There was a lot of that in a hospital. The doctors passed it off to the nurses, who passed it to the orderlies and aides, who passed it to housekeeping, who passed it to laundry.

 It was hard, ugly work, but steady and among decent people. Emma had never been shy of hard work and she was growing confident and a little bit happy. She had work. She had just enough money and didn’t require much to live on. Life in her tiny bungalow was compact and uncomplicated. Not only were her coworkers nice to her but the patients and their visitors were also pleasant, and under the direst of circumstances—illness. Cleaners weren’t allowed to have traffic with patients—they weren’t trained for that. But there was nothing preventing them from being cordial, going for an extra water jug for flowers, calling nurses when they saw a problem. “Just don’t touch them,” the dragon lady said. “Not even if one of them falls. Switch on the emergency light and stand by.”

 “Not even if they fall?” Emma asked, aghast.

 “All you need is to help someone off the floor and break their neck or something. You’ll lose your job and the hospital will get sued. You never move an accident victim. You let the professionals do that.”

 “Makes sense, when you put it that way,” she said.

 “Think of them all as accident victims,” Glynnis said. “Just get their bathrooms clean.”

 But despite these terrifying warnings, Emma warmed to the patients, particularly the elderly. Little old people were so vulnerable when ill and she found she couldn’t turn away. The old women loved her and the old men loved her more, and she just couldn’t stop herself from offering the occasional sip of water to someone who was struggling with the tray table or a glass. It pleased her to hand a wet washcloth to someone who needed it. She even stayed late and read to an eighty-five-year-old blind woman, though she was careful to ask the dragon lady for permission first.

 “I’m not allowed to help you to the lavatory,” she told the woman. “I’m so sorry. But I’ll get the nurse.”

 “I hate the nurse. I’d rather it be you.”

 “Oh, I’d be happy to, but the housekeeping staff has been threatened with dire consequences if we break the rules, even just slightly. I’m not trained in patient care. Let me get that nurse and I’ll stay with you until she comes.”

 She started thinking about possibly training as a nurse’s aide.

 She had three very blissful weeks in her hospital job, though it was the hardest work she’d ever done. She didn’t care; she went on break with coworkers, she ate lunch with her new friends, heard about their marriages, their kids, their aging parents, their car problems and vacation plans.

 Emma began to have fantasies of a normal life. It wouldn’t be a rich life for sure, but at this point a rich life only represented disaster and danger to her. She was looking for stability, nothing more. She had her food debit card, she handed out Halloween candy with Penny, the leaves finished turning, November came in wet and cold. She got together for wine with Lyle and Ethan, who was almost starting to believe she wasn’t a bad person. She spoke to Adam on the phone a couple of times when he called to see how she was doing. She had a light dinner with Penny on TV trays, watching Madam Secretary with her, just like normal people. Penny invited her to join her with her girlfriends Susan, Marilyn and Dorothy for a potluck one evening and to her delighted surprise, these old girls liked martinis! Susan’s son was the chauffeur for Susan, Marilyn and Dorothy. “I told him I was completely capable,” Susan said. “But it’s just as well he wants to drive us. That way we can have two!”

 “William is such a nice boy,” Penny said of Susan’s son.

 “That boy is fifty-nine years old,” Susan said. “Before long I’ll be chauffeuring him!”

 At two weeks until Thanksgiving, Emma had more than one offer for the holiday feast. Lyle and Ethan were going to Ethan’s sister’s house and had graciously included her. She might’ve gone but for the fact that Penny and a couple of her widowed girlfriends who were sharing the feast also invited her—and they were to dine at Penny’s little house. She dearly wanted to join them.

 “Being one of the new kids at the hospital, I’m sure I’ll have to work that day,” Emma said.

 “We took that into consideration,” Penny told her. “We’ll be ready at about four—that should give you time to get home, shower, come over for some pre-turkey poo-poos and wine.”

 “Let me pick up the wine,” she said.

 “You’re absolutely welcome to.”

 “And I’ll visit Lyle’s shop and see if he’ll give me a break on a centerpiece,” she added.

 “Try your best, darling, but be warned—he’s going to gouge you! I’ve been looking for a discount for years. I guess I can’t complain,” she said with a smile. “He gave me you.”

 Emma was having a life. She had friendly acquaintances at work, a paycheck large enough to cover her most immediate expenses, friends apart from the hospital, two invitations for a holiday dinner, a comfortable place to live. It didn’t even bother her that her own family hadn’t so much as called to check on her much less ask her to join them for Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, she was relieved.

 Just as she was beginning to relax, something weird happened. One of the older nurse’s aides was glowering at Emma for no apparent reason. Clarice seemed angry about something. Angry or on edge. Some others seemed to be following suit. It appeared to be an unhappy day on the ward. There was a static in the air and Emma knew something was wrong. There had been a couple of emergencies; maybe that was setting everyone on edge.

 The static turned to an electric crackle. Emma tried not to notice but she was beginning to feel paranoid by the behavior around her.