[interesting]

[You'll have to bear with me if I don't get back to the nurse just yet... there's a lot of things happening. Don't worry, she'll have her hand in this soon enough.]

Tina took a bath, alone, while Justine entertained her guest who, apparently, had nowhere to go today. Tina walked out of the bathroom and saw the older woman, gorgeous, in her fifties. Introductions were made, and Justine did not sugar coat the details of their encounter. Tina herself was evasive about what had happened to her on the previous night, but she did not feel well. She went back to bed.

Justine took Tina's phone and texted her friends at the RatPack from it, letting them know that she was so sick that she probably wouldn't be able to make it tonight. All the while, Gael hung around in her lingerie from last night, taking in the scene quietly.

"Your daughter is adorable..."
"She is..."
"Her father was black?"
"Yes."
"It shows."

Justine's mind should have been on her new lover that had spent the night, but it was clear to Gael that she only had eyes for her daughter; her motherly love bordered on the psychotic. What Gael had failed to mention yet was her profession: psychiatrist. It had not taken a long time for a diagnosis to form itself in Gael's mind, though she kept it to herself.

"You care for her a lot..."
"She's all I have..."
"So I see."

It didn't even seem odd to Justine that Gael hung around in her kitchen while Justine hovered between the bedroom and the kitchen. Time went by, and Gael checked her own messages, answering a text, but then refocusing on the scene. Eventually, she forced Justine to settle down.

"If you're so concerned about her, maybe you should take her to a clinic..."
"...I don't have the money for it."

The argument lingered in the room for a moment.

"No HMO insurance?"
"No... and... she...."
"Maybe she's sick because of what she did last night, and she's a minor, right?"

For a moment, Justine was scared that she was going to be judged, but Gael seemed sympathetic.

"Tell you what... we'll take a taxi to the clinic, go together. I'll take her to my own doctor, he can check her out."
"...why would you do that?"
"Because I'm concerned too isn't sufficient a reason?"
"I suppose..."
"Go get her dressed. I'll do the same and call us a cab."

As Justine got up to do just that, Gael called her back.

"There is one thing, though... you and me are going to have a session after this."
"A session? Like last night?"
"Not exactly, though I'm certainly not against the idea. No. We'll sit down and talk. I think you need it."

Justine was puzzled about the comment, but she was too concerned about Tina to think about it. It would wait for later.