Reborn to Bury the Killers Who Harvested Me

On the day I started grad school, my roommate Belinda Abbott gave me a health-screening card.

"These days they make everyone do a special infectious-disease screening before enrolling," she said. "Josephine Pruitt, I know money's tight at home, so think of this card as a little welcome gift from me."

My eyes went hot on the spot, and I waved my hands, saying I couldn't take it.

But she pushed the card straight into my pocket, smiled, and patted my shoulder. "It's just a screening card. My dad's company hands them out as a perk. If it sits there it'll only expire and go to waste."