voice stops her in her tracks and she whips her head from left to right to find it. The speaker sounds like a chain smoker and Judy recognizes her. "You have to take your shot. Sit up!"

She jolts against the dry fabric, grazing her sensitive skin in little white streaks and when she blinks, she's sitting in a chair with a curvy blonde woman standing over her.

"Good, you're sitting like a proper lady. I was about to call Andy, but if you keep it up, I will," the woman threatens, and staring into her cold dark brown eyes, Judith knows she's serious. As the nurse drops her chin to watch the needle slide into her arm, Judy stares at her black roots. "You'll feel a slight pinch."

Judith bounces her attention around the hall of people in matching grey and white uniforms. They're all patients of Red Cave, leaning against the wall and waiting for their turn in the chair. As expected, the needle punctures the bend of her elbow and she squeezes her eyes shut.

"You're hurting me," she whines while wincing but the woman merely stares at her as she presses the clear fluid into Judith's veins. When she reopens her eyes, she meets the gaze of a lanky man with a caramel complexion and hazel irises. He strolls past them without looking away and when he winks at her, she feels her heart drop into her stomach.

***

Judith thrusts upward, the off-white quilt falling onto her lap. She huffs and puffs, her fingers twitching above the bed rails. She jerks her face to her right and exhales from relief when she sees Jerome staring at her with wide eyes.

"You good," he asks over the miniature hard pretzel he just put in his mouth. One of his brows is raised as he watches her nod and then slowly lay down. "Nightmare?"

When she nods, he glances at the bag in both hands. Judith looks at his lap and takes a breath.

"Could you lay here – with me," she hesitantly asks and they simultaneously lock eyes. "Just until I go to sleep."

"I don't know how I could without hurting you." Judith's eyes flare from surprise, and his do the same when he hears himself. "I – didn't mean it that way. I'm a big guy and you're tied up. I don't wanna squish you."

He chuckles at himself and before she can respond, her doctor steps in with a nurse and a security guard in tow. Judith and Jerome share a confused glance as she slowly pushes herself up.

"Miss. Jefferson, I'm glad you're awake," he says after stopping at the end of her bed. "My name's Matthew Bateman and I'll be taking over for Doctor Andrews. Do you know why you're here?"

"Because I fainted in the bathroom," she answers without certainty. She glances at Jerome who's staring at his hands clasped between his bouncing legs, the pretzels next to his radio. Doctor Bateman looks at him and notices his eyes flickering around the floor. "What's going on?"

"You're being escorted to another hall awaiting transfer," Doctor Bateman says and when she makes a confused expression, he glances at Jerome. She follows his gaze and Jerome takes a deep, shaky breath.

"Awaiting transfer to where?" Her stomach twists in knots when Jerome bites his lip at his radio. "What's going on?"

Her eyes sweep from left to right at the three staff across from her and when she returns her teary eyes to her doctor, she knows where she's going.

"Red," the doctor begins to answer but he stops when she promptly shakes her head with her eyes wide. He exhales, Jerome wipes his face and Judith doesn't cease.

"No," she mumbles, scooting backward and clenching her hands under the restraints. "No, you can't do this to me again. Jerome, do something! I didn't try to kill myself!"

"Judy," he pauses to gather his thoughts, his eyes flickering from the left side of his shoes to the right. All they can hear in that short time is her labored breathing. "I told them about your food issue."

"Oh, my God," she whines as she rolls her eyes onto the security guard. Jerome licks his lips and then looks at her.

"You need help." She doesn't respond so he continues, "I gave your Mom that bottle, thinking it would help but that didn't work. I would offer you food whenever I could, but you never took it. I knew something was wrong with you before I found that medicine, Judy, and I can't –"

"You know how I feel about that place," Judith raises her voice. He furrows his brows and shakes his head. "I saw things that no one should. I'll kill myself before I ever go back there!"

"Judy – she doesn't mean that," he rushes the words to Doctor Bateman but he doesn't believe him.

"Mr. Herrera, please hold the patient down while Nurse Johnson sedates her." Before he can finish his instructions, Judith belts an ear-splitting scream, and Jerome jumps to his feet as they approach her from opposite sides.

Standing in the way of the security guard, he sternly says, "You don't have to do this."

Judith's face grows red and a vein appears on the side of her neck. Her heart pounds against her chest as she thrashes beneath her blanket. After observing her state of hysteria, Doctor Bateman says, "Proceed with the sedation. Young man, step back or I'll call the police."

***

Judith groans weakly as her eyes flutter open. Darkness surrounds her blurry vision's focal point and she drops her chin to her chest, gazing at the abrasions around her wrists.

She jolts into the seated position and instantly, a stabbing pain races from her forehead to the back of her head. She places her shaking hands against her temples, her fingers twitching in her afro.

What little sunlight remains beams through the small, rectangular window above the back of her bed and illuminates the otherwise dim room. Judith tosses her legs off the edge of the bed and notices the grey socks on her feet. She staggers off the bed and limps to the door.

Judith plants her palms on the glass, her breath bouncing off the surface. Her heart skips a beat when she sees a man sitting across from her. He's pale with icy blue eyes and low hair that resembles boar bristles.

He looks over the top of his clipboard and they lock eyes. He's not John Lewis and doesn't truly look like him, but she sees him. She watches him rise from his chair and step closer, a smirk aimed at her.

"Pleasure seeing you again." His attention darts onto her quivering lips, then into her big eyes. She has a deer-caught-in-headlights appearance that makes him dry chuckle.

"Who are you," Judith hesitantly asks and as he turns his key in the doorknob, she watches his hand. Her dark browns return to his light blues and they flicker from one to the other.

Hitched breaths escape her parted lips and repeatedly fog the glass between them. Without answering, he pushes the door ajar. She takes a few steps back when he walks toward her and they stop once she reaches the foot of the hospital bed.

The man reaches his hand into his pocket, the other clasping the key. They lock eyes as he lifts a silver revolver into the light but her expression shifts to neutral when he sets the muzzle against her left temple.

"Beg for your life," he tells her, a smile blooming on his face. Judith stares at him with her mouth closed as tears trickle down her cheeks.

"If you wanna kill me, kill me." His sinister grin withers at her monotonous response and he emits a dry chuckle, waiting for a different reaction. His thumb clicks the hammer down and he narrows his eyes. He inhales to speak but she interrupts, "Shoot me! You want me dead, then fucking shoot me! I have nothing left to lose and I'm not afraid of you."

He quickly aims the gun between his eyes as he shuts them.

***

A sharp boom awakens her and she jerks upright in the hospital bed. Droplets of sweat remain on her forehead and the rest pooled on the back of her gown. Her vision is blurry through her sunken eyes and as she heaves labored breaths, she turns to the nightstand beside her.

Judith lifts her glasses onto her face and notices Kacey standing at her door. When she flinches, a breath catches in her chest and Kacey raises her eyebrow.

"Get over here," she orders her. Judith climbs off the bed, and in a damp gown and fuzzy socks, she strolls toward the door. Kacey scans her from her unkempt afro to her large socks before returning to her eyes.

"Where's everyone," Judith forces herself to ask to cut the awkward tension. "Are you here to see Juniper?"

"They're packing their bags while I'm here. I didn't come to see Juniper, I came to see you," Kacey answers, then folds her arms. "Jerome told me you're here and said I need to talk to you."

Judith furrows her brows with a dry chuckle. "How does he even know about you? How do you know about each other, I – wait."

Kacey's expression remains stern throughout Judith's nervous laughter and when she abruptly stops, Kacey asks, "What?"

"Are you two fucking?" Her eyes enlarge from shock at Judith's question. Judith's beady eyes stare through hers and her hands curl into fists at the possibility of them being together. "I saw Mary and David kiss on candid camera, and since then, they've paraded their relationship in my face. Kacey?"

"No, I'm not fucking him! Jesus Christ, I met him that night of the storm, remember?" Judith darts her anger from left to right as she attempts to remember their encounter, but her mind is blank. Kacey drops her arms and rolls her eyes. "When that white boy was about to hit Mary and he was gonna hit you after you started taunting him, Jerome showed up and de-escalated the situation. Does any of this ring a bell?"

"Wait, was that the same night Ronnie and Jenny fought?" Kacey exhales and glances at her fists, then nods at her. Judy sighs. She relaxes her hands, and says, "Oh, okay, I'm sorry."

"I heard you're going to Red Cave," she says in a feeble attempt to cut the tension. "Let Jenny tell it, this is one of President Carter's many bad decisions. First, it was inflation, now he poisoned the water and turned our country crazy."

"Ever wonder if there's any truth to what she says." Kacey darts her eyes onto Judith's left shoulder in thought. "I mean, I know she can seem Looney Tunes, but what if out of one hundred things she says, one percent is true or somewhat true."

"When I met her, it was nineteen seventy-six – I think," Kacey recalls though her tone is questioning and her narrowed eyes bear the same uncertainty. "Yeah, just after La'Shawna founded NDCS. I noticed her hair first. She was the only black girl on campus who looked like me, at the time; dark skin, big afro – sort of like yours – and that was the start of our friendship. Throughout these long years, Judy, this bitch has said some things that'll make you scratch your head."

"Okay, but I think a part of what she said about the weird shit happening at the frat house is true," Judy interjects. "I mean, why else would some guy in black grab me while another one stands off in the distance."

"Because you were by yourself and you're smaller than a toothpick," Kacey monotonously answers. Judith rolls her eyes, then opens her mouth to respond, but Kacey continues, "She told me when she was twelve, the Easter bunny came into her bedroom and left a golden egg which she found a week later. She also said it cracked three months later and her grandma disposed of it."

Judith's eyes glaze onto Kacey's off-white shoes as she ponders over Jenny's statement.

"I'm not saying she's completely wrong, but I don't have the time nor the energy to decipher the cryptic shit she says. I would say if you do, be my guest, but you have your own stuff to deal with," Kacey says while motioning her hands toward Judy.

"What if something happened to her and the only way for her to talk about it, is through parables." They lock eyes and Kacey briefly squints hers. "My parents would fight a lot when I was little, and the things I heard – I tried to block it out by thinking of something else, and since then, it's like I can pull away from reality. I used to do it when David was — abusing me."

"Wow, I'm sorry." Judith tucks her chin to her chest and emits a shaky sigh. "I wish you could come with us to Morehead. You're insanely smart."

"It's fine. I know what I did wrong the last time I had to go away, but this time will be different; I'll be back in less than a month." She forces a smile to match her confident tone, but Kacey sees through it.

"Well, I'll talk to Dr. Ahmed. Maybe he'll pull a few strings and have you there as soon as you get out." Kacey takes a deep breath. When Judy doesn't respond, she continues, "So, you and Jerome?"

"No." She quickly shakes her head as she folds her arms. Kacey watches her turn to her right, and scowl at the wall. "No, I don't wanna talk about him."

"Well, it was a long drive to get here from campus and I wanna talk about something." She tilts her head and raises her eyebrows when Judith turns her face to her. "Well, what's the deal with you two? He seems to really like you."

"He's not capable of liking anyone other than himself." Kacey furrows her brows. "I'm in here, because of him."

"What're you talking about?" Judith licks her lips with her eyes shut, taking a deep breath to prepare herself for the inevitably long story she'll have to tell. She faces Kacey and sighs, her eyes reopening.