When Matilda slowly opened her eyes, she was no longer behind the curtain in the emergency room, but in a hospital bed in a dimly lit room. She tried to lift her arms to rub her eyes, but found she couldn't. She looked down at herself and tried to blink her vision into focus, until she could make out the many bandages wrapped around herself making her limbs feel heavy. It took her a minute to remember why she was in this state. She vaguely recalled blowing up a glass door.

With great effort, she slowly turned her head around the room, fighting against the fog that wanted to pull her back down. Matilda was surprised to find, sitting on the couch, was a young thin woman with brunette hair with her face resting in her open hands. Matilda was embarrassed at how long it took her to remember why her school teacher was here. Whatever they had given her must have been powerful stuff. She couldn't recall ever being this out of it before, even when she was sick.

"Mom," Matilda croaked, her throat dry and raspy. Miss Honey looked up and smiled, but even in this state Matilda could tell the smile didn't reach her eyes. She couldn't however, feel her like she normally could.

"Hi sweetie," Miss Honey said, getting to her feet, before moving to the plastic chair by the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"My throat hurts." Matilda said, confused. As far as she could tell, they hadn't operated on her throat.

"You had a breathing tube, that's why." She poured a cup of water from the pink pitcher on the tray and tried handing it to Matilda. "Dr. said it might feel a little raw for a day or two."

"I can't move."

"You're a bit bandaged up, aren't you? You look a bit like a mummy." Miss Honey said. "Here, try drinking some water." She held the cup up to Matilda's lips, who took small sips. "That's it, there you go." She set the cup down on the tray. They sat in silence for a bit before Miss Honey asked "Are you hungry at all?"

"No." Matilda said. Her stomach felt a little funny from the drugs. "Feel strange." she mumbled.

"I want you to try eating something, you haven't eaten since before you were admitted. It will help you get your strength back." She could hear Miss Honey opening something. "It's nothing heavy, it's just Jello. Might feel good on your throat." She watched numbly as Miss Honey scooped up a piece of orange Jello with a plastic spoon, and with her other hand hovering underneath, carefully brought it up to Matilda's mouth. "Go on, open up." Matilda reluctantly opened her mouth. It felt strange being spoon-fed. Matilda was surprised at how much effort it took to swallow and not let it fall out of her mouth, but it was cold and did feel good on her throat. "That's a good girl. Just a few more bites, and I'll let you rest."

Matilda nodded and let Jenny feed her the rest of the Jello. She could hardly keep her eyes open when she had finished.

"Get some rest, dear. I'll be right here with you."

When Matilda awoke, she was relieved to find her mind was much clearer than it had been, although her body felt like she had been in a car accident. Her limbs still felt heavy and sluggish and her throat seemed to ache even more than earlier. She looked to her right to find Jenny asleep on the couch mumbling something as she often talked in her sleep. It must be late, Matilda thought, or early, she couldn't tell, it was dark outside and still somewhat dark in her room, but the light on in the hallway was enough to see by.

There was one thing Matilda was certain of though, she really had to pee. She moved the only parts she could move pain free, her feet, and winced as she reached for the remote by her side. She had overheard them telling Jenny they would have her up and walking today. Maybe they could start now? She hit the call button as she had been instructed to if she needed something and waited. And waited. And waited. Matilda frowned. Perhaps she hadn't pressed it hard enough? She pressed it again, but still nothing happened. She had seen Jenny press it before, but someone had always answered right away.

Matilda scowled and wiggled her feet again. She'd have to wait until someone came to check on her. If last night was any indication, they checked on her quite frequently. It was hard to sleep when someone kept waking you up every couple hours. Matilda closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but found it impossible. She sighed and looked over at Jenny, who was still fast asleep. She hated to wake her up, but she knew she was playing with fire. It had only been fifteen minutes, but it felt like hours.

"Jenny," Matilda croaked, before remembering. "Mom." There was no answer. "Mom." She said a little louder. She winced at the pain in her throat.

"Hmm?" Jennifer mumbled. Matilda wasn't sure if she was still asleep or not.

"I need the bathroom." Matilda said. She watched Miss Honey roll onto her side.

"Go in the sandbox." came the mumbled reply. The sandbox? What was she, a cat? She would have found it amusing if she didn't feel like she was about to combust. Matilda often had fun having conversations with Miss Honey only she could remember and had often woken Jenny with the sound of her giggling. She didn't have time for it now though.

"Mom, please wake up." Nothing. She pressed the call button again. Nothing. Matilda ground her teeth together. Wiggling her toes wasn't helping, and she couldn't get her voice loud enough to wake Jenny.

The speakers above her began to crackle. "We have a code blue in room 204. I repeat a code blue in room 204." There was a loud commotion outside as she heard shoes running across the linoleum. She glanced over at Jenny dumbstruck. How could she have slept through all that?

"Mooom," Matilda groaned. She sighed in defeat. She didn't want to do it, but she didn't have a choice. She was about to do what Jenny had warned her about downstairs if she couldn't wake her up. Matilda checked one last time to see if anyone was coming before she focused her eyes on the water jug. It shook and jostled, making Matilda groan, before slowly rising in the air and making its way towards its victim.

"Sorry about this." she mumbled before ever so slowly tipping its contents over Jenny's face. She awoke with a start, and sprang to a sitting position, wide-eyed and hair dripping wet. Matilda let the jug fall noisily to the floor next to her. She wiped the water out of her face with her hand and stared around the room in a daze.

"Good morning." Matilda said with a guilty smile, before her expression fell back into one of misery. She groaned and clenched with all the strength she had as a wave of desperation took hold. All Matilda could do was clench her closed fists by her sides and will herself not to leak.

"Matilda, what's the matter?" Jenny asked. "Are you in pain?"

"I have to pee." Matilda moaned.

"Honey, why did you wait this long? You could have paged someone to help you."

"I've been trying!" Matilda croaked. "No one is answering, and then I couldn't wake you up to get someone and-" She winced as she tried to wiggle her body.

"Let me see," Miss Honey said, standing up and grabbing the remote. If this was going to be an instance of showing someone something didn't work, only to have it work perfectly fine, Matilda would scream. Miss Honey pressed the button, waited a few moments and frowned. "That's strange. Hello? Is anyone there?" she asked into the mic.

"Could you get someone?" Matilda asked. She'd be holding herself if her arms weren't bound. She was breathing hard now from the effort of holding it in and starting to panic.

"I'm sorry, of course, dear." She left the room, only to return a few seconds later. "There's no one out there."

"There was a code blue." Matilda said with a whimper. "Everyone ran down the hall."

"Oh dear, I hope they'll be alright." Miss Honey said, before letting her eyes fall on Matilda. "I'm sorry, sweetie, you'll have to wait."

Tears stung Matilda's eyes. "I can't." She admitted. Her core was aching and straining from the effort. She knew she wouldn't last.

"Well, let me check something, hopefully they were prepared for this scenario." Miss Honey said, before lifting Matilda's blanket up. She could see Miss Honey's face fall. "They said they would at least have mats, but there's nothing."

"Could you carry me?" Matilda asked, hopefully.

Miss Honey shook her head. "You're still hooked up to the I.v."

Matilda gritted her teeth. She had no choice but to ask Miss Honey to do that for her. "Could you give me one of those things from last night?" she mumbled. She felt her face flush. She hated to admit she would have preferred a diaper to asking Miss Honey to do this.

Jenny stared at her blankly for a moment. "What thing? Ohh, one of those. Well, I don't suppose they'd mind me helping with that. Let's see if I can find one." She went into the bathroom for a few seconds and rummaged around for a bit, opened and closed a closet of blankets, before turning towards the sink. "Here it is!" Miss Honey exclaimed triumphantly after checking under the sink. She held up the cursed object. Matilda looked away in embarrassment.

"I'm glad you thought of this. It completely slipped my mind." She paused after seeing the look on Matilda's face. "It's alright dear, there's no need to be embarrassed, they wouldn't have let you up anyway."

"But you're doing it." Matilda mumbled.

"Don't you worry about that. I'm going to lift your legs and slide it under you, okay?" Matilda nodded and braced herself. "There, you're all set. I'll give you a minute to-oh." Matilda hung her head, face glowing. There was no reason for Jenny to give her a minute to do anything. Her body hadn't even given her a moment to step away. As soon as she had felt the hard plastic underneath her, her brain must have given the all clear. Liquid trickled noisily into the basin, magnified by the fact she couldn't close her legs from all the bandages. There was no need for Miss Honey to ask if she'd had any luck.

As if it couldn't get any worse, the nurse had chosen that moment to walk in. Matilda inwardly moaned. She only had to wait a few more minutes, and she wouldn't have had to ask Jenny at all. The nurse walked in, looked as if she was about to stay something and stopped. She looked around the room puzzled for the source of the sound, before coming over to investigate.

The nurse came to stand next to Miss Honey, who had quickly backed away as if in fear of being scolded for interfering with their patient, and took a peek.

"Oh good, finally." she said, sounding relieved. "We were concerned when you told us you hadn't gone since yesterday afternoon and refused throughout the night. Are you done?" Matilda nodded. "Actually, I'm going to press on your tummy a bit, see if we can't get anymore to come out. Some people can have trouble completely emptying after being put under." Matilda winced a little as the nurse pressed around under her belly button, before her eyes widened in surprise as the trickling resumed for a few more seconds before stopping for a final time. "See?" Matilda blushed as she felt herself get wiped before being lifted and set back down on the bed.

"Mom, If you notice any trouble with leaking, try gently pressing on her lower stomach while she's still on the toilet. It might take a few days for her innards to fully wake up."

"Well, we haven't talked about what we are going to do, yet. Things have been challenging in her life and there's been some minor issues as a result. I'm somewhat considering keeping her in pull-ups for the time being, at least until things calm down. I think it will take some stress off her."

Matilda's head shot up. What? No, she wasn't! She was fine! She didn't need diapers during the day! Their eyes met and Matilda gave her a pleading look. "We'll talk about it later." Miss Honey said.

"Hmm, let's go outside for a chat." the nurse said, putting the still full bedpan on the counter by the sink. Matilda wrinkled her nose. "The lab wants a urine sample." Matilda shrugged. She didn't want it.

"I'll be back in a minute, sweetie, try and get some rest. I need to make a few phone calls as well. Hopefully someone can bring us some clothes." Miss Honey said, who was also still in a hospital gown despite being discharged, before slipping out the door.

Matilda bit her fingernails anxiously as she waited for Miss Honey to return. Now that needing to pee no longer took full priority of her mind, she could feel the sensation of dread in the pit of her stomach she was sure was coming from Miss Honey. Matilda wondered what was wrong. Anxiety seemed to be a constant state for Jenny, but this felt different. It was as if she knew this was the end of the line, and she was just trying to hide it, but the end of the line for what, Matilda didn't know. She'd ask when she got back, Matilda thought as she closed her eyes. She was tired now.

Just when Matilda thought she would fall asleep, she heard footsteps in her room. Matilda silently growled. They weren't Jenny's timid footsteps, but heavy, loud thumps. Now what did they want from her? She kept her eyes closed. Maybe if she pretended to be asleep, they'd leave her alone. She heard the tray over her bed get roughly pulled away and moved. Matilda strained to listen, but there was nothing. Had they left? No, Matilda was sure they were still there. She could feel a presence looming over her. She waited with held breath and listened for their departure, but she heard nothing. Something felt off. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. Hoping it was just her imagination she opened her eyes.

There, standing over her, mere inches from her face, was the Trunchbull, and she looked furious. Then her face twisted into a smile, revealing a set of rotting yellow teeth.

"Good morning, Miss Wormwood." She sneered in a sing songy voice. Matilda gulped, eyes darting everywhere. The Trunchbull's eyes narrowed. "And what do we say when someone says good morning to you?"

"G-good m-morning," Matilda sputtered out. She could handle the Trunchbull in school without stuttering and shaking, but this felt different. Now she was trapped, unable to move, and at her mercy. She had no time to prepare herself, and now that she was alone and face to face with the beast, she felt all the courage she had gained plotting her downfall with Hortensia immediately disparate.

"Good morning, WHAT?" The Trunchbull yelled in her face.

"Good morning, Miss T-Trunchbull." Matilda said. Her heart was racing out of her chest. She inched her hand down towards the remote and pressed the call button rapidly, only to remember it didn't work.

"Now, ask me why I'm here." The woman whispered.

"W-why are you here, Miss Trunchbull?"

"To pay you and Miss Honey a visit of course," she said, fake smile plastered on her face. "Isn't that nice of me? I came all the way here, on a very busy school day, to see why, even though I have it on good authority Miss Honey had been released last night, I still find my year one class without a teacher. What puzzles me even more was a message I received on the school's answering machine yesterday afternoon. Do you know what that message was?"

"N-no, Miss Trunchbull." Matilda croaked.

"It was Miss Honey of all people. Quiet, obedient, Miss Honey, telling me she wouldn't be able to teach class for a few more days. So of course I called her back to tell her I had better see her no good lazy ass back in class this morning, after all, she had her sick day on Friday. A day I did not give her permission to take mind you, and do you know what she said to me?"

"No, Miss Trunchbull." Matilda said.

"That's right, she told me, 'no'." Matilda could see the glint in the Trunchbull's eyes growing more and more dangerous. "Sweet, cowardly Miss Honey told me, 'no'. So, naturally, I had to come right away and see what the problem was. She must be on death's door, I thought. So imagine my surprise, when I come up and find an empty room. So while I was waiting for an explanation from her, a nurse comes in and tells me Miss Honey isn't here. Miss Honey is downstairs with her DAUGHTER." She screamed the last part in Matilda's face, before straightening back up. "There must be some mistake I thought, Miss Honey doesn't have a daughter. Imagine my surprise when they tell me, 'Yes, she is downstairs with MATILDA WORMWOOD, who was about to go in for surgery.' " Now the Trunchbull was looking livid and purple in the face. "Miss Honey is neglecting her duties for a single disgusting little worm like you!? I couldn't imagine what in the world had gotten into that air headed, dim witted woman, AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT I FOUND?" She waved the crumbled pieces of paper wildly in front of Matilda's face. Matilda took the papers and uncrumpled them. She recognized Jenny's handwriting. "Read it!" The Trunchbull hissed.

Matilda began to read and as she did, she could feel pieces of her heart begin to break. How could one person withstand so much abuse? She could feel tears begin to form in her eyes until the pages in front of her were just a blur. Once she had gotten to the part about a broom she had to stop and look away. She didn't want to know!

"I said READ IT!" The Trunchbull screamed.

Matilda choked back a sob and continued. The woman was crazy! How could she have done this to Jenny?! Matilda felt sick to her stomach with rage and hatred. The power behind her eyes was beginning to burn.

"I sat there thinking all night, how can I teach Miss Honey a lesson? I thought, I know, I'll throw her in the Chokey, but no, I've already done that when she told me she wanted to adopt you, and you know what? She went behind my back and did it anyway! This woman's started to forget just what I'm capable of. I need something good. I need to teach her a lesson she'll never forget! I need to put the fear of me back into her! Then the answer clicked. It was staring me in the face all along. The answer is you." The grotesque smile came back. "I'm going to do to you every little thing Miss Honey wrote about in that letter, until you beg for death. That will teach Miss Honey not to open her mouth about things that should have stayed silent."

Matilda could feel her blood boiling. Images of Jenny being chained to a wall filled her mind. She wanted to fight back, but there was nothing she could fight with except… She stared at the bed pan sitting on the counter and willed it to rise. It wasn't much, but it was all she had. She watched it soar into the air before coming closer and closer as the Trunchbull rambled on. It was directly over her head, when the Trunchbull forcefully grabbed Matilda by the chin.

"PAY ATTENTION WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!" The Trunchbull screamed. Matilda forced her eyes up, until ever so slowly, the pink pan began to tip, spilling its contents right onto the Trunchbull's head, before falling to the floor. The Trunchbull let out a gasp and spun around to see who else was in the room, but there was no one there. She stared down at the floor, yellow droplets of liquid falling to the white linoleum, then to the pink pan until very slowly, realization dawned of just what had been dumped on her.

"You!" She growled, lunging for Matilda and wrapping her hands around her throat. "I knew it was you who threw that newt in the cup at me, just like I know it was you who put those spiders in my car! You've been nothing but trouble since the day you showed up! If Miss Honey wants you so badly she can pick up your body at the morgue!"

Matilda gasped as she felt the Trunchbull's hands beginning to squeeze. She weakly fought with all her might. She couldn't breathe! This was it, she was about to become another victim of the Trunchbull. No one was coming to save her. The world around her was starting to go black. She could vaguely make out a white figure in the doorway. Was that an angel, coming to collect her soul? The figure in the doorway lunged, letting out a primal scream Matilda had never heard before.

"LET GO OF HER!" There was a loud crash. The Trunchbull let go of Matilda's throat and began to stagger. Another crash. Between Matilda's gasps and coughs for breath she caught sight of the figure. It wasn't an angel coming for her. It was Miss Honey, and she was… Matilda couldn't believe it. She had the foldable chair from the hall in her hands and was smashing it across the Trunchbull's head. The Trunchbull was running for the door, but came to stop. Several security guards were blocking her exit, but she barreled through them as if they were nothing.

"Matilda!" Miss Honey cried coming towards her, but Matilda's vision was already fading to black. She reached her hand out.

"Mommy." Matilda mumbled before fading into unconsciousness.