Lights Out

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content, child abuse, death, graphic violence, and cursing.

Alyssa “Aly” Cappellucci works as a nurse in an inner-city emergency room/trauma center. Another nurse, Brinley, walks into the locker room looking pale and entranced. Aly quickly moves to help her and sends another nurse to get her a blanket. Aly worries that Brinley might quit, which would increase the workload for the other nurses. Brinley is horrified by her patient, a man who suffered a shotgun blast at close range. Tanya, Aly’s favorite coworker, helps Aly calm Brinley down. Aly offers to drive her home. They talk about Brinley’s options, such as therapists and a call-line paid for by the hospital, and Aly gives Brinley her own phone number. Brinley says that her boyfriend will not understand the trauma the nurses face, and Aly reflects on her own lack of serious relationships.

At home, Aly expresses pride in owning her own home. She has no close friends or family but enjoys her Christmas decorations, though it is now January. Her cat, Fred, greets her. Aly drinks wine and watches videos of men in masks, which arouse her.