An older man in a jet-bck suit, jet-bck (probably dyed) hair that was so perfectly styled, it might be fake, looked in awe.

  “You two. You, did…” waving at the closet full of information, “did all this?”

  Wendy spoke for the pair, “Yes, sir.”

  “By yourselves?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And no one noticed?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Do you want a job?”

  “No, sir.”

  Looking at the CEO: “Lucky.”

  Looking at the rest of the men: “Load it up.”

  It got really busy after that. The girls were shuffled out of the way while the big burly men were trying to flex in front of the dies, forgetting that they were the ones who loaded all of the paperwork into the closet to begin with.

  Wendy would make it. She was tough. Tougher than anyone else that she ever knew. She could get mortally scared, but that would not stop her. She could get tired, sick, annoyed, disgusted, but that would not stop her. Katie couldn’t stop her. She tried more than a few times when she was working too hard. She would forget to sleep, forget to eat, forget to go home, and wash. She was a workaholic with no sense of self preservation. She had to threaten to get the CEO to fire her to get her to go home and sleep once. He wouldn’t have, but the threat made it through her sleep-deprived mind to go home.

  Katie knew better than to trust her in this state. She drove Wendy home, despite her protests. She walked her into her apartment, again against her protests. Shoved her into her bedroom, against vehement protests. Then tripped her into bed without protest because she was asleep before her head hit the pillow. She did wait long enough to take her shoes off before letting her sleep. It was a testament to just how tired that she was, that she wore her shoes inside her house.

  Katie spent about two hours cleaning up the entire apartment. Katie wondered why she needed three toothbrushes. She didn’t worry about noise because Wendy was dead to the world. It would take more than an atomic bomb to wake her. A mere vacuum stood no chance. Cleaned, tidied, dishes washed, a couple of meals cooked from what was left in her refrigerator, dishes re-washed and drying. All that was left was to let nature have her way with the exhausted woman and sleep.

  Katie did take a moment to go back into the bedroom and unplugged the arm clock. Unreasonable people needed unreasonable people to take care of them. Katie didn’t know if when she saw Wendy again, if she would be hit or hugged. Either way, watching her sleep was worth it.

  All of these memories were going through Katie’s mind as she looked at the abused figure in the ER bed.

  A nurse poked her head into the room and motioned for Seulgi to head out into the hallway. A few minutes ter Seulgi came back in.

  “…ty…aty….KATIE!”

  “Did you say something, Seulgi?”

  “Come on. We’re going.”

  “Going? Going where?”

  “Home. You need a shower. You were running when this all happened. You stink.”

  “I can’t go. I’m needed here.”

  “No, Katie, you’re not. You need to go home, shower, change, eat something, then come back. You’re about to fall over yourself. You cannot help anyone in this state. Do not make me follow you into your apartment and sit on you. You know that I both can and will.” A gre of Seulgi Serious Level 8 was employed.

  “Yes, ma’am. I mean, ‘No, ma’am.’ I mean…”

  “Shut up. Get moving.”

  Katie shut up and got moving. Seulgi’s phone chirped and she gnced at it while grunting and affirmation. They went to the taxi stand outside the hospital.

  “Where do you live?”

  Katie answered.

  She took Katie’s hand and tossed her into the first taxi with an indignant squawk. Ignoring the indignation, Seulgi found the driver.Seulgi handed the driver a note with a rge amount on it and a business card. On the back of her business card, she scribbled her personal cell number.

  Outside the cab, she said to the driver: “Get her to this address. Keep the change. Make sure she goes inside. Wait about five minutes to make sure she stays in there. If she comes back outside within five minutes, call me. Got it?”

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  Back to Katie, Seulgi said: “Stay home. Nap if you can. I will be coming back to pick you up in about three hours. If you are not there when I come get you, you will be in more trouble than Wendy. Got me?”

  A tiny, sheepish voice answered: “Yes, ma’am.” And she meant it with utter respect this time.

  Momma Bear Gre force at about 9 this time. At this time, Katie vowed to never try to actually make Seulgi angry.

  Seulgi turned away and walked to the next cab, gave her address, and leaned back into her seat. The hum of the motor, the sway of the cab, and the falling adrenaline all worked to finally calm her down.

  Her phone rang.

  “Hello, Nayeon. What’s up?”

  “You tell me. You vanished faster than I could blink.”

  “Oh. Sorry.” Then she proceeded to update Nayeon on what more she found out. Also mention that Wendy should be moving to a room near the ICU wards soon, just in case. She also gave the room number. She also asked Nayeon to order some flowers to be sent there. Seulgi knew she had good taste in flower arrangements. So, she would just pay for whatever Nayeon decides to send. She then told her that she just put Katie in a cab and had to threaten her with bloody murder to get her to go home and stay there. She told her that she was on the way home to take care of a few things and a quick nap as well to go back to the hospital as well.

  When she mentioned that she was going to have Wendy’s parents stay at her pce, Nayeon asked if she wanted her to come over and set up the guest room for them.

  Seulgi said that she would make Nayeon’s favorite gooey brownies for her if she did.

  Seulgi was turned down by the need for the brownies, but she could feel the smile from behind the voice. She also knew that this inveterate glutton would never turn down brownies. Gooey or otherwise.

  When she got to her building, the guards were shocked at her state. They stood up at her entrance. They were quiet, not wanting to disturb whatever world she was currently visiting.

  She shambled to a halt. Turning to the guards, she said that her friend, Nayeon, should be along soon. She was allowed in. If she was asleep when Nayeon got there, they have her permission to let her into the apartment.

  Two owl blinks ter, she nodded to herself then turned to the lifts and Zombie Seulgi climbed on. This was to the relief of the guards, fearful of the state that she was in and they were horrified by the notion that she wanted to try the stairs as per her usual.

  The chief guard tasked someone to stay at the desk specifically to get Nayeon up to Seulgi’s pce and let her in. They started a betting pool against whether Seulgi would be awake or not. This was quickly nixed because no one would take the bet if she would be awake.