Theena’s apartment didn’t match her personality. It was plain, with little frill or flourish. There were no photos of friends or family anywhere, and the bland painting hanging over the sofa looked like it came with the frame, probably purchased because the color scheme matched the sofa and love seat.

Neat, tidy, impersonal. Sort of like a motel, Bill thought. The only distinctive object in eyeshot was a potted cactus next to the front door, jutting out of its terra cotta pot like a two foot, green exclamation point.

“Are you hungry?”

“Tired, mostly.”

They’d spent the previous night in Manny’s room, and hadn’t slept much. Bill could say without question it was the best day he’d had in over a year. It was more than just the sex. He felt connected. For a few wonderful hours, Theena had taken away his guilt and loneliness, and given him back a shred of self-worth.

But the woman Bill had been with yesterday was nowhere to be found at the moment. Today’s Theena was withdrawn, distant, defeated.

“The bedroom is the second door, there.”

Bill yawned. He needed a nap, but there was a lot he had to do. The N-Som folder he’d taken from Bitner’s house was in his overnight bag. Among other things, Bill was anxious to see how the experiment with Sam the monkey ended.

But it was more than that. Bill didn’t want to sleep because he was afraid Carlos and Franco might find him. He couldn’t be caught unaware.

“I’m okay, thanks.”

“You look exhausted.”

“I am. But I don’t think sleep is a good idea right now.”

He wanted to share his doubts about Rothchilde with Theena. Bill had a solid feeling that the A.P. President was behind those two thugs, Franco and Carlos. He also believed that Rothchilde had some kind of pull with the Chicago PD, which is why Bill hadn’t gotten any help.

But something held Bill back. Even with all he’d shared with Theena, there was still something he didn’t completely trust about her.

Or maybe the lack of sleep was just making him paranoid.

“I have some N-Som.”

“Hmm?”

“You could take a pill. Then you don’t have to sleep.”

“No thanks, Theena.”

Theena came over to him, serious.

“Bill, I’ve been working with this drug for almost a decade. It’s safer than taking Vitamin C.”

Bill didn’t answer. Any courage he might have harbored concerning unproven drugs died with his wife.

“Look.” Theena dug into her purse and took out a pill bottle. “You’ve read up on the chemistry, right? There’s nothing toxic in here, Bill. They’re neurotransmitters. The body manufactures these naturally. It’s an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, which activates the aminergic drive.”

“I know what it’s supposed to do. But is that all it does?”

“Manny’s been awake for over a thousand hours. He’s fine.”

“Are you sure of that?”

“This is how sure I am.”

Theena popped the top off the bottle and placed a pill in her mouth, swallowing it dry.

“It takes about four minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream—the drug has an amino acid chelate so it immediately passes through the ion channel. Then it produces a reaction similar to narcolepsy. But it isn’t really sleep because the brain stays in alpha.”

Theena sat down on the sofa and stretched out her legs.

“The effect lasts anywhere from ten to twenty minutes, and then you snap immediately out of it and you’re completely awake and aware.”

“No residual effect?”

“None. The brain counteracts the drug with an increased production of norepinepherine. You wake up refreshed.”

Bill was intrigued.

“If it inhibits sleep, why do you have a narcoleptic episode for twenty minutes? Shouldn’t it simply keep you awake?”

“N-Som doesn’t inhibit sleep. It replaces it. The same neurotransmitters that are responsible for waking are responsible for sleeping. N-Som affects the sleep center first, causing a state we call hyper-relaxation. The brain automatically releases its own neurotransmitters to counter the effect. The result is twenty-three hours of ZFS.”

“Zero Fatigue Syndrome. Manny mentioned it.”

Theena laid back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

“I may toss and turn a little. It’s possible to rouse a person in hyper-relaxation, but not easy—it’s like trying to wake up someone in deep sleep.”

“Will you dream?”

Theena nodded. “Extremely realistic dreams. You’ll almost swear they’re really happening. Even though they only last a few minutes, several hours can seem to go by in your head.”

“Well, then. Sweet dreams.”

Theena nodded. After a minute, her breathing began to slow down.

Bill sat down next to her and took her pulse. Her heart beat twenty times in fifteen seconds. That was average. He waited and tried again. It had slowed to sixteen. A minute later it went down to thirteen, and stabilized.

He opened an eyelid, and the eyeball was moving back and forth. REM. She was focusing on some unseen object. He reached for the table lamp and moved it closer, but the pupil didn’t dilate.

“Theena? Can you hear me?”

Bill gave her a light shake and a tap on the cheek. She didn’t respond. Her skin was noticeably cooler to the touch.

If Bill hadn’t read any of the N-Som reports, he might have thought she was going into shock rather than reacting to the drug in a predicted manner.

He waited by her side for the next ten minutes, holding her hand. It brought back images of Kristen, sitting next to her hospital bed as she slept. The memory hurt, but not as much as it used to.

Perhaps he was beginning to heal after all.

Theena’s hand slowly became warmer, and her breathing quickened. She opened her eyes a moment later, her face cracking in a smile.

“I was surrounded by loved ones, warm and happy. It was beautiful.”

Bill couldn’t deny she looked one hundred percent better. The dark bags and redness were gone from her eyes. Her face was brighter. She seemed like a new person.

“Want to try it?”

“I’m still not sure.”

Tina touched his lips with her fingertip. The moodiness was completely gone, and she was back to playful and flirtatious.

“I bet you were one of those kids in college who never tried pot.”

“Wrong. I had a roommate who grew the stuff in our dorm closet. He had a pair of four foot female plants, called them Laverne and Shirley.”

“So what’s stopping you?”

“I already told you.”

“Bill, if you can’t trust your own judgment, why do you stay with the FDA?”

Damn good question.

Bill sighed, relenting.

“Fine. I’ll try it.”

“One thing. I just had a pleasant dream. But some of the dreams in hyper-relaxation aren’t pleasant. I’d say the ratio is something like ten to one. It has something to do with the refining process, we’re not entirely sure yet.”

“So I might have a nightmare?”

Theena nodded.

“Nightmares and I are old buddies. I can handle nightmares.”

Theena handed over the pill. It was oval and the color of caramel, covered with tiny brown flecks. Like a miniature robin’s egg.

Bill swallowed it without water.

“Would you like the sofa, or the bedroom?”

“The sofa is fine.”

He traded places with Theena, reclining as she had. There was a tickle in his throat. He hoped this wasn’t a mistake. He hoped nothing would go wrong.

Bill closed his eyes, and felt the beginning stirrings of panic.

“It’s okay.” Theena put her hands on his. “Nothing to be nervous about. You’ll have a quick dream, and be back to full capacity in fifteen minutes. You trust me, right?”

I want to, Bill thought. But I don’t know if I can.

Then everything went black.