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Paranoid, a sly voice inside of her suggested.You're just being paranoid.
But she knew better now than to believe this, knew enough that she should have just listened to her fears and go running home to him.
I'm sorry, Professor.
And now it was too late, and the Devil still wanted to play with her.
A tear slipped down Diana's cheek, and the sight had the other woman flying in a rage. "What the fuck?"
Diana's head jerked up in confusion.
"Poverty isn't contagious, bitch!"
Realizing she had been misunderstood, and that her tears had been mistaken for an expression for disgust, Diana sought to explain, stammering, "It's not what you think—-"
But the other woman simply answered by spitting on her face.
It was chaos after that, with Sister Clare and Magnolia rushing in to restrain the other woman as she went berserk and tried to claw at Diana's face. But other patients had seen what had happened, and with a snap of the Devil's fingers, she had become the face of all their frustrations.
They came at her and for her.
No, no, no.
She could only curl herself in a ball, eyes closed and lips sewn shut, enduring everything they did - the hair-pulling, the kicks to her sides, the punches to her face - she could and would withstand everything just as long...
Please, Saint M.
Just as long...
Please, Saint M.
Please.
She fought to stay conscious until she heard security break in, fought to protect herself until she was lying on a stretcher and inside the safety of an ambulance. A paramedic started asking questions, and even as she tried to answer them as best as she could, her mind was already drifting, and she found herself remembering the oddest and most painful things...
She was a little girl again, and her nanny was telling her goodbye because Esther thought her too soft on her daughter.
It pains me to tell you this, my sweet girl, but you have to know, to protect yourself.
The Devil wears many faces, and his favorite masks are often those we're inclined to trust.
The scene faded, and Diana was suddenly in Dr. Owens' clinic, and the other woman was looking at her gravely.
Do you know what the varicella-zoster virus is, Diana?
It's a strain of virus that causes children to have chicken pox or adults to have shingles.
But for someone with HIV, in the very worst cases, it can cause internal bleeding in the brain.
It can result in death.
That's why you have to be just as careful with your health as Matthijs is.
Something that can only make you cough or sneeze could be enough to kill him.
When she finally woke up, she was in the hospital, and tears were rushing down her cheeks.
Because now she understood.