Book Three: Double Feature — 8.

After Donna’s violent struggle, staff retrieve Joe Valentine’s severed ear from the bloodied bedding while two men pin Donna. A large mustached handler observes, amused by her taunts about being gassed and her note about a door gap, signaling her focus on leverage and escape chances.

Across the hall, Van, restrained by leather mittens, clumsily dresses and arranges clothes into a heart. He and Donna exchange exaggerated gestures until security cuts his video feed to static and white noise, isolating them.

Through mealtimes, rotating nurses feed Donna. She startles Nurse Dover with a fake lunge, asserting dominance. Later, Donna sees Van shivering and realizes he is in alcohol withdrawal, heightening the urgency of their situation. A lean Black woman in tweeds briefly studies Donna through the window, suggesting higher-level oversight.

By morning, Van’s feed remains disabled. A male nurse—who earlier recovered the ear—returns as “Nurse Lansing,” confirming staff use alias state-capital names and deflecting questions by invoking “Mr. Valentine.” Lansing needles Donna for cooperation in exchange for comforts.

Donna flirts strategically under the mustached handler’s gaze, then bluntly negotiates: coffee for information, ultimately insisting on seeing Valentine. Lansing jokes that Valentine will be “all ears,” and Donna replies she can “fix that,” reinforcing her threat. The mustached handler laughs and departs, leaving the power game unresolved but sharpened.