An old doctor, his bald head reflecting the lights above, rushed to a patient’s side, eyes quickly surveying her state. The flesh of her whole body was charred except for her face, which remained pristine and pale, the skin soft and shining in the fluorescent light. The charcoal skin crinkled in on itself, burns going deep through her body. He could see the shine of white bone deep beneath the layers.
“Third degree burns,” he announced to the room full of ER staff. Their group made eight in total: two surgeons, four nurses, an anesthesiologist, and Dr. Coolidge.
“Heart rate?” he shouted out as a mousy looking nurse pressed a stethoscope against the victim’s chest.
“140!” she called.
“Breathing?”
“Irregular!”
Cold washed over Dr. Coolidge. He snapped his finger, grabbing the attention of the two closest nurses. “You two,” he demanded loudly, “go get Nurse Ó Súilleabháin in here! Now!”

Bill Atkinson was a natural-born athlete, having lettered in four sports at Monsignor Bonner High School – football, baseball, tennis, and basketball. Everyone thought he would emulate his older brother Al as a professional sportsman and have a thriving career in the sport of his choice. In fact, many said that of the two brothers, Bill was the more gifted athlete since he was more disciplined and that was saying something since Al was a professional football player who would go on to win the 1969 Super Bowl as a linebacker with the New York Jets. Upon his graduation from Monsignor Bonner High School in 1963, however, Bill abandoned any plans to become a successful athlete and joined the Order of Saint Augustine as a postulant instead. He was young, handsome, strong, athletic, an excellent student, blonde-haired and blue-eyed. He was also a devout Catholic who wanted to consecrate his life to Christ. On November 9, 1964, he moved to the Good Counsel Novitiate in New Hamburg, New York, a campus surrounded by mountains where his life would change radically and forever.