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surgeon, but I have the tendency to notice such things. Something could be off with his electrolytes, maybe his calcium. He's on theophylline, which can contribute to that, and also a diuretic that can do the same thing. Is he on any kind of antacids?'
    'He's been getting ranitidine IV,' Tracy said. 'Dr. Kessel likes to use it in patients on steroids.'
    Thea felt a tension materialize in her throat. Something was definitely wrong.
    'Well, I think you should order a full twelve-lead EKG,' she said to the nurse. 'Also, I would stop the theophylline for the time being and send off a tube to the lab for electrolytes—sodium, potassium, C0 2 , and chloride—as well as for free or ionized calcium, whatever they call the test here; just not total calcium.'
    'Right away,' the nurse said. 'I am going to page Dr. Kessel. It's a hike from the cafeteria to here.'
    'Fine. Selene, perhaps it's worth paging Dr. Hartnett as well. He's Dad's primary care doctor.'
    'What do you think is going on?' Niko asked.
    'I don't know, but something's different than it was earlier today. I'm almost certain of it.'
    'Whatever it is, don't you think we should just let it happen?'
    'What?' Thea was incredulous.
    'Look at him, Thea. He's a vegetable. Existing like this is nothing he ever would have wanted.'
    'Then why didn't he say so? He took the time to write a proxy. He could have written a living will.'
    'Honey, he was always so busy and so distracted,' Selene said. 'He probably meant to and just never got around to it. We need to just let him go. We've all encountered enough patients with severe head injuries to know where this is going. This isn't the man who was our father, Thea. It never will be again. Why torture him?'
    'It's too soon,' Thea said.
    The twins glared at her.
    'If he could speak,' Selene said, an edge to her voice, 'he'd scream at us to just let him go. This may be the chance to do it.'
    'You know the man, sis,' Niko said, 'and you know where this is headed. Be reasonable.'
    'Niko, I don't know where this is headed. I agree that the odds favor a poor outcome, but we only have one father and he only has one life. Is there any reason we can't see this through for a little while longer?'
    'Let me think,' Niko said. 'For starters, he could be in terrible pain. We have no way of knowing that. For seconds, a great life is grinding to a halt in total humiliation. Catheters and bed baths for a man known around the world for his brilliance and caring. For thirds, the worst thing that could happen is something truly terrible. We could succeed in keeping him alive. One of the greatest medical minds of our times reduced to being lashed to a chair in the hall, soiling himself, drooling on himself, incapable of speaking, and unable even to hold his head up straight. It would be a hell of a lot easier for everyone if we just choose to throw our lot in with benign neglect— with choosing not to intervene. That way we don't have to plug in the morphine drip and take an active hand in his end.'
    'It's only been eight days. There's something going on here, Niko.
    Right now. Whatever it is could very possibly be reversible. We need to try and figure out what that is and treat it. We don't have enough information to make the decisions you're asking us to make.'
    'Thea, we understand where you're coming from,' Selene said, 'but we've been here with him every day. You haven't.'
    'That's exactly the point, Selene. I just got here. I need more time with him before we… before we let him go. Can't you understand? Niko, look. Look at his neck veins. I think they're becoming distended. Do you think the chest trauma could have caused bleeding around his heart?'
    'Tamponade?' Niko said, with no more than a glance at their father's neck veins. Distension of them was one of the first signs that blood or other fluid was accumulating and causing life-threatening pressure to build up between the pericardial membrane and the heart muscle itself. 'After eight days?