At the doors of Intensive Care, there were more police. Pia was stopped by the nurses, who eyed her less than appropriate clothes and the bruise on her jawline. Pia explained she was a medical student and flashed her student identification with her finger over her name. She hoped that everyone there had been on duty the whole night and hadn’t seen or heard the news. The head nurse said she wouldn’t let Pia into the intensive care unit, but she paged the resident.

When the resident arrived he looked quizzically at Pia. Still, he was considerate after hearing that she was a medical student interested in the case. He assumed she was a girlfriend of the young man.

“Mr. McKinley is being maintained in an induced coma post-surgery,” the resident, Dr. Hill, said. “He received a gunshot to the head, but the bullet made a complete transit through the frontal lobe. It’s an injury that people have recovered from in the past. But I would emphasize that anyone suffering this kind of injury may not be exactly the same person he was before being shot and having brain surgery.”

“He’s a friend of mine,” Pia said. “I was there when he was shot.”

“So it’s very important that you understand he will be different even if there is a seemingly complete recovery.”

“Different how?”

“It would take too long to go into now. Look up the case of Phineas Gage, from 1848, which involved much more severe trauma to the frontal lobe. It was the first recorded case about how penetrating head trauma can affect personality.”

“Can I see him?”

“I don’t see why not. His family is on the way. You have to wear a gown and so on.”

“Of course.”

Pia went off to don her protective garb.

Only then did Dr. Hill remember something about being on the lookout for a young woman.

In Will McKinley’s room, Pia found George standing by Will’s bed.

“Pia, my God!” George said, and grasped her in an embrace. “Are you okay? What happened to you?”

“I’m fine. I’ll tell you later. Will . . . how is he doing?”

“No one knows. I have to go back and talk to some more cops, but I wanted to see him. I saw the whole thing. I saw him get shot and you taken. I can’t believe he’s alive. And you too. Thank God. What happened?”