Judith paused for a moment, confused. She was in the middle of a hospital hallway and she wasn't sure how she got there. She looked down and noticed her bare feet, squirming above the cold floor tiles, and the hospital gown she wore. She had just been wearing one of these. She racked her mind silently. But when?
She wasn't cold as she thought she would be. It didn't make much sense. She could spot in open window at the end of the hall and she was pretty sure it was November and there she stood in nothing but a thin piece of something she wouldn't even call cloth, completely content with the temperature.
She decided she didn't care, really.
She began walking down the hall, slightly unsure as to why. Her bare feet smacked against the tiles beneath her and she sighed absently, still trying to remember exactly what had happened. Her memory seemed blank. The last thing she could remember was leaving Joan's, and she couldn't quite place how that had put her in the hospital. She stopped walking suddenly and turned around when she heard someone let out a pained sob behind her.
It was Joan. Even from the distance Judith could tell. She was looking into a hospital room, sobbing hysterically. It scared Judith. She had never seen Joan cry like that, even at crazy camp on her worst days. Occasionally she'd try and talk through her crying, but the only thing that came out was a strangled scream, a jumble of words. "Oh my god!" Joan cried. "Judith!"
Judith felt something in her rise dramatically. Why was Joan calling her name? Could she not see her down the hall? She suddenly noticed her mother standing next to Joan, and Mrs. Girardi, not far behind. All of them were crying. Judith became nearly angry with curiosity. What is going on?
She decided to find out. "Joan!" She called down the hall, then taking a reluctant step towards the group of people. "Joan! Fran!" Joan didn't turn. Neither did Fran. It was like they hadn't heard her. Judith began to walk towards them quickly, but hadn't gone further then three feet before someone softly said to her, "Judith".
She turned. A little girl was there in a bright outfit, blonde hair down, but held back with a headband with bug eyes. She looked at Judith with an odd expression in her glasses clad eyes, as if she could see everything Judith was feeling at once. Judith didn't know how she knew who the little girl was, but she did. "What's going on?" Judith asked.
"Everything will be fine." The little girl held her hand out. "Come on." Judith thought for a moment, before taking the little girls hand, and letting the five year old walk her down the hallway. She didn't know where they were going. She never really did.