They likely wouldn’t let him leave, but he could at least get back into some real clothes. He doubted they could stop him doing that, but he didn’t intend to give them the chance, so he was taking advantage of his new-found privacy to get dressed. And as fast as possible.
He was half-in and half-out of his pants and trying hard to keep his balance when Dr. Harker came in without warning. Blushing, David collapsed onto the bed, fighting to pull up his pants as he fell. Lifting her gaze from the workpad in her hands, Amita only shook her head and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve already seen it all.”
David felt his face burn as he wondered whether she’d meant that in the general sense or the specific—he’d been out of it for a long while. Then he decided he didn’t want to know.
He had to clear his throat a couple times before he could speak. “I must look like a complete klutz—just when the nurse had said I’m well enough to get up and move around.”
Dr. Harker looked at him for a minute. “Maybe we should keep you in bed, then.”
Pulling his shirt down, David tried to grin. “I’m feeling good enough to get out of here, really. But I don’t suppose you want to let me loose? I suppose I might infect others.”
She took off her glasses. “It’s too late for that.”
His shoulders slumped as he sighed. “Then Director Miles and Chief Nelson have been reinfected, and it’s my fault?”
Amita just nodded. “Well, that too. But apparently the virus had mutated before they brought you in. It seems you’d already spread the new flu strain to Chief Cameron, as well as a dozen or more others on your way to work Monday morning.”
David felt the blood drain from his face. Not his old friend Ken? “How is Chief Cameron? Fiona and the girls—what about them?”
She walked up and stood in front of him. “Chief Cameron has a strong constitution and will be fine if he gets plenty of rest. We don’t know yet if his wife was infected, but we’ve got her in isolation to be safe and are monitoring their daughters.”
“I feel like a regular Typhoid Mary, Doctor.”
Dr. Harker gave him a stern look. “Stop that. I told you it’s not your fault. I can barely believe myself that a mild type C strain of influenza could suddenly shift into a virulent type A. You couldn’t have known what was happening. Didn’t I also tell you to call me Amita?”
He was able to grin at that. “Yes, Doctor.” She had tried to explain to him, but he wasn’t very familiar with all the biology. But apparently only a type A strain of the flu could undergo the kind of dramatic change as had seemingly occurred inside his body—an antigenic shift she’d called it. The milder B and C types could only mutate gradually over time. Or so everyone had thought.
Amita glanced back down at her workpad. “The new influenza strain seems to be highly transmissible—we’re already seeing several tertiary infections from the people you had spread the virus to. And it develops rapidly in its host. Chief Cameron said he was already experiencing symptoms early yesterday but went to work anyway, wearing a mask and keeping his distance from people. That would’ve helped some, but with this more virulent strain it wouldn’t be sufficient to stop the spread entirely. And we’ve already seen a couple cases come in of people who’d caught the flu from him.”
A lot of questions had been piling up in David’s head as she talked. “Doctor,” he started. When she frowned at him, he began again. “Amita. You don’t sound very upset that this virus is spreading so rapidly. But if it’s really that highly contagious, why are you standing so close to me? And why are you bothering to tell me all this in the first place? Don’t you have better things to be doing?”
She lifted her eyes and gazed at him with a look he couldn’t interpret. “I’m not happy that we have a dangerous influenza outbreak on our hands, David. But I am relieved to see this new strain behaving in a predictable fashion. So far all the cases we’ve seen that trace back to you were transmitted along usual vectors, which means we’re getting a handle on who might’ve been infected. It gives us a good chance of containing the outbreak. Eventually. The sisters at least know what to do, and they’re working to track down everyone you had contact with and the people they contacted and so forth. Maybe we’ll manage to get ahead of this thing. That pleases me.”
David blushed. “Alright, I’m sorry if it sounded like I was accusing you of being heartless—that’s not what I meant.”
“As a security officer you should be able to understand the need for cultivating an attitude of professional detachment. Chief Nelson told me you’re a promising investigator, detail-oriented and highly observant.” He wasn’t surprised to hear a great deal of skepticism in her voice. “That was why I requested you be assigned here, to help me.”
“What?” Transferred to the clinic? What in the world had his boss been saying about him? “I would have thought you’d know by now that I don’t have a background in biology.”
Dr. Harker blinked at him. “I have Officer Mori for the technical side of things. But I need someone who’s good at questioning people, to elicit all the information I need to trace the paths of this pathogen. Which brings me back to your question about why I can stand so close. I just confirmed the test results, from the blood the nurse took from you this morning. You’re completely free of the virus, David, and can’t infect anyone anymore.”
David realized his mouth was hanging open and closed it. “Completely free? I know I feel great, but how is that possible?”
“We don’t go by how you feel, but what’s in your blood. And that’s no trace of any strain of the virus, but plenty of antibodies. That’s what we’d expect to find from a healthy person who’s completely recovered from the flu. It’s just occurred abnormally fast in your case.”
“If the antibodies are in my blood, you can create a cure from that, can’t you?”
She sighed. “No, David. At least, it’s conceivable that we could create an antibody serum from the immunoglobulin in your blood, but it’s a long, difficult process. An iffy proposition at best, and success would come too late to help us here. The only thing that might help is if you donated blood plasma for a transfusion.”
“Great. That means that you can help the chiefs and the director and Fiona and—”
Dr. Harker held up her hand to stop him. “No, I couldn’t, David. You don’t have that much blood in you. The most I could countenance would be giving enough to help one other person—to make sure they received sufficient antibodies to be of use. Then you would need days before you’d be able to give plasma to help someone else. So you can see it would never be enough.”
David nodded reluctantly. “Then let me donate my blood to give Ken a transfusion. After all, I gave him the virus in the first place.”
Amita smiled at him and sighed. “Alright, I can go along with that—you’re strong enough, and stubborn, that I suppose I’ll have to. You’re fortunate to be a universal donor, but the sisters will still have to run tests to check. And while they’re making preparations, I’ll see you have a hearty breakfast. So you can keep up your strength and start helping us with the investigation.”
David shook his head. “I still don’t understand how I could be much help.”
“It’s not just that you can’t infect others, you’ve acquired an immunity to this strain of the virus—so you can approach people who are contagious, without fear of contracting the virus yourself. With this new, more virulent version, I’m insisting the sisters use more stringent protocols. So your interviewing these people will save us a lot of time. And we need answers fast.”
“I can certainly ask questions, as long as you’re able to make sense of what I find.” David certainly couldn’t. “And it’ll help that I don’t have to wear all that hazmat gear. I can make people feel more comfortable. It will help them open up.”
Dr. Harker pursed her lips. “I’ll be busy analyzing this virus in the lab, trying to understand it. I’ll need you and Officer Mori to correlate patient histories and
figure out the transmission patterns. Don’t worry about the technical aspects—Officer Mori can help you with that. She should be here soon, so she can bring you up to speed on the investigation while you’re having the plasma filtered out of your blood.”
David felt a little woozy just hearing her say the words. He tried not to imagine what it would be like—though he’d soon discover the reality. But he had to do it. For Ken. “Go ahead and set it up then, and I’ll try to pay attention to Michelle’s technical talk.” He’d have to focus, or it would all go in one ear and out the other. “But I can’t wait to get out and about in the fresh air, Doctor. Despite how kind everyone has been here.”
“Amita. And don’t be in too much of a hurry to get out of here—you’ll be weak from giving blood. I insist on giving you a thorough examination before you start running around exerting yourself. And I’m sorry, but the first job I’ll have for you won’t involve going outside.”
He managed to keep from groaning, but in spite of himself he was curious. “So what’s the job? I was under the impression you wanted me out interviewing people.”
Dr. Harker nodded. “That, too. But first I want more thorough backgrounds on the original cases. I don’t think you grasp how unusual this outbreak is. At least the way it started. Nineteen patients came in Sunday evening—all having developed symptoms around the same time. Someone had to infect those people, and there may be more than one carrier, but we haven’t been able to find them yet.”
David didn’t understand how that could be. “I’d think it would be simple to see who was sick and had come into contact with all, or at least several, of the ones you know about.”
“People can be asymptomatic and still be contagious. Like you. You say you felt fine all night, and only began feeling weary and woozy in the morning, when you had a perfectly good reason for feeling so bad—having stayed up all night.”
“But that was only the beginning. I kept getting worse, and it became obvious I had the flu.” Not to him, though, as he’d been unconscious at the time.
She shook her head. “Because the influenza virus inside your body had mutated, trying to survive, it hit you all over again.”
“Like it’s doing now to Director Miles and Chief Nelson.”
“Yes. But whoever they’d caught the flu from, it was just the mild strain. The person or persons who spread it to you and the other original victims could easily never have known they had the virus. That is why I need your help to track them down. The first step to do that is to more thoroughly document and analyze every contact the first patients had over the forty-eight hours before they began to notice symptoms. They’re all here, ask them questions.”
David sighed. “So I’m going to be stuck here for a long time.”
She smiled at him again. “Not that long, David. And remember, I’m treating you to breakfast in the clinic cafeteria.” They did have really good food. “I know you must’ve had more than enough of lying in a hospital bed for a while, but you’ll have to manage another stretch when you give blood. But since you aren’t contagious anymore, you can step outside for some fresh air any time you need.”
“Thank God for that.” Fresh air and he needn’t worry about infecting anyone else.
“Now, let’s go get you some food. While we eat you can think up more questions to ask.”
David nodded. He’d need that hearty breakfast—he’d apparently done plenty of damage, and soon enough he’d be hard at work trying to help Michelle and Dr. Harker make up for his mistakes. Even if all he could do was ask lots of questions and record the answers. At least it would be something.
Chapter 7
Another Attempt at Escape
11:15 a.m. Wednesday, May 21st
ANTHONY felt horrible. He’d thought the effects of that initial shot containing the mild flu virus had been bad, but it had been nothing compared to this. At least he was doing better than Miles. Turning his head, he saw his friend remained completely unconscious—dead to the world—but at least Miles wasn’t suffering. Maybe Anthony should ask the sisters to sedate him as well.
His head was stuffed full of cotton wool, leaving him feeling disconnected and out of it anyway. And despite that, his skull still managed to throb with incredible pain. His throat was terribly dry, but since he’d refused IV fluids, he had only a pitcher of water and a glass at his bedside to slake his thirst. It never seemed to be enough.
The door to their room swung open and the cute sister who’d replaced the male nurse, who’d caught this mutated strain of the flu from David, sauntered in. The sight of her, even with that mask on, helped distract Tony from his pain, and he almost smiled at the thought of her coming to ease his fevered brow. Then she was followed in by another sister, this one wearing the full hazmat gear. Seeing that shapeless plastic suit made him shudder.
The only occasions on which Anthony had seen two nurses at a time so far had been when they were bringing somebody in or taking somebody out. Last night they had brought a disgruntled Ken in to take David’s place in the third bed. This morning they’d come to take him away again for some sort of experimental medical procedure. He hadn’t yet returned. So far there’d been no word of explanation, and now this.
Then the overdressed one approached his bedside, and Anthony saw that mass of red curls no helmet could hide and realized he had a visitor. Taking the still half-filled glass of water, he wet his throat at least enough to croak at her. “It really does nothing for you, Care, that new outfit.”
Even through the plastic visor of the face shield she was wearing, she managed to glare at him quite effectively. “I’m not going to take any chances, and neither are the sisters.” He wasn’t quite sure whether she meant on her behalf or their own.
“If you’re here to see your husband, Miles is out cold.” Thankfully it wasn’t Kat who’d come—he was vain enough to not want her seeing him looking this awful.
Caroline glanced over at the man she’d married and shrugged. “You’ll do almost as well.”
“That’s quite the honor you’re giving me, but as you can see, I’m not in a position to do you a favor.” Of course she wanted something from him. And he didn’t have to ask how she had gotten permission to visit them in isolation. She certainly had a way with people.
She turned and nodded at the nurse, who withdrew from the room, leaving them alone. She gazed down into his face. “I’m not going to ask how you’re doing—I can see. Is Miles really doing that bad?”
Anthony started to laugh, but it became a short fit of coughing. Once that was over and he’d cleared his throat, he tried to allay her concerns. “Miles just wants to sleep through his symptoms, so he had the sisters sedate him—he had no intention of having to experience something so rough.”
“But macho Mr. Nelson wouldn’t have any such relief, would you Tony?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Caroline squinted at him. “Don’t you? Then tell me why you didn’t let them give you some rest too.”
Anthony grinned. “Jon insisted one of us ought to stay conscious, in case of an emergency requiring one of us to make a tough decision. And since Ken’s in with us now—” He glanced over at the third bed. “Though I don’t know where he’s got to, so the job is mine by default.”
She snorted gracefully. “As if Ms. Belue isn’t capable of making the tough decisions without getting advice from one of you men. Speaking of the deputy director, she’s one of the reasons I came. How well do you know her, Tony? Really, I mean.”
He nodded to himself. He wasn’t so out of it he couldn’t see where Caroline was coming from—and where she was headed. She had gotten herself onto the Community Council, and now she was probably trying to take it over. That would mean dealing with Verity, among others.
“If you’re looking for help handling Ms. Belue, I don’t know that I’d give it to you even if I could. But as it is, I’ve never been able to understand the woman myself.”
“That’s not very helpful, Tony. The situation is getting serious, and I don’t know what kind of game she’s playing.”
Anthony sighed. “There’s only one thing I know for sure, Care. Whatever she’s doing, Verity always plays Jon’s game. As usual, he’ll have thought dozens of moves ahead and given her instructions.” Of course there were always things Miles missed, like a mild virus mutating into a dangerous epidemic. “So she’ll be guided by the tactics your husband had decided on when he started this. The question is how well she’ll adapt the strategy as everything changes. And it always does.” It had already.
Caroline only nodded. “Maybe you can help me with some of the others. I’m not worried about Jeffrey Minchin or Dr. Harker, but I don’t know much about Dean Kittner, and Sara King is…”
He tried to guess the opinion she was hesitating over. “An unpredictable brat? I remember you calling your own daughter that. A long time ago.”
She squinted hard at him. “Don’t use language like that. I’m not nearly old enough for anything to be a long time ago for me.”
Even though his sore muscles protested, Anthony planted his palms on the bed and pushed himself to sit upright. “Watch out for Alice. She ought to be on the administration’s side generally speaking, but she didn’t get where she is without a lot of ambition and a willingness to play hardball. She was a radical when she was young, so there’s likely a street fighter in there somewhere. Underneath the bureaucrat.”
“And what about Sara? You hired her, and you trained her, so you ought to know.”
Anthony shook his head. “She hasn’t been with Security that long. She comes from a wealthy family and feels entitled. She’s headstrong and won’t take direction without biting back. But she shows promise. When she drops the attitude.”
Caroline sighed. “So she’s like my daughter.”
Starting the Slowpocalypse (Books 1-3 Omnibus) Page 50
