“Take the next left.” The old woman nodded nearly imperceptibly at the turn that would take them off the wide boulevard and down a dimly lit side street.

The cabbie glanced at her in the mirror and then at the meter.

Blood.

It flushes through the body, revitalizing, fuelling, regulating, transporting. Rushing along thin-walled passages to fulfill the needs of the body, protected only by layers of delicate tissue.