from the essay: On the third day without sleep, paranoia crept in. I began to believe the nurses were hiding things from me. They refused to dim the lights, saying it was hospital policy to keep them on all night for monitoring purposes. But in my exhausted state, I was convinced it was a form of punishment. I felt like I was being watched, tested, and left in the dark—both literally and figuratively—about my condition. Digital artwork 4000x5000 px 2024 Primitive RE