With Kathy’s interest piqued, she packed her laptop into her backpack and glanced at the wall clock.

She had an appointment for a follow-up visit with the nurse at the on-campus clinic at five. But as long as the clinic wasn’t running behind schedule, she should be able to make it to the talk.

###

Kathy felt as if she were carrying fifty pounds on her back as she followed the gray-haired nurse into the rear of the clinic. The dull fatigue she’d been feeling hadn’t improved in months. At first, she figured it was depression, but it didn’t feel like she was in a mental funk, at least not anymore. In fact, she couldn’t remember a time she was more optimistic about her future; school had been the right move for her. No, it was something else. She just felt… drained. Physically exhausted all the time.

The nurse stopped at a scale. “Let’s get your vitals. Climb up on the scale.”

Kathy frowned as she saw the digital numbers creep up. She was about ten pounds heavier than she’d normally like.

“Good,” the nurse said. “At five foot four, you’re in a healthy range. That’s good.”

The nurse’s grandmotherly voice made Kathy feel a little less self-conscious, especially knowing she’d not exercised at all since the incident at the island and had gained at least five pounds. Kathy really didn’t want to hear about exercise or having to lose weight right now.

Kathy sat patiently as the nurse took her blood pressure and oxygen levels, looked at her throat, and tested her reflexes.

The nurse swiped an odd-looking wand across her forehead and read the digital reading aloud. “99.8 degrees. Well, you have just a slight fever. Do you normally run warm?”

Kathy shrugged. “I don’t think so. But I don’t feel sick, just tired.”

After the nurse left, Kathy had a few minutes while she waited for the doctor. She passed the time reading the posters about birth control and venereal diseases. It surprised her to see these at a Catholic-affiliated institution. Of course she’d heard about the hookup culture in college—girls and guys sleeping around without even being in a committed relationship—but for some reason she thought Georgetown would be different. Personally, the idea disgusted her. She’d only ever been with one person, and he was dead.

A knock sounded on the door to the examination room, and an astonishingly tall doctor walked in. He was the tallest person she’d ever seen. He literally had to duck his head as he walked through the doorway. And when he shook Kathy’s hand, she couldn’t help but notice his hand was twice the size of her own. The man was a giant.