Seven girls lounge around in the dayroom of St. Luke’s Hospital. To look at them, you might never think there was anything out of the ordinary—you might think this was just your basic adolescent girls’ conversation. But only from a distance.

“Lela, how come you don’t talk?” Amanda asks.

The girl being addressed shrugs her shoulders. “I…don’t know…” she whispers timidly. The six other girls smile proudly.

“Let her be,” Destiny smacks Amanda lightly. “It’s kinda weird how there’s only girls here, isn’t it?”

They digest this, until Anabel says, “Um, you guys, could that possibly be the fact that we’re at a girls’ hospital?”

“True…” Kaitlyn agrees grudgingly. “Whoa, Destiny, what’s wrong?”

Destiny is staring straight ahead, her whole body shaking. “I think she’s having flashbacks,” says Holly. She takes Destiny’s hand, and whispers, “Come back, Des. You’re right here. It’s okay.” Slowly, she seems to return to the present.

“Whatever it was,” Holly tells her, “It wasn’t your fault, you know.”