Excerpt #15

It’s 12:30 A.M, and the voice on the phone asks you if you are sleeping in that valley-girl-sounding way that seems to have become the universal dialect for everyone under 40. You feel cold and murderous, and ask what she has for you. Does she realize she just pried you from your dream research in such a startling fashion that no memory of your dream activity remains?  No, she doesn't realize anything at all, you guess. There is someone in the ER waiting for your help. She is described as depressed and anxious. You are relieved to know that at least the two of you will have something in common.