"Andremoth," he said. "It's a family name. But people usually call me Andy."

"Oh," Runa said, bowing her head.

"Why did you do that right now?" he asked her.

"What?"

"When I answered you directly, you lowered your eyes. Why?" he asked her.

"I don't know."

She sat in a hard, folding chair in the little room with Mr. Andremoth Grey, her hospital appointed psychiatrist. He was in a large, soft chair, just opposite of Runa.

"I see," he said, "writing in a notebook."

She was wearing that long hospital gown but she felt uneasy like he could see more than he really could. He gave her a general uneasy feeling. But there wasn't much she could do about it.

"Runa, how did you break your wrist?" he asked her pointedly.

"I was carrying some heavy boxes and I fell and the weight of the boxes came crashing down on it," she said quickly.

He looked directly at her. "And how do you account for the head injury and your ribs?"

She winced for a second and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay," he said. "Tell me about your father, then."

She looked out the window. There was a small one in this room. That was a luxury. None of the other rooms had any.

"He's dead," she said. "He died in a plane crash."

"Yes," Andremoth said. "What was he like?"

"Wonderful," she told him. "He treated my mother like a Queen. He was a hard worker and he always took care of us."

"And how did he treat you?" he asked her.

"My father loved me. He used to take care of me when my mom couldn't."

"How did that go?"

"I don't remember everything. I was too little."

"How old were you when his airplane crashed?"

"Sixteen," Runa said.

"So you weren't too young," he said.

"He was gone a lot," Runa said. "Especially when I got older."

"Why?"

"He traveled a lot for work," Runa said. "So he was gone a lot."

"Well; tell me about what you do remember."

"I remember a time he tried to take me fishing. That's one of my favorite memories. I think I was like five years old."

"What happened?" he asked.

"I couldn't do it. I kept singing and fidgeting and I didn't like putting the hook through the worm. I wasn't any good at being patient so he decided it wasn't for me and we went to the library instead. I couldn't really read too much yet but he showed me all these books. They were wonderful. They were filled with old, smelly pages and I loved it. He found a book of Aesop's fables and read to me from it."

"What was your favorite one?" he asked her.

"That's easy" She told him, "The Tortoise and the Hare."

"Oh yes" he said, "That was one ingenious turtle. I've read many of those stories too."

"What's your favorite?" Runa asked.

Andremoth smiled at her. He had a small smile. Many people have large smiles but Andremoth Grey was one of those people with a small, tight and uncomfortable looking smile.

"Well, I'll tell you what. I'll give you a quote from it and you can go look it up sometime."

"Okay" she said.

"I know whom I may bully and whom I must flatter; and I thus prolong my life to a good old age," he said stoically.

"That's different," Runa asked.

"It really is from an Aesop's fable," he told her. "It's about survival."

"Oh?"

"Yes," Andy said. "Survival is the most important. And after what you've been through, I can see that you are a survivor."

"Really?" she asked.

"Indeed," he said. "But I think I should see you a couple more times before I make my decision."

"Decision?" Runa asked him.

"About when you can go home," he said smiling. "For now, get some rest. I'll come back on Friday."

"Okay," she said, as he stood up to leave. "Am I allowed to have visitors?"

"Yes," he said, "of course, during the times that they allow it."

"Okay, thank you."