Elaine felt cold calm descend on her. It was a technique she honed over the last couple years. She glanced at her parents, who were chatting with Jodi's parents. No need to tell them anything. It was either an idiot that sent her the message, or a friend. Either way, she could take care of it. She looked around. Jodi was dancing without a care in the world. If it had been her, she would have been looking at her to give her a confirming look, right?

Leslie, her least favorite person in the room, was chatting with Hunter, who was your typical jock with a quasi-typical mean streak. They were all flirtation, Leslie twirling a blond lock around her finger. It didn't look like they were conspiring, but that didn't mean it wasn't them. Leslie was a master of pretension. Nice to the staff, and mockingly friendly to the people she didn't like. It always made Elaine's skin crawl.

Elaine pulled Jodi, dressed as Harley Quinn, aside. "What's up," her friend asked. Some people were in costume and others weren't. Elaine was not. She was in a bespoke brown suit, brown low-heeled boots, and burnt orange blouse. If pressed, she could say she was Sailor Uranus - she had the hair and build for it.

"Did you write this. Or get something like it?" Elaine asked.

Jodi looked at the message. "No."

"Will you come with me to the woods, and see what this is about?" Elaine asked.

Jodi smirked. "Okay, let me get my bag. I brought a flask," she winked.

"The woods then, oh, mysterious person," Elaine texted back. There was still no response.

They nipped at the vodka and seltzer from the flask as they walked across the hospital grounds. It was full dark, but the light from the hospital and two light posts in the parking lot were enough illumination to get where they were going.

"Do you still talk to Sunny?" Jodi asked. "You were hot and heavy at the Institute."

"We do video calls sometimes. But its hard. Her school's in North Carolina." Elaine stayed local, still needing help from her parents for a while longer. There were residual affects to her condition that she can ignore more and more. And eventually, they'll be gone.

"Yeah," Jodi sympathised. "I'm graduating this year."

"That's great," Elaine said, and meant it. "Congrats."

When they entered the woods, they turned the flashlights on their phones on. The Fall air whistled through the sparse trees. Elaine felt the crunch of the dried leaves under her feet that scattered the narrow path.

She remembered her first foray into these woods. It was her second year and Sunny talked her into it. The independence of it had been thrilling. She did what she wanted, with the girl she wanted to do it with, without the help of anyone else. And, she got the chance to be truly alone with her. Major bonus.

They reached the small clearing scattered with tree stumps and flat rocks, and sat down on her favorite stump. Jodi sat next to her.

"No one here," Jodi said, and took a sip from the flask. She passed it to Elaine.

Elaine sipped, and looked at the time. "Ten minutes left." She went into her purse and took out some napkin wrapped chocolate chip cookies. She made sure her pepper spray was in its pocket inside the purse while she was at it, just in case. "Dessert?" she asked, offering one to Jodi and taking a big bite of her own. Jodi accepted with a smile.

Elaine heard the rustling of footsteps, and she could they were made by more than one person. She looked at Jodi and then toward the path.

"Too good for the rest of us?" Leslie asked as she traipsed into the clearing with her cat ears and body suit. Hunter was behind her, wearing the wolf mask she saw him with before. She used a nasty tone, but Elaine ignored it.

"Waiting for someone," Elaine said.

"Who?"

"Dunno. They have my number though. Thought it might be a friend. Or was it you?"

"It wasn't me," Leslie said, disgusted.

"Then why are you here?" Jodi asked.

"To see where you two went off to," Leslie said, sitting down next to Elaine. Hunter did the same, and took off his mask. "But since we're here, why don't we play a little game."

Warning bells went off in Elaine's head. She remembered Leslie's games. 'Let's make up nicknames. I'm Terry, she's Shairy, and you're - 'Hairy!' It was juvenile, stupid. But the joke hurt much more than Elaine would have liked. And it reminded her of her own frustrations at being unable to do even the simplest things. She couldn't shave her legs or underarms easily so she didn't do it often. It meant that she would wear shorts au naturale. The entire premise of the game was a joke at her expense. Leslie could choke on a bag of dicks.

"So you still like games?" Elaine asked. "Figures."

"I'm an extrovert. What can I say?" Leslie said, and shrugged. "Let's ask questions that everyone has to answer. And if you don't, you drink." Leslie pointed at the flask. "I'll go first," she went on. "What's the hardest thing that you've done since leaving the Institute. For me, it was joining my friends again." Elaine was not surprised by this. "They had all these shared experiences that I wasn't a part of. But I pushed through and got to know them again, and things are better now. Now you, Elaine," she finished.

Elaine didn't want to play this game. It was just designed to make her spill her guts so that they would have something to make fun of. "I'm not playing," Elaine announced.

"Then drink," Leslie said, as if winning a point.

"No. I said I'm not playing. If I drink its because I want to. Not because of points."

"Spoil sport," Leslie pouted. "If you won't drink, you need another consequence." Quite suddenly, Leslie flicked Elaine's ear, and Elaine absolutely erupted in panic. In year one, if someone had flicked her like that, she would have been down on the ground, writhing in pain. She yelled out. She could feel her ears getting red.

"Hey!" Jodi barked. "Back off now!"

"It was just a flick," Leslie said. It was clear in the moment that Leslie knew it would hurt her. But she actually seemed a bit remorseful now.

"Let's just go," Hunter said to Leslie, but Leslie seemed frozen in watching Elaine.

"I said, back off," Jodi said again impatiently. She grabbed Leslie's shoulder and yanked her back from behind.

"Don't touch her," Hunter said and pushed Jodi by the shoulder. Hunter was much bigger than Jodi and she went backwards, her head knocking hard against a tree. Jodi screamed. Elaine's heart thumped wildly in her chest. She went into her bag. "What are you doing?" Hunter asked. She pulled out her pepper spray. Hunter bared his teeth. Leslie's eyes widened.

"Get out of here," Elaine said.

"Put that down," Hunter said, then glanced concernedly at Leslie, who was closer to Elaine. Jodi sat heavily on the ground, leaning against the tree.

"Get the staff. Jodi needs help," Elaine said.

Hunter nodded, then his face changed. "What will you say happened?" So, he's gone into cover-your-ass mode.

"The truth," Elaine said.

Hunter stepped closer. "Which is?"

"Don't," Elaine warned. "Don't step a foot closer to me."

There was movement in the woods, and Elaine turned. Hunter took the opening and lunged for her pepper spray. Elaine pressed the button right in his face. Hunter screamed and hit the ground.

Someone came running into the clearing. Sunny Mehta. It was Sunny.

Leslie ran to Hunter and knelt beside him.

"What happened?" Sunny asked.

Where to start? "Jodi hit her head hard on the tree when Hunter pushed her. And I pepper sprayed him."

"Get it off," Hunter said. "Get it off!"

Leslie got a water bottle from her purse and started washing out Hunter's eyes. Sunny went to Jodi, her medical student face on. "No concussion," she said, checking their friend's eyes. "Jodi. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two."

"Good. I'm going to take a look." Sunny gently moved Jodi's head and the tree was covered in blood. Elaine gasped. "Heads bleed a lot," Sunny said, looking at the back of Jodi's head. "Give me your cardigan," she told Elaine, and she handed it over. Sunny folded the material and wrapped it snugly around Jodi's head. Elaine called her parents at the same time, and said a medical team needed to come out to them ASAP.

Elaine gave a final tug of the material and Jodi groaned. Sunny fished some ibuprofen out of her purse and gave them to Jodi, then guided her head down to Elaine's lap so that she was laying on her side.

"Rest, but don't sleep," Elaine told her. Then she looked at Leslie pouring water into Hunter's eyes with shaking hands. "Pull on the lids gently to get more water into the eye," Sunny instructed.

~

The staff gave Elaine and Sunny a room to rest in for a while.

"I didn't know you were coming. I'm glad you did," Elaine said.

"But you texted back. It was all spur of the moment, I admit. But I did text."

"That was you?"

"Yeah, I - I just got my own plan. I thought I gave you the number. Who did you think it was?"

"I wasn't sure. Why didn't you answer when I asked who you were?"

Sunny checked her phone. "I didn't see that. Spotty coverage? I came back home for - an interview. So I just came a couple days yearly."

"Interview for what?" Elaine asked.

"School. I'm transferring."

"Oh!" Elaine said, startled.

"I'll be back next semester, and it was too good to resist telling you in person. Sunny smiled."

"Oh," Elaine said again, and hugged her. "I'm so glad."

"I was hoping you would say that," Sunny said, after a long moment. "I mean, no expectations. It's been a long time. But, I was really hoping you would." Elaine had known she'd been thinking about transferring. That it was not just about missing Elaine, but her family, and friends, and what was best for her career. But there was a huge difference between thinking about it and taking the necessary steps.

"Of course I'm glad," Elaine said, and kissed her.

Her dark night was over, and the long, dark night of illness. The Sun has risen for Elaine.