***
Dr. Samson takes us to Sylvia’s room. It’s all very normal and I ease. Jessica holds my hand and Sylvia sits on her new bed.
There’s a painting of a small house and tree on the wall.
And there on the coat rack is the cure.
Dr. Samson points to it. “It’s an air-conditioned-latex-desensitization-sheath,” he says. “It mimics human touch bit by bit. She will become reconditioned to touch.”
It looks like a coat made from human skin.
“Let’s see,” Dr. Samson says. He lifts the sheath off the coat rack and opens it up like a pair of demon wings. It has a white person’s tone, fleshy, connected to the electrical socket and hums as he switches it on. There are valves on the inside of the sheath that blow sterilized wind onto the skin, slowly desensitizing the person to touch. “Sylvia,” he s
