The elevator arrived from below and dinged its doors open. Rachel stepped in when the doors stopped moving and Tim followed, a step deeper into the elevator car then her when he turned to face the entrance. The doors closed and the cables lowered them down to the lobby. Neither of them spoke as they descended. When they arrived at the first floor the elevator deposited them behind the front reception desk. It was empty of both patients and staff, which Tim could not recall having ever seen before. They passed through the equally people-less lobby and toward the entrance doors. Rachel veered to the left of the rotating doors that commanded much of the entrance as she approached them, choosing to exit from a single person door at the far left. They left the hospital and walked into a dawning sun when Rachel finally spoke again.

  “The people will reappear. We only had that small grace to get you out of the hospital. It can be hard to get good nurses to look the other way. Happens a lot.”

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  He tried to decrypt that statement as she kept talking, legs carrying her towards a short-term parking lot directly outside the entrance.

  “In general act as you normally would. We interact with this world the same as usual. We have to put gas in our car and pay for food. People can hurt us, they can stop us.” At this she paused halfway through the main street to meet his eyes.

  “People will try to stop us. It may not be something that ever comes up, but you need to stay aware at all times.” She must have realized how hard her features had become because they softened, the first glimpse of anything resembling compassion he had seen from her so far.

  “I know this is a lot. We’ll have plenty of time to talk in the car.” With that she continued into the short-term lot, eyes scanning slowly.

  “Forgot where you parked?” Flippant, Tim was trying to take some control of the situation.

  “I don’t actually have a car yet.” She replied coolly, unamused.