Ezperanza Madison Barnes, co-leader of the Amity Aggregation but more importantly, one of Sarab's best friends, had noticed that Sarab had been quiet for a few hours. She began walking around Amity Aggregation headquarters, looking for her best friend. "Sarab," she called. "Where are you?" After a few moments of looking, she was shocked to find Sarab in the medical room, lying on her back with her hands by her side on the cadaver table, her eyes wide open and starting at the ceiling. Madison looked concerned and scratched her head in confusion. For a moment, she thought that Sarab was dead. She tip-toed to the table and rubbed her eyes."I swear to God, I'm sleep-deprived," she said, then she gestured towards the cadaver, "What is that?" "A cadaver," Sarab answered bluntly. "Why the heck are you on it," Maddie questioned. "Because I feel like a cadaver," Sarab replied.

Maddie frowned and crossed her arms. "Get off or I shall make you," she said to Sarab. "I shall never," Sarab said stubbornly. "I warned you," Maddie said. With that, she used her mutant powers to make a small light platform and placed it under Sarab, using it to pick Sarab gently up off the cadaver table and lay her gently down on the floor. Sarab crawled back onto the cadaver table and laid on her back again. Maddie sighed, "I give up. What is it?" "Love," Sarab said. "Kurt," Maddie asked? "Sarab sighed, "How 'dya guess?" "Sorry," Maddie said. "My mind isn't working correctly right now. Annie is at the hospital right now and I have to get her tiger from Carmen because she took it yesterday. There's just a lot going on." Sarab loved Maddie and Maddie's family like her own. Right now, however, Sarab was too overwhelmed by the thoughts in her head. The constant nightmares. "Ya know, it's not just Kurt," she said to Maddie. "What else," Maddie asked. Sarab sighed again, "You wouldn't understand." "Understand what," Maddie asked.

Sarab dismissed Maddie's question and gave Maddie a long hard stare, squinting her eyes. "Thanks for the death glare," Maddie said. "Now what is it?" "No," Sarab said. "Not a glare." "Death all the same," Maddie said. "What's going on and would you try not to stare into my soul? You won't see anything if you're trying." "How do you feel about dreams," Sarab asked. "I've never had good ones," Maddie replied. "Why?" "Have they ever felt real to you," Sarab asked, dodging Maddie's question. "Yes," Maddie replied slowly. "Why are we playing twenty questions?" Sarab was lost in her own thoughts, so she wasn't paying full attention to Maddie. "Like....like you're trapped in your own world and you can't find your way back to reality," she continued. "Honestly, I don't remember," Maddie said, honestly. "My dreams are always the same, and I can't wake up on my own. It's..... This is irrelevant. What's going on?" "I saw someone die," Sarab replied bluntly. Maddie's eyes widened in shock, "What?" "I saw someone die," Sarab repeated, her eyes glossed over as she stared at the ceiling. "Her name was Sally. I loved Sally. She was my best friend. She was always with me. She kept me from going down a dark path. And when I awoke, I realized that she was gone. And I was never getting her back." Sarab was not referring to a person and Maddie had a feeling that was the case. "I've had a dream like that," Maddie said. "Mine became a reality in mere seconds. And it was because of me...." Maddie looked down sadly. Normally, Sarab's observance and sympathetic nature would have led her to realize that Maddie needed someone to talk to, but she was too frazzled to notice at the moment.

"Then I realized that Sally wasn't a person," Sarab continued. "You wanna know who Sally was?" "Who," Maddie asked, though she already knew the answer. Sarab raised her head slightly, staring at Maddie with her bloodshot eyes. She grabbed Maddie by the collar of her shirt and brought her in close intimidatingly. "MY SANITY," she breathed. "Oh, I've never had sanity," Maddie said casually, unaffected by Sarab's sudden hostility. "Not since I was five." Sarab let go of Maddie's shirt abruptly. "Wait a minute," she said. "What," Maddie asked her. Sarab answered.

"Kick."

"What?"

"Kick."

"Excuse me?"

"The mutant drug."

Maddie crossed her arms, "What about it?" "Someone is smuggling it in," Sarab exclaimed. Some of the people outside heard and looked at them. Maddie tried to act like she didn't see them to avoid embarrassment. Sarab was oblivious. "You're delirious," Maddie said to Sarab. "Get some sleep." "I don't NEED sleep," Sarab hollered as she hopped off the cadaver. Her voice lowered to a wavering and eager tone. "I need answers," she said. "No," Maddie said as Sarab rushed around the room to find something. "You need sleep." Sarab rushed back and forth, delirious and hyperactive. Maddie was getting delirious just watching her. "Go to sleep," she demanded Sarab. "I can't," Sarab said. "I won't." Maddie chuckled. "You don't have a choice, my little friend," she said. "Remember that special cup of tea I fixed for you exactly an hour ago?"

Sarab stopped moving and stood in place, rubbing her eyes. "Yeah," she replied, yawning. "I put sleeping medicine in it," Maddie said, smirking. "And it should start to kick in right about..." Maddie stopped to look at her watch. "Now," she finished. Sarab sunk down onto the cadaver again. "No," she said. "I can't sleep. I must not! I have to bust the criminal! I gotta...I gotta...." She fell asleep before she could finish her sentence, snoring lightly. Maddie chuckled and smiled at her younger friend. Marlena Nowak, one of Sarab's best friends, walked in and started tip-toeing when she noticed that Sarab was asleep. She stood next to Maddie and smiled at her sleeping best friend. "Sleeping pills," she asked Maddie. "Yup," Maddie replied proudly. "Out like a light. Isn't she precious?" "Indeed," Marlena said, grinning. The girls smiled at each other and then once more at Sarab before they left the room to let their overworked best friend get the rest that she deserved.

Administrator Note: A roleplay inspired by Diagnosis Murder turned into a short story. I hope that you enjoyed this!