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had brought daily life at Wildwind to a grinding halt. Both staff and patients alike had succumbed to the malady. With most people off sick and just a skeleton crew to work the kitchen, a Thai lady who was affectionately called Mrs. T. since her real name was too long to pronounce, had made the executive decision to cook a massive batch of Congee for the patients of Wildwind. For those few days when sickness reigned, Congee was eaten for every single meal, and despite the singularity of the offerings many of the inhabitants of Wildwind, including Kaila, had quite enjoyed it. When everything had settled back into normalcy a new item had been added to the menu. There had been no mourning at all for the glue-like rolled oats that no one ever bothered eating anyway, and its removal made way for Congee to take its place as a mainstay at breakfast.  
    “Maybe they’ll shut the place down and we’ll be shipped home,” Janelle said with a hopeful expression.  
    She had started speaking long before she had bothered to clear the chewed toast from her mouth. As was her habit, she had already eaten four slices of toast; another six were waiting to join the others in her ample stomach.
    Usually what people said didn’t affect Kaila, but this talk, words about Wildwind closing, sent anxiety through her. This fear was huger than words could describe, racing through her body like a wave of pinpricking numbness that made her head feel as if it might explode. Her whole being was left jittering uncontrollably.
    “Don’t say that,” Pauline hissed, cutting a glance at Kaila who was like a pressure cooker that could either blow off steam or explode.  
    “They’re not going to shut down Wildwind.”
      Pauline turned her attention to Kaila. Her hand hovered over Kaila’s bare arm.
    Kaila felt Pauline’s palm over her skin, felt the warmth of another human. Unlike when people actually made contact with her flesh and the spiders came, this felt soft and light.
    “They’re not going to shut Wildwind down Kaila, Janelle is full of shit…isn’t that true Janelle,” she said, turning her razor glare onto Janelle.  
    Janelle nodded mutely, chewing her latest bite of toast furiously. Kaila felt a wave of relief that said the threat had passed. A minute later she was as relaxed as she had been before Janelle had suggested that Wildwind might close. Imagining leaving Wildwind was a thought that she couldn’t entertain at all, because if that happened her world would fall apart and…  
    She felt the heat and fear rising, traveling up her spine like mercury in a thermometer.
    “So, did you hear that Norm is getting out?” Pauline said.  
    Seeing that Kaila had deflated back to normal, she continued eating her Congee. Kaila had already finished her standard breakfast, one egg over easy, two slices of wheat toast with exactly one pat of butter on each slice and a packet of strawberry jam, shared between the two slices.
      Kaila took pains to ensure that every speck of the bread was covered uniformly, so each bite was exactly the same. Of course the crusts tasted different, but she had learned to accept that divergence a few years back. Much like how she had to accept that not everything in the kitchen could be controlled to her specifications. Sometimes the yolks of the eggs were harder or softer than she desired, so she had to ignore those days, and appreciate the times when the eggs were perfect and the toast was browned exactly right. Kaila also preferred clementine oranges, juicy and sweet with a slight tang, to other fruits, but since they were not always available she had to accept that if she wanted to eat fruit with her breakfast, she had to choose from what was provided.  
    “Getting out? But he just got here,” Kaila said, once again pulled into the fray of the conversation.  
    She placed her hands flat on the beige melamine and particleboard table. She wasn’t sure why that same anxious feeling that had worked through