He wiped the glass neck with a tissue, turned around, and dropped the empty ampoule back into the front pocket of his heavy leather briefcase.

“He’ll stay fully settled for the next twelve hours,” Dr.

Wallace said softly.

He snapped the leather bag shut and cleared his throat again.

On the tall mattress, Mr.

Winslow’s right hand lay flat on the white linen sheet, his fingers going completely still.

I carried Theodore down the west wing corridor to the nursery and shut the door against the cold draft coming off the main stairwell.

The old electric radiator hummed in the corner by the laminate changing table, smelling of dust and warm iron.