Lily stood in a wood late at night, a long heavy cloak protecting her from the chill. She was in Alinora, watching the mist and clouds move around in the night sky. Caleb had his arms around her from behind. They were in the garden of their home.

“Look at the moon,” he said in his low comforting voice. “I almost feel like it is looking back at us.”

She smiled. Her arms were holding his arms in front of her. “And it’s happy for us,” she said.

“It is.” He bent down and kissed her cheek. Then he let go of her as she turned around and wrapped his arms around her again.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you too,” he smiled at her. Then leaned down to gently kiss her.

She smiled, but felt a little serious. “I feel like someone is trying to keep us apart.” She reached up to touch his face, run her fingers down his scar. “I just wanted you to know that I love you, no matter what happens. Okay?”

“Okay,” he said, pulling her closer, her head on his chest.

“And I believe in you,” Lily said.

He chuckled a little bit at that. What did it mean?

“I believe in you too,” he said, running his fingers down her hair. And then suddenly, she wasn’t there anymore. His arms were empty.

* * *

“Lily!” Someone was shouting her name. “Lily, wake up.”

Lily opened her eyes to see fluorescent lights going by quickly. She was lying down, facing up. She realized she was being rolled somewhere quickly on a gurney.

Ellie’s face came into view as she leaned over her again. “Lily, are you here?” she said. She looked very worried.

“What’s happening?” Lily asked, frightened.

“I’ll explain everything after they check you out, okay?” Ellie said. “Relax, and you’ll be fine.”

Ellie stopped walking with the gurney as the paramedics kept rolling it down to the emergency room.

* * *

Lily sat in her hospital bed sipping juice when Ellie walked in. A few hours had gone by.

“How are you feeling?” Ellie asked. “They tell me the baby is okay.”

Lily leaned back lazily in her bed, “That’s pretty much all they’ll tell me. They had to give me a sedative,” she smiled hazily at Ellie.

“Yes, I asked them to,” Ellie said. “Something mild. Gentle enough for pregnancy.” She walked over to Lily’s bed and looked into her face. “Are you ready to hear this now? Are you… lucid?”

“Of course,” Lily said, looking surprised. Then she became mildly worried. “Tell me.”

“I was hoping you might remember,” Ellie said, “but maybe it just adds to the trauma.” She pulled over a chair and sat down in it. She looked up at Lily.

“You remember I had decided to try to hypnotize you in the office to take you back to Alinora? So we could understand its origins better?” Ellie asked her.

Lily could barely remember anything from earlier that day. Maybe it was the sedative. She was beginning to piece it together again. “Yes,” she said, “I vaguely recall…”

“Well, I led you back to that place, and then… I lost you,” Ellie said.

“Lost me?” Lily asked.

“You became unresponsive,” Ellie said. “It’s like you got lost in your idea of that place. And I couldn’t pull you out of it. You were stuck there.”

Pleasantly stuck there, Lily thought. She wasn’t surprised by any of this now.

“I had wanted you to narrate what was going on there, but you became totally unconscious. When I couldn’t wake you myself, I called an ambulance.”

“Oh,” Lily said.

“Lily,” Ellie stood up and took her hand. “The problems you have are more serious than I can deal with on an outpatient basis,” she said gently. “I would like to recommend that you voluntarily let yourself be admitted to the psychiatry ward here, so we can help you.”

“What?” Lily sat up straighter in bed. “The PSYCH ward? I’m not crazy!”

“No, no no,” Ellie said, trying to gently lean her back on her pillows again. “Of course not. You just have some serious things going on right now, that will take some full time counseling to deal with. Okay?”

“No, it’s not okay,” Lily said, starting to cry. “None of this is okay.” She started trying to take the IV out of the back of her hand. “I want to leave right now,” she said firmly.

“Lily, Lily…” Ellie said soothingly. “Think of your baby. You should really get these issues dealt with before you have a baby to take care of.” Ellie almost imperceptibly pushed the button to call for the nurse.

Lily could hear the nurse walking down the hall. “You can’t force me to be admitted to the psych ward, right?”

Ellie paused for a moment, not wanting to say.

“Well?” Lily asked.

“I could get a court order forcing you to be admitted here, yes,” Ellie said. “But I don’t think therapy under those circumstances would be very effective.”

“So, you’re letting me go?” Lily asked.

“You’re not an immediate danger to yourself or the baby, so yes, I’m letting you go.” Ellie said sadly. “You’ll have to sign a form that says you’re leaving against my and the treating physician’s advice.”

“Fine,” Lily said, shoving Ellie’s hand off of her arm. “Show me where to sign.”

The nurse was standing behind Ellie, waiting. “Could you get the form?” Ellie asked her.

“Sure,” the nurse said and left the room.

“Lily,” Ellie said as she turned back to her, “I hope you will at least continue your therapy sessions with me. It could do you a lot of good.”

She spoke kindly, but for the first time Lily noticed a controlling firm tone in her voice. She realized Ellie had been leading her all along. Down a path of Ellie’s personal beliefs. She couldn’t believe in the other dimension, so she couldn’t let Lily believe it either. It kind of made therapy with her useless. Probably therapy with anyone in this plane useless. Who’s to say other dimensions didn’t exist? Weren’t there scientists who believed in the possibility? She decided to believe in herself and her instincts, instead of this woman’s fear and limited viewpoint.

“No,” Lily said. “I won’t be needing your services anymore.”

“Lily,” Ellie said firmly.

“Please go,” Lily said simply. “Just go.”

Ellie hesitated for a moment, then seeing it was no use, turned and slowly walked out of the room. She stopped just outside the door and said, “You can always come back to therapy at any time you know. The door is always open.”

“I won’t,” Lily said without looking out at her.

“Well,” Ellie said, “The offer still stands.” Then she walked away.

Lily listened to her steps move farther away down the tiled hallway and she breathed a sigh of relief. Soon she would be home again. And soon she would be back in Caleb’s arms again. Where she belonged.

* * *