Hank glanced down at his itinerary as he walked out of that office. Mr. Blanch had threatened to defund his project earlier that day. Hopefully, this would be enough to keep his job safe for the next few months. All three subjects had agreed to participate in the Cerberus Project. Hank wondered if he was doing the right thing. He'd refused to move ahead with phase 3. Hank never would've taken the job if he'd known. Mr. Blanch insisted it was the logical next step, Hank disagreed. This was about curing the sick, That's the only goal he could work toward. He climbed into his little yellow car, it was his wife's car. She'd painted it yellow one afternoon, not long after their wedding, given it stripes and eyelashes. She'd surprised Hank with it when he got home from work. Hank knew it was goofy, But he loved it more than anything; well, almost anything. He turned on the radio, It only played one thing. She'd gotten a cassette tape of Stevie Wonders "Isn't She Lovely" Stuck in the player. Hank didn't mind, he listened to the song once a day. As he drove down the familiar winding roads, his heart nearly danced a jig. He pulled in to the Saint Mills General hospital parking lot, per the norm, it was scarcely populated by the doctor's cars. Hank parked in his normal visitor's space and stepped out.  Walking into the old dingy hospital, he was greeted at the door. All the Nurses knew Hank by name, He'd been there longer than most of them. He pushed open the door to room 103, on the bed sat a curly-haired girl, still in her PJs. Hank's daughter, She was only eight.  On the couch next to the bed slept Hank's wife, Emilia, She was wearing the same clothes Hank last saw her in. "Daddy!" the little girl shouted, Her eyes grew bright as she laid eyes on him. She stretched out her arms for a hug and gestured him to come closer. Hank pulled her close and squeezed her tight, perhaps a bit too tight.  "How's my girl, Carly?" Hank asked She pulled back and began to dig in her bag. "Daddy, Mommy got me a new game!" She said. Hank chuckled, "Oh yeah?" he said. She pulled out a small, Silver cube, and flipped it open. "It's got a bunch of cool games." she said. Hank glanced down at the handheld, It said "Game" In the corner, but Carly had crossed out the next word and written "Girl".  "That's wonderful, I'm glad you're enjoying it." Hank said. He placed his hand on Emilia's shoulder and gently rubbed her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled. "Goodmorning my love" Hank said. Emilia smiled and hugged him. "You still love me when I smell this bad? You Must've got it bad." She replied. Hank chuckled, "More love-sick than I've ever been." He said. Carly made a gagging sound. "I think that's our cue to knock off the flirting, dear." Emilia said. She squeezed Hank's hand as she stood. "Why don't you grab a shower? I'll hang here with our darling daughter." Hank said, Emilia nodded and disappeared into the small bathroom in the corner. Hank looked around the room, it wasn't so bad. It had been painted blue, with a parade of animals dancing along the bottom of the wall. The hospital lights painted the room a familiar fluorescent glow. A small flatscreen hung above the sink and counter, which had been decorated by various toys and DVDs. Below them sat a bag of clothes and a small pink backpack. "Daddy look, I drew you a picture." He heard behind him. She pulled a crayon drawing of The family from behind her pillow.  It was a drawing of Carly and Her mother, With Hank in the background. "This is beautiful, Carly." Hank said. He knew he'd been working a lot, in the back of his mind he prayed he hadn't spent one too many nights in the lab. "Hey dad, can we play with your magic box again?" Carly asked, pointing to the small silver rectangle in his pocket. Hank nodded and took it out, he sat it on the countertop and ran his fingers across the top of it." Let's see, how about this?" Hank said. The box began to glimmer, and flicker, before the image of a lion crawled out of it. The creature stood deathly still, fixating its eyes on an unknown enemy. "Daddy He's scary!" Carly cried. "No, dear, he's not scary at all. Not unless you're a wildebeest!" Hank chuckled back to her. He walked up to the lion and pointed at its chest. "Look Carly, This is where the Lion's vocal cords are. When a lion roars, you can hear it a whole eight kilometers away! Isn't that cool?" Hank asked. Carly nodded, Still unsure. "You don't need to be afraid dear. It's not real. And besides, this is a boy lion. It's the girl lions that do the hunting." He concluded. Carly's face lit up. "You mean the girl lions are in charge?" She asked. "Well yes, I suppose you could see it that way." Hank replied. Carly smiled wide, "We're queen of the jungle!" She cheered. Hank loved seeing her happy. "Some female lions will try and kill the males if they don't obey." Hank said, though it wasn't entirely true.  "It SHOULD be like that everywhere." Carly Replied. Hank laughed, "Oh it is." He let slip, Before realizing his mistake. "You won't tell your mother I said that, will you?" He sputtered. Carly laughed, and gestured a zipper across her lips. For the next thirty minutes, Hank spent time with Carly, playing and chatting. He missed his daughter. Soon Emilia got out of the shower.  She went to get them lunch, and they ate it together like a family. It was the first meal they'd eaten together in quite some time, Hank hadn't had any meal that didn't come out of the Clintax cafeteria in months. Once Carly fell asleep, Emilia gestured to walk out into the hall. The slowly creaked the door open and stood outside it. Emilia kissed Hank on the cheek. "You really should come around more, you know." She said. Hank's heart began to feel heavy, they'd had this conversation before. Each time it grew and gnawed at hank in the back of his mind. "You know I want to be, Need to be!" He said. Emilia solemnly glanced down. "I know your works important, It's just... She may not be able to use her hands again soon. The doctors got her to wiggle her toes the other night, we thought this might be getting better," she said, "But... I don't think this gets any better, Hank." Hank's eyes began to explore the floor beneath him, he felt a rumbling in his chest like thunder. "She will get better. I can make her well again." Hank said, with what determination he had left escaping in his tone. Emilia looked at him, somberly. He knew as well as she did she'd begun to doubt it, yet hank had yet to give up hope. She put her hand on Hank's cheek, and gave him a lingering kiss. "Then you go, and you finish what you started. Make our girl well again." She said. Hank nodded. They exchanged a long hug, and multiple "I love you's". Leaving that hospital, Hank dialed Mr. Blanch's number. A receptionist answered almost immediately. "Mister Blanch's office, How can I assist you?" She said with a thick Jersey accent. "It's Hank" He replied. The line clicked and hung silent for a moment. Nearly thirty seconds passed before another click was heard. He could hear Mr. Blanch thanking his assistant on the other end of the line. "How's my favorite scientist?" Mister Blach finally said. "I'll be alright." Hank replied. "Somethings got you down, friend? I get it." Blanch continued, he began to ramble. "I'll do it." Hank said under his breath. Mister Blanch's rambling stopped, Hank could feel his wicked smile through the phone. "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, Chief." He said. Hank took a deep breath, and answered him. "I'll initiate phase three."