“But I don’t know if I should. My other medications-”

Her voice dipped still lower. “You will last for hours. You will make me scream.”

“God, if I only could.”

“All you have to do is swallow this.” She held up the small pill. “And then take me.”

“Will the pill really work?” In his excitement a bit of spittle appeared on his lips.

“It has never let me down before. Now take it.”

She handed it to him, poured out a glass of water from a carafe on the nightstand, and watched as he swallowed the pill and greedily slurped down the water.

“Is it getting bigger?” he asked eagerly.

“Patience. And in the meantime I have something to show you.” From the pocket of her robe she pulled out a slim camera. It was the one that had been tossed to and caught by Barbara at her window when the power had gone off and the security system had disarmed.

“Barbara, I feel funny.”

“It is nothing to worry about.”

“Call the doctor to come in. Press the button for him. Do it now.”

“It is fine. It’s merely the effects of the pill.”

“But I can’t feel my body. And my tongue-”

“It feels large? My goodness. The pill must be working on your tongue and not on your other part. I will have to register a complaint with the manufacturer.”

The old man gurgled loudly. He tried to point to his mouth but his limbs wouldn’t work anymore. “Push the but-”

She moved the call device farther away and pulled her robe tight, cinching it up. She settled next to him. “Now, here are the pictures I want you to see.”

She turned on the camera. On the small screen an old black-and-white photo of a face appeared.

“This young boy was David Rosenberg,” she explained, pointing to the youthful but gaunt face on the screen; the hollow cheeks and glassy eyes indicated that death was not far away. “He never made it to his bar mitzvah. Did you know that before you ordered his death, Herr Colonel Huber? He was already past thirteen, but of course in the camps Jewish rites of passage were not observed.”