by Hinze, Vicki
John Taylor looked uncertain if he should enter with them or return to the rear wall.
“You’re good to go, John Taylor,” Emma said, resolving his inner conflict. He might have doubted her before the encounter with Janette above, but he didn’t now. “I’ve got this.”
“Yes, ma’am. Radio me if you need me.”
“Thanks.” She entered the lab with the doctor.
Just inside, Mason stood waiting, expectant and clearly a little shocked. “Are you who I think—”
The doctor smiled and nodded. “I am a humbled man here to help, Dr. Mason,” Briefcase Man said softly. “Don’t make me regret it.”
Chapter Eighteen
Tuesday, December 18th
0628 (6:28 AM)
“Before I see the patient, we need to talk,” the doctor said. “Is a parent of the child available? I’m assuming one of them works here or they wouldn’t be here. Is that assumption correct?”
Certain he already knew the answer to that, Emma held her silence, waiting for Mason’s response. It came immediately.
“David, the child’s father, is my assistant,” Mason said. “Both parents are here. Sophia is his wife, and the patient’s mother. She’s quarantined with her daughter, but we have two-way communications set up.”
“The child is the patient—a girl, then?”
Mason nodded. “Olivia. Jacob, her little brother is also quarantined.”
“I understand,” the doctor said. “I expect Olivia needs her mother. Is David available?”
“I’m right here, doctor.” David joined them. “There’s fresh coffee in the kitchen. We can talk there.”
David and the doctor walked down the hallway. Mason and Emma followed. “Are you going to fill me in?” she asked. “Who is this guy?”
“Later, I will.” Mason glanced over at her. “I promise.”
“I really shouldn’t allow this, but these are desperate times, and Olivia’s life is on the line. Know this, however. I am going to hold you to explaining, Mason.” Emma studied his eyes. No secrets lurking in them, no shields hiding the truth. Both were good signs. “You’re okay, right?”
He clasped her hand and gently squeezed. “I’m fine, Emma.”
Her relief was sharp and immediate. And she didn’t let go of his hand. The oddest thing was, he didn’t seem to mind. Why? Because she’d trusted him?
In the kitchen, they sat at the table, their steaming hot mugs of coffee before them. “We need to bring your wife into the conversation,” the doctor said. “Is there a way to do that without the children hearing what is said?”
“She has earbuds. We’re already communicating privately.”
Compassion lit the doctor’s eyes. “This is difficult on all of you. I’m so sorry you’re going through it.”
The tone in his voice held the regret of one responsible. Why was that? Emma cut her gaze to Mason but found no answers there. Silent and stoic, he gave nothing away.
“So are we,” David said. “But thank you for doing what you can to help.” David paused a second to listen, as if Sophia was talking to him. Then, he asked, “How can you help?”
“I am Dr. Addison Cramer.”
David and Mason recognized the name. They didn’t bother trying to hide it. Emma didn’t, but from their reaction, she knew Briefcase man was significant.
“I’ve worked with this pathogen.” Cramer thumbed the rim of his cup. “For many years, I’ve been working on an antidote at a private facility.” He looked to Emma. “I can’t stress enough that it’s critical to keep this pathogen contained.”
Mason lowered his cup to the table. “We’ve done everything within our power, Dr. Cramer.”
“I have a very limited supply of antidote.”
Antidote? That was wonderful news! Limited supply… “How many doses?” Emma asked, hopeful for Olivia, worried about the others if the pathogen did go viral. “There are over five thousand people upstairs.”
Dr. Cramer looked over at her. “Twelve.”
Emma worried her lip. “That negates giving it until and unless symptoms appear.”
“That’s for the best, Emma,” Dr. Cramer said, his expression sober.
“Why?”
“Is it really an antidote?” Mason asked. “Have you done clinical trials on it?”
“Only one,” Dr. Cramer said. “He’s sitting before you.”
David bit back a groan that rumbled from deep in his throat. “You want to give my daughter a treatment that’s been tried once. Only once?”
“Want to? No. No, I wish it were never needed for anyone. But done is done and we don’t have much choice, David.” Dr. Cramer said.
Emma cut in. “What about the typical antibiotics?”
He swiveled his head to look at her, his short beard all but hiding his flat-lined mouth. “They don’t work, so there’s no sense in endangering yourself or anyone else trying to get them.”
“How do you know we’re trying to get them?” she asked, deeply suspicious now.
“The same way I knew I needed to be here.” He sipped from his mug. Set it back down on the table. “I’ve been working on this project a long time,” he said, looking at Mason. “I’ve tried every possible combination of every known drug, including several in the experimental phase.” He paused to let Mason absorb the implications of that disclosure. “All failed.”
Whether he worked for the CDC or David’s people, she had no idea. But Dr. Cramer knew a lot more than he was telling any of them. And she suspected, his devotion to the project wasn’t for some idle reason. Personal responsibility. Personal involvement had to be a key factor in his dedication to the project.
“Talk with your wife, David. Let me know if she has any questions. If I can answer, I will,” Dr. Cramer said, then looked at Mason. “Dr. Martin—”
“Mason.”
“Mason, can you brief me on the patient’s current condition.” Cramer wagged a finger in David’s direction. “If Sophia hears anything that is no longer accurate, tell her to let us know right away.”
David relayed the message, then relayed the conversation to Sophia. “Olivia is running a fever—102.9. She’s suffering weakness, abdominal pain, and chills.”
“No shock?” Dr. Cramer looked at David.
He nodded no.
Cramer looked back at Mason. “You have confirmed the diagnosis?”
“I have. Two tests. One in fluid, one in a tissue sample. Both test positive.”
Dr. Cramer stilled. “May I see the test results?”
Mason looked at David. When he didn’t respond, Mason said, “David, I’ve seen the results and Olivia. I believe without this treatment, she will die. I don’t know all Dr. Cramer knows about this pathogen, but you’ve got to give permission for him to review the tests and examine Olivia. Do you and Sophia agree?”
David spoke softly to Sophia, then looked back at Mason and Dr. Cramer. “Go ahead,” he said.
“This way, Dr. Cramer.” Mason stood up.
Dr. Cramer paused. “David, I’ll know more after reviewing the results and my examination.”
David nodded, too emotional to speak.
Realizing he needed a minute to absorb all this and to talk to his wife, Emma too left the kitchen and stepped out into the tunnel to relay all she’d learned to Liz.
When Emma had, Liz told her, “I’ll dig and see what I can find out. You don’t sound totally comfortable with him showing up there.”
“Would you be comfortable?” Emma asked. “I wouldn’t trust him at all except Mason does.” He’d been surprised to see the man, but not fearful of him. “I think he knew of him. And he remained very straightforward in the discussion about exactly what they were dealing with.”
But the most telling part was that Mason didn’t have to explain what BP7PP was. Cramer already knew. He had to have been a program insider to know that. The need to know loop was so small even Mason had trouble getting information on it.
A cart s
ped toward her. Emma positioned the rifle, in case it was needed. If four had escaped, that left one on the loose inside the facility, and he’d already killed Greer, which meant he had nothing to lose in killing again.
John Taylor flashed his lights, then stopped near Emma. “Figured you’d be out here, filing a report. You done?”
“Yes.” She lowered her weapon. “What’s the latest on the storm?”
“Raging. Janette just reported damage in the Main.”
“How extensive is it?”
“She’s relocating as many as she can to the other terminals, but they’re packed to the rafters already. She wanted to bring them below. I shot that down.”
“Did she listen to you?”
“I told her you’d vetoed it.” He half-smiled. “I think she’s a little scared of you.”
The last thing Emma wanted was more people in closer proximity to the lab. “You didn’t tell her about Greer, did you?”
“No. She saw the body. Ever since, she’s been seeing phantoms of the shooter in every face,” he said. “I don’t have time to deal with more of that, so I told her the suspect had left the facility and the locals are in pursuit.”
“But you didn’t tell her it was a backup team.”
“No way. She’d lose her mind.”
“Agreed.”
“I'm on my way up to check the damage.” He hooked a thumb toward the elevator. “Janette said she has a construction crew working on some shattered glass. No idea how bad it is. With her, anything that bumps the line on normal is a crisis.”
“We’ll hope it’s minimal then.”
“We’ve got a case of frostbite. Someone slipped outside to smoke and got locked out. There’s a doctor in Terminal B taking care of him. Confirmed passenger.”
“Good work, John Taylor.”
“I wanted to check to make sure you’re okay with this Dr. Cramer. I heard the early comms before you went into the kitchen to talk.”
“Don’t repeat his name. Not to anyone. Ever.”
“Figured that. I heard his warning about being a guy trying to help and not making him regret it.” John Taylor tapped at his glasses. “Any idea what that’s all about?”
“Not a clue—yet.” Emma said it and hated that it was true.
“It’s not sitting right, this guy showing up with twelve doses of antidote,” John Taylor said. “How do we know he isn’t batting for the other side?”
“We don’t. It’s a risk.” Mason had vouched for the man, but for Emma and John Taylor and people in their business, that alone wasn’t enough. “But if we don’t take it, Olivia dies.”
“No choice, then.” He grunted. “I’ll let you know about the damage.”
“Thanks.”
John Taylor took off and soon disappeared from sight, and Emma returned to the lab.
On the screen into the quarantine room, Jacob stood watching Olivia.
Using sign language, she spoke to her brother. “Do not worry.”
“Are you going to die, Liv?”
He sounded so vulnerable, so afraid. It opened a wound in Emma’s chest.
“Someday.” She sounded as frightened as he was, but also certain. And not defeated but positive. “But I’m not dying today.” Not for a second did doubt creep into her voice.
“How do you know that?” Jacob asked her. “Bandit says he doesn’t think you really know.”
“Of course, I really know,” Olivia insisted. “I asked for a Christmas miracle.”
Oh, the fears that poured forth from Emma on hearing that threatened to send her staggering. If Olivia lived, it’d be a miracle. But if she didn’t, her death would shatter Jacob’s innocence. Emma prayed hard that wouldn’t happen. Harder than she’d prayed for anything in a very long time.
Dr. Cramer had seen the exchange and he sniffed. “I don’t even want to think of what happens if this doesn’t work.”
“Then make sure it does,” Emma said. “I suspect you know more than anyone about this. Make it work. Do all you can to give Olivia and her family their Christmas miracle.”
“I am trying, Emma. That’s why I’m here. But I’m a mere mortal, not the Almighty.”
“Sophia and many of us are praying for Him to intercede,” Emma said. “You just do what you can.”
Mason joined them. “Have you examined her already?”
“I’ve seen what I need to see in the tests. It’s advanced.”
David asked, “Will your antidote help her?”
“I wish I could say it positively would, but the truth is, I don’t know, David.” Dr. Cramer frowned, creasing the skin between his eyebrows. “Not this long after exposure. She’ll be in shock in another hour.” He turned to face David. “I’m afraid we have no choice. It’s the untested antidote or Olivia will certainly die before the end of the day.”
David gulped in a ragged breath, then started to share that information with Sophia, but she cut him off. “Do it,” he relayed word from his wife.
Dr. Cramer paused. “You both agree?”
“There’s no choice. With it, she has a chance to live. Without it, she dies.”
“David, this has never been given to a child.” Compassion and brutal honesty burned in Cramer’s eyes. “You must understand. It could also kill her.”
David blinked hard, cleared his throat. “Then let me go in with you.”
Dr. Cramer nodded, then whispered to Emma. “Know that I’ve been praying for divine assistance on this every day since . . . every day. It’s a miracle I’ve gotten this far. I’m daring to believe for another miracle.”
“So am I.” Emma whispered. He walked on and Emma stood board stiff, watching the monitor until the men entered the quarantine room.
“You okay?” Mason slipped an arm around her shoulder.
“Honestly?” Emma leaned against him and tilted her head against his chest. “No, Mason. I’m not okay.”
“Have faith.” He dropped a kiss to the crown of her head. “I hope he talks to Olivia first. She hates shots. Fears the needle.”
“What?” Emma pulled back and looked at Mason.
“Doctors who spend all their time in the lab don’t tend to have good bedside manners. We’re not used to them.”
“I’m sure he’ll be good.” Feeling responsible for Olivia being there and in this position, of course, he would be good.
“I hope so,” Mason said. “Olivia is always the strong one. The one who knows the answers and takes care of everyone else, especially Jacob. He’d be lost without her.”
Emma rubbed Mason’s arm. “Olivia strikes me as a very determined girl. She told Jacob she wasn’t going to die today. She’s asked for a Christmas miracle.”
“I hope she gets it,” Mason said. “I can’t imagine losing her.”
Emma hugged him hard. “Don’t. Focus on imagining her surviving.”
Mason gathered and held Emma in his arms. “I always could count on you to look at things through the right lens, Emma.”
She clasped her hands around his waist. “You never paid attention to a word I said.”
“You’re wrong about that.” He pulled back and smiled down at her. “I saw you in everything. Heard you in everything. Nothing about you escaped me.”
“Then why did you ignore me?”
“Buffet.”
She rolled her eyes. “One day, I’m going to explain what that’s all about to you.” She just had to make sure she was right about it before she did it.
“I look forward to it.”
“He’s in there with Olivia,” Emma warned.
Mason turned and clasped her hand, not willing yet to let go.
As they stood and watched, Dr. Cramer talked to Olivia, listened to her mother, talked some more. After a few minutes, he explained the injection, then asked if Olivia was ready.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said. “You seemed upset when you first got here, but I think you’re a little better now. Are you?”
“I
am,” he said. “Thank you for being patient with me.”
“It’s scary, but it’ll be okay.”
He cleared his throat. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “So, you’re ready then?”
“One second.” She smiled at her mother. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, honey.” Sophia smiled, but silent tears streamed down her face.
David stood beside Sophia, and Olivia focused on him. “Love you, Daddy.”
“Love you, too.” He smiled. “You’re very brave, Liv. I’m so proud of you.”
Olivia turned her head on the pillow. “Jacob, remember what I told you. Not today.”
“I won’t forget.” He squeezed Bandit. “Christmas miracle.”
“That’s right.” She nodded, then looked at Dr. Cramer. “I’m ready now.”
Emma felt her face, surprised to find it wet with tears.
Mason dried them with his hand, ignoring his own. “It’s going to be okay, Emma.”
“It will, right? I mean, she’s too headstrong to die on a day she said she wouldn’t.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me a bit.” He dropped a kiss to her forehead. “Olivia would never lie to Jacob. He totally trusts her, and she would never do anything to jeopardize that. It’s probably the best thing going for her.”
“Dr. Cramer, you tried your hardest. I know that, okay?” Olivia said.
“Thank you, Olivia.” His voice cracked.
She was brave, Emma thought. Maybe the bravest person Emma had ever known. Surrounded by people covered in shields and masks and scrubs—everyone, except for her, and she’d made sure to say words that would sustain and comfort them no matter what happened. Even in this, Olivia was reassuring them. Maybe that’s how she reassured herself and stayed strong. And she was nine. Only nine. One day, she would be a formidable woman. She was already an amazing girl, wise beyond her years.
“There. All done.” Dr. Cramer withdrew the needle. “Now, if anything feels funny, you let me know right away.” He pulled a chair close to her bedside and sat down.
Olivia watched him with unabashed interest. “You’re staying in here with me?”
“I am,” Dr. Cramer said and grinned. “You’re too much fun not to be around.”
