The assistant followed him, his shoes squeaking on the linoleum.

They stepped into the elevator, the heavy metal doors sliding shut with a dull clang.

The hallway was quiet again, save for the hum of the vending machine.

Ethan stood in the alcove, his head bowed, his hands resting on the back of a plastic chair.

I walked over to him, my own heart hammering against my ribs.

“Ethan,” I said.

He didn’t look up.

“He’s going to do it, Evelyn,” Ethan said, his voice hollow. “He will use Brenner to destroy everything.”

“We can fight them,” I said, though my voice sounded small even to me. “We have the truth.”

“The truth is slow,” Ethan said. “The media is fast.”

Before I could answer, a sharp beep sounded from the nurses’ station down the hall.

A red light began to flash above the door to the intensive care unit.

Dr. Rao immediately turned and ran toward the double doors, her clipboard dropping to the floor with a loud clatter.

The papers scattered across the tiles.

Ethan and I ran after her, stopping just outside the glass doors of Mary’s room.