“Oh.” Lois’s soft voice startles me, and when I meet her gaze in the mirror, I can see the concern etched into her features.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I didn’t mean to—”

“There aren’t any scars,” I murmur dazedly.

She hesitates on the threshold of the bathroom, her empathetic eyes shining with the answer I didn’t want to see.

“No,” she says softly. “There aren’t any new scars.”

“So I was drugged because…” The words trail off when I can’t bring myself to admit I lost my grip on reality.

“It was for your own protection and your peace of mind.” Lois takes a careful step forward. “Judge didn’t want you to suffer.”

I trace the length of the faint pink line where Theron used the cane. “How much of it was real?” I whisper. “How much was in my head?”

Lois comes to me, reaching down to grab my robe and gently drapes it over my shoulders before she turns me to meet her gaze.

“Sometimes the past has a way of dragging us back,” she explains delicately. “And sometimes, we’re trapped between that past and the present. The pain you felt was real, Mercedes. You didn’t imagine that.”

I understand what she’s telling me. It was real to me, no matter what it looked like on the outside. Because in my fragile state, I was trapped in a memory. A time when my wounds seemingly wouldn’t heal. When the split skin twisted and snarled and embedded itself so deep into my psyche, it won’t ever let me go.

“You must think I’m insane.” I bring my fingers to my temples and press, hoping to keep the emotion at bay.

“No.” Lois’s voice is firm, but kind. “I think you’ve been through hell, sweetheart. And what happened to you isn’t any less traumatic just because it didn’t leave visible scars this time. Some of our most painful experiences are the ones that leave scars nobody can see. That doesn’t make them any easier to live with.”

“Thank you,” I murmur. “For being so nice to me.”

“You deserve nothing less.” She squeezes my shoulder. “Don’t forget that, dear.”

It would be tempting to argue that notion, but Lois is too sweet to see anything other than good in the people around her. And for that I can be grateful, even if I don’t truly deserve it.

“Now.” She offers me a lighthearted smile. “Let’s get you dressed, shall we?”