He hung up and Katherine sat in stunned silence, unmoving until the receiver began to buzz in her ear. Slowly returning it to the cradle, she stared at the shadows playing on the walls, a tree outside her sixth-floor room swaying gently in the summer breeze. She was frightened but aware that the feeling of panic that always accompanied her fright was gone. The drug was doing its job, she was able to keep her head clear. Lifting the phone again, she dialed her home number. Again, no answer. She then turned to the intercom above her bed and struggled to push its button.

"Yes, ma'am?" replied a voice.

"I have to leave the hospital. Is there someone I should talk to?"

"You'll have to have your doctor's permission."

"Can you find him for me, please?"

"I'll try."

The voice clicked off and Katherine sat in silence. A nurse brought her lunch in but she had no appetite. There was a small plate of Jell-O on the tray. She found herself touching it; it felt cool and calming, and she kneaded it between her fingers.

Several hundred miles away, in the graveyard of Cerveteri, all was silent, the sky overcast, the stillness broken only by the barely audible sound of digging. At the two despoiled gravesites, two dogs pawed the dirt, their limbs moving mechanically as they refilled the opened crypts, dirt sprinkling gently down on the skeletal remains of the jackal and the child. Far behind them the disemboweled remains of a dog hung lifeless on an iron fence, while a lonely compatriot lifted its head and uttered a low and mournful sound. The cry rang throughout the cemetery, slowly rising in intensity; other animals joined in until the air was filled with the discordant chorus of doom.

In her hospital room, Katherine reached for the intercom, her voice edged with impatience.

"Is anyone there?" she asked.

"Yes?" a voice answered.

"I asked you to locate my doctor."

"I'm afraid I can't. He might be in surgery."

Katherine's face was taut with irritation.

"Could you come in here and help me, please?"

"I'll try to send somebody in."

"Please hurry."

"I'll do my best."

She struggled to get out of bed, moving to the wardrobe where she quickly found her clothes. The dress was like a smock and would be easy to get on, but the nightgown she was wearing buttoned high at the neck and she looked at herself in the mirror wondering how, with the cast, she could get it off. It was purple gossamer, a ridiculous sight on a woman with her arm in stiff plaster. Katherine pulled at the buttons, her frustration growing as they refused to come undone. In a sudden motion, the buttons popped and Katherine struggled to lift the gown over her head, but she became ensnared in a tangle of purple haze.