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Nita slept fitfully, plagued by eery dreams and fragments of memory.

She was back in the hospital, watched constantly, nurses trying to talk to her, overly friendly and a bit frightened. Another girl in the ward cried constantly, another muttered under her breath. The blonde with dredlocks smuggled something sharp. Dark red soaked her sheets as more nurses hurried through, whispering, whispering, failing to hide their horror.

Her parents visited, and her brother. He shifted from side to side, never quite looking at her. She smiled. "I'm alright. I'll be home soon." But she wasn't. She was there nearly a month, in the clean white, surrounded by the crying and muttering, too alone, too crowded all at once.

"So smart," and "Always so quiet."
"Such a good girl, top of her class, you know."
"Never a bother to anyone."

"Bookworm.
"Nerd."
"Loner."
"Freak."

"Why didn't we see it coming?"
"He was the problem-child, not our Neets."

She floated. She took the pills they gave her. She talked to the therapist, gave him the answers he wanted. She ate what they put in front of her, slept when the lights went out, and woke when the nurses came to check on them all. They had to make sure no one else got anything sharp, like the girl with the dreds.

She was afraid, she couldn't trust her own mind. Even in the most private corners of her mind, she never knew what to expect. She was betrayed.

Crash and burn.

Nita woke with a gasp, finding her pillow damp with tears. Her fingers moved to touch her hip, where old scars still graced her skin. They met fur.

Scenes from the previous night flashed before her eyes. Emerwyn, the guards, her fever... the change. She had fallen asleep before it could really sink in. Nita padded into the bathroom and pulled off her clothing. Weird wrinkles were pressed into her skin from sleeping in her jeans.

She took a few deep breaths and approached the mirror. Her ears were longer, pointed, and fuzzy. She had odd white markings around her eyes, and the very beginning of a muzzle. Her nose was black and slightly damp. The sting of cleaning supplies was strong enough to make her breathe through her mouth. The rest of her body was furry, in various degrees of length and density, and her nails were dark. Her mother had always shaken her head at girls wearing black or blue nail polish, saying it made them look like they'd dropped heavy objects on their toes. Nita's toes curled at the thought.

Overall, she decided, she still looked like herself. She had never been particularly vain, and never really thought much about her appearance. The physical changes were still 'Nita.' It was the inner voice that bothered her, making her want to curl up and hide, preferably far above the ground. Once again, her mind was not her own.

Nita set aside her book slowly, barely realizing it must mean someone at the door. She had been reading constantly, trying to immerse herself in the lives of others, distracting her mind from what had happened. She pinched the bridge of her nose to ward off a headache from her intense concentration.

Padding to the door, she paused a moment. Would she really want to see whoever was one the other side? Nita's hand touched the doorknob, and yet again she was alarmed by the darkened fingernails. With a sigh, Nita opened the door.

"Lauren?" She looked up at the mongoose-girl, relieved and nervous all at once.

"Oh!" Nita said, momentarily shocked out of her stupor by the lovely flower. To her newly sensitive nose, it smelled particularly nice. "Thank you," she said shyly, accepting the flower. "Um, come on in."

She moved away from the door to find a glass. Filling it with water from the bathroom, she placed the flower in the cup and looked around for a good spot to exhibit her impromptu vase.

"I.. I missed you, too," Nita replied, not quite meeting Lauren's eyes.

Nita nodded slowly. "I'm fine," she whispered, still not looking at Lauren. Her eyes teared up a bit and she put the flower down hastily. It would be horrible if she dropped the glass and it broke... the water would go everywhere, and it was such a pretty flower, and so thoughtful of Lauren...

She bit her lip and tried to smile. "Well, no, I guess not really..."

Nita wasn't going anywhere. She clung to Lauren, holding back tears. "It's okay, I'm sure you had important things to do" she mumbled into Lauren's chest. "I wasn't alone. Emerwyn took care of me... " She sniffed and pulled away, rubbing her eyes with her palms.

Taking a few deep breaths, Nita slowly calmed down. "I'm always fine until someone's nice to me," she said, half complaining. "It's just how I am." Nita gave a little self-deprecating laugh and rubbed her eyes again.

Nita twined her fingers into Lauren's, comforted by the touch. "She was really nice and stayed with me the whole time."

She grinned at Lauren's tone. "Only if I'm upset. I can hold myself together until someone asks if I'm okay. And then I'll start crying." Nita stood on tiptoe to give Lauren a kiss on the cheek. "And you're not a b***h, or at least, you're not to me."

"Eh, I can be a b***h too, believe it or not!" Nita snickered and leaned her face towards Lauren's palm. Most people had a hard time imagining Nita angry, but when something annoyed her enough, she could certainly qualify for the 'b***h' title.

Nita blushed and shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, I don't think I look too different... In the face, at least. The rest of me is just furry." She put hand up to her chest, a bit self-conscious.

Nita raised an eyebrow. "No, what do they say about redheads?" she asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"I never tanned anyway, I always end up with a zillion freckles." Nita cuddled up to Lauren, poking her gently between the netting of her shirt. "Sexy, hmm?" She snickered, amused, but also pleased to hear it. Nita should have known that a little extra fur wouldn't keep Lauren from liking her, but she hadn't really been thinking clearly.