Mary swung the door to the treatment room open but brought herself to a halt in the doorway when she saw Lana strapped down to the treatment chair, her eyes wide with an animalistic, helpless terror. Her body convulsed as she was electrocuted and she arched herself up as far as the restraints would allow as raw, guttural groans ripped through the room.

She blinked. What had she been expecting to see, walking into the shock therapy room?

"Sister Jude," Mary spoke. Her voice came out in a whisper, much quieter than she had meant, so she spoke up. "Sister Jude!"

Jude's eyes widened and snapped up to meet Mary's. "Sister Mary Eunice, what on God's green earth are you doing up here?" She motioned to Dr. Arden, who turned a dial on the machine that Lana was hooked up to. The noise in the room wound down and was replaced with Lana's muffled cries and ragged breaths.

"The Monsignor is in your office," Mary Eunice spoke softly before speaking up, again, "He says it's important."

"I forgot I had a meeting arranged with him," Jude muttered, and Lana shifted herself away from Jude as Jude walked past.

"Hey," Jude whispered, grabbing hold of Mary's arm as they both stood in the doorway. Mary's shoulders jumped at the touch. "Stop looking at her like that," Jude said, quietly. "It's for her own good. We're saving her soul."

Mary sucked in a breath. "Oh, I know that, Sister Jude." Mary Eunice forced a weak smile.

Jude pressed her thin lips together. "Good. Help her back to the recreational room." She began to walk past Mary but then turned back to add something. "And Mary Eunice. Knock."

Mary grimaced and pressed her fingers to her forehead. She was such a fool.

"She should have never had to see that," Jude muttered under her breath to Dr. Arden as he followed her out of the room. Lana whimpered and the three security men who had dragged Lana up the stairs into the treatment room began to unbuckle her restraints.

"Sister Jude asked me to do that," Mary said, and the men shrugged before walking away.

"Good luck," one of the men said; Mary knew that his name was Paul. He was older than most of the other men who worked as security for the asylum, but just like the others, he was easily enticed to violence. "She has the strength of a damn horse."

Mary stood frozen in her place for a few moments after the men left. "I'm so sorry, Miss Winters," Mary said as she walked forward and began to unbuckle Lana's arms from the treatment chair, "You look terrible."

In the few weeks that Lana had come to stay at Briarcliff, she always looked the worst after her treatment days. Here, she looked pale and clammy, and her body was sweaty and shaky.

"Come here," Mary whispered, her hand brushing up against Lana's arm as she positioned herself to help Lana up. Lana's arm jumped away.

"Don't touch me," Lana said, her voice low.

Mary closed her eyes and smiled, shaking her head. She was a fool.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I just want to help you."

"Get away," Lana said, bracing her arms against the table and pushing herself away from Mary. "I can do it myself."

"Of course you can," Mary said, stepping away from Lana.

Pushing herself up off of the table, Lana set a shaky, bare foot onto the ground.

"What happened to your shoes?" Mary asked.

Lana's eyes were no longer wide, and fawn-like. They were set towards Mary in a firm, steady gaze. She had quickly composed herself and set her focus on standing up. She looked at Mary from under heavy eyelids before lifting her chin. "They took them because I threw them at the security guards."

Lana stood, and the walk to join the others in the rec room was mostly silent. Mary couldn't think of anything to say as they slowly passed through long and winding halls, and she felt awkward.

"Okay, so," Mary eventually said, "I still have your radio. I decided that I was going to give it back when I could find a moment." She pulled the transistor radio box out of the pocket of her tunic and offered it to Lana.

"Radios are against the rules," Lana replied.

"You didn't care about that before," Mary said, and then smiled. "This isn't a trick," she said, and Lana's hand brushed hers when she grabbed her radio.

Mary cleared her throat. She didn't know what it was about Lana that made her so nervous.

"What would God say about breaking the rules?" Lana asked as she pocketed the radio.

"What would God say if I would have kept it or given it to Jude? It would have been stealing from you." Secretly, she prayed for forgiveness and hoped that God wouldn't be angered by her rationalizations.

Lana smirked. "Makes sense."

"Jude's scary when the rules are broken. I wouldn't want her to cane you. I don't think you deserved that."

"I don't think anyone deserves that," Lana said forcefully.

Mary pressed her lips together. "It's not for us to decide."

Lana's eyes flickered to Mary's, and Mary realized that she wasn't sure what to do with her arms as she walked. Holding them still made her feel stiff, but swinging them was unnatural. She crossed them in front of her chest.

"I went to Sunday school when I was a little girl," Lana said. She looked away from Mary, again. "They told me that God was a God of love and benevolence. Jude's image of God, the one that favors caning and punishment, seems to contradict that. I think she's a hypocrite."

"The Bible says that sinners are punished-"

"But Jesus died to save them. Didn't he?"

"I don't understand everything the Bible says. Sister Jude and the Monsignor are much wiser and more spiritually enlightened than me, so I try not to let my own reasoning challenge theirs."

"Bullshit," Lana said. She rolled her eyes.

Mary sighed. She didn't know how to reply. "Well. We're here." The sound of the Domonique record in the rec room rang clear. "I'm supposed to watch Pepper in the library, so I'll see you at dinner."

"Alright."

Mary smiled at Lana and winked, trying to lighten the mood. "Hide your radio better, this time."