“I can’t countenance the killing of innocents, even for humanity’s long-term good.”

“That’s where you and I disagree.”

“Apparently.” He motioned to Cleary, and they began walking down the main aisle of the room. “What’s done is done. I suggest we begin implementation of our plans for expansion of the transplant procedure.”

I was roused by someone shaking me. I heard a voice. A loud voice, telling me to wake up. I opened my eyes. It was Abby. I tried to raise my head. Too sleepy. I felt something press against my shoulders. Her hands. She was shaking me. Why are you shaking me? I opened my eyes and looked at her. She looked worried. I took in pieces of what she was saying.

“So sorry…left you…Alistair…ambulance…forgive me…”

I glanced around the room and tried to speak. “I…where am…”

She said something. Something about Lauren’s house. She thought we were at Lauren’s house.

“Abby…headache…dizzy…thirsty.”

She squeezed my hand. I could see her lips moving. “…will…water.”

She left.

I closed my eyes.

The man glanced nervously at the six other people occupying the elevator. The hospital wasn’t supposed to be trafficked much at night. He looked again at his orderly’s uniform. It looked authentic, even down to the Washington General name badge. The uniform, however, was the easy part. The big hurdle awaited him. All he could do now was trust the magic of the one who had hired him.

The elevator stopped at the fourth floor, and the doors opened. He eyed the other passengers, but no one else was getting off. He slid through the doors as they began to shut. He looked down the halls to his left and right, then proceeded forward. As he approached a nurses’ station on the right, the sole nurse looked up and smiled.

“Good evening,” she said. “Are you new?”

“To this shift.”

“Welcome to the graveyard.”

He passed her without further comment and came upon a pair of locked doors with an eye scanner to the right. He leaned forward and placed his right eye in front of the pad. It emitted a brief, quiet buzz. He stepped back and saw a small flashing red light. He leaned again toward the scanner. The buzz and flashing red light returned momentarily. He glanced over his shoulder toward the nurses’ station. The woman was looking his way.

“I, uh…How do you…”

“You need to run your badge through the scanner first.”

“Oh. Right. They told us that in training.”

“I thought you’d been working another shift already.”

“Yeah. Laundry. I was working laundry. This is new.”

She nodded. He turned back to the door, scanned his badge, placed his eye to the wall, and heard the door release. He stepped to his left, opened it, and walked through without looking back.