They were not.

They were shot through with a fierce and grateful joy, the particular joy of people who have been shown exactly how precious and how brief the ordinary is, and who have decided, together, to treat it accordingly for whatever time remains.

Chapter 21 — Saving Spirits

Marcus was not a man who could simply stop being of use to the world, and I would not have wanted him to become one.

The need to help people was not just his job; it was the deepest thing in him, and it did not require a scalpel.