Mr. Lasker was already standing at the front of the line outside Cook County Hospital when Gavin and Hannah found their way through the horde.

Gavin paced awkwardly beneath the blue awning as father and daughter hugged and cried. The emotional moment didn't bring him the levity he had hoped for... but he vowed to ignore the awkwardness and stand by their side, Joseph in wrinkled khakis, Hannah in mismatched socks, and him in wet boxers.

A half-dozen KOC security guards stood by the entrance in welcoming white shirts, white pants, and lemon-yellow utility belts equipped with flashlights and tasers.

The protesters had made themselves at home on the lawn across Harrison. Gavin recognized Mark Holloway—a deacon from his old church—standing on a crate and bracing himself on a 2x4 cross. Mark used extravagant gestures to rile up his congregation, but Gavin couldn't hear his sermon through the horde.

The nurse with the clipboard poked her head from the "Vaccine only" entrance, then opened the door for the next patient in line.

"Only seven more," Mr. Lasker said over the pulse of the circling helicopter.

Gavin wondered what other avenues the richest man in the midwest must have pursued before standing in line with the bottom half of the One Percent.

Hannah glanced at her phone for the millionth time.

It's so obvious when she's thinking about Jon.

The nurse with the clipboard stepped between the KOC guards, smiled at the next couple in line, then ushered them inside.

"Five more," Mr. Lasker said, then shook Hannah lightly as if it might snap her out of her daze.

When they finally made it inside, Gavin saw that most of the management system was run by the usual Cook County staff. In a few hours, he would be dealing with a similar onslaught at Saint Timothy, and he was glad he got to experience the receiving end first.

His phone buzzed with another text from Chris. "it's safe. it's doable. no one will get hurt. chance of a fucking lifetime bro. call me."

Mr. Lasker studied the forms. "Goodness gracious," he muttered, "are we closing on a house?"

Gavin forced a smile. "Seems like it."

"You're a nurse, Mr. Nightly. You know how all this works?"

"More or less."

"The Vaccine... it makes me immortal, right?"

The old man was joking, but Gav answered anyway. "Not quite... but almost."

"It'll prevent disease?"

"Most."

"Malaria?"

"Yep."

"AIDS?"

Gavin nodded.

"Alzheimer's?"

"From what I understand, T4 helps prevent Alzheimer's, but you'll always be susceptible to brain disorders."

"Burns?"

"Bacterial infections as a result of burns: one-hundred percent. And the burns themselves will heal more rapidly. However, if the whole body is burned and can't receive oxygen, there's nothing T4 can do."

"Starvation?"

"Your body will always need nutrition."

"Radiation poisoning?"

"Extreme exposure to radiation could overpower your body's ability to repair itself. But in low doses, T4 takes care of it immediately."

"Heart attacks?"

"If the heart doesn't receive blood, it will stop. But T4 does help minimize clots."

"Say I'm in a car accident..."

"If a vital organ is punctured, T4 may be able to repair it in time, but it depends on the extent of the injuries. Cuts, scrapes, bruises... they'll heal in minutes instead of days."

"No side effects?"

"None."

"And it's irreversible?"

"For now."

Joseph seemed comforted by Gavin's replies as if he hadn't already researched it a dozen times.

Hannah sat motionless with the clipboard on her lap. "I should call Jon."

Gavin touched her shoulder. "You can't let him affect your decision."

Mr. Lasker glanced at him over his bifocals. For a split second, the men were on the exact same page.

* * *

Gavin admired the efficiency of the KOC employees. They were focused, organized, and quick on their feet, making the regular Cook County staff seem like stoned chimps in comparison.

Ten minutes after Joseph and Hannah finished their paperwork, Gav found himself trapped in a storage room with Hannah and her father; furniture pads draped over cleaning supplies, florescent bulbs glowing green above their heads, and a padded table covered in shiny yellow vinyl.

A nurse stepped in. She wore a white lab coat with a yellow tag that read, "Lisbeth." Her movement was almost mechanical as she turned, extended her arm, pressed the door closed, and turned again to face the table. Her eyes remained fixed on the back wall as she stretched a latex glove around her hand, released it with a snap, and spoke with a robotic Norwegian accent. "Welcome to Cook County Hospital. It is KOC's immense pleasure to usher you into your new life. Free of worry. Free of pain."

Joseph and Gavin exchanged a glance for the second time.

"KOC takes extra precautions to ensure the comfort and safety of those who receive our revolutionary product." The woman tilted her head and smiled a plastic smile.

Then she lost it. Her head lifted, her eyes focused on Joseph, and her fake grin turned to genuine laughter. "I'm so sorry!" she said. "I am a horrible nurse! I have been fooling people all day!"

Hannah smiled for the first time since arriving at the hospital.

"I am very glad Americans have a sense of humor. I did this joke to a man in Dublin. He demanded a new phlebotomist and tried to get me fired. I wanted to tell him, 'Lighten up man!' But seriously... my name is Lisbeth and I am a certified KOC phlebotomist. This job is only temporary, but I have already been to Ireland, New Zealand, and Thailand, so I can not complain! Yes, the space is tight. This facility barely meets our standards for a T4 distribution center."

"Well then," Joseph said, "do I need to take off my clothes?"

"No sir. I am just going to give you a shot in your arm and we will be finished." She was already unwrapping a syringe.

Joseph patted Hannah's back. "Pretty cool, eh princess?"

She nodded.

"Now," Lisbeth said, "hop on the bed and roll up your sleeve."

Joseph obeyed as Gavin and Hannah backed into the corner.

The nurse soaked a cotton swab in iodine and dabbed the papery flesh of the man's upper arm. "I try not to take my job too seriously," she said, "but this part is important. Every vial contains a specific dosage, and it's important that you get the right amount." She filled the syringe with amber liquid.

"Why is it yellow?"

"They tell us the tint is natural, but I like to think they make it yellow to match their brand. Looks like pee if you ask me. You are going to feel a pinch..."

Joseph squeezed his eyes closed.

"That is it!" declared Lisbeth. "Welcome to your new life!"

Joseph rubbed his arm. He inhaled sharply, exhaled slowly, and looked to Hannah.

The nurse tore the packaging from the next syringe. "Who is next?"

* * *

"My turn!" Hannah said to Jon.

"Uhg," he replied. "We're still doing this?"

"Of course. I want to know everything about Jonathon Nightly."

"But your questions are embarrassing."

"That's the point. I like to see your face turn red."

"Uh huh."

"Have you ever walked in on your parents having sex?"

"No!"

"Never?"

"Never!"

"Did you ever hear them?"

"You can't ask two questions."

"This is a tangent question. It's fair."

"I think you're making up rules."

"Did you hear them?"

"Once."

"Just once?"

"It was only a couple years before the divorce. I came home early from a friend's house and they were in their room. I heard a weird thumping against the wall. I couldn't figure out what it was until the bed started squeaking."

"Oh. My. God. Did it turn you on?"

"What kind of a question... No! It didn't turn me on!"

"This is my all-time-favorite game."

"Is it my turn yet? Or do you have another tangent question?"

"Your turn!"

"How many people have you hooked up with?"

"Define 'hook up.'"

"Sex."

"Intercourse?"

"This was a horrible idea... Yes, intercourse."

"Just boys?"

"Dear God."

"I'm joking!"

"How many?"

"I would say nine."

"You would say?"

"Nine sounds right."

"Holy Hannah. You were a whore!"

"Oh... was I supposed to include the guys who paid me?"

"Do you wanna get pinched? Because that's how you get pinched."

"Hey Jon..."

"Hey what?"

"I love you."

"Yeah? I love you too, sweetie."

"No, I really do. I loved you since the night I stepped into your hospital room. I was too young to know it at the time... but I did."

"You'll never know how happy that makes me."

"It doesn't matter how tight you hold me, I always want to be closer. Even when we get engaged and I can finally have all of you, I don't think it could possibly satisfy this feeling. I think all future versions of me are going to be jealous of this moment right now here with you."

"Naw. Tonight has been nice, but things will only get better from here."

"I love your optimism."

"You don't think things'll keep getting better?"

"I hope they do... but every couple has the honeymoon phase where they're head-over-heels and they still end up hurting each other. Someday, I'm going to hurt you too."

"Don't say that."

"It's true. It won't be intentional... at least I don't think it will be."

"That's fucked up."

"I'm not planning on hurting you, but that's what happens in real life. No relationship is safe. People grow up. They evolve. Someday, I won't be enough for you, and you won't be enough for me. We'll forget about this moment tangled in each other's arms, whispering and giggling like lovers in a bad romantic comedy. We'll grow up and life will happen and—"

"Hannah—"

"—and I wish I could figure out how to savor this."

"Sweetheart..."

"I wish we could freeze time. I wish we could make this feeling last forever. I don't want to be forty years old and look back on the time when we were naive... the time when we could spend an entire weekend in your bed watching movies... the time when we thought we would be the couple to make it."

"Don't you think things will turn out better if we recognize the problem?"

"I want to make a conscious decision right now to stay in love with you forever. But I'm not the first person to think this way. Every couple has this moment, but eventually, they break."

"You're thinking too much, sweetheart. Breathe through your nose."

"When I'm with you, I feel like you're the one thing I can rely on. That we'll be partners in crime 'til the day we die. But realistically, I know that nothing is reliable. As sad as it is, I'm the only person I can truly count on... and that terrifies me. It... it terrifies me Jon—"

"Breathe, sweetie. Think about happy things..."

"I'm trying."

"We're going to be okay."

"But that's naive!"

"I know. But just for tonight, we're going to be naive. We're going to be that couple from bad romantic comedies. We're going to forget about growing up and changing and hurting each other. Tonight, I'm right here. I've got you. And I'm never letting go."

* * *

"No!" Hannah's outburst rattled the tiny room as she jolted off the table. "I can't do this. I don't want it." Her wet eyes looked to Joseph, to Gav, then to the needle in her arm. And she cried.

* * *

Gavin sat in the driver's seat of Hannah's cramped Honda, lost in the infinite row of red break lights on Congress Parkway.

Joseph sat beside him in the passenger seat. Hannah was curled up in back. For the third time, her cellphone rang with the guitar rift from Journey's Don't Stop Believin'. For the third time, she ignored it.

The cars moved forward and Gavin pressed gently on the gas. Twenty feet later, they stopped and he hit the break.

A text from Jon: "Heard from Hannah? Starting to worry."

He ignored it.

When Hannah's phone rang for the fourth time, Gavin typed a new message to Chris. "Okay. Let's do it."

END OF CHAPTER THREE