"With what you're about to go through, you're gonna need it."

Gabriel responded as he flashed a brief smile; this was followed by a professional nod as he offered the new resident a mock salute. This guy seemed particularly enthusiastic, as if he had something to prove. If not to others, then to himself. He could only hope he didn't get too curious, since this hospital's shiny exterior was a front for a lot of the things that went down behind closed doors. He would know. Stopping by his locker to wash up and slip on his white coat, he examined himself in the mirror in front of the sink for a few moments. He seemed slightly worn, but that wasn't an unusual sort of visage here at the hospital, so it wouldn't draw any unnecessary suspicion.

And the first patient he was due to check on was the most important one of the day. Stepping into the private, luxuriously maintained ward, it was eerily silent. On the bed lay the frail shape of a woman. In her early sixties, her hair had grayed to a fine silver. She was so thin, so sickly that her hands seemed almost withered, paper skin over jutting bone. It seemed like someone could break her with even the slightest touch. Yet, her eyes were wide and lucid, gazing out of the nearby window in a quiet state of grace. The light flowing through the smudged panes illuminated her face - her exquisite bone structure, the elegance with which she carried herself even in this stage of illness. 

"Mrs. Cassidy. How are we feeling today?" Gabe stepped up to check her chart, smiling fondly down at the woman. 

"Like I'm lucky to be alive." The woman let out a slow chuckle, turning from the window to look at him.

"Well, I've got good news for you, Mrs. Cassidy. We found a matching heart. We can get the transplant going as soon as the paperwork's settled." He noted the sudden change in her demeanor, the spark of hope in her otherwise resigned gaze. "I'm sure Mr. Cassidy will be happy to hear that, considering how worried he is right now." 

And of course, Mr. Cassidy referred to Jack Cassidy of Cassidy Enterprises, one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the world. And there was no one Jack trusted more than Gabriel. Gabe had spoken to the man on various occasions, and had told him that he was willing to pay "as much as it took" if they could just find his wife a heart. Hearts were in short supply; most were taken from patients rendered brain-dead in horrific accidents. Recently they'd gotten a new one - a young woman named Elizabeth Charles, whose heart was found to be a perfect match for Mrs. Cassidy. And as soon as Elizabeth's grieving husband approved the harvest, they could proceed.