"God, turn them off. It's so painful. It's like they're shining into the back of my skull."
"She's started hallucinating," Van de Vliet whispered to Debra. "I've got to draw blood for a test and give her an injection. We need a gurney now. We've got to take her down to the IC. Her condition is progressing much more rapidly than I expected."
"Ally, is this what you want?" Stone demanded. "You don't have to do this."
Her breath was coming in rapid pulses now and she was cringing from the light even as she struggled to rise out of the wheelchair.
"I want . . . to get . . ."
She managed to pull herself onto her feet, but then she sagged and collapsed against Stone as he pulled her to him.
As one of the nurses grabbed the newly arrived gurney and pulled it over, Van de Vliet and Ellen O'Hara seized her out of Stone’s arms and lifted her onto it.
"You'll have to leave now," Van de Vliet said to Stone. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not going anywhere. I promised her I'd stay by her side and, by God, I intend to do just that."
"I'll determine what's best for her," he replied. "Please go up to the reception area. I'll let you know how she is."