Chick makes her rounds as night falls over the asylum. She smiles as she hears a shriek from one of the cells. Her boys and girls may have all been bedded down comfortably for the night, but they still complain. One in particular has been wailing non-stop since the lights went off and the sun went down.

Chick knows how to deal with that.

She lets herself into Nella's room and turns on the light. Nella quiets immediately, blinking in the light from the bare bulb above. She waits patiently as Chick makes her way over to her, restrained to the bed by a chain and collar. Chick can see the welts on her neck. The sight makes her grin.

When Chick reaches her, the look in her eyes is that of a scared child. "The ponies came back. They rode around and around and up and down and over me, and the hooves bruised me. Look!" She holds out her arms, but they are clear of marks.

This is dangerous. Once Nella sees the marks are not there, she will be forced to confront her illness, and that would be unpleasant. Chick wants to protect her best girl from this.

She lays a hand on Nella's chest, slips the other into her pocket for the silver nitrate. She busies herself for a moment with the rag and her gloves and then straddles Nella on the bed, skirt riding up. "Those are awful, my dear. Let me fix you up."

The first brush against her skin marks her red, and there's the first blush of a blister when Chick runs her hand over the area. She moves to Nella's chest, dropping a kiss to her breasts before drawing the rag down her sternum. Nella screams.

Her burning skin catches the light like the last gasp of the dusk.