As the door closed Stone finally looked up. He was wearing a sweater and jeans and had been typing furiously on a Gerex laptop. "Hey, how're you feeling?" He paused to glance down and save what he'd been writing, then clicked off the computer. "I have no idea." Something about him didn't seem quite right. It was like he was on happy pills or something. "How about you? The last time I saw you, I was passing out." "I don't actually remember all that much of what happened after that. I think I went back to the city. But I feel great now. Like I went through a dark tunnel and came out the other side. I feel very different. I don't know what's next, but right now I'm just happy to be in the middle of the biggest story in the history of medical science." What's going on with him? she wondered. He's spacey. He has to be on some kind of drug. What have they done to him? He closed the laptop, then reached and clicked on a light by the bed. "Come on. Want to see something incredible? It's a marvel of medical science, never before happened." "What--" "Come with me. I guarantee you've never seen anything like it." He tossed the laptop onto the bed, then swung his feet around and settled them onto the floor. She noticed that the room was a pale blue, with white linoleum. There was a pair of white slippers next to the bed. He slipped them on and then opened the door and grabbed her wheelchair. The hallway felt colder now, yet it was also stifling, as though someone had drawn the air out of it. "There's nothing we can do," Stone said. There was a hint of madness in his voice. It was as if he were trying to convince himself that he was still sane, and it wasn't working. He was just barely holding it together. Then she realized he was about to go into intensive care, where Kristen had been. "So Kristen's still here?" "Oh, you'd better believe it," he said. "She is most definitely still here." When they got to the door, he revolved back. "Ally, you really don't have to see this, you know. Not if you'd rather . . . Nothing remotely like this is going to happen to you. They assured me." What the hell is he talking about? "On the other hand," he went on, "maybe you should see it. Maybe everybody in the world should see it. It's so astonishing." He pushed open the door and rolled her in. Then he reached down and lifted her to her feet. Standing wasn't that hard, and somehow he had known that. The room seemed to be captured in mist, though surely that was her imagination. Everything must be her imagination. Kristen was in the corner of the room, in a wheelchair, but now her body was shriveled. No, shriveled was not the right word. In fact, there might not be a word to describe the change. Her skin was smooth and flawless. She didn't look like this the last time Ally saw her and now she wondered how long ago that actually was. How many hours, or days?