“What about the autopsies? Have they found anything so far?”
“Theoretically, we are waiting for the official reports. But as far as I've heard, nothing. Nothing.”
They kept talking for a while and then Timea went back. A nurse came and took a blood test. Soon, she was called to an EKG. Other tests followed. Then biological samples and more tests. Another nurse was walking from one ward to another, with a paper on which a table had been hand-written, to make appointments for computer tomography. Those who felt bad, very weak, or anxious were noted up front as emergencies. The same was the case with elderly people or the ones with a long medical history. Timea examined herself: she was feeling better. Her state of weakness was gradually fading, and nothing else was upsetting her. She asked the nurse if her tests had shown any change, but the nurse shook her head and increased her walking pace.
In the evening, Ryan returned to the hospital. Timea told him everything she had learned without stopping to catch her breath. She assured him that she was feeling good, but she was absolutely convinced that something was wrong with the museum. It was starting to resemble an epidemic. Had she been exposed to a virus? Had the air conditioning in the museum been contaminated by a pathogen? She then explained that she was being held back for more investigations, but she was convinced that things would soon be clarified. Considering the impressive amount of biological samples the nurses had harvested, she was convinced that thorough research would be done. But they would probably discharge her only after the results were clear.
Back in the ward, Timea told Dr. Loukas about the information she had gathered, and her suppositions. She repeated the same words over and over: “At the museum. Something wrong...” she pursed her lips, seeing Loukas crossing his arms. She inhaled and pronounced, stressing each syllable: “contaminated”. By what, that was to be discovered. Inquiries had to be made: at the museum, at the Ministry of Health, at environmental authorities, at whichever one would be authorised to cut off the visits to the exhibition. Samples of air and water had to be taken, all the parameters within the museum had to be measured. “Something is contaminating the environment! You cannot permit this loss of patients, even if these are only hypotheses!” she said. Loukas promised to send the appropriate notifications. But first they had to wait for the results of the patients' tests, otherwise they would be alarming people for no reason. Timea rolled her eyes and sighed. Words were insufficient to transmit how that feeling, that something was wrong at the museum, was compressing her thoughts into a knot that was about to explode. Loukas also promised to talk to Karides, in order to start some tests without causing panic; soon afterwards, he kept his word. He called her, but she didn't answer. “Call me ASAP, we need to talk. It's about the expo. It's extremely important!!!” After reading his message, Marion called him back and they talked for many minutes. Loukas told her what was happening at the hospital and about the necessity of checking the conditions at the museum.
“Things should not get out of control!” he said before hanging up.
“Adrian, what you're telling me is terrible... I understand... chaos would be created if I didn’t react. There are too many parties involved: the museum, UNESCO, the sponsors, the families of the victims.” Marion said and promised she would talk with everybody.
Soon afterwards, Marion canceled the following press conference and scheduled in her agenda a visit to Dr Loukas.
On Sunday, the hospital activity settled down and no one disturbed Adrian and Marion. Adrian introduced Marion to Timea and they continued the dialogue together.
“Right after we talked, I called everybody. Quickly, discreetly and efficiently! Before it all explodes into a huge scandal! I told them. I insisted and I didn't forget to mention the risk of losing money and image capital. The sponsors and the museum have categorically refused to cut down the visiting time.” Marion said. “But they fully understand the danger if the situation escalates, so they have arranged to discreetly collect samples and make the necessary tests without attracting the attention of the visitors. I think it's the best way. A quarantine is out of the question at this moment, at least until the results come back. Imagine the agitation that would arise from it... No one wants to create panic!”
Timea nodded. Right... no one wants to lose money, to be more specific...
Part III
Marion Karides
Three days after visiting the hospital, Marion Karides read one more time the word ”negative” on each paper, then pushed aside the pile of printed reports, analyses and tests from the museum. No bacteria, no virus or dangerous spores had appeared so far in the harvested samples. Certain other parameters had been measured: the level of radiation, the air’s chemical composition; samples from water and even from the paint on the walls had been taken, and surfaces from the whole museum had been analysed. Nothing, however, had raised any suspicion that there was any danger.
Marion inhaled the steam of her chamomile tea, massaging her neck. She threw off her shoes and rubbed her ankles, browsing the news at the same time. Her image and name appeared on the screen and she sighed, a beginning of a smile lifting the corners of her mouth. Tension in her joints reminded her that she had to wear high heels during the press conferences. She opened a new tab and booked the first flight to Skiathos. After her father's death, her mother had retired into their little house on the island.
The house was on a hill, outside Skiathos city; pine trees and oaks filtered the sunlight and bushy olive trees graced the surroundings with their silver-green leaves. Marion stepped outside, on the front terrace, with a shawl over her shoulders, savouring the perfume of the nearby pine trees. The fir scent mingled with a light salty flavour, brought by the wind from the sea. She could distinguish it among the tree trunks. Her mother had kept the house in the same state it had been in when she and Marion’s father had bought it: painted in white, with wooden shutters, arches and stone tiles on the ground. Marion gazed at the green garden and trees, the chairs and the table painted in blue. On the facade of the house, purple flowers flowed, and, not far away, a lemon tree displayed its load of yellow fruits.
On the table, Marion saw a creased, stained booklet from a travel agency. She smiled. Many times, the travel agencies had tried to convince Mrs Karides to enter her house into the booking system, but her mother had gracefully declined every time. The backgammon board was on same shelf as always, and pots with basil were scattered around the terrace. Her father used to take basil leaves and rub them in his hands, inhaling the smell. Her mother was in the kitchen, making coffee in the same old, red teapot, humming a Greek tune. Marion recalled it. It was the same song her parents used to listen and dance to. At least, her father danced, because her mother always complained: “These steps are too complicated and my hips are not made for this! Let's play backgammon instead!”
“I cannot take this away from her... She will never agree to leave this place!” Marion mumbled to herself.
It was the place where her parents had spent so many summers, savouring the scents of the flowers or enjoying the schedule that they themselves decided. Every day she had spent here was a precious memory for Angie – as her friends called Angela Karides. Regardless of whether they decided to wander around the island, searching for an unknown corner, swim all day long or linger on the terrace playing backgammon, this place had no equivalent. Marion sighed. In her childhood, she used to say that she had two sets of parents: the London parents and the Skiathos parents. Many times, during holidays, she had joined them. Her father had been the one who had taught her first to swim, then to dive. Then, in the last year of his life, he had returned to London and asked Angie to come with him. He had resumed his research, and had become preoccupied and sorrowful again. Every day he went to the Institute of Archaeology, every day he attended all sorts of meetings and discussions, and every day he came home more and more depressed. Angie had asked him countless times to retire, but she had not managed to separate him from his life's passion.
“You never explained!”
Her father had never explained why he was becoming paler and more taciturn. They had fought when she discovered his notes and realised that her father had all the necessary proof of the Trojan Horse's existence but had chosen to keep them buried at the bottom of his drawer. He never explained why he had tried to stop her from taking over his research.
After their last fight, her father started feeling worse and worse. Pale and weakened, he was no longer in the mood for anything. He stayed in bed all day long, with the curtains drawn, refusing to go anywhere or to answer the phone. Angela asked Marion to help her convince her husband to go to Skiathos. Her mother had not interfered in their argument. Marion softened and promised that she would not do anything, then asked him to go to Greece with Angela, to rest and recover. He accepted and, before leaving, said goodbye to Marion and begged her once more to keep her promise and not begin the expedition:
“Marion, please trust me. Don't forget, you gave me your word. That artifact is cursed, and it will only bring evil. I'm not talking about superstition or popular myths. Please find within you the power to give up this idea. You will find other projects, you will have new opportunities.”
Soon after, her parents went to Greece. But shortly after, Angela called her daughter and asked her to come as soon as possible. Her father's condition had deteriorated further. Marion took him to Athens to Doctor Loukas. Despite the young doctor's efforts, her father passed away. Marion didn't blame him: she was with her father the whole time, and she saw Dr Loukas' high level of professionalism and felt that he had done everything possible to save her father; somehow, something had made it impossible for him to make it. Perhaps simply his time had come. Years later, when her expedition was ready to set out, she had to choose a doctor for the team. Adrian declined, but he asked her to meet for a coffee when she came to Athens. They met in a cafe, and their conversation flowed so well that soon they were drinking Ouzo. One thing led to another. Well, that was long ago. They stayed in touch, but focused on their careers. This disappointed Angela. Angie was a delicate woman, who could not understand a few things: how would her daughter find a husband and have children when she spent most of her time on airplanes travelling from one part of the world to another? No man would ever accept this! Her daughter was wasting her existence! Marion was just as stubborn as her father and it was almost impossible to reason with her! While bringing the coffee, Angela said:
“Have you spoken with that cute doctor from Athens lately?”
Marion smiled. Here we go... The same discussion: a woman's soul could not feel completely fulfilled without a husband and children! Gosh, mom, I love you, because you have the heart of an angel, but this would be a great time to give up your traditional values!
“Yes, mom, we've talked recently.”
“Why don't you invite him here? He could use a break, poor little thing, he works so much at the hospital! Is he still so thin?”
“Yes, mom, he works a lot.”
“I admire him very much! He has a bright future! Did he get married, by any chance?”
“I don't think so... He's extremely busy at the hospital.”
“Call and invite him here. Maybe he’ll manage to take time off, and you could spend a week here.”
“Mom, I can't stay here for a week. I have a busy schedule. I'm leaving tomorrow.”
“I think if he manages to take time off, considering his profession, you could postpone your parties with those journalists!”
Marion gritted her teeth. Do you really have to praise every working male, mother?! You'll never change! - she exhaled, as the picture she had in mind clarified. There was a bottomless precipice between them, and Marion had hoped for a way to cross it, but her mother would live the last part of her life and would die convinced that her daughter was stubbornly refusing the true happiness that a husband and child could have brought into any woman's life. The young woman shrugged: her mother had only two options: either she would understand once and for all that her choices were really bringing her happiness or she would be frustrated until her death that her daughter did not share her vocation for a family life. Well, the second option is more plausible! Marion thought. Her mother's answer had been the same every single time: “Marion, when you have a child, only then you'll understand that you were not truly happy before!”
Angela was well-loved because she helped everyone and she understood anything, anytime. Only with me, you lack that understanding! You're so annoying, with your stubbornness! My career seems meaningless to you. You insist on believing that you know better than me what will make me happy! I’ve had enough!
Marion cleared her throat, ready to yell. She opened her mouth, but her phone rang. She answered. It was Timea Dulay, that nice lady she had met at the hospital, the ward mate and professional colleague of Adrian. Marion didn’t allow Timea to talk and began presenting her with the good results of the analyses performed at the museum. She told Timea about the reports:
“They are negative! All negative! I can send you the files! So you see, my dear Timea, there is no reason for concern. Absolutely none. I will send you copies of all the results I’ve received. Are you still at the hospital? I would like to meet you for a cup a coffee. Today I'm in Skiathos, but tomorrow morning I'll be returning to Athens. Please take care of yourself! You have no reason to worry!”
Marion was aware that the hospitals were flooded with tourists, brought by ambulances, taxis, friends and family, because they had passed out at the museum, but Adrian's hypotheses turned out to be true. After all, the logical explanations were indeed the heat, the crowds, the fatigue. She rushed to say all these things to Timea. When she stopped for a second to catch her breath, Timea managed to get a word in:
“Marion, your news is really good. But this isn't the reason I called you. Unfortunately, I have extremely bad news. Your friend, Dr Loukas, you know... it hurts my heart that I'm the one who has to inform you...
“Timea, what has happened to him?”
“The poor man, he died. They could not do anything for him...”
“Are... are you sure?”
“I’m sorry. I was here the whole time...”
Marion tried to swallow. But her throat was scorched on the inside and the pain made her choke. She put her hand on her neck and then her chest, trying to grasp an invisible claw that was crushing her ribs. Then she burst into tears. Adrian... She knew that they could have had more than a friendship, but their professions, their ambitions... A door had always been open between them and she had always considered that she could cross the threshold at any time. Ten years had passed since they had met, ten years of one-night stands and career-building, ten years of warm friendship and lack of courage. I feared that a romance could distract us from our careers... Now you're dead and I didn't get the time to say good-bye... Between her tears, she said to Timea that she would return to Athens as soon as she could. She ended the call.
Angela, who had been observing her daughter, failed to understand what had happened. Marion briefly told her, amid crying hiccups. Her mother had a thousand questions: when, where, why, how did it happen, how did they fail to save him?
“Mom, I don’t know much. I'm going to Athens and I'll find out. I'm leaving now, I'm not staying until tomorrow.”
Angela had all kinds of objections and opinions. On the one hand, she would have wanted her daughter to stay. Maybe she wouldn’t find a flight, maybe it would be better to stay, to rest. On the other hand, she was very confused and curious about the unexpected death of the young doctor. He was the same age as her daughter – almost 37 years old. But her daughter left in a hurry, leaving her alone with her concerns.
Not long after, Marion was again at the hospital, where she found Timea, pale and frowning. Ryan had come too, even paler than his wife. The hospital was filled with dead people. Every two minutes, Ryan was asking Timea how she was feeli
ng. Timea sighed and answered one more time:
“I'm good. No need to worry.”
She continued to tell Ryan that she had spoken to Dr. Loukas and Karides about her assumptions that there was something wrong and also that she had persuaded them to carry out serious tests.
“The results are negative, Ryan.” Timea said. “No biological, chemical or physical threats...”
Ryan waved his hand a few times, shaking his head, then raised both his arms as if he wanted to embrace the surroundings, and yelled:
“Then how do you explain this?”
People were still dying and no one knew why. All those who had died had gone through the same sequence: they had felt relatively well for a while, then suddenly they had become totally unbalanced. Despite everything, every hour, many patients were still going into cardio-respiratory arrest and could not be resuscitated. Ryan had tried to garner information from the medical staff, hoping that a reason for all the deaths had been found or that at least a hypothesis had been postulated. He had obtained only dismissive shrugs and lost gazes. The doctors and nurses were unable to control the avalanche of deaths, the number of patients who were still arriving with the same symptoms, and the general chaos. The news that Dr. Loukas himself had died had spread and the patients were panicking even more, because “They couldn’t even save a doctor!”
***
Timea looked around: the doctors and nurses were wandering the wards without direction, whispering among themselves in trembling voices, while the patients were yelling in all the languages of Earth, begging or threatening, seeking to find help to survive. Ryan, pale, was gazing at her, waiting for her to start, at any second, to manifest those symptoms of extreme weakness that he had seen in doctor Loukas, who then had ceased to breathe. Well... I'm sure I'll make it... Why, she could not figure out yet, but all the information she had gathered had to be put in some order. She needed to think, but not at the hospital. Next to her, Marion Karides, whom she had just met, was trembling, crying, looking around and failing to understand how and why this general madness had begun. So Timea said she had decided to leave the hospital and suggested to go together to the hotel, to talk in peace. Ryan disagreed, but she continued:
The Trojan Horse Pandemic Page 3
