Eleanor tossed and turned in her bed for what seemed like an eternity. She finally sat up in her bed, rubbed her eyes and turned to the clock on her nightstand. It flashed 3:12 AM in emerald green, causing her to curse under her breath. Of all the days for insomnia to rear its ugly head, it had to be on the most important day of her life. A day which could end in one of two ways: with her sleeping in the comfort of her bed with a lifetime of nightmares or rotting in a jail cell for the rest of her life, plus or minus the nightmares. There was a third option: do nothing and leave with the guilt in her heart. She shook her head in disgust.

This is not the time to have such thoughts. No time for cold feet.

She wore her robe and slipped on her fuzzy slippers. While her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Eleanor slowly made her way to the kitchen. There was something comforting about the darkness. Moving through the world without being seen, judged or forced to do something you had no interest in doing sounded amazing. One warm glass of milk later and she was back in bed, hoping for the warm milk to work its magic. Two hours and thirty minutes later her alarm roared into life, rousing her from her slumber. Groggy and irritable, she glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand and froze.

Shit! Have I've been hitting snooze the entire time?!

This was not how she envisioned her D-Day starting out. Eleanor took a long, deep breath and switched to work mode. This allowed her to calm down and methodically plot exactly what needed to be done. She shot out of bed and raced to the bathroom for a quick shower. While in the shower, Eleanor replayed the plan over and over in her head. It had to go off without a hitch. Eleven minutes later, she got out and changed into her gym clothes. She grabbed a duffel bag from the closet and after one long stare at her reflection in the mirror, she left the room.

In the living room Eleanor came across Debbie curled up on her dog pillow next to her favourite recliner chair. She went over, knelt beside her and gently patted her head.

"Hey girl, mommy has to go and do something. . . Something she might not come back from," She kissed her forehead with tears in her eyes, "I just want you to know that I love you more than anything and I'll make sure you're well taken care of if things go sideways." Eleanor slowly picked up her duffel bag and headed for the front door where her watery eyes met the curious gaze of Susan.

"Is everything alright, ma'am?" asked Susan with a concerned look on her face.

"Yes . . . Umm. . . I just get emotional when I see Debbie sleeping so peacefully," replied Eleanor, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Will you be returning for lunch after your session?" queried Susan, eyeing her gym attire and the duffel bag in. her hand.

Eleanor placed her hand on Susan's shoulder, squeezed it lightly and walked past her out the door. "Take care of Debbie," she said over her shoulder before hoping into the car, pulling out of the driveway and slowly drove off. She looked back at her home through the rear view mirror and let out a long sigh.

With the destination clearly mapped out in her head, she picked up the pace. Eleanor would meet up with the survivalist to go over the plan once more. Trusting a total stranger she had just met with something of this magnitude was completely insane and she knew it. His plan provided her with additional support and a greater chance of success. The ends justified the means and in her mind, there was no nobler cause on the planet Earth than to save a life. It would involve taking a life, violating the Hippocratic Oath she made. An oath all doctors made.

If the police and the military are justified by their actions, so am I.

Twenty minutes later, Eleanor pulled into the parking lot of Ridgeville Central Park when her burner phone started ringing.

"Park next to the white transit van at the eastern end of the lot and enter it," he said tersely before hanging up.

Eleanor followed the instructions she was given and found herself seated across from the survivalist. There were two people on either side of him, a man and a woman. She greeted both with a curt nod and focused on him.

"First things first, please hand me your burner phone," said the survivalist, extending his hand out to her. When she handed it to him, he quickly removed the sim card and snapped it in two. "A part of me wasn't sure you'd show up today but I'm glad you did."

"I have invested too much in this to turn away now," Eleanor shot back.

"Then let's get down to brass tacks. We have a very small window and not a lot of time to work with. Let's run through the plan one last time."

Eleanor went over the intricate details of their plan in a succinct manner, which took all of five minutes. The survivalist nodded approvingly as she did so. Once they were done, Eleanor and the lady went to the nearest restrooms to change into their outfits. The lady came out first dressed exactly like Eleanor was: In her gym clothes that were a carbon copy of hers along with a blond wig exactly matching her.

The lady turned around and eyed Eleanor from head to toe, saying, "We can't be seen leaving the restroom at the same time. Give me a minute head start and head over to the transit van. Good luck."

Eleanor stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked like a completely different person in her lemonade pink scrubs, crocs, shoulder length black wig and baby blue eye contacts. Her heart began to race and sweat started to form on her brow.

It's really happening, isn't it?

Eleanor took a deep breath to gather her nerves, stepped out of the restroom and headed to the transit van. She found the survivalist seated alone at the back and the other man behind the wheel. He was tapping away at his keyboard furiously, seemingly unaware of her presence. Without looking up, he signalled the driver to get going. Satisfied with his work, he closed his laptop and studied her.

"Your name is Alice Winters, a registered nurse at Ridgeville Memorial Hospital. I have setup a file with your details in the hospital records. Your IT department should step up their game before someone truly nefarious comes around."

"Someone like you?" she quipped.

"I'm glad to see you haven't lost the spark," he replied. They drove in silence for the next seven minutes while their driver navigated through the almost empty streets of Ridgeville's central business district. The transit van pulled to a stop in an underground parking lot several blocks from the hospital. The survivalist handed her an ear bud which she promptly put in.

With a simple nod, she set off. It would take her roughly twenty minutes to reach the hospital entrance from her current position. If the survivalist's information was accurate, which she independently verified, she would be arriving during the shift change. Everybody would be too busy clocking in and out to give her a proper look, except Truss's security team. The survivalist said he'd handle them but did not provide further information. She looked at her watch, which was approaching five minutes past seven in the morning.

At exactly seven-thirty Eleanor walked through the hospital doors, breathing a sigh of relief that no one paid her any attention. Alice Winters is in the building. She headed for the changing rooms with her backpack slung over one shoulder. Five minutes later she came out in the hospital's standard issue scrubs. "Alice, I have a visual on you. If you can hear me loud and clear, playfully adjust your hair," said the voice in her ear bud. Alice did as she was instructed. "Great, now make your way to the fifth floor. Don't proceed any further till I give the signal."

Alice quickly grabbed a pair of gloves, stuffed them in her pockets and made her way to the fifth floor of the hospital via the staircase, as instructed. She kept her face directed away from the cameras as best she could. When she reached the fifth floor, Alice was told to wait by the door leading into the corridor. Next she heard arguing, which was muffled by the door, a scuffle and a sudden silence. "The coast is clear but not for long. Make it count," barked the survivalist.

Alice walked calmly and briskly through the corridor to Truss's room where she was greeted with the beeping of monitors and the droning of machines. When she opened the door, after putting on her gloves, a sorry sight greeted her. Leon Truss slept in bed with a nasal cannula connected to an oxygen concentrator, ECG leads connected to his chest and two IV lines secured with only one running. It was amazing to her how he managed to sleep through it all. She picked up his chart, which all but confirmed her suspicions; New York Heart Classification Stage IV.

There is no way he's fit for any kind of surgery.

Alice took out the syringe loaded with Phenobarbital, ready to administer but when she hesitated. All she saw was a frail, old and defenceless man. He has a family who care and love him. Can I really take him away from them?

"What the hell are you doing?! Get your ass outta there now!"

Alice quickly administered the Phenobarbital through the unused IV line, left his room and headed down the stair case as instructed by the survivalist. She swiftly changed out of her hospital issue scrubs into her pink scrubs, making sure nothing was left behind. Satisfied with herself, Alice slipped out of the hospital just as quickly as she came in. The twenty minute walk to the parking lot was cut down to fifteen. She was equal parts surprised and relieved to see the van was still there.

"What the hell happened in there? Did you have second thoughts when you saw the withered old man hooked up to all those cables and tubes?" asked the survivalist, eyeing her while she entered the van.

"I'm just happy you didn't hang me out to dry," replied Alice icily, settling in her seat.

"At least tell me you didn't get cold feet."

In response, Alice ruffled through her backpack and pulled out an empty syringe.

The survivalist smiled and said with finality, "I guess that's that then."