A/N: This is a bit of an experiment for me, messing with writing styles and whatnot. I would appreciate any comments, whether they are good or bad. I promise to wear my Big Girls Pants and not be too upset!

I always felt (as did most of SH's players) very sorry for Lisa. She was quite possibly one of the only decent, whole character's in the game (apart from Harry, of course) and she really did get a bit of a raw bargain.
So here's to Lisa Garland, short and simple.

Because She Knew.

When she was a little girl, she brought in a dying bird from the backyard. Its wings were twisted horribly and she didn't realise that the way she held it, cupped in her hands, and the way she ran into the kitchen to call for her mother's help, was hurting the bird more then helping it.
She stayed up that night, feeding it drops of water, despite the spelling test she had in school the next morning.
When the little bird died, she decided that she wanted to be a nurse.
'Why a nurse?' her mother asked. 'Why not a veterinarian?'
'Because I couldn't save that bird.' She had answered, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Because she knew nurses were meant to save.

Many years later, Lisa realise that dream.
She was still a young nurse when Alessa was admitted to the hospital. Young, beautiful, full of fanciful wishes and thoughts that would never come to grow.
When she was charged with caring for the little girl, she first felt pity for her. The burns were awful, something a child should never have to endure. Then pity turned to bewilderment as her charred skin never seemed to heal; instead it continued burning on the surface. However, bafflement was soon hastily dropped in favour of fear as the wounds continued to ooze fluid, no matter what was used on them or how many times Lisa changed the dressings. She didn't understand how the poor, wretched child was still alive. But she kept changing the dressings every day, just like clockwork.
Because she knew it was the right thing.

Soon she began to see horrific things. Reality and nightmare fused and she was so, so scared. The walls would pulse. Pus would fill sinks in the place of water and she couldn't stop it. She couldn't escape the scent of still burning skin. It clung to her like a second skin, filling her nostrils, scratching her throat.
Blood ran everywhere.
They blamed it on stress, on drugs, on that little girl. But Lisa didn't believe anything that they told her.
Because she knew everything was falling apart.

When Harry found her in the hospital, a wave of relief unlike anything she had felt before washed over her. To know that another was caught up in this demonic parody of the hospital, though terrifying in its confirmation that this was no sleep induced vision, gave Lisa hope. Hope that somehow this would all end.
Because she knew that hope was all she had left.

Harry was lost and was in need of saving. He was helpless in this living nightmare that had them all trapped. She knew that she could not leave to assist him on his search, no matter how much she wished she could.
So instead, when she found the man unconscious on the floor, she took him as far from harm as she could, lying him down and watching over him until he recovered.
Because she knew it was all she could do.

When she found the truth, down in the basement she barely felt the shock. It was as though she was already conscious of it all and something (or perhaps, someone) was just waiting for the right moment to let the realisation snap into place. The last piece of the puzzle.
Waiting for Harry that last time felt like the far side of eternity for her, with nothing but rusty walls and bloodied thoughts for company. When he found her again (though how he managed it, when she could barely find herself, she didn't know) she tried to explain, but she could tell that he didn't understand.
Finally, when she felt the last wisps of her humanity slipping from her, Lisa tried so hard not to let on. She didn't want Harry to know but at the same time she just wanted someone to hold her, to tell her everything would be alright.
Even if it was a lie.
Because she knew she was scared of the darkness.

When the door closed and she was left alone, Lisa sobbed and slammed her hands against the door. She didn't want to be alone! She hated it. The tears fell… No, not tears. It was blood. Blood was everywhere just like before.

It slid over her cheeks, covering the innocent tear tracks. It made her make-up run, turning the eyes into black hollows. She became just like the others that she had been running from all this time.

'No! Please Harry, help me… Please, somebody! …Anybody…'

She wouldn't let it end like this. She refused to become a monster. I will not become something to be afraid of. I am a nurse. I help and I save others. I do not harm…

And once again she felt herself changing, this time with a numbness that she had only ever known through the embrace of White Claudia. She folded in on herself, memories flowing in blackened blood onto paper white skin. This time, instead of pain there was a sensation of release.

Because she knew, and she had to let Harry know too.

-

When Harry later entered that room, all that was waiting for him was a stained, little diary, lying on the floor. Bound in red, white paper, black ink.