“They are going to try to contact your family, your friends, anyone who ever knew you.”

“Let them,” I said, my voice hardening. “I have nothing to hide.”

“That doesn’t matter to them,” Margaret said. “They will take a quote from ten years ago and frame it to fit the narrative.”

She sat down in the chair beside my bed.

“We need to act fast,” she said. “I am going down to the security office myself.”

“Can you leave me?” I asked, a sudden wave of vulnerability washing over me.

“The guard is outside,” Margaret said, touching my arm. “He has strict instructions. No one enters this room except your primary physician.”

“What about Vanessa?” I asked.

“If she comes near this floor, she will be arrested for trespassing,” Margaret said.

She picked up her briefcase.

“I will be back in twenty minutes.”

She left the room, the heavy door clicking shut behind her.

I was alone.

The hum of the fluorescent lights seemed louder now.

The rain continued to beat against the window.

I looked at the television mounted on the wall.