It was dark. That was the first thing she noticed when her eyes flew open. The second thing she noticed was that she was still in the hospital. Her memories of what had happened earlier were still fuzzy... Jim was here, then Roy, then there was some kind of...
"Oh my God!" she said out loud, and she quickly jumped out of bed.
"Can I help you with something, dear?" The night shift nurse appeared in the doorway.
"Um, no... I... what time is it?"
"It's five thirty. Are you okay? It's not time for your meds yet."
"No, I'm... I'm fine," Pam answered, and added, "I just need to go to the bathroom."
When the bathroom door was closed behind her, she went over to the sink to splash water onto her face. The details of Jim's visit were hazy, but she remembered him saying he remembered. And then she remembered not believing him. Damn it, she thought, staring at the cool water running into the drain. What the hell was happening? Did Jim really remember, or was it some kind of cruel, twisted joke?
No, Jim wouldn't do that, she told herself, then realized that the very reason she knew that Jim wouldn't do that is that she knew Jim.
"I have to get out of here."
Suddenly there was a knock on the bathroom door. "You okay in there?"
"Yes, I'll be out in a minute," she replied, as she tried to formulate a plan.
When she emerged from the restroom a few minutes later, the nurse was watching her closely. Pam went back to her bed and climbed in. As casually as she could muster, she asked the nurse, "So do you know what happened last night?"
"You mean the fight between your boyfriends? I think everyone knows, dear." She smiled but there was pity in her smile.
"Fight? Are they okay?" She remembered Roy yelling in the hallway, but nothing beyond that.
"You don't remember?" She glanced down at Pam's chart. "Oh, I see they had to sedate you after it happened - "
"Are they okay?" Pam repeated, more forcefully.
The nurse sighed, obviously uncomfortable discussing it. "I don't know. They were both arrested."
"What?!?" She hadn't been able to imagine how this whole thing could get any worse, until now. She felt like her chest was going to collapse.
The nurse reached out a hand to calm her, and said, "Maybe I should call the doctor."
"No, I'm fine. But... I have to go."
"What are you talking about?"
"I voluntarily checked myself in, and I can voluntarily check myself out."
"I don't think that's a good - "
"No, you listen. This whole thing is just a big mistake, and I need to - "
"You need treatment," the nurse said sternly.
"Fine, then get me the doctor." She didn't want to argue with this person anymore. She just needed to expedite her release.
And two hours later, she managed to walk out of the hospital. The doctor had been very reluctant to let her go, but legally there was nothing he could do, so she was able to get out with surprisingly little hassle. But as she found herself walking through the streets of Philadelphia, she had no idea how to get where she needed to go. She was sitting down, dejected, in a coffee shop, when she spied a pay phone off in a corner.
After rummaging through her bags for some loose change, she called the only person who would know how to help her.
"Dwight Schrute."
"Dwight! It's Pam. Listen, I need your help again..."
"Pam?"
"Shhh! Is anyone else there?" She had no idea what time it was, and didn't want the whole office overhearing Dwight talking to her.
"No, I'm in early and no one else is here. Aren't you still in the hospital? In Philly?"
"No. I don't have time to explain, but I need you to find out where Jim Halpert lives."
"Oh, I have that information right here."
Of course you do, thought Pam, and for the first time that day she allowed herself to smile.
---
Jim turned the key and opened his apartment door, immediately heading for the couch, where he flopped himself down, on his back, and stared at the ceiling. His cheek still smarted from being busted open the night before, and he probably stunk after spending the night in a jail cell with a crack dealer named Coco-Puffs. The charges had been dropped this morning, but it had been a harrowing ordeal just the same.
After Roy had hit him he had gotten up and tried to defend himself, but hospitals generally don't look too kindly on brawls inside their facility, and security quickly arrived on the scene, followed by the actual police. At the point that he had been arrested, he had given up trying to explain anything to anyone, so he allowed himself to be hauled off to jail along with Roy. He didn't bother calling anyone, because he wasn't sure how he would even explain what had happened, and more importantly, why it had happened. But in the morning he was let go, after some hospital employees apparently corraberated his story.
So here he was, bruised, beaten down, and in bad need of a shower. And he still had this whole weird memory/alternate reality problem to deal with and no idea how to do it.
He wasn't lying there more than ten minutes when there was a knock at his door. He didn't want to get up to answer it but the knocker was persistent. Finally he stumbled over to the door, opening it just a hair so he could see who it was.
"Pam."
