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“I'm doing alright.” What did she want me to say? I had an idea why she was there, I mean throwing my purse across the room and screaming at imaginary people tends to get the doctors all edgy. So, my problem was this. How do I evade the questions of my insanity, prove to everyone else that I was not going crackers and at the same time continue this bizarre new relationship with Nic? Then again, what was this thing with Nic anyway? How long was he staying, why was he staying, did he want something from me? I glanced up at the doctors and realized to my horror that I had been staring at my bed covers and moving my lips silently throughout my entire inner monologue.
                Dr. Ilyena paused from scratching notes on her second sheet of paper. She gave me a decidedly knowledgeable “uh-huh” and tapped the end of her nose with her pen before continuing to scratch her notes.
                I leaned back on the bed in a sigh, this wasn't going well.
                “Who is this? She looks like my third grade math teacher.” Nic's voice was the last thing I had hoped to hear. I glanced carefully around, shifting in my bed to mask my movements. He was sitting just behind Dr. Ilyen and looking around her at the notepad she held.
                “Ohhh man” his chuckle was devilishly pleased. “You are soo getting locked up.” I gave him a secretive 'shut up' stare.
                “Seriously Sam, she's got your padded cell at the loony bin already booked.” he moved back and forth in his chair, whistling his annoying cowboy tune. Dr. Ilyena coughed to get my attention, I hadn't realized I'd been staring at her shoulder.
                “Ms. Tern, I understand that you've gone through something very difficult.” she placed the notepad on her lap and for the first time since entering the room actually looked at me through those metal frames. She had kind eyes, genuinely kind eyes and that surprised me.
                “I have a feeling that you're still going through something very difficult. I'd like you to tell me about it.” There it was, she was calling me out. Like one of Nic's Sunday afternoon movies. Dr. Ilyena stood at one end of dusty main street with her clipboard and the sun glinting off her spectacles and I stood at the other with nothing but my 'open at the back' hospital gown. Dr. Swaresh ahem'd to clear the tension when I didn't speak up right away.
                “Samantha, I apologize for the suddenness of this conversation. I asked Dr. Ilyen to join us because I felt you could use another person to speak with.” his warm hands held mine for a minute and I looked into his deep dark eyes, willing him to take away this dangerous woman.
                “We can have this conversation another time, when you're ready.” he nodded to Dr. Ilyena and she politely thanked me for my time and promised to come back the next day. I sincerely hoped the building would get struck by lightning before that. Dr. Swaresh stayed behind.
                “We still have something very serious to consider.” he seemed to be preparing for something, he settled himself in the chair and took a deep breath, still holding onto my hand.
                “When your car was struck during the accident a piece of metal entered your back.” I shifted uncomfortably thinking how that must have felt. It was odd not remembering.
                “You had an operation shortly after arriving in the hospital to remove it. The piece was very close to your spinal column.” I placed my hand at the back of my gown and felt around, sure enough there was a long gouge there. Nic appeared at the foot of the bed, his face was drawn and he looked incredibly serious.
                “Samantha” Dr. Swaresh held my hands tighter. “We were unable to remove all of the metal pieces before damage was done.” My stomach dropped