lymphocytes.'
'Hey, remember you're talking to a layperson,' Cassy said.
'Sorry,' Pitt said. 'The bottom line is that he can go home. Then it's the usual. You know: fluids, aspirin, rest, and some TLC.'
'What do I have to do to get him released?' Cassy asked.
'Nothing,' Pitt said. 'I already did all the paperwork. We just have to get him out into the car. Come on, I'll give you a hand.'
Pitt got leave from the head nurse to take a break. He found a wheelchair and started down the hall toward the student overnight ward.
'You think a wheelchair is necessary?' Cassy asked with concern.
'We might as well have it just in case,' Pitt said. 'His legs were pretty wobbly when you brought him in.'
They got to the door, and Pitt knocked quietly. When there was no answer he cracked the door and peered inside.
'Just as I thought,' Pitt said. He opened the door wide to push in the wheelchair. 'Sleeping Beauty still hasn't moved.'
Pitt parked the wheelchair and followed Cassy to the bed. Each went to a separate side.
'What did I tell you?' Pitt said. 'The picture of tranquility. Why don't you kiss him and see if he turns into a frog.'
'Should we wake him?' Cassy asked, ignoring Pitt's attempt at humor.
'It's going to be hard getting him home if we don't,' Pitt said.
'He looks so peaceful,' Cassy said. 'He also looks a hell of a lot better than he did earlier. In fact, his color looks normal.'
'I suppose,' Pitt said.
Cassy reached out and gently shook Beau's arm while calling his name softly. When he didn't respond, she shook him harder.
Beau's eyes blinked open. He looked back and forth between his two friends. 'Hey, how ya doing?' he asked. 'I think the question is how you are doing,' Cassy said. 'Me, I'm fine,' Beau said. Then his eyes made a rapid sweep around the room. 'Where am I?'
'At the med center,' Cassy said.
'What am I doing here?' Beau questioned.
'You don't remember?' Cassy asked with concern.
Beau shook his head. He yanked back the covers and threw his feet over the side.
'You don't remember getting sick in class?' Cassy asked. 'You don't remember my bringing you here?'
'Oh, yeah,' Beau said. 'It's coming back. Yeah, I remember. I felt terrible.' He looked at Pitt. 'Jeez, what did you guys give me? I feel like a new man.'
'Seems that you just needed some serious shuteye,' Pitt said. 'Except for a little hydration, we really didn't treat you.'
Beau stood up and stretched. 'I might have to come in for hydration more often,' he said. 'What a difference.' He eyed the wheelchair. 'Who's that contraption for?'
'You, in case you needed it,' Pitt said. 'Cassy came to take you home.'
'I sure don't need any wheelchair,' Beau said. He then coughed and made a face. 'Well, my throat's still a little sore, and I still have a cough, but let's get out of here.' He stepped over to the closet and grabbed his clothes. He retreated to the bathroom and pushed the door almost closed. 'Cassy, could you get my wallet and watch out of that cabinet?' he called through the door.
Cassy stepped over to the bureau and entered the combination.
'If you guys don't need me, I'll head back to the desk,' Pitt said.
Cassy turned as she stuck her hand into the valuables box. 'You've been a dear,' she said as her hand grasped Beau's wallet and watch. She pulled them out and shut the door. Stepping over to Pitt she gave him a hug. 'Thanks for your help.'
'Hey, any time,' Pitt said self-consciously. He looked down at his feet, then out the window. Cassy had a way of making him feel flustered.
Beau came out from the bathroom still tucking in his shirt. 'Yeah, thanks, buddy,' he said. He gave Pitt a poke in the arm. 'Really appreciate it.'
'Glad you're feeling better,' Pitt said. 'See you around.' Pitt grabbed the wheelchair and pushed it out the door.
'He's a good guy,' Beau said.
Cassy nodded. 'He'll make a good doctor. He really cares.'
4
10:45 p.m.
Charlie Arnold had been working for the university Medical Center for thirty-seven years, ever since his seventeenth birthday when he decided to drop out of school. He'd begun with the Building and Grounds Department, mowing lawns, pruning trees, and weeding the flower beds. Unfortunately an allergy to grass drove him out of that line of work. But since he was a valued hospital employee, the administration offered him a housekeeping position instead. Charlie had accepted and enjoyed the work. Particularly on hot days he enjoyed it more than being outside.
Charlie liked working on his own. The supervisor would give him a list of the rooms to clean, and off he'd go. On this particular night he had one more room to go: one of the student overnight rooms. They were always easier than a regular hospital room. In a regular room he never knew what he was going to run into. It depended on the illness of the previous occupant. Sometimes they could be pretty bad.
Whistling under his breath, Charlie cracked open the door, pushed in his mop bucket, and pulled in his cleaning cart. With his hands on his hips he surveyed the room. As he'd expected, it only needed a light disinfectant mopping and dusting. He walked over to the bathroom and glanced in there. It didn't even look as if it had been used.
Charlie always started in the bathroom. After putting on his thick protective gloves, he scrubbed out the shower and the sink and disinfected the toilet. Then he mopped the floor.
Moving out into the room, he peeled off the bed linens and wiped down the mattress. He dusted all other horizontal surfaces, including the windowsill. He was about to start mopping when a glow caught his eye. Turning to face the bureau, he stared at the valuables safe. Although his mind told him it was preposterous, the box seemed to be glowing as if there was an enormously powerful light inside it. Of course that didn't make any sense, since the box was made out of metal, so no matter how bright a light was, even if there was one inside, it wouldn't shine through.
Charlie leaned his mop against the top edge of the bucket, and took a few steps toward the bureau, intending to open the door to the box. But he stopped about three feet away. The glow that surrounded the box had gotten brighter. Charlie even imagined he could feel a warmth on his face!
Charlie's first thought was to get the hell out of the room, but he hesitated. It was a confusing spectacle and mildly frightening, yet curious at the same time.
Then to Charlie's amazement a shower of sparks burst forth from the side of the box accompanied by a hissing sound similar to arc welding. Charlie's hands reflexively shot up to protect his face from the sparks, but they stopped almost the moment they began. From the point of sparking a luminous red spinning disc the size of a silver dollar emerged. It had seared through the metal, leaving a smoking slit.
Completely stunned by this phenomenon, Charlie couldn't move. The spinning disc slowly traveled laterally toward the window, coming within a foot of his arm. At the window it hovered as if it were appreciating the vista of the night sky. Then its color changed from red to white-hot and a corona appeared around it like a narrow halo.
Charlie's curiosity propelled him closer to this mysterious object. He knew no one was going to believe him when he described it. Holding out his hand, palm down, he waved it back and forth over the object to make sure
