Dr. Sutherland paused mid-sentence as he got his first good look at the woman who had been brought in. She looked aged and paler, but it was definitely Mary's friend, Emily. He hovered over her a moment before continuing with his examination.

Dr. Sutherland: "Pupils are fixed and unresponsive... no response to pain… no corneal reflexes… no gag reflex…"

He rolled Emily's head from side to side, sighing as her eyes remained fixed. A deep gnawing had started in the pit of his stomach.

Dr. Sutherland: "Start her on one-hundred percent oxygen, five minutes. Where's my tox screen?"
Carlson: "Here. I just walked it back from the lab."

Dr. Sutherland snatched the thin stack of papers from Carlson and took them to a reception desk to examine them.

Dr. Sutherland: "Negative for everything?"
Carlson: "Just low levels of aspirin."
Dr. Sutherland: "Dammit!"

He paced up and down the short distance from Emily to the desk, sure they had missed something.

Dr. Sutherland: "Run it again."
Carlson: "But…"
Dr. Sutherland: "You heard me!"

Carlson scurried away, not interested in pressing the issue. Dr. Sutherland obviously knew the girl. Doctors were impossible to reason with when they knew their patients, even the ones like Sutherland who didn't have a God complex.

Dr. Sutherland approached Emily again, placing his stethoscope firmly on her chest.

Dr. Sutherland: "Now. Stop it."

He watched the monitor intently as the number rose after the ventilator was shut off. Thirty-one, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one, realizing he wasn't even breathing himself, and vowing not to until Emily did. Forty-five, fifty, fifty-one…

His heart sank when the number reached sixty.

Dr. Sutherland: "Jenny, please page Dr. Waltham. I need him to confirm brain death as soon as he's out of surgery. I'll go talk to the family--are they here?"
Nurse Jenny: "Yes, I believe so…"

Nurse Tara: "A Miss… Mary McMally. I think she's the redhead in the waiting room, came in with an older woman and another man. I think they're friends of Mark Green's."

Dr. Sutherland looked at her, puzzlement momentarily distracting him from the pit in his stomach.

Dr. Sutherland: "The doctor with the brain tumor?"
Nurse Tara: "No! The gay EMT. You know, the good-looking one."
Dr. Sutherland: "Markus. Right. He brought her in."