The knock came bright and early. Jude had been waiting. She quirked a brow, but remained leaning on her raised wrist. "Come in."

Eunice entered carrying a tray. A whole tray. She cleared her throat softly and slid the offering onto Jude's desk. "Coffee."

"I see that." A whole pot. And a chunky pitcher of creamer. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Sister." Eunice sat in the chair across from her superior. "Lovely morning out there."

"Eunice. I'd like ta know what happened while I was away for not even two days that required the Monsignor to be put in a cast and for Dr. Arden to request a meeting with me this afternoon."

Eunice tisked. "Really, it wasn't anything so awful as -"

"What was it?"

"Well. It all started when we put the wreaths up outside."

"Yes?"

"I thought it would be therapeutic for a few of the patients to help -"

"Oh, God no."

" - but Dr. Arden was adamantly against that idea."

"Thank God."

"So Father Howard and Dr. Arden agreed that they would help me instead."

"Good idea."

"I thought so!" Eunice brightened, then sobered again. "But it was not so."

"How so?"

"Soooo you know the big big ladder? The one that's so big we have to keep it behind the garage and it has wheels on it?"

"Yes, I know the laddah." Jude's head was starting to hurt already.

"We wheeled it out to get the wreaths on the windows in front. And I climbed up there. Oh, boy. You should see the view!"

"I'm seein' it already, I assure ya." She had a feeling the Massachusetts state safety board would be calling any minute.

"Well, my arms were too short to reach the window still, so Father Howard went up next. And everything went really well, Sister! We discovered we could just wheel him around from window to window and we were making really good time."

"Wonderful."

"But...I guess the ladder was getting wet maybe because of the snow and kind of starting to freeze?"

"Mmhm."

"We got the last wreath hung, so Father Howard started coming down from the ladder. But the wheels maybe weren't locked? So all of a sudden the ladder was rolling down the walkway and Dr. Arden and I were running after it but we kept slipping and falling and the Monsignor was screaming and -"

"Eunice, I can tell this is going to end badly. Could you just -"

"The ladder slammed into the garage and the Monsignor fell off."

Jude rubbed her eyes. There wasn't enough coffee for this. "Was he very high up on the laddah?" Eunice nodded. "How far did he fall?"

"Only a few feet."

"But you said -"

"He fell onto the garage roof first."

"Oh."

"Then he slid off the garage roof onto one of the delivery vans."

"Oh, dear."

"Then he fell onto the ground."

"That sounds very painful."

"I mean, the snow kind of...cushioned him. I think."

"Perfect." Jude took a deep breath. "I imagine Dr. Arden will have a report prepared for some board or other. That will be a delightful meeting."

"Oh, that's probably about Shelley, actually."

"Shelley?" Nothing involving Shelley could be remotely good. "What did Shelley do?"

"I don't really know. I mean, Carl and Dr. Arden put her in solitary for something, but I missed that. I only know she wants to direct a choral performance for Christmas Eve."

"Pardon?" Jude imagined she'd misheard.

Eunice rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I already told her no."

"What choral performance, Sistah?"

"Shelley asked if we could put together a Christmas Eve gathering like our Thanksgiving one. She wanted to get the patients to sing because she was in choir back in highschool or something silly. I told her we weren't doing another gathering like Thanksgiving because of the turkeys. And the Halloween debacle. What a nightmare."

"I see." The older nun was pleasantly surprised. "Eunice I'm proud you put yar foot down with Shelley. There's no telling what kind of shenanigans she'd get up to. Clearly she was already up to something."

"I imagine it would be a disaster, Sister."

"That being said, I'm not opposed to a Christmas gathering far our patients. I think cocoa and cake might be nice? And we have a lovely Christmas record in the library, I believe. " Eunice was doing a pretty good job of controlling her growing excitement. "And...I don't suppose a Christmas tree could hurt. And our patients could perhaps make decorations far it?"

"I think that sounds beautiful, Sister." Eunice worried at her lip. "But would our luck stand up? What if - what if the tree catches fire?"

"We will avoid flammable materials."

"What if - I don't know - what if it's full of squirrels or something? And they have rabies and they get loose in the common room and something startles them and the next thing you know -"

"Eunice. I think a tree will be safe. We can check it far squirrels before we bring it in."

"Thoroughly."

"I'll put you in charge of the squirrel checks."

She looked a little more confident now. "I suppose that's fine."

"Good." Jude stood. "I'll go and pitch this to the Monsignor. Since it's not like he could stop us now, anyway." A pause. "Right arm or left arm broken?"

"Right."

"Oh, good. That's his dialing hand."

Timothy's office door was cracked, but Jude still knocked politely. She entered at his beckoning and smiled sympathetically. He looked slightly miserable in his chair, plastered arm in a black sling. "Good morning, Fathah."

"Jude." He gestured her to sit with his good arm. "By God, I'm relieved you're safe and back in our fold. I was worried."

"No need ta worry. Mr. McCann handled me as safely as you'd expected." And perhaps a touch of the unexpected, but that could remain a closely guarded secret. "How are you, Fathah? I had a report from Mary Eunice and it sounds like you took a painful spill."

"You know what?" His good hand tapped the table. "All in all? I can't complain. Pfft. Ladders. Am I correct? Very dangerous. But the finished product? Worth the pain?" An uncharacteristic shrug followed by a wince. "Meh. Wreaths abound."

He was behaving quite uncharacteristically on the whole. It was giving Jude ideas. "I hope Dr. Arden was able to give you something for the pain?"

"Pills!" He thrust a bottle into the air triumphantly. "These." A shake. "They are um...." He struggled to focus on the label. "Morphine?"

"Oh." She bit her lips to control a smile. "I hear those work well."

He was looking at the tablets in the bottle. "Like...little angel poops."

"I uh - I came ta ask you about a tree?"

"The larch?"

"What?"

"Which tree?"

"A Christmas tree?" She was having trouble tracking the conversation.

"Typically something of the fir variety, I believe. Perhaps a cedar or a balsam. I'm more of a full Fraser man, myself, but to each his own, I suppose."

"I'd no idea you were such an expert in trees."

"My father was an arborist."

"Ah, I see."

"And an adulterer."

"I'm - I'm sorry?" Was she?

"Not your fault." He rubbed his head thoughtfully. "Although she was of a similar...build."

"Build?" What the fuck was happening?

"And blonde." His glassy stare was unsettling. "The devil's weakness of Howard men."

There was an imaginary alarm klaxon sounding in the nun's mind. "Erm. We were hoping to acquire one for the common room. For Christmas."

"A blonde?"

"A tree." She spoke firmly.

"Oh, yes!" He seemed greatly relieved. "That sounds...lovely."

She was greatly relieved, too. "Wonderful. Mary Eunice will be pleased."

He snorted. "Hell. I'm pleased."

"That's good, Fathah." She stood. "I'll let you get back to yar work."

"Such...such important work we do." He was examining a stapler.

"Absolutely." She was backing to the door, watching the clearly influenced man struggle with thoughts. "Have a good day, Fathah." In the corridor, she needed a moment. Leaned against the wall laughing quietly.

"Sister Jude?" The concerned voice she knew intimately now. "You okay?"

"Frank." She straightened, wiping her eyes. He was approaching determinedly. "I was laughing, actually."

"Oh, good." Relief relaxed his shoulders. "I was worried."

"I think the Monsignor might be um...high. On opioids."

"Ohhh, cuz of his arm?"

"Yes."

Frank chuckled. "Good far him." For a moment, they simply stared at each other. Small smiles. Ticking seconds.

"Franky?" A voice approaching. Jude watched his face morph into its own pain. "There you are!"

Katherine Douglas appeared around the corner. Jude's brow raised. "Meeow. Kitty was looking for you! Oh, hello, Sister Jude."

"Nurse Douglas." The nun straightened, more Sister Jude than Sister Jude. "I'm afraid meowing is not an acceptable form of communication amongst Briarcliff staff."

The nurse blushed hotly. "Oh, it's just -"

"Going to stop. Like yar excuses. Yes, I think that's best." Frank scuffed at something highly interesting on the floor. "Was there a security issue you needed to address with Mr. McCann?"

"N-no." Kitty stuttered. "I was only going to -"

"Perform ward checks? Wonderful idea." Jude pointed to the stairs. "And I imagine our patients in solitary could use sponge baths."

"Of course, sister." She scurried past. Jude watched her. When the top of her white cap disappeared downstairs, she looked back at Frank.

"What?"

"I'm really fuckin' turned on right now, Judy." He whispered.

Jude's thighs tensed. She rolled her eyes at the little gush of wetness. Was that all it took? This was going to be a difficult thing to maintain. But... "Could I ask you to take a look at the loose window screen in laundry? It's concerning."

"I'm super concerned."

They walked as casually as possible down the hallway to the laundry room. She knew it was empty as Briarcliff was between laundry days. Frank unlocked it calmly - admirably. Even managed to lock it back. She'd already dropped her habit when he turned. Pulled the wimple from her head. "Judy."

The kiss was seedy and needy. She knocked his cap from his head. "Want me ta meow far ya?" She gasped as he devoured her neck.

He boosted her onto a folding table. "I prefer your direct form of communication." Tugged bra and white slip straps down to lave her hardened nipples.

"Excellent." Her teeth tugged his earlobe. "Then I'm gonna have ta ask ya ta bend me ovah this table and put yar cock in me."

"Fuck. Whatevah you want, boss." He pulled her and turned her. The table bumped against an industrial washer and Frank locked its wheels with his foot. "Sorry."

"Stop apologizing." Jude gripped the table, glancing over her shoulder. "Rough, Frank. And hard."

"Yar killin' me." She heard his belt buckle. The rustle of his trousers. Bit her lip when his fingers tugged her panties aside harshly - just as she'd instructed. The head of his cock was a hot insistence. "So wet." She whimpered when his other hand traveled around her thigh, fingers sliding into her skewed lingerie. "You know this is the only kitty I wanna pet, right?"

"Yeah?" She whined as he stroked her, v'd his fingers to pinch her swollen clit. "So take it."

"Hold on tight." She bit her own arm to control a scream when he started pounding her. Seeing the dilemma, Frank slapped a freshly laundered towel in front of her face, effectively muzzling her. "Good?" He bit out, breath hot against her ear.

"Talk ta me, Frank!" She spat into bleached cotton, needed to hear his gruff tone telling her to come - like in their dark motel room in Woodstock - telling her she could lose control, telling her she was his, giving her permission to surrender for these precious seconds.

"Whatcha want me ta say, Sistah? How gorgeous ya are right now bent ovah for me? How tight this sweet pussy is? Why I love makin' ya scream my name?" He groped a breast hard. "How about how I sit in staff meetings across from ya, thinking about you wearin' just a rosary, makin' yar tits shake while I pound the shit out of ya on the Monsignor's desk until -"

"Aaaarghhhh!" Worked like a charm. She came like a freight train, click-clacks wracking her body over and over until she shuddered.A long groan into the towel. But there wasn't time to catch her breath.

She was surprised when Frank lifted her thighs. Clearly he needed a better angle. Opened her wider. His balls slapped heavily against her clit in the room's silence and if she hadn't been numbed by pleasure she certainly would have come again while he finished inside her, hissing through his final pump. "Unnngggod, Judy." He collapsed over her back, panting. Jude steadied them both on the table, spitting cotton from her lips. A satisfied smirk formed.

"Very good, Frank." She purred,

"Thanks, boss." He murmured in her neck. "This was um..."

"Stupid." She nudged him to straighten. They began gathering clothing, resituating themselves to a professional demeanor.

"You said -"

"I know what I said!" She snapped, adjusting her hair beneath her wimple. "I just need ta..." She rubbed her face.

"Wipe yar thighs?" He offered.

"That too." She used the towel she'd bitten a hole in. "We have ta be careful."

"Gotcha." He settled his cap. Tried to control his grin. Cleared his throat. Gestured to the window above the bank of dryers. "I'll see about getting that grating replaced."

"Thank you." They started out the door but she paused. "Frank?"

"Huh?"

"D'you really think that stuff you said? At the staff meetings?"

"Yep." She swallowed. "And more?"

"What's yar favorite?"

He chuckled. "Maybe I'll tell ya. Far Christmas." He opened the door. "If you'll do a Christmas favor for me, that is."

"What favah?"

"Katherine Douglas?"

"I will." She promised. And she would.

But Katherine Douglas was in Jude's seat at lunch again. The nun's eyes narrowed. Frank's eyes narrowed back at her when the nurse's hand skated up his arm. 'Do something,' his gaze begged. Jude turned on her heel and headed for the basement. Suddenly, she didn't have much appetite.

"Sister Jude." Dr. Arden welcomed her into his office. "I wasn't expecting you until after lunch."

"I wasn't hungry. Am I interrupting anything?"

The doctor swept a tray aside on his desk. It appeared to contain...a brain? Jude didn't ask. "Nothing important."

Jude sat in his guest chair. "You asked to see me, Doctah."

"I have a concern about one of our patients."

"I have concerns about many of our patients." He conceded her point. "But which one?"

"Shelley."

"Ah. That one."

"That one..." The physician shook his head. Steepled his fingers. "That one needs to be engaged. Distracted. She's self destructive when she's bored."

"How so?" He was slightly uncomfortable. She could tell. Wondered if he would feel differently if he knew what she'd been up to an hour earlier in the laundry room. "Speak freely, Dr. Arden."

"I didn't broach the topic with Sister Mary Eunice but...there was an incident while you were away. Reported to me by Carl."

"What happened?"

"Apparently Carl caught Shelley...in a sex act with one of the new orderlies. I asked him to prepare a full report." He handed her a paper. Jude scanned it. "It seems she was...fellating the young man in the hydrotherapy room."

"Did you bring this to the Monsignor's attention?"

"No. After his injury, I left him to recuperate as much as possible."

"And high."

"Probably."

"Definitely." Jude sighed. "Disciplinary action is required for the patient and the staff member."

"Agreed. I know that...discipline is your forté."

"Do you have a criticism of my disciplinary methods?"

"Not at all. Spare the rod..." An amorphous wave. She nodded. "As for the staff member, you needn't trouble yourself. He left immediately after being apprehended. I doubt he will return."

"In his best interests."

"Indubitably. Nice when situations handle themselves."

"True." Very true. Jude rose, a diabolical plan forming in a lovely head. "Thank you far handling this incident discreetly and delicately, Doctah. I will take yar advice about Shelley ta heart. Is there anything else you have far me today?"

"I believe that was more than enough, Sister Jude."

Frank brought Shelley that evening. After dinner. He'd asked no questions, and Jude had volunteered no information. She was seated behind her desk, fingers steepled beneath her chin. The moon watched expectantly outside her window, and Shelley arrived as Jude had expected - defensive and defiant.

"Sit, Shelley." She offered the chair across from her desk.

"No thanks, Sister." The blonde head shook. Chin rose. "Let's just get these licks over with so I can secretly get off while I'm bent over your desk and then go sleep it off and have a shame dream."

Jude ignored most of that. "Now who said there were gonna be any licks, Shelley?"

"I assume that's why I'm here? About the blowjob?"

"Hmmm." Jude rose slowly, walked around her desk to stand toe to toe with the lunatic. "D'you know what happens when you assume, Shelley?" No response. "You make an ass out of you and me, both. And I don't like ta be an ass."

There was one thing Jude was relying on in this meeting: Shelley was smart. Sure, she was a sexual deviant, but she was quick and clever. "What do you want?" She whispered.

Bingo. Jude spun away. "I want yar help, Shelley. And yar mouth shut. Understand?"

"What do I get?"

"You already got." Jude opened her arms beatifically. "My benevolence." Shelley crossed her arms. Jude knew this wouldn't be easy. She was prepared for this. "Fine." She pulled her wimple from her head, scratching her scalp. Walked back around her desk. When she sat, Shelley was gaping at her. "What? You think it doesn't get itchy wearing that thing all day? Sit, Shelley. Please." Shelley sat. "Name yar price."

"Name the job."

Jude leaned forward. "You know. That fellah you blew? He ran off."

An eye roll. "He woulda been fired anyway."

"Either way. No big loss."

"Yeah. Teeny tiny loss honestly."

Jude ignored that too. "I got someone else I need...gone."

"So get rid of 'em. You're the boss here, no doubt."

"It's not that simple." Jude sighed. "You know how hard it is ta fire somebody these days? How much paperwork and red tape I have ta wade through? You showed me a bettah way, Shelley. And your singular...talents can come in handy, so to speak."

"Did - did you just make a handy joke, Sister?"

"Are we bargaining here or not?"

"Go on."

"Nurse Douglas."

Shelley guffawed, slapping her knee. "You mean Kitty? The most annoying bitch I've ever had the displeasure of getting a sponge bath from?"

"That's the one."

"Did you know she meows?"

"I've heard a few meows."

Shelley was clearly curious. "What'd she do to get on Sister Jude's worst side? I wonder..."

"Don't strain yarself."

"Huh." Calculations were happening beneath blonde hair on two heads. "What do you have in mind?"

Jude shrugged. "Nothing too crazy. If she was caught in any kind of compromising position she'd be out on her ass, no questions asked and very little paperwork far me."

"Compromising position?"

Jude's brow rose lazily. "Are ya gonna tell me yar not inta the ladies, Shelley?"

"I'm kinda diggin' one right now."

Jude leaned forward, crossing her hands on her blotter. "I'll scratch your back, Shelley. If you'll scratch -"

"Nurse Douglas' back?"

The two women smiled at each other. The moon smiled, too.