Julian Vance knelt two paces outside the doorway of Room 412.
The shift clock on the wall clicked forward with a quiet, metallic snap: 01:49 AM.
Around him, four sleepwalking patients circled with mechanical precision. Their bare feet dragged across the terrazzo tiles, pressing red tallow grease deeper into the floor wax with every turn.
Above them, four Baxter Sigma Spectrum digital infusion pumps shrieked at twelve hundred hertz.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!
The high-pitched acoustic resonance buzzed inside Julian’s teeth. It vibrated the wire-glass observation pane of Clara’s door.
Inside the darkened room, Clara lay motionless beneath the white thermal blanket. The green display of her Hamilton ventilator pulsed steadily: twelve breaths per minute.
Elena Rostova stood behind the counter of Nurse Station 4B. Her hands rested inches from the yellow bio-line.
