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    Coming home early from work that day had been a welcome treat. The graduate exhibit had been taking up a lot of my time and while work at the CAC had been more demanding than this one, it still demanded a lot of work and dedication—and well… a lot of waiting. It never really matters if you have students who are painters or writers or business undergrads. A lot of them, sadly, are often trying to move heaven and earth just to get extensions on their deadlines. Hence, the waiting. I was surprised to find the door unlocked and even more surprised to find a disheveled and sleep deprived Alice on my couch. There were dark rings under her eyes, she had lost weight and her clothes didn’t quite fit her. Having thought my appearance didn’t quite interrupt her silent reverie, I stepped towards her. The tears and sobs started before I could get to her.
   

    "I can’t find her, Bette. I promised her I won’t look for her but I can’t just sit and do absolutely nothing. I’ve searched everywhere. I’ve called everyone I know. I’ve asked a lot of people for help but I can’t find her. I should have made her stay that night. I should have called for help. I should…I should… I can’t find her…" She trailed off as sobs wracked her body. I knelt down before her and hugged her. Alice for all her adamant protests that Shane would somehow find her way back had been searching for Shane. Her protests weren’t for us, her protests had been her own way of reassuring herself.
   

    "I should have called the police. I should have found a way to make her stay." Alice rambled on as I hugged her in silence. The police bit didn’t quite make sense but as if I had said it aloud, Alice started to pour forth the whole story.

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    "See if the fucking dyke even manages to walk after that." And then their voices trailed off as they rounded the next corner.

    Fear gripped Alice’s heart as she raced to Shane’s room. The door was unlocked and the image of Shane naked, battered and bruised stumbled upon her. She was curled up and gripping the sheets as silent tears of anger trailed down her face. There were bruises on her wrists and they had busted her lip. Alice slowly walked towards her friend as she put together the pieces of the puzzle and found unwanted answers to questions she didn’t have the strength to ask. Alice knelt down beside the bed to face Shane. Tears flowed from her eyes as she looked on in horror at what they had done to her friend. She raised her hand to move Shane’s hair away from her face so that she could look into her friend’s eyes. She hesitated, afraid that she would hurt Shane further. Softly, she moved to do what she intended to and was surprised to see the alternating emotions mirrored in Shane’s eyes. It scared her to see such seething rage followed by utter hopelessness. She wasn’t broken, that in the least was small consolation for Alice. The tears had suddenly stopped flowing and a deep somber voice startled Alice.