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of his running a lab experimenting on wigged-out patients. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t doing it. Or maybe he’d shifted from experiments to maintenance.
    Next on Carlos’s agenda would be to scout them out.
     
     
     

Chapter Five
    Lily had planned to bring the new patient, Jonas Corker, into the VR in the morning. But she’d had some last minute details to attend to in his paperwork—and she wanted to have all her i’s dotted and her t’s crossed, unlike her previous boss who had gone to very questionable lengths to acquire subjects for his experiments.
    It wasn’t until the afternoon that she was actually ready to proceed with the introduction of Corker into the VR.
    Assisted by her head orderly, Terry Montrose, she started with a thorough check of the patient’s physical condition. He’d been working in a warehouse when a large crate had fallen off a high shelf and clipped him on the back of the skull. As a result, he’d suffered considerable brain damage, and the neurological staff at George Washington University Hospital had concluded there was no way he would ever wake up.
    Because Lily had sent letters to various area hospitals explaining what Decorah was doing to help comatose patients, the chief of the GW neurology department, a Dr. Lawrence Young had called to say he might have a patient for her.
    Corker was divorced with no family, which meant there was no one who could participate in his medical decisions.
    She’d accepted the patient on the proviso that if he didn’t work out in the VR, she could send him to a long-term care facility—which would mean he would be no better than a vegetable.
    As she looked down at his slack face, she felt her heart squeeze. She’d gotten into this field because of her own sister, Shelly, who’d been previously warehoused as a hopeless case. But now she was in the VR and enjoying a new found lease on her life.
    She could never leave, but that didn’t matter to Shelly, and certainly not to Lily. She was just glad her sister was lucky enough to be living in a beautiful environment that provided care and stimulation. And she hoped it could be the same for Corker.
    Turning her focus back to him, she said a little prayer for success. Right now he looked so vulnerable and helpless, but she knew from experience that the situation could change dramatically in the VR. And unlike Dr. Hamilton, she’d bring him in and explain the opportunity he’d been given.
    Corker was already hooked up to the equipment that would send him into the artificial environment. While she was making the final preparations, she was aware of Mack standing behind her.
    Turning, she gave him a reassuring look. “I’ve taken every precaution.”
    “But you could still get hurt.”
    “In the first place, we’ll be in a virtual reality. In the second place, you’ll be there to make sure I’m okay.”
    She could tell from his expression that he still didn’t like the setup, but all he said was, “When are you sending him in?”
    “As soon as Grant arrives,” she answered, wanting to get it over with but at the same time a little reluctant to begin, now that the moment of truth had come. She knew from personal experience that this could go terribly wrong, and she had no way of predicting which patients were going to work out and which ones were too damaged to make the leap into the virtual world. Hopefully, she’d learn some way to find out—starting with her observations of this man. Or could she draw any general conclusions from him? It might turn out that each case was different.
    Moments later, Grant walked in. “Ready?” he asked.
    “Yes,” Lily answered decisively.
    oOo
    Lying in her bed in the lab, Jenny Seville breathed out a small sigh of relief. From her eavesdropping, she’d known that Lily was planning to bring the new guy into the VR in the morning, and she’d lain among the other patients, her eyes slitted, watching the activity in the facility. Hooked up to the VR