By 3:00 A.M., not even the discipline acquired through medical school and residency could keep him focused, or keep a deep melancholy from taking hold. Despite his commitment to Cap, he missed his life in D.C.—his place above Dimitri’s Pizza, the ER, and most of all, Emily. He also worried about his docs at the PWO. Walter Filstrup’s precipitous action was forcing him to acknowledge how much of his identity revolved around that now defunct job.

A man doesn’t know what he has until he loses it.…

The tune took up residence in his head and began a loop. Where did it come from? A musical, maybe. Whatever. If the identical situation had come up again, even knowing that his job at PWO was on the line, he would have done nothing any different.

This was where he was supposed to be, and helping Cap in any way he could was what he was supposed to be doing. Arbor General was a world-class institution, but it and other hospitals were being outwitted, outmatched, and outgunned by an organism just a couple of microns in diameter. And at the core of the struggle, almost six feet tall, and as powerful for his age as any man had the right to be, was Cap Duncan. Seeing his mentor so depleted continued to fuel Lou’s resolve to do everything in his power to save him, even if that everything included helping Humphrey Miller run an unsanctioned, illegal laboratory, dedicated to turning theory into reality—abstract beliefs into lives saved.

From what Lou could glean from the notebook, Humphrey had done meticulous and incredibly well-documented research. What he did not know, and could not know without some expert guidance, was if the brilliant pharmacy tech’s approach really did have as much or more chance of succeeding than the traditional ones.

One thing seemed certain—Dr. Ivan To-Drink-Your-Blood was not up to the task, nor would he take Humphrey’s work seriously, even if he had done research on bacteriophage. Puchalsky would never be able to see the genius imprisoned within Humphrey’s tangled body. Still, some sort of expert evaluation of Humphrey’s proposals seemed like the only way to go at this point.

With that in mind, Lou had contacted Vicki Banks and arranged a time when she and her boss, Sam Scupman, could meet with him. Seven more hours, and he might have some answers.

Now, if only he could sleep.

*   *   *