NoBody at Mercy General Hospital ever looked at the black sedan that waited at the far end of the ambulance bay. The security guards studied their shoes. The paramedics parked on the opposite side of the lot. Even the cab drivers circled the block twice rather than idle behind it. Everyone treated the man inside like weather. Something dangerous, something to be endured, something never to be spoken to.
But on one freezing October night, a nurse who had not slept in 26 hours opened his passenger door, dropped into the seat, and did the one thing no one else ever had. She looked at him. And she was the only person in New York who noticed that the most feared man in the city was gripping his steering wheel like it was the only thing holding him upright, and that his hands would not stop shaking.
