[center][color=IndianRed][h1]Joel[/h1][/color][/center]
	The nurse lurked around her room for days, waiting for her to speak even a simple word about her death. Joel had only spoken to refuse to talk to any investigators. She figured the nurse was told to keep an eye out, try to pick her patient's brains for any information. Joel didn't utter a syllable to her, not even barely a sentence to her parents. They were almost disheartened by her simple [i]"I love you."[/i] They had blood on their minds. They wanted revenge. 
	The nurse walked into Joel's room today, a fake smile plastered on her face. "Hey sweety, how you feelin' today?" She had a slight southern accent; Joel guessed she was from Georgia or Tennessee, maybe. 
	The college student stared at her hands, examining her pale brown complexion. It was like the the earth, like the soft clay beneath the surface. "Because of your surprising recovery, we're moving you to a community room," the nurse said as she began unhooking some things from the monitor. Joel's heart raced. Other people? What was this, an attempt on her privacy, on her right to solitude? "It'll be good to be around other patients, honey. I promise." Joel continued to stay silent as they wheeled her down the hall, her neck numb. She could still feel her murderer's hands grasped around her throat, like a noose set too tight and too rough. "All these people are a bit like you, I think." The nurse noted as they rounded a corner. Joel scuffed under her breath. Last she checked, Joel was the first kidnapping-murder case in over 50 years in Renata. Nobody was like her. "They all miraculously survived trauma beyond belief."
	Joel's bed could barely fit through the doorway, but the staff pushed her through. The room was empty so far, with only a few slots open for beds. She sat and waited as the staff hooked her wires up to the machine, her arms crossed over her chest. One went and opened the window nearby, saying something about fresh air. The scent of trees and dirt drifted into the room, settling a calm over the young girl's beating heart. Maybe these people wouldn't be so bad after all, whoever they were.