Fiction. Literature. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:It�??s spring in Buffalo, New York. At sprawling St. Paul�??s Hospital, new interns rush through the halls, staff doctors scramble to catch their protégés�?? mistakes, and everyone is aware of one unrelenting threat: A new and vicious strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has hit America hard and is menacing the hospital like a wolf at the door. Wrapped in spacesuit-like garb to search for every possible source of infection, the hospital staff desperately tries to protect the lives of patients�??and of each other. Yet despite St. Paul�??s best efforts, people are dying.

In this chilling medical landscape, no one notices the slight spike in the death rate in a palliative care ward. The prevailing attitude is �??They�??re supposed to die. That�??s why we call them terminal.�?� When these same patients complain of terrifying near-death experiences, the hospital staff attributes it to d