Chapter 1

The first time it occurs to Tess McAlister that she is different from most people, was when she was three years old. It is her very first day of swim lessons and everyone was standing by the side of the pool. "All right children" The instructor said she is extremely tall, very muscular and tan and had her hair up in a swim cap. "I'd like each of you to pair up with someone, that person is going to be your swim buddy for the rest of this class" Tess looked around at the other kids, many of them rushed to find someone right away.

There seemed to be odd number in the class and she was not going to get a swim buddy it looked like. She then noticed a girl with long, really long shiny black hair that she wore in a tight braid with Carmel colored skin. She stood out from everyone else in the class who are mostly fair skinned and light haired.

"Will you be my buddy?" Tess asked the little girl. The girl smiled a shy toothless smile and nodded her head. "All right" The instructor said "Now that you all have partner's let's begin today's lesson. The dark haired girl seemed to be looking at Tess's feet and Tess didn't understand why. "Is there something wrong with your feet?" She finally asked her voice was very quiet as if she was trying really hard not to hurt her feelings. "I don't think so" Tess said. She then looked at her feet which are curved and almost resembled a frogs and the other girls which were flat and normal, it never occurred to Tess that her feet were different then other children's because she had Never been in a position where she was supposed to compare them to other children's. She then took a while to glance over at the other kids, same thing everyone else's feet are normal.

"They look like frog's feet" The girl said, "They're really gross. Ewe I don't like frogs" The instructor comes over to see what is going on. "Jyoti" She said addressing the dark haired girl, "Is their a problem?" "Can I have a different buddy?" She asked. "Why Jyoti?" The instructor asks, "You have a perfectly good buddy right in front of you." "She has gross feet" she whines. "That wasn't a very nice thing to say, and I don't see that's any reason for you not to be her partner" "Because I don't like her she's gross and really weird"

"Excuse me" A voice says, "I was asking you a question." Tess immidietly is snapped out of her little reverie. She doesn't know why but for some reason she always falls back on that very memory when she is uncomfortable and feels she needs to remove herself from a situation. This Usually happens during huge parties or get togethers. She feels ashamed that she is nervous at all, she is not three years old she is not at the poolside in her home town of Sweden no one is looking at her feet, there is no Jyoti here. She is in the lobby of the Kinton Hotel getting ready to sell her line of Mary Kay beauty supplies. People are coming to buy the products they are not coming to judge her and they especially aren't coming to stare at her feet. She has helped out with many of Mary Kay parties over the years, she has been doing it for nearly four years. Of course the last couple of parties she threw were a lot smaller and this party has about a million people and counting it looks like. She wishes she had never taken a job that requires so much socializing, socializing is exhausting.

"Oh I'm sorry" She says, "What were you saying" "I was just asking if you have any product that I can use to cover up my strawberry birthmark, I'm very self conscious about it, and I've tried all kinds of cosmetics but nothing has worked" Tess takes a closer look at the woman and immediately empathizes with her, she knows all about what it's like to be self conscious and is more then willing to help. "I have a couple of suggestions" She says "Why don't you try a combination of the TimeWise Matte - Ware liquid foundation along with the sheer pressed mineral foundation. She hands over both the products and a mirror and watch as the woman tries it on, it really does work she really is covering up her strawberry birthmark. "Well thank you I'll buy an entire case of each prodect" the customer says. "All right who's next in line?" Tess asks. "I'll take some of the MaryKay Men Skin care Regimen" "Sure" She says, "No problem" She then looks up and feels her blood turn to ice.

"Tess McAlister" A tall pompous looking brunette man with a sly grin across his face says, "Long time no see. Fancy meeting you here" "Pete" She says. "What are you doing here?" She tries to keep her voice sounding calm and professional even though she is feeling far from calm and professional. "I'm buying products" He says with a sly grin. "Why else would I come to a MaryKay Party?" "Yeah" She says nervously "why else?"

She had first met Peter Quinn through the dating site e'harmony at first Pete had been great a real charming guy who she thought could do no wrong, but then he started to get really pushy. On the surface everything looked like it was going perfectly, people saw them together and thought they were a really great couple but he really knew nothing about her, and she was afraid that if he did know anything about her he would push her away. On their fourth date he had told her that he wanted her to get a nose job. Coincidently Audrey Lewis the woman who Pete was formerly dating also happened to be at that restaurant. Tess had gone behind Pete's back and asked Audrey for advice on what to do about Pete.

"I don't know what to do" She had said. "I really want him to like me" It had turned out that he had also asked Audrey to do the same thing. She had broken her own nose just for Pete to like her and it wasn't worth it. Of course Audrey could break her nose and be fine. If Tess had the nose job she'd be doomed for life, she suffered from a rare disease called Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressia of FOP which caused the muscles in her body to turn to bone. Pete was a man who hated any kind of imperfection, he hated the imperfection of her nose being a little bit off, he hated the imperfection that Audrey was Schizophrenic then he would never be able to deal with her having something like FOP. But she was madly in love with the guy, what was she supposed to say, "I'm sorry I can't get a nose job I have a disease where my muscles turn into bone and if I get a nose job then my nose will be completely useless" Fortunately Audrey fixed the problem for her so that Tess did almost none of the talking.

"Don't do it Tess" She had said. "He's not worth it" They confronted him together. "You disappoint me Little Girl" He had said his words were sharp and cut like a hot sharp knife. That's another thing she hates about him, the way he always refers to her as "Little girl" She knows he is a lot older them her like in his 40's but it is condescending and creepy. "All right thanks for coming" she says "You're really holding up the line here" "Tess do you have a minute" "I have a line of customers" She says, "I really don't have a minute"

"Tess please hear me out on this" She turns to her coworker, "Will you mind taking over Phoebe?" She asks. "No problem" Her coworker says. "I know you didn't just come here for the products" Tess says, she remembers that she had mentioned being a MaryKay representative in her profile on e'harmony he probably googled when the next MaryKay party was going to be found out it was at the Kinton and followed her. That creep "Tess don't be mad, I'm really sorry it's just that since our break up you're all I've been able to think about and I've realized I've been a terrible boy friend to you" "What made you realize that?" She asks folding her arms tightly across her chest. She is not making it easy. He had seen a therapist who suggested that his need to change things about people was coming from some deep rooted insecurities from within himself and that his parents were always over critical of everything. The therapist strongly suggested he learn to stay on his own yoga mat. He clears his throat. "My Therapist, she helped a lot" He says.

"TMI" Tess says. "Yeah she suggested something like a yoga class type of thing or something" "I don't see how that could help" "I don't know she said I should learn to stay on my own yoga mat" "Yeah that's not a yoga class it's a minding your own business class" Tess says. He smirks. "I didn't realize you were so funny" He says. "I'm not really" She says. "Besides you really don't know anything about me" He clears his throat "Anyway the thing is, I'm sorry I said you needed to get a nose job your nose is perfect how it is" "You think so?" She asks. "Do you think it's possible that we could maybe go on one date just one, I promise if you really hate it if things go really wrong, then I'll never bother you again" "You promise?" She asks. "I promise" He says, "If anything goes wrong you'll never have to see me again how does that sound" "Just one date" She says. "On one condition" "Okay what's that" "You can pick the restaurant it can be anywhere you want where do you want to go?" Anywhere. She tries to think of all of her favorite restaurants in all of San Fransisco. "The Slanted door" She suggests. "Vietnamese food? I hate Vietnamese food, could you pick somewhere else do you think" "No I pick the slanted door"

They go to the Slanted Door and the worst possible thing well maybe not the worst possible thing but one of the worst possible things that she can imagine happening happens. She falls in love with him all over again, this time even harder. She hates herself for it. He had hurt her, but he said he changed but how is he going to act if he finds out about her illness. She won't tell him that's how. He'll never have to know

So now they are on their second date. They are in Pete's hot tub it and huge white puffs of snow are falling from the dark orangish gray sky on this beautiful night early December. Pete has brought out with him the most expensive bottle of wine. "Would you like some?" He asks her. "I'm good" Tess says. As much as she likes expensive wine she has something else in mind. Tonight she is going to have a little bit of fun. She has taken along her own drink tonight. Recently her doctor has prescribed her medical marujuana for her condition it is not supposed to cure it by any means it is just supposed to reduce the pain. Earlier today she had gone over to the Cannabis Clinic and gotten a whole pack of medically perscribed Cannabis Sodas. She has taken two of them with her one root beer and one cola, she had peeled off the label which had said her name and her medical condition so Pete wouldn't see what it says on it. "Would you like some of this?" She asks waving one of her peeled bottles at him. "I'll go with the wine" He says. She chugs it down without taking any breaths in between one after the other. "My goodness girl" Pete says. She wonders what it's going to be like when it kicks in. She has never taken Marujuana before she doesn't know what to expect, is it going to be like getting drunk? Will it be like the heavy duty pain killers she has taken in the past? She will just have to wait and see. Pete puts her arm around her. "I think we're going to get a pretty big snow storm tonight" He says cozying up to her. Suddenly she feels a strange sensation come over and realizes that the cannabis has most certainly started working. She is happy. Very happy.

She likes it. She wants to feel like this forever and ever. She had heard that pot often causes people to think everything was funny, but in her case she is laughing at absolutely nothing nothing whatsoever. She just can't stop laughing. "What's so funny?" Pete asks raising his eye brows. "Do you think it's funny that we're going to have a snow storm?" That only causes her to laugh even harder. "Tess what the hell is the matter with you?" He asks. She laughs even harder about that. He's not sure what she had to drink but he's sure of one thing, what ever it was she is clearly a very light weight. Suddenly the Euphoric feeling wears off and she begins to feel her head fogging and her entire body feels twitchy. "Oh my god shit" She cries. "Fuck oh fuck" "Tess baby what's wrong?" Pete asks. "I' I need to go home I need to get out of here."

"Are you okay?" Pete asks. "I'm just having a bad reaction" She says. "To your liquor?" He asks. "Something like that" She says, "Just please I really need to get out of here" Pete seems to be paying no attention. He just keeps pouring himself a glasses of wine, now that she thinks about it, it looks like the same glass of wine over and over. It is making her dizzy She can't stand it anymore she get's out of the hot tub, she just wants something to change. The ice is really slippery "Tess baby look

out" Pete says. It is too late she doesn't hear him and she is so out of it but she doesn't realize what is happening. She falls down really hard and lands right on her left arm. "Tess" Pete asks rushing towards her,

"Baby are you all right?" "Oh my god this is really bad" She says coming back to consciousness for about a second. "Oh my god this is bad this is so bad" She then starts crying hysterically. "This can't be happening" "Hey it's okay baby, you just got really drunk and you fell and you very possibly broke your arm you'll be okay" She then starts laughing really hard. "Tess are you okay?" Pete asks because she seems like she is in complete shock right now. "I have rare a disease that makes my muscles turn into bone" She says, if she were in her right mind she wouldn't have said it but she is not in her right mind she is not able to control a single thing she is saying, she feels like there is someone else there someone else in her head who is pulling her strings and telling her what to say. She is with a hypnotist or with some sort of game show host or something.

"Wait what?" He asks. "I have a disease where I have a disease where my bones turn into disease where" She says. "What are you talking about. Are you okay?" "I have a disease where disease where disease where disease where disease" She keeps saying, now she is slipping even further into unconsciousness and feels like that puppet master is pulling even harder on her strings. She can't stop saying it, she can't stop talking about it. "Tess sweetie snap out of it" Pete cries. Momentarily she very slowly starts coming back into the real world and she suddenly realizes that she has just given away the exact thing she has been trying to keep a secret. Pete wasn't supposed to find out about her disease especially not like this, this is the worst possible way he could possibly find out. "Oh my god" She cries she then bursts into fresh tears.

"Are you okay?" Pete asks for what seems to Tess the millionth time. "Oh my god" She cries. "Shit, shit shit shit shit" "Hey it's okay" Pete says, "I'm going to get you to the hospital right now, you're going to be okay" "No I'm not" She says. "I have a disease where my muscle's turn to bone" "Forget the hospital he says, if I call 911 it's going to take forever for them to get here. I'm taking you to the urgent care that's really much closer anyway." She slips back into consciousness once again and realizes what she has said again. "Oh god Pete" She cries. "Do you hate me now, do you want to break up with me? Do you think I'm a disgusting freak of nature? I just. I just want you to think I'm perfect I want you to like me, but how could you like me anymore when you know that I'm such a freak?" She is a complete blubbering mess right now. "Tess what are you talking about?" Pete asks. "I have a rare disease that causes my muscle's to turn into bone" she says again "Tess listen to me, All I can tell you right now is that you're really wasted and your not in your right mind are you with me? Are you with me? You're Inhibriated all right? You got that?

You drank 2 whole bottles of who knows what? You clearly don't know what you're saying" And she doesn't there's no disease like that. He is sure of it. And even if there was obviously Tess doesn't have anything of the sort. She sways back and fourth several times. "Hey c'mon" He says. He then lifts her up and carries her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. "Ow" She moans "Ow. My arm shit" "It's all right" He says. "You're going to be okay" Pete is feeling extremely lucky that the urgent care is so close to his house and even more lucky that there isn't a huge line. No line at all in fact. "Can I get your name?" The receptionist asks. "Tess McAlister" Pete says, "Her name obviously not mine" "Okay a doctor will be with you momentarily." Momentarily doesn't seem soon enough to Pete, but at least there isn't a lot of people in the waiting room. Tess sways back and fourth. For someone who has just broken their arm she seems very cheerful, calm and full of Serenity.

"Tess McAlister" The nurse says. Pete carries her and follows the nurse back into her office. "The doctor will be with you shortly" She says. But shortly doesn't seem shortly at all. It seems to take forever before someone finally is with them

"So what can we do for you guys?" The doctor asks. "My names Dr. Meyers but you're welcome to call me Justin" He says. "First things first" Pete says, "She's really inhibitriated, "I'm not sure what she had to drink but I've never seen anyone act like this" "Did anything possibly get slipped into her drink?" The doctor asks. "Are you asking if I roofied her?" Pete asks, "Well no, of course not, and I'm pretty sure the bottle didn't come roofied" "All right" He says, "Well I'm going to collect her bloodwork I will be right back" Tess just sits there smiling, clapping and shaking her head from side to side the smile on her face is wide and toothy. If she is in a lot of pain from her broken arm, he sure doesn't notice. It seems to take hours before the doctor comes back. "All right Tess" He says, I'm just going to stick this in your arm real fast. She starts laughing hysterically once again as she bobs her head back and fourth. "Hold still" Justin says. "You're okay" "All right" He says, "I'll take these too the lab. He is gone for another long stretch of time it seems "So we won't have the results for a couple of hours but in the mean time I'd like to ask her some questions." He looks at Tess.

"What's your name?" She doesn't answer. She just stares at him looking confused. "Okay what do you do for a living?" She doesn't answer that question either. "Tess her name is Tess" Pete says. "Pass fail" Tess says out of nowhere. Pete and Justin both stare at her. "She works for Mary Kay" Pete says answering the next question for her "Ashley" Tess says. Justin places his finger to his chin. "Well actually Pete these questions are designed for the patient" "Virtue" Tess replies. She shakes her head back in fourth "I think I know what's going on with her" He says. "I've seen this phenomenon" "John Travolta" "She thinks we're playing a game of word association" "Along comes Mary" She says shaking her head around clapping her hands and bouncing up and down on the doctors table. "Word Association" "Along comes Mary" She says again clapping even harder. "What the hell?" Pete asks. "Demons" She shouts. "You've seen this before?" "After" Tess says. "What the hell did she take" He takes a look at her pupils they are huge "Well judging from the size of her pupils and the way she is acting, I think her THC level's are very very high" "THC?" He asks "You mean like the stuff that's in pot?"

"Pan" Tess shouts. "Yes that" The doctor says. "How can that be?" Pete asks. "Bzzz" She says. "I saw her drink something you can't drink pot at least not that I know of" "Oh you'll be surprised what you can get in edible form these days" The doctor says. "Canibis Soda's are actually quite popular these days" "I'm really not up to date" Pete says. "Fig" Tess says it has been a while since she has done the word association thing. "But don't worry I've seen people who've eaten like an entire tray of pot brownies and they turned out fine with in a day or two she should be back to normal by tomorrow night around this time." "Parsley sage rosemary" She says "Should we come back here if she's not back to normal?" Pete asks, "Well I hate to say this but we're closed because tomorrow's Sunday" "Hot fudge" Tess shouts. By the way she's behaving now it seems like she has a long way before she is back to normal. "Most patients don't remember any of this the next day, I don't even think she realizes what she's doing I think she's unaware" "Bra and panties" She says then breaks into a fit of giggles. "Does she think you said Underwear?" Pete asks. "Bra and panties" She says again bursting into an equally huge fit of giggles. "Apparently so" Justin says. "It's not uncommon for the patient to get words mixed up" He says. "Down" She says. "For example when you told me where she worked, I'm pretty sure you said Mary Kay, not Mary Kate" "Ashley" She says. "Yeah Mary Kay as in Beauty" Pete says. "Beast" Tess shouts.

"She's really not doing well" Then something just short of miraculous happens. Tess blinks her eyes. "Where, where am I?" She asks. She is back, at least for the time being "You're at the Urgent care babe" Pete says. Pain shoots through her arm. "Ow, ow" She shrieks and Pete realizes that he has been so distracted with all of Tess's word association talk, that he had completely forgotten about the whole other reason she is in the Urgent care center. She had fallen and broken her arm on the ice. Of course the canabis soda was a major culprit in that too. "Tess are you okay?" Justin asks. "Cupid" She says and Pete realizes that she is back to her word associations game thing. Justin looks puzzled. "Ok cupid, it's a dating site" He says, "Oh I see" The doctor says. "Anyway" Pete says, "What do you think you can do about her arm?" "Usually broken bones heal in maybe four weeks" The doctor says, "We're just going to have to put it in a cast" "play" Tess says. "I will be right back with my stuff for you. While I'm at it I might as well see about that drug test." Once again they are left alone in the room just the two of them. He decides not to say anything to her, because he can not stand another second of the word association nonsense. He has a lot on his mind anyway. He keeps thinking about what Tess kept saying over and over again after she fell on her arm. That thing about how she has a rare disease that causes her muscle to turn to bone, he realizes now that it is because she took pot, but he worries if he says anything to the doctor he might very possibly say that it is a real disease. He realizes he is being paranoid and that is completely ridiculous he's not even the one who took all those drugs. He drank one glass of wine that is not the same thing as two pot sodas. When Justin comes back in he does not say a single word. "I Got her blood work" He says,

"She has 23.7% of THC in her blood, that's pretty high," Pete whistles. "But she's going to be okay right" "Oh yeah, like I've said I've seen patients eat entire trays of brownies and be fine, hey I've experimented with edibles back in the day myself all the time and I can promise you she's going to be fine all I can suggest is she sleep it off." "Yeah well what about her arm?" Pete asks. "We'll get that taken care of" Justin says. "All right Tess hold still" She whimpers in pain a bit which proves that she is conscious again. "Tess welcome back for the time being" The doctor says. "Do you know your name" She stares at him again. "Do you know my name? Do you know his name?" Once again she says nothing. "Your name is Tess" "Pass fail" She says "His name is Pete" "Pocket" She says "And I'm Justin" "Beiber" She shouts. "Hardly" He says. He helps put her arm in a sling. "Like I said she should be better in four weeks." When Pete looks over at Tess she has fallen fast asleep. "I will also prescribe some Perpecet but don't I repeat don't let her take them while until the marujuana has completely warn off, in fact maybe you should wait a week or so before you let her have heavy duty drugs again, and I'm going to have to give her a very very small dose." "All righty" Pete says. "Have a good night you two" He says.