Jake stood in the doorway of the cabin while Ash and Nea said their goodbyes as they prepared to make their trek to Lery. None of the survivors who had gone to trials for the past few hours had been placed there, so to get a medical book, they were going to have to do it the hard way.

Ash's chest was puffed out in a confident manner, as if what he and Nea were going to be doing was as simple as picking up a bag of Doritios at the corner convenience store. "We'll be as quick as we can. We'll probably have to skirt a few realms in order to get there, it isn't one of the places next to us."

Nea had reached out to shake Jake's hand as she prepared to depart. Mentally, she was preparing herself to use all of the stealth skills she had at her disposal to accomplish their objective. She squeezed Jake's hand reassuringly. "But we'll get there, and we'll get it. That's a promise. If we have to let the Doctor chase us all the way back here, we'll get it."

Jake squeezed her hand gratefully in return. "I don't doubt it at all, Nea. I know that you two are going to do everything you possibly can to bring back a..."

"Stop them. Do not let them leave."

He stopped before he could finish what he was saying, then shook his head, and turned back to look behind him inside of the cabin. Even though he knew the voice wasn't Amanda's, for some reason he had to be sure it wasn't her that had actually spoken. It definitely was not Amanda who spoke. She was still in the same state as before, staring unseeing at the cabin wall. Jake turned back to talk to Nea again, but the voice spoke again, louder this time, with a vague hint of annoyance.

"I know you heard me speak. STOP them." Hearing it more loudly, Jake finally placed it. It wasn't the voice of a person. It was inhuman. Jake shook his head in astonishment. It was the Entity. It hadn't spoken to him since he'd heard it speak while they were having their conversation with Hoffman, and even then, it hadn't been speaking to him directly. It was Amanda it was talking to. The Entity speaking to Jake was merely a courtesy, or an after thought.

So Jake put his next words into a thought to it. "What did you say? I'm pretty sure I heard you correctly, but I need to be sure, because it's almost like you're telling me I shouldn't allow anyone to try and get her help."

The Entity's patience waned further. "Is it Amanda suffering from this catatonia, or you? I meant exactly what I said. The action you need to take immediately is to stop them from leaving. Once you have, I will explain in further detail why I have told you to prevent them from leaving."

By this time, Ash and Nea had turned away and taken a few steps towards the woods that would take them to the end of their portion of the realm. Jake hollered. "Wait a second. Just...Wait. Don't leave yet."

Ash and Nea stopped and turned. Both flashed him looks of confusion, but stood in the grass at the bottom of the steps as Jake had ordered. "Just give me a few minutes, I need to do something." He turned back into the cabin and sat on the bed. He thought quickly and decisively, "We need this book. It's the only way..."

"I will ignore your questioning of the order that I have just given you due to the circumstances you are currently facing. I understand it's been a trial for the complex piece of your anatomy that I fail to understand, the human brain, and thus you are not reacting the way you should be to a direct command from me, given that circumstance. Remain silent, and I will explain quickly and succinctly why I have told you to prevent them from venturing to Lery."

Jake did as ordered. "I have taken the necessary steps to ensure treatment for Amanda, so their hike to the realm would be a futile gesture that would accomplish nothing. Even if they were to collect the book you desire, you lack the equipment necessary to put any of the information it contains to effective use to help her. The treatment of catatonia requires the skills of a professional with a particular set of equipment, which the book would have told you, so there is no sense sending them on a risky endeavor that will do nothing but waste time that could be put to good use in a way that will be beneficial to her."

Jake's heart fell. "However, while you do not have access to the equipment and a professional who knows how to use it, thanks to my powers here, I do. I have secured the services of said medical professional who possesses the expertise on the human brain and has experience in the treatment of catatonia, and he has also been provided the assistance of a nurse. Through the use of my powers, this person has been given all the necessary equipment that will be required to successfully provide the necessary treatment required that will return Amanda to her normal state."

"Can I ask a question?" Jake thought to it.

"As long as it is not of the limited variety one would expect from a human of your low brain function. While I have not studied the human brain, or know what makes it function, I know it is still vastly inferior to the intellect I possess. I've been quite clear on what needs to be done, and I hope it will not be, as you meat use in your vernacular, a stupid question."

Jake ignored the insult. "Can you do something to help her? Something that we cannot? You obviously have powers that are far reaching. Is there a way to heal her like your powers do when we die in the trial, then wake up alive in our beds after? I mean, I've thought about asking you directly, but hesitated, because I'm not connected to you like Amanda is, and was waiting for you to maybe approach me first. Since I didn't hear you speak the past two days, I said nothing, and just waited."

He heard it sigh. "Thank you. That question was not a stupid one as I had feared. To answer your question, I've not been ignoring you. Immediately after the event occurred I tried do do what you suggested, and made a few other attempts over the past two days. However, as I already stated earlier, I am unfamiliar with the impulses and synapses that drive your thinking and motor function. Do I have the capability? Of course I do, if I had a complete understanding of your physiology, but I never learned. I simply knew you needed your brains in perfect working order to function, and shielded you from any blows from the killers that would damage your brains or your bones, believing that would suffice.

"However," it continued, "Because I did not take any steps against the eventuality that Amanda faced, and due to a temporary distraction, Krueger was able to breach the defenses I put into place to protect you and gave her a nightmare based on her worst fears that was severe enough to make her mind shut down to protect itself. I will admit this to you, and you alone. You are not to repeat it. I had no idea this was even possible. It is due to the fact that I have paid no attention to what makes you breathe. I only concentrated on what was needed to heal your physical wounds. I do not possess the knowledge to cure wounds of a psychological nature. Is your question answered to your satisfaction?"

Jake nodded. "Good. While you have been making futile plans to assist her, and since her current situation has been brought about by circumstances I failed to prevent, and did not prepare for, I have gone beyond fairness, and am instead being generous, My generosity is something I feel both of you deserve in this instance. Everything is ready for the treatment she needs. You will take her to the Lery building, where you will be met by the doctor and nurse I spoke of previously. I have restored functionality to the car which Amanda kept from the Haddonfield realm, which you can use to transport her. I have also taken the liberty of creating intermittent signs for you to use to guide your path, as the Lery realm is located at some distance for yours, and would not be as easy to find as the meat Ash and Nea believe."

Jake was starting to feel hope.

"I will also tell you one other thing that you are not to repeat. I do not want the other survivors to think that I have the capability of feeling guilt. Despite your fears over my silence since this event occurred, I had no intention of abandoning Amanda to this fate, especially when I was party to its occurrence. I would extend this type of generosity to you, or the others, if it had occurred to you, but it was a definite since it involved Amanda. She is my voice, therefore she is important to the realm. I need her, just as you do, though for an entirely different reason than yourself. i would never have left her with no assistance."

"Thank you. I do need her. These past few days have been awful. After doing what I did to heal her from before, the thought of her living forever in this state without being able to help her has been unbearable. I've felt like a complete failure, especially when it happened while I was in the trial with her myself." Jake said.

"While I understand your human need to punish yourself because something terrible happened to the woman you've sworn to protect, I will make another statement for your ears only. You did not know Kruger possessed the abilities he used on her, so you could have done nothing to prevent it."

Jake was silent. While what it was saying may logically be correct, and while the Entity had a point, Jake still blamed himself. He knew he'd passed by that stairway to the basement at least once when Amanda's mental torture was likely going on. If he'd gone down to get the item from the chest, he'd have seen her, and probably could have stopped it before it had gone as far as it had. But he remembered as he stood there that his heartbeat had quickened, indicating the killer was around, so he'd moved away, and instead focused on the generator repairs so they could get out of there. He was busy cleansing totems and fixing generators while Amanda was going through a living Hell in her mind.

"I also want to make sure you are informed in advance of who is going to be providing the medical care Amanda is to receive while at Lery. The treatment will be provided by the persons you know in the trials as the Doctor, and the Nurse."

Jake's eyes widened. Medical treatment from a butcher? "Forgive me for asking, but based on the history of both of them in our trials together, I have some doubts that what they will do will help her, rather than harm her."

"I understand your hesitation based on your prior history. However, a favor has been promised in return for their assistance, and they have been temporarily restored to their physical human states. I have also shown them what is currently left of Krueger, and have given them an extremely firm warning that if they deviate from the objective of restoring Amanda in any way at all, the punishment that will be delivered to them will be swift and infinitely more brutal than what brutality I've already given to Krueger. I will also keep part of my focus on her treatment process, and if I see anything amiss, I will stop them from harming her and immediately make them suffer for deviating from the objective I've given them. Based on their reactions to the sight of how I have punished the killer responsible for hurting her in the first place, I am completely confident they will obey my command to the letter, and cause her no further harm."

"I'd like to stay with her while she's at Lery while she's getting the treatment of course. I'm sure you've already done it, but just so I know, will the same promise of no harm to Amanda while she's there also be given to me if I accompany her?"

"Yes," The Entity told him. "I anticipated of course that you would not abandon your wife to unseen treatment from two killers, no matter how many assurances I give you, and I forgive you for having that fear, despite all of the power you know is at my disposal. If I had the capacity for human emotion and could put myself in your shoes, I'm certain I'd feel the same way if Amanda was my own. It has been made clear that they are not to harm Amanda or anyone who accompanies her in any way from the moment to enter the facility until after you leave. Harming you will only be allowed after you've left and they face you in their next trials."

Jake was nodding, and he forced himself to bury all of his leftover doubts. Despite how some of the others were now feeling about the Entity around the camp, he did not feel the same. The Entity was hardly loving, but it had gone above and beyond for them more than once in this realm, and had not lost one iota of respect for it. Jake knew that it would not be doing what it had, and would telling him to do it, if it wasn't personally sure that the plans it had put into place were correct and safe. He wasn't sure what it had done to Krueger, but he knew it held Amanda in as high of a regard as it did the actual killers, and had no doubts it was so brutal that if it had shown it to them, it COULD scare the Doctor and Nurse into cooperating. "When do I need to go?" Jake looked at the unresponsive Amanda.

"Everything is in place. You may leave immediately if you like. In fact I would be surprised if you did not. You have my guarantee that I have restored the necessary equipment and medicine they require to perfect, functional condition, and it will provide the treatment she needs to break her of the condition she is in. The Doctor will be administering electroconvulsive therapy, which according to his medical expertise, he is confident will heal her from her current state."

Jake had studied some of the horrors of electroshock treatment in school. Of course it was well documented that the treatment had been used incorrectly in many instances due to a lack of medical knowledge at the time. However he was also aware that when it was used properly, it had effective results, and in a situation like this, it would logically be one of the correct treatment options if Amanda was suffering from this in the real world. There may be other treatments real world doctors would try first, but he believed it would eventually be recommended if those other treatment options failed.

He stared at Amanda's unresponsive form. Who was he kidding? He had no other choice. He had to do this. They were not in the real world, they were here, and this seemed to be the best option available to help her.

"Precisely," The Entity responded, reading the thought Jake was having in his mind. "I promise you, meat Jake. This time, I have planned for every contingency. The powers I have used will cure her. Once she is awake, I will personally rectify any unseen hurdles, should they arise. You may speak for me in the interim and let the survivors know that what Krueger did to her was not what I wanted, nor anything I approved of. I would like that point to be made clear, even if it leads to some doubt about how much I am in control of this realm. Now go...Heal your wife."

Jake ducked out of the cabin door and relayed the information the Entity had given him. As he explained the plan, the faces of Ash and Nea became more and more stunned.

"I've never seen the Entity be...Friendly," Nea said, doubt flashing over her face. "I mean, what it told you makes sense, but you understand how I'd question it actually going out of its way to help someone."

"It saved her life when she was dying, and it feels responsibility for what happened to her. It gave us the chance to find each other when we left here the first time, and it could have denied my pleas to return us and left me to hold Amanda in my lap until she died. It's something I think about every day. I had no guarantees it would return us, and my actions, which I admit were not well thought-out and desperate, could have killed her if the Entity had been cruel. It was not cruel that day. Krueger acted beyond what he was allowed to do, and it feels part of the responsibility that one of us was injured beyond what we're ordinarily supposed to experience in a trial. It told me to let you all know that Kruger was not allowed to do what he did, and it was not something the Entity ever wanted to happen."

He looked in the open doorway of the cabin, then back at the pair. "I'm going to go. After hearing what it had to say, it's removed a lot of my doubts that the treatment it has planned and put in place will harm her. It's 100 percent sure it will help her, and now I believe it too."

Ash buried the doubt on his own face. "If you believe that's what's best for her, and like you said, it's saved her in the past, then do it. I know how much you love her, and I know you wouldn't do anything that would harm her. If you believe it, then I believe it too. Get her the help she needs."

Jake shook their hands and said, "Can you tell the others? Just some general details about what's going on, so they don't freak out? Also, pass on that Freddy acted out of order. It really wanted everyone to know that this was not condoned, not in the Entity's order, and it won't let it happen again." Nea nodded.

Jake stepped back into the cabin and did some quick packing. He didn't know how long the treatment took, so he should probably plan on being there for most of the day. He packed a few items in a bag, then lifted Amanda's light body in his arms and carried her out the door and around to the back of the cabin, opening the door of the blue Volkswagen and placing her in the passenger seat. As he started to stand back up, he saw movement and his eyes darted to the rear of the car. He saw a figure he hadn't expected in the rear seat and jumped backwards, startled.

"Jesus. If you scare that easily I dunno how you don't curl into a crying ball in the trials. Does Amanda have to, you know, hold you at night while you cry yourself to sleep?" Ash grinned at him as he collected himself with a sarcastic smile. "You're going into enemy territory, my friend. If you thought I was going to let you go see Sir Shocksalot and Nurse Rabid without back-up, you're wrong."

Jake certainly didn't mind company, but he remembered the task Ash had given them shortly after they returned and said, "You asked me to take over as leader since Dwight was gone, and you didn't feel you were up to it. If I'm out of the camp for the day, who's going to, you know, take over? I didn't think about it until now, but you were kind of being leader until we came back. If both of us are gone, who's going to..."

Ash waved a hand. "I already gave Jane the cliff notes. She's more than capable. I'm sure she'll enjoy the opportunity to order the entire camp around, and not just me. She's a great gal, and I wouldn't trade her for the world, but bossy is her second language. It'll be fine." Ash shifted uncomfortably in the seat. "Now will you please get in and drive? You have no idea how much of my body I had to fold up to get into the back of this damn thing. Why couldn't it have given us a Delta? Now there's a car with some damn leg room. Plus, the trunk space is out of this world. You'd think a chick who used to murder people would like a car with plenty of body space, and not some tiny little thing that she thinks is cute."

Jake smiled. "This is a replica of a car she bought when we were in New York. you should have seen her driving it, she was like a kid at Christmas. And now that she's given up killing people, she doesn't need to get a gas guzzler with a trunk, you grumpy oaf."

Ash made a motion with his hands like he'd been stabbed in the chest. "An oaf. He calls me an oaf. risking my ass to save his and I'm just an oaf to him." Ash once again shifted in the seat. "Can we go? My legs are going numb back here."

Jake got into the driver's seat without another word. It was no use arguing, and he knew that Ash was protective of Amanda as well. He was the first person she'd talked to when she'd gotten guilty and tired of being a killer, and was her first friend in the realm. Ash hadn't forgotten it, and Jake knew if the chips were down, Ash would have both of their backs. He reached for the bar to adjust the seat, and scooted it forward as much as he could.

Ash let out a contended sigh before muttering sarcastically, "Thank you. Now my knees are only folded to my chest, instead of my chin. It's a great improvement, I can slightly feel circulation again."

Jake started the engine. "If you keep complaining, I'll make you stand on the back bumper." Ash raised his fingers to his mouth and made a movement like he was turning a key. With a distinctive roar that only the engine of a classic Volkswagen could make, He carefully threated the car into the trees.

****************************************************************************

It didn't take long before they saw the first side guiding the way. Ash kept calling out the signs with painted arrows, even though he guessed Jake could see them. He wanted to at least feel like he was doing something, so he'd appointed himself the navigator of the trip. Even though he'd expressed his support for what Jake was doing, he still had some doubts. Nea was right, the Entity wasn't known for being charitable. It was a risk, but he felt better going along.

But competing with the doubts, his mind was also reminding him of the things the Entity had done that hadn't been cruel. He was split. Ne and Jake were both right. When Amanda had been facing death after her return to the real world, the Entity had saved Amanda's life. When she'd told the story later, Ash had seen the admiration in Amanda's eyes that she had for it for doing so. It had built the game hall, then let them collect chairs and tables and given Amanda this little postage stamp car that was a replacement for the one she'd lost after doing something for it.

While the others may be suspicious of the "favors" the Entity was doing for her if they knew, as Ash did, she'd once been a killer of the realm, Ash trusted her completely. Since she'd become a survivor, she'd never given him a reason not to. To others, if they truly knew about her, this would seem an above and beyond gift being given by the Entity, but Ash was certain it was being done for her because it actually felt some sort of guilt that this had happened to her under its watch.

Well, maybe it was SLIGHTLY above and beyond. After all, she had some sort of connection to the Entity that none of the rest of them possessed. It directly talked to her, and had picked her to speak for it. With her now silent, it would be a necessity for the Entity to get her walking and talking again, so what it was doing was not entirely out of guilt, but also because it needed her to speak for it. He wasn't bothered in the slightest that she retained a connection to the Entity. He knew that in a trial, or out, she always had his back, and wouldn't be afraid to speak up to it if she felt it was the right thing to do. If her secret past ever came to light, Ash would defend her completely. She was one of them now, entirely.

Jake turned the car to the long field leading to one of the exits from Lery, then stopped. The door was closed. He drove the car through the grass, drawing grunts from Ash as the rough, grassy ground bounced him in the back seat. Jake finally pulled the Bug around to another side of the building, and at the end of the long field, Ash could see the big metal exit door was open, and the lights were on. Jake steered the car onto the concrete of the exit ramp they ordinarily were running down as they fled, parked it, and got out.

He pulled the seat forward and helped Ash extricate himself from the back seat. Ash felt like he'd been freed from a coffin. Immediately his legs started tingling strongly as his circulation was entirely restored. He shook his legs out and stomped on the ground. On the way back, he was definitely calling shotgun. He glanced at the space between the seats and the dashboard in the front, and wished he hadn't, as he now had his doubts that riding in the front of the car would be any better than in the back. Maybe he should take the rear bumper when they left.

Jake let the door shut and pocketed the keys, then walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door, unlocking Amanda's seatbelt. At the sound of the driver's side door closing, a woman had appeared. She was slender, maybe in her 40s. She wore a short, white dress that hugged her nice figure. In addition to the white dress, she wore a white nurse's hat, resting on top of long, thick, dark red hair. It was almost the color of magenta. Her right arm had a band with a red cross emblem on it. Clipped to the dress to the left and under her collarbone was a name tag that said "Sally."

"Welcome," Sally said in a voice that was almost sultry. Ash, who sometimes had the memory of a gnat, had completely forgotten that Jake had mentioned the killer nurse and doctor were doing Amanda's treatment. He'd been focused on the discomfort of the trip, and Ash being Ash, and a natural flirt, he immediately slipping into his second language of flirting, and said, "Well hello there yourself. I'd let you take my temperature anytime."

Jake, who had lifted Amanda from the passenger seat of the Bug, was looking at him wide-eyed. Ash waved his hands. "I've already told you. Jane knows I'm a flirt, and she knows that after 50 plus years of being one, it's the one fault she can't entirely train me out of. Besides, she knows she's my one and only girl, and knows I'd never cross the line that would result in her wearing my balls as a necklace."

Jake said quietly, "It's the nurse, remember?"

Ash rolled his eyes. "Duh. I can see it's a nurse, just look at her. It's just harmless flirting." He looked at the redhead. "My friend here is known around the camp as Captain Obvious."

Jake said, still quietly, but more urgently. "No. It's the Nurse. THE Nurse. I told you that, how the Hell could you forget? Killer doctor, killer nurse. You're flirting with a chick that Moris you."

Ash stood there, and quickly the conversation Jake had with him from earlier came back into focus. Christ he was an idiot sometimes. Sally had continued looking at him, still smiling, then seemingly deciding to add a period to Jake's warning, she let the pupils of her eyes glow white, she opened her mouth wide, and her feet rose from the ground. Then she lowered herself, her eyes returned to normal and her mouth returned to a smile. "You may be the bravest, or dumbest, person I've come across." Sally winked. Still want me to check your temperature?"

Ash rubbed his chin, "Well I'm not single, but...for argument's sake, If I was...And you looked like this, and didn't do that freaky white eye thing or lift yourself off the ground...I dunno, I'd think about it."

"I thought Amanda was something else," Jake said, rolling his eyes. "Looks like you are too."

Ash was indignant. He said quietly, "Excuse me, Mr. Fancy Pants, but did you, or did you not have sex with the woman you're holding while she herself was a killer? Hmm? Yeah, that's what I thought. I wouldn't be pointing fingers. You didn't know when you two did the horizontal mambo that she was gonna turn a new leaf. You got turned on by the chick that still had the ability to slit your throat. Ash grinned wickedly. "You know, maybe we should see if there's a shrink around this place and you can talk to him about how you got all horny from a chick that could kick your ass." He chuckled.

Jake couldn't help but laugh at that, because Ash was right, he hadn't fallen in love with her while Amanda was still capable of slaughtering him, but he had been so entranced by her looks, and the fact that she had flirted with him and expressed her own attraction in return that he'd ignored all of her murderous abilities and had the hottest sex of his life in her bed.

Still, after perfecting his goat-getting game with Amanda, he wasn't about to get Ash get the last word in. "You've got a wicked streak like she does too. Peas in a pod. If I didn't know better, I'd almost think you were her dad, and that's part of where she gets it from, ingrained in her through childhood."

Ash quickly said to Sally, "Heh heh...Such a kidder. I'm not that old, Well, maybe I am. But still, I only have one illegitimate daughter that I know of for sure, and it definitely ain't her. Though if I did have the choice to choose a kid, Amanda wouldn't be so bad."

Sally had been silent as the two humans verbally sparred, but seemingly decided this was a good opportunity to get them back on-track, if their refusal to enter the building was due to fears of what would happen to them. "Are you going to come inside, or shall I have the Doctor try to do the treatment with the battery of that toy vehicle?"

Ash pointed at Sally and turned to Jake. "See? SEE? Thank you! See? She thinks the car is small too. Let me tell ya somethin', sister, you should try riding in the back of it for a half an hour. It's like being inside a noisy washing machine." Now that Sally had made herself an ally with Ash over his own complaints about the car, he quickly strutted beside her, looked at Jake, then back at her.

"I don't know what he's waiting for, but count me in." Ash said as he strutted through the door into the lobby. Looking around, he actually found himself amazed. The reception desk had been restored to what Ash surmised it had looked like when the place in the real world had been actually functioning. An old-style radio was playing mellow, brassy, big-band music. The areas directly around the lobby looked fresh and clean, though as he looked down the hall, he saw past a certain point, the floor and walls retained the grungy, abandoned appearance. The Entity had done some remodeling with it's powers, but not everything.

Jake, with Amanda in his arms, and Sally walked in and stood beside him. From the room a cross from them a tall man with a clean white doctor's coat over a spotless vest, pants, shined black dress shoes, and a pressed white shirt and tie greeted them with a smile. The gold watch chain in his vest gleamed, and the name tag clipped to his coat identified him as Dr. Carter.

"Ahh, the patient has arrived, and with guests. Ordinarily, I would be chasing you through these walls as the killer you know only as the Doctor. But while you are here as the Entity's guests, you'll be able to know me and address me as my full identity, Doctor Herman Carter. Allow me to officially welcome you to Lery."

He approached and gave Ash's hand a firm squeeze that made him glad that his hand was metal. The human appearance did not affect his powers as a killer.

"While I'm sure you have been informed already, I want to be clear in case you haven't been. You are aware of the treatment being electroconvulsive therapy, and have some idea of what it is?" Ash and Jake nodded.

"Excellent. I will describe the treatment process. We'll connect Amanda to an electroencephalogram that will monitor her brain activity during and after the procedure. The equipment, based on your clothing, is not from the decade in which you existed in the real world, but I have no doubts it will function the same way as any modern-day equipment. The Entity has restored it to perfect functionality, and you know what they say, older is definitely better."

He cleared his throat. He was behaving so normally, and because his face wasn't locked into place with his metal headgear, that if Ash didn't know what he was, he'd never guess that this was the guy who sometimes Moried him by melting his brain with electricity. It was both relaxing, and bizarre.

"A cuff will be placed around one of Amanda's ankles. She will then be given an injection of sodium thiopental, a harmless muscle relaxant, so as not to cause her physical harm from the tensing of muscles during the procedure. The cuff is to allow one foot to be able to show response from the electrical current, and monitor the progress."

Carter continued, "The amount will be mild, rest assured. Once the drug has taken effect, I will attach two electrodes to the same side of her head, a method which is referred to as unilateral electroconvulsive therapy. The placement of both electrodes on one side will prevent long-term memory loss. After all, we don't just want to get her mobile again, we want to get her mobile and with no long-term side effects. Putting her in a position where her memories are gone, and in some cases, may never be recovered, would make what we're doing here somewhat useless."

Ash only was getting a third of what Carter was saying, but Jake was nodding in understanding, so Ash nodded along too, copying Jake and even throwing in some eyebrow raises of understanding for good measure.

"Once the device is triggered, the current will increase brain activity, producing a seizure that will last for approximately one minute. The electroencephalogram will allow us to record the brain activity, and with the muscle relaxant, the only outward signs of the seizure will be the movement of the foot below the cuff."

Ash asked him, "And then she's cured, right?"

Carter didn't immediately answer. He motioned for them to follow him into the room. Jake moved past Ash and placed Amanda on the crisp, clean white sheets of the old style hospital bed.

"Hopefully the cure will be somewhat immediate, but it's not a guarantee. Sometimes the patients respond and recover shortly after the first treatment, sometimes it takes more than one. This is not a procedure to rush. Ordinarily, if multiple treatments are required, it would be done every other day. However, based on her age and physical health, I am of the medical opinion that we can do additional treatments once per day, until the treatment is a success. But no more than once per day."

He looked at Jake. "I wish I could could give you the guarantee that we'd see immediate results today, but unfortunately, I cannot. Based on what the Entity told me from events, she suffered a severe psychological trauma. As I have already noted, she's healthy and strong, and one treatment may be all that she needs to fully-recover, but I want you to be fully aware, so you're not surprised if this first treatment seems to do nothing and it takes more than one procedure to achieve the desired results."

"I understand," was Jake's reply. "I'm not really familiar with this, and I'll admit I thought it would just be an in-and-out kind of thing, but now that I know, I promise I won't panic if this doesn't work like I was expecting today."

Carter spread his arms in an expansive gesture. "We have everything ready. Should we proceed with the first treatment?" Jake nodded. "Excellent. Nurse Smithson, join me here, and let's prep the patient. We'll have everything ready in a few minutes."

Ash sat on the clean bed next to Amanda's and gave Jake a reassuring pat on the shoulder as Carter and Sally Smithson began readying Amanda.