The doctor's words hung in the air, a proposal so absurd, so fundamentally impossible, that Kofi's brain refused to process it. It was like a line of code that simply would not compile.
'Release her... into my care?'
He stared at the doctor, a man he had met only twice, a man who was now offering him another human being's life as if it were a stray cat he'd found in the parking lot.
"What?"
The single word was all he could manage. It was weak, incredulous.
The doctor did not flinch. He did not smile. His expression remained one of tired seriousness. He had clearly anticipated this reaction.
