Was he convinced that this was the right course of action? He didn’t feel the change yet. A hand on his shoulder brought him from his rumination.
“Are you having second thoughts?” Em asked, as if reading his mind. Had she begun to experience effects?
“No.” he said, as an answer to the question in his mind and a response to her inquiry.
“Let’s go, we have a lot to accomplish today!” Her eyes shone with emotion for the first time in what might have been weeks.

She handed him his kit. It looked like a normal laptop bag. Hers like a tote bag you might bring to the lake on a less stifling day than today. The calescent walk across the parking lot past the bevy of baking cars and the glare from every windshield and chrome bumper was almost intolerable. They headed into the doors of the Las Vegas/Mccarran airport and he was greeted with a most welcoming whoosh of frigid air. He felt less febrile, but what chilled him to the bone that instant was the thought of what this very gust of air would be doing in an hour.