"My, my, we're looking well," she declared ignoring Grant. "I'm glad you're finally awake. He told us to call him the minute ... They're all saying you and your mother must have special genes. You've both been such terrific patients. He'd been keeping you sedated but he discontinued that medication this afternoon. He wanted you to wake up with your mind clear." "Well, I'd really like to get up and go to the bathroom and get something to eat," Ally said "Mainly, I just want to get out of this bed for a stretch before I start developing bedsores. I'm feeling strong, for now at least. Can you unhook some of these wires and suction cups? And I certainly don't need that IV. I'm so hungry I could inhale a quart of ice cream in one gulp." "Yes, of course," Marion said and began dismantling the intravenous tubes. "We only monitor you and hydrate you when you're not conscious. The standard procedure is to let you get up and start getting some exercise as soon as possible. You should be careful, though, because at this point you're not as strong as you think. Changes are taking place in your body that require a lot of your energy. If you feel up to it, you could walk around for a couple of minutes, but you shouldn't let yourself get tired." As Marion continued now removing the taped-on sensors, Ally looked up and saw another uniformed nurse standing in the doorway. She also was middle-aged, with prematurely gray hair, and she was holding a syringe. "May I come in?" she asked. "At this stage he needs a blood sample every three hours. Just twenty cc's." Ally watched as the new nurse quickly and deftly took a small sample of blood. Then she capped it off and turned to leave. "I need to centrifuge this immediately." And she was gone. Then Marion finished removing the IV tube and catheter and all the taped-on electrodes. "If you want to get up and use the bathroom and walk around a little, I'm sure it would be all right. I'll come back in a few minutes and bring you a tray with a nice healthy bowl of broth." The moment she was out the door, Ally turned to Grant. "I want to see Kristen. Now." "I thought the first thing you wanted was to go to the bathroom." "I'll get to that. You said she was downstairs somewhere. How do I get there?" "It's in the security zone," he said. "You're not authorized--" "You're a big shot around here. Winston Bartlett's right-hand flunky. So why don't you authorize me yourself." "Ally, you know I can't do that." "Then take me there." "I don't want to see Kristen anymore," he declared, biting his lip. "She's completely lost . . . everything. I could deal with it until I saw her this morning. It's just too much." "Has he let her mother see her?" "Are you kidding? Letting that psycho anywhere near her is the last thing anybody's going to do." "Then get me in, dammit." "Ally, forget about it." "Why?" He hesitated, as though marshaling his thoughts.