With the runner far calmer than he had been since he’d awakened, Pia was able to attach the leads, and the patient left them in place. Paul turned on the machine, and it kicked out an entirely normal EKG.

“This is amazing,” Paul admitted. He studied the printout more closely. “Are you sure he was in total cardiac arrest when you came upon him? I don’t see any abnormalities.”

Pia shrugged. “I was reasonably sure he had no pulse, and he wasn’t breathing. So I’d have to say yes.”

“And you say you saw some hives on his arms?”

“I did.” She pointed to the man’s forearms.

“I don’t see any now,” Paul remarked, and Pia agreed. Whatever it was, it was now gone.

Paul motioned for the runner to take off his sweatshirt, but the man vociferously refused, shaking his head in the process.

“Okay,” Paul said. He wasn’t going to force the issue, at least not yet. He wanted, at a minimum, to listen to the man’s chest, but he decided to wait until the man was more amenable. “We need to take some blood,” said Paul. “Maybe I should do that.”

Pia glanced at him. The patient had not let Paul do anything. Why did he think he could draw blood, a far more invasive activity than taking a temperature or attaching EKG leads? “Maybe I should try.”

“But you’re not insured,” Paul said.

Pia looked at him questioningly. Paul’s comment seemed like such a non sequitur.

Paul laughed at Pia’s expression of confusion. “I’m just teasing. Obviously the guy’s not going to let me near him. For sure you’ll have to do it.”

Pia smiled. It seemed that Paul had a sense of humor, too. “I’ll give it a try, but I’m not very experienced. Although he does seem to trust me.”

“So I’ve noticed.” Paul handed Pia a needle used to take blood samples along with a vacuum tube. He held two more tubes in his hand. He wanted to do a whole battery of tests.

Pia made a point of showing the needle to the man and made a motion as if taking blood from herself. The man watched her but didn’t respond. Pia went ahead with the process of pushing up the man’s left sleeve. In plain sight were a number of other relatively recent puncture wounds over various veins. Pia looked over at Paul standing on the opposite side of the patient. “Do you see these?” she questioned, trying not to be too obvious about what she was referring to. The thought went through her mind that the man was probably a drug addict.

“I do indeed,” Paul said. He didn’t elaborate.

Pia applied the tourniquet and went ahead with the venipuncture. The man flinched but otherwise didn’t complain, as if he were accustomed to the process.