"But psychiatric facilities often allow for conditional releases; day trips, even weekend passes, so long as the patient is taking medication and has been non-violent for a significant period of time," Joel says and he's surprised he only slurs some of the words. The fact that he's drunk makes it sound like he might not know what he's talking about, but he does. It's not a subject that has interested him for any particular reason, but it does interest him and he's read a lot of books on the subject of institutions and how they've changed over the years.

"Then again, people can be paroled out of prison," he says, waving his hand. As far as he knows, Mark has only shown violence toward him and he imagines it won't be difficult for him to behave long enough to get out earlier than expected. At this point, Joel's genuinely not sure what he's hoping for anymore. "I don't know what to think right now."