Chapter 107
The Capacity Test
The hospital system began a capacity test.
Questions appeared on the wall.
What is your name?
Elise answered, “Elise.”
Where are you?
“In the room you built around my refusal.”
Who speaks for you?
Elise looked at Daniel.
“No one.”
The system marked each answer invalid.
Claire stepped forward. “The test is measuring obedience.”
“The test is measuring capacity,” Everett said.
“Capacity to comply.”
Ada moved beside the bed. “Ask her what she wants.”
The system paused.
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Elise said, “My daughter to stop being used as my voice.”
Rowan reached for her hand.
“I am here.”
“You are not my witness anymore.”
Rowan looked at Claire.
Claire understood the transfer. The system had built Rowan as a witness because Elise could not speak. Now Elise was speaking, and Rowan was allowed to be a daughter.
The hospital status changed.
WITNESS RELEASED.
Daniel began to cry.
Elise looked at him.
“You may grieve,” she said. “You may not make grief a decision.”
The ward disappeared.
Elise's bed stood in the center of the original hospital basement.
Above it, the real hospital continued to function.
The door opened.
A nurse entered carrying a chart.
She looked at Elise and said, “The patient is ready for transfer.”
Elise answered, “No.”
The nurse's face changed to Owen Bell's.