Rafferty had memories from the next few days, but they only ever came back in bits and pieces.
She remembered Lena, clad in only a few scraps of clothing, gripping her under both arms and hauling her into the back of the truck. On the ride home, it seemed like everyone was looking at her.
Someone thrust a cup filled with a thick orange liquid into her hands, and told her to drink it. He said the following days would be rough, and that she might be confused or disoriented.
She spent an hour in the Common Room, talking with Cody. She wanted to explain what had happened after Cody had gone all wonky. Rafferty found herself using the word "maggotized" a lot. She seemed to be saying it louder than the other words. Cody looked concerned.
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Max came into her room and explained that there used to be 113 countries, and that Rafferty need to know the capitals of all of them by next Tuesday, or she would never get into something called Harvard. Then he squinted his eyes and grew a long, fluffy beard all at once. He stroked it as he walked out of the room.
She lay facedown on her bed for an entire sleepless night, burning pain forcing its way into her joints like water.
She remembered Vincent finding her in a hallway. He reached out, almost nervously, and stroked the little black circle under her eye, which the doctors said was probably permanent. He said it gave her character. He said it was beautiful. When he touched her it made Rafferty feel warm inside.
She beat on a garbage can with a practice sword she took from the Box. She only stopped when the sword was cracked, and the can was too dented to stand. Her throat was dry and painful. Like she'd been screaming.
She ate fifteen eggs in one sitting, and threw them all up into a plastic bag.
She asked Trevor if he had saved her one of the Zeros for her collection. He said that he had not. She asked again the next day. He told her she didn't have a collection. When she asked the third time, he said yes, and pointed to a broom in the corner. Rafferty was satisfied.
She rode a great white bird over the Breaks, and all of the Gods looked like ants.
Some of these things happened to Rafferty, and some of them did not.