fresh meat, page 97

i wanted the hallways sequence to build a sense of anticipation and tension. the hallways would be recognizable from earlier instances of kim's movement through the ward in color and anatomy -- from the hallway that took her into the high risk wing, to the hallway she passed through for breakfast and admittance into the overflow wing on her first night, to, finally, the hallway where she heard the first hiss of the heavy duty doors. the last hallway would be, hopefully, instantly recognizable based on its green carpet, somewhat asymmetrical construction, and wall moldings not seen within the actual ward itself.
the repeated exposure to the ID-based locks was supposed to simultaneously build a type of retrospective dread, observing how deep into the bowels of this elaborate, almost labyrinthine facility that kim was. one might fantasize about stealing one of the ID badges and escaping out the front door in a furious, but while leaving, you notice how impossible this would have been, as you were in a cage within a cage within a cage.

kim gets to see a sliver of the sky outside (for multiple reasons, i guess) before we get down to paperwork. this was mostly done for realism. glossed over was the bill anxiety, which honestly made me want to die even more frantically, personally. owing thousands of dollars to a hospital when i had never made even one dollar as a teenager was terrifying.
another small detail to placate audience anxieties was highlighting an outpatient center associated with "bayhealth" -- which frankie mentioned earlier was a preferable hospital program, or "one of the good ones." the ward itself selects from several other health centers for outpatient rather than having its own outpatient program, because it's primarily not designed to deal with psychiatric care. mentioned earlier in the comic is the fact that the ward commissions freelance or individual psychiatrists to return repeatedly rather than hiring a team -- outsourcing outpatient services is just an extension of this type of care and financing model.
the threat of police intervention and harassment if you don't follow the outpatient instructions is for realism, but, unfortunately, may provide some readers a sense of ease that kim is likely to be well-monitored after the end of the comic for some time. ironically, i was informed pretty quickly at outpatient, because i was clearly unhappy to be there, that i didn't actually have to show up, and they wouldn't call the police. the staff at outpatient seemed even irritated that the inpatient facility regularly makes these vague threats to patients... unfortunately, i didn't really find a place to put it within the comic, because it happened beyond the point where it ends narratively, so it just never gets mentioned that that is an empty threat. who knows, maybe some hospitals really do call the police.

kim being asked to sign the release form at the end is obviously the final call-back to the beginning of this comic when she was first committed, kind of tying a bow on it here. you always have to sign things at discharge.