The doctor at the intensive care unit said she'd had an episode - that was what he called it. He was handsome in a craggy-faced way, the hair at his temples threaded with grey. In a calm voice he told us that her immune system had gone into overdrive and was attacking her brain. Kira stayed in the hospital for weeks. After they released her she was prone to bursts of temper, violent fits. She would start to cry for no reason. There were more tests. Protein electrophoresis. Something to do with her cerebrospinal fluid. They didn't know what the results meant. Then two of her friends developed the same strange symptoms.