Marcus stood a few feet away by a big potted fern, his arms perfectly still at his sides.

He had insisted on following the ambulance and staying until a detective could take over the case file in the morning.

A young nurse with tired eyes had come out ten minutes earlier to give me an update.

Lily was asleep on a slow IV drip to replace the fluids she had lost.

They were running a full panel of blood work to check her kidney function.

They wouldn’t let me into the room until the attending physician finished his evening rounds.