"What! How is that possible?" Dr. Dennis stood at the door of the hospital room, utterly astounded at the sight that was before him. Hundreds of monarch wings flooded on and around Charmaine, who was now fully wrapped in a leafy, glossy coating.

"It's...not possible," replied Dr. McGill. "At least, it wasn't..."

Dr. Dennis simply shook his head.

"Have you managed to figure out her identity?" asked Dr. McGill.

"Yes," said Dr. Dennis. "Her name is Charmaine Mason, daughter of Lucy and Edward Mason. Her father died several years ago. Her mother however, whom Charmaine lived with, has been declared..." his voice trailed off.

"Deceased?"

Dr. Dennis nodded his head. "Died during the earthquake."

"Will you please accompany to my office?" asked Dr. McGill. "You, as the person who brought her to us, are required to fill out some paperwork. The rest of you, stay here and keep an eye on this...this cocoon."

Dr. Dennis followed the head nurse out of the room, and everyone else positioned themselves around the cocoon.

• • • • •

Several days went by. The butterflies never left the room. They seemed to be brooding over the giant cocoon day and night as much as the nurses themselves were, waiting for something to happen.

One week later, the heart monitor suddenly showed a sign of life. A beep—one single beep, and everyone was up on their feet.

Charmaine's heart was beating again. She was alive.

The monarchs fluttered excitedly above the cocoon. A slight movement came from within.  

Irene heard a familiar voice in her head. "She is ready," it said. "You are going to have to carefully, very carefully, cut open the cocoon. She is still too weak to break through it herself."

Irene nodded, reaching for her gloves. "We need to get her out," she explained to the others.

Dr. McGill, who was standing among them, was shocked at the idea. "What? How do you—"

"Trust me," replied Irene. "The butterflies are communicating with me."

"How—"

"Please. We need to do this before she goes downhill again."

At last, Irene was given consent. A few moments later, the cocoon had a slight opening. Irene was taken aback as she saw a hint of deep orange material through the slit.

She continued working. Every person in the room was breathless.

A few minutes later, the nurse was methodically pulling the cocoon away from the body. Her jaw dropped open for the hundredth time in the last few minutes as Charmaine was completely freed from the covering. "She's...she's..."

"A butterfly," said Dr. McGill, finishing for her.

"An unusually enormous one," added Dr. Dennis, who had just stepped through the doorway upon hearing the news.

"Don't touch her wings," the voice warned Irene. "You could harm her. Even now, who knows if she'll be able to fly."

Charmaine's dark, beady butterfly eyes darted around the room. Her body was covered in a dark thorax. Her wings, the most astounding part of her new incarnation, had silenced everyone in the room.

After seeming to remember where she was, Charmaine turned to the window, looking it over as though trying to come up with a plan for an escapade.

"You will need to remove the window pane and the rest of the screen," the butterfly's voice echoed in the nurse's head once again. 

"Help me remove this pane of glass," Irene said aloud.

Without any questions, everyone in the room stepped forward to help her. The entire window was off within minutes.

Charmaine the monarch butterfly inched forward unsteadily on her large insect legs. The butterflies flew around her, as though trying to support her as she made her way to the opening.

One of the small butterflies landed on Irene's nose. "Thank you for saving Charmaine," she said. It was the same voice that had guided her through all of this.

Irene was about to ask how the butterfly knew the girl's name; but she flew away, joining to rest of the butterflies at the window side.