Kat awoke in the morning, the sun shined through the window, reflecting off of the white hospital walls and giving her a headache from the brightness. She blinked her eyes to adjust to the new lighting. No doctors seemed to be in the room.

A doctor stepped into the room. “Katrina! I'm glad you're up. How are you doing?”

“Good,” She nodded. “I slept well.”

“Yes, and your pulse remained normal all night,” the doctor replied. “I'll call your mother and then you can head home.”

“Alright,” Kat replied, glad she'd be able to go home. “That sounds good to me.”

The doctor left the room and Kat was left alone for a while. He returned later carrying a clipboard. “I've called your mother, Zinnia, and she said she'll be here in a few minutes. We just need to do a quick checkup.”

Kat slid out of bed and stood still as he checked her pulse and her breathing.

“You seem to be good,” he replied happily. “Now, your mother should be here any minute, so let's have you head down to the waiting room.”

Katrina and the doctor walked down to the large open room with comfy chairs. There was a flat screen tv on one wall playing a child’s cartoon, multiple little kids sitting entranced while looking at the colorful screen. She plopped down on one of the chairs and pulled out an old newspaper from the bottom of the stack, flipping to the sudoku page.

She had gotten about halfway done when her mom walked in the door. “Hello, Kat!” Her mom waved. “Let me just check you out of here, and then I'll take you out for breakfast. Does that sound good?”

Katrina nodded her agreement as her mother walked up to the checkout desk. A few minutes later her mom walked up to her. “Okay, are you ready to go?”

She stood up, setting the sudoku back on the glass table, sure that someone would pick it back up. Her mother and her headed out of the door.

“So you didn't go to the realm?” Her mother asked as they climbed into the car.

“Of course not,” Kat responded. “You told me not to, and I wanted to get home.”

“Right,” Kat could see that her mom was gripping the steering wheel rather tightly.

“Though Lily still talked to me,” Kat replied. “She was at the gate to the realm, asking me if I wanted to go there last night. She said I still had to meet her sisters, Rose and Petunia,” she paused. “She also said they had a leader, whose name is Buttercup. What a coincidence, huh?” Katrina glanced at her mom, whose face had gone white with shock. “Mom?”

Zinnia looked out her window, ignoring Kat’s concern. “Who's that boy?” She asked, seeing someone walking on the street. “He looks to be your age.”

Kat looked to where her mother’s attention was. “That's Tyler. Keep driving, keep driving!”

“It looks like something's wrong.” She pulled the car up next to him, rolling her window down. “Excuse me? Do you need help?” She asked.

Tyler looked surprised to see Kat’s face peeking out of the window. “No, I'm good,”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I'm fine.”

“Alright,” Zinnia pulled up her window and continued to drive.