True to her word, Doctor Elsa had given me one of the examination rooms to call my own.  It was a decision she had to defend every day.  As the scientist in charge of my care, I found myself spending a lot of time with her.  She could be cheerful and funny, and she was undeniably beautiful.  But there was something else to her.  There had been times when I walked into a room, only to see her standing alone and staring off into the distance.  Or other days when we would be discussing the mission and her eyes would get all misty.

I was remembering one of those moments as Doctor Elsa ran some test on my blood.  She checked the diagnostics from a computer screen as I sat on the edge of a medical table.

"Good news," Doctor Elsa announced.  "You don't have any major illnesses and your immune system seems up to the challenges of time travel."

"Great.  Now all I need is my ticket and a bag of peanuts," I replied.  Doctor Elsa laughed and I couldn't help smiling.

"It's going to be boring around here after you leave," she sighed.

"I'll be back afterwards, won't I?" I asked.  Doctor Elsa's hands stalled.

"Won't I?" I repeated, a little more hesitant.

"Jack, if you succeed, this future won't exist," Doctor Elsa finally explained.  "You won't be coming back here.  You'll have to stay in the past.  Nobody here will exist."

"How far back am I going?"

"Only two years.  We'll send you directly to the place where the virus originated.  You'll get more details when the time comes to send you back."

"Will I-"

The medical bay door burst open.  Two scientists in white lab coats rushed in, supporting a third scientist between them.

"What happened?" Doctor Elsa gasped.

"Doctor Hetoni passed out," one of the scientists explained, glancing up with panic filled eyes.  Her mousy brown hair was frizzed up all over the place.

"Off the table, Jack," Doctor Elsa ordered.  "Quickly!"

I slid off the table and moved out of the way to stand against one of the walls.  Together the others laid Doctor Hetoni on the medical table.

"What can I do to help?" I asked.

"Just stay over there," Doctor Elsa ordered.  "We can't risk you getting sick."

I watched as Doctor Elsa took a blood sample from Doctor Hetoni and ran scans on it.

"How long?" one of the other scientists asked.  "How long until we know what's wrong?"

"It will be at least a day before we know for sure what the results of the scan are," Doctor Elsa replied.  "In the meantime we need to limit contact with the patient.  Just the three of us will have access to this room."

"Do you have any guess about what's wrong with him?"

"It's really too early to say at this point, but I think it's malnutrition and stress.  Don't worry, I'm sure it's not as bad as it seems."

As Doctor Elsa walked past me with a syringe I peered beyond her at Doctor Hetoni.  He was in his late twenties and should have been in perfect health.  Instead his hair looked dusty, his skin unnaturally pale.  His chest rose and fell faintly beneath his lab coat.

"Jack, what are you still doing here?" Doctor Elsa asked as she passed a second time, almost as if noticing me for the first time.

I didn't have any response, so I left the room and closed the door behind me.  The sterile white hall of the lab seemed stifling.  There were no windows, no way to feel natural sunlight or see what the world outside was like.

I leaned against the wall and stared into nothing.  End Facility was fighting to save the world, but it wasn't hard to see that the facility was dying. All of the scientists were suffering. They all had pale skin. There wasn't enough food to last much longer. And nobody could get a breath of fresh air or feel sunlight on their skin.

I resolved at that moment that I would go back in time. Maybe not to save the world. Maybe not to save End Facility. Maybe not to stop the virus.

But I would do it to save Elsa, so that she could live again.