The conversation continued while they also watched hospital personnel come and go. There had been no word yet about their friend.

"I take it the box lends you a form of immortality," Ben said. "You certainly look good for being several centuries old."

She sent him a small smile of thanks and explained what she had already told David.

Wesley tore tiny pieces off her now empty cup with her red-lacquered fingernails, dropping the debris heedlessly into her lap. ...