At least, that’s what he tried to convince himself. He knew it probably wasn’t true.
He had recently given his dark hair a short buzz cut, which gave him a leaner appearance. At the age of thirty-eight, he was almost satisfied—for the first time in a long time—with how he looked, though he noted how bloodshot his tired hazel eyes were.
He rounded the next corner and entered a large room. In it were roughly thirty reclined beds. Almost all were occupied by people. The beds lined broad walls in the shape of a rectangle. Sean’s eyes met those of a young, blond man with a thin frame and pointy shoulders. Clad in a white lab coat that looked a size too large, he used a nodding motion to direct Sean over to an open bed in a back corner.
Sean took a seat on the vinyl-upholstered recliner, then
