a dull, constant companion. The sharp pai

ould walk. Keep the

down the hall. Dahlia could hear t

ne they had given her. It

ver her bandages. She looked like a cele

ed into t

Tap

on the tile was rhyt

es to the nurses' station. Turn l

was cooler. It smelled

dor, worlds away, Clive Harri

y. He was here to see Professor Gold, his ment

s assistant, Arthur, was li

ard at 2. Dinner wi

low, a baritone that usually made people stop

ide him, typing fur

urpose. He always walked like he owned th

otsteps. Fast.

o hug the wall. But her internal

steps go

ane out, checki

ac

struck something s

eps stoppe

The cane vibra

led the cane back against her ches

se. A silence t

looked

a scuff mark. He frowned. H

gray cardigan that looked three sizes too big. Her face was

a stiff wind wou

you're goi

idn't even really look at her. He stepped aroun

lingering on the woman's frame. The height, the delicate chin... it was fami

topped b

vo

nd her spine li

iv

could

him trailed behind. Cedarwood. Crisp r

f the hallway. Her heart hammered a

d exactly

a major medical center without an entourage. He would

Paranoia. The stress

the cane rapidly, retreatin

e elevator. He p

g nagged

t v

terrified. Bu

ment in his head. The way she

r, he

r. Har

ho is in room... He calculated the distanc

ed confused

t d

data. But the data in his head-the voice, the height, the chin that p

r ran

ator door open with

is face was pale. He looked like he h

live de

d. The patient in 404. It

d on the elevator doo

hl

hecked in under

tarted in his gut and burned its way up to his thr

nd. Alone. And sh

out of th

oard meeting