Infected

by Alana Terry

  “What should I tell them?” Kennedy pictured Carl's broad, smiling face. He was so strong. Of course, he could afford to lose some weight. All that brawn and muscle that had made him a formidable Saints linebacker in his day had softened and filled out over time, but he was in perfect health for his age. In fact, he could easily pass as a decade or two younger. Kennedy had seen a picture of him and Sandy on their wedding day, and the only difference between then and now was that he’d gained forty or fifty extra pounds and traded a full head of hair for a pair of spectacles.

  “I don’t know what’s going on, sweetheart, but you know Carl. He’d go visiting folks in the hospital every day of his life but wouldn’t voluntarily step foot in one as a patient unless it was something pretty severe.”

  “Is it ...” Kennedy wasn’t sure how to ask the question. Wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. “Does it have anything to do with the epidemic?” She didn’t speak over a whisper. She tried not to glance at Willow, who was offering her a sympathetic look from the dining room table.

  Kennedy heard a noise in the background of Sandy’s call. She thought she recognized Carl’s voice but couldn’t tell what was going on. Was he coughing? Crying out? Her throat seized up.

  “Kennedy, I’ve got to go. Why don’t you grab Woong and meet us here at Providence.”

  Kennedy had never heard so much fear in Sandy’s voice before. She croaked out “Ok,” but Sandy had already disconnected the call. Kennedy stared at the blank screen.

  “Was that your pastor’s wife?” Willow asked.

  “Yeah, she’s taking Carl to Providence right now. He’s having some ...”

  Willow cleared her throat loudly. “Well, hello. Sounded like you were having fun back there. Which Princess Bride character are you?”

  “I’m the funny white-haired guy with the chocolate pill.” Woong gave out a squeaky impression of Billy Crystal. “You better leave or I’ll call the brute squad.”

  They both giggled. Thank God Willow was here to entertain Woong while he recited movie lines. Kennedy’s brain was too stunned to do anything but stare at the cluttered counter.

  “Hey,” Willow asked, “what other movies do you like? Have you seen The Avengers?”

  Woong frowned. “Only the cartoon ones. My mom won’t let me watch the real thing.”

  “Well, do you have a favorite Avenger character?”

  “Iron Man!” Woong answered excitedly.

  “Do you have any Iron Man action figures?”

  “Action what?”

  “You know. Toys to play with. Toys that look like Iron Man.”

  “Oh, yeah. Wanna see?”

  “Sure do. Why don’t you go pick out your favorite from your room and bring it out here?” Willow turned to Kennedy as Woong sped down the hall. “What can I do to help?”

  Kennedy pressed her fingertips against her temples. She had to focus. “Sandy has some people she wants me to call. People from the church. She’s got the numbers in that journal over there.” She pointed to the notebook. “And she said ...” Her voice caught for just a moment before she seized control of herself. “She said we should bring Woong and meet them at the hospital.”

  Willow stood up and grabbed the journal with the phone numbers. “Then that’s what we’re going to do.” She walked down the hall and handed Kennedy her sweater. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  “I don’t have the car,” Kennedy explained. “The youth pastor’s borrowing it for the afternoon.” For the first time, she thought about Nick and wondered why he hadn’t returned the Honda earlier. She’d expected him back hours ago.

  “Don’t worry about that. We’ll take mine. I’ll drive and you can make those calls on the way. Please tell me you’ve kept your phone charged up this time.”

  Willow was only trying to lighten the mood. Kennedy’s negligence in keeping her phone batteries charged was a constant source of teasing. But until she found out just what was wrong with Carl, there was no way she could find anything amusing.

  “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya.” Woong rushed down the hall, holding a large Iron Man action figure and beaming proudly at Willow. “You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

  “That’s wicked awesome,” she exclaimed. “Hey, how old are you again?”

  Woong shrugged. “I dunno.”

  “No, seriously. How old are you?”

  “He really doesn’t know,” Kennedy whispered in her ear.

  Willow raised her penciled eyebrows. “Oh. Well, you’re old enough to put on your shoes by yourself, right?”

  Woong stared at his feet. “I’m already wearing my shoes.”

  “Look at that,” Willow exclaimed. “Well, why don’t you come out with me to my car, and when you’re buckled in, you can put them on the right feet, ok?”

  “Where are we going?” he asked. “I don’t think my mom wants me going anywhere with strangers on account of some of them turning into bad guys, and you can never tell who the bad guys are just by looking at them, you know.”

  Willow smiled. “Your mom’s right, and you’re a very smart boy for remembering what she said. Kennedy’s coming with us too, so that makes it all right, doesn’t it?”

  “I dunno.” He glanced at Kennedy. “She’s not a stranger to you, is she?”

  Kennedy slipped on her new spring sandals and gave a pitiful attempt at a smile. “No, this is my good friend Willow. She’s not a stranger.”

  Woong seemed appeased enough. “Where are we going?”

  She wondered how much she should tell him. Before she knew herself what was going on, was it worth making him more scared? “We’re going to visit your mom and dad.”

  “Wicked awesome!” Woong shouted and followed the girls out the door.

  CHAPTER 9

  Kennedy was only able to get a hold of six of the church members from Sandy’s prayer chain list. She called them on the way to Providence, while Willow and Woong held a loud, lengthy conversation about their favorite Marvel heroes and villains. By the time they pulled into the hospital parking lot, Kennedy’s insides were quivering like a glass of water left out in a Jurassic Park cafeteria table.

  “You holding up?” Willow asked quietly as everyone unbuckled.

  “I think so.” Kennedy thought about her dad, thought about how a crowded emergency room was the last place he’d want her to visit in the middle of the Nipah outbreak, but what choice did she have? She turned to Willow. “You want to just drop us off here? We don’t all have to go in.”

  “Isn’t this the hospital?” Woong asked. “Is my dad visiting someone from the church? Did someone from St. Margaret’s get sick? Wait, it’s not the nipple disease, is it?”

  Kennedy bit her lip so no one could see it tremble. Willow reached out and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll go in with you.”

  “You’re not worried about catching anything?” Kennedy asked.

  Willow shrugged. “How big of a hypocrite would I be if I were willing to go to New York City when there’s been like twenty or thirty people who’ve died there, but I wouldn’t step into a hospital to help a friend?”

  Kennedy returned her roommate’s smile and this time didn’t have to fake it. “Thanks.”

  “Hey, that’s what I’m here for.”

  They headed toward the emergency room entrance. Kennedy wished she’d brought more practical shoes than her little spring sandals. She also realized she’d left her backpack and Germ-X back at the Lindgrens’ home. Oh, well. Providence had several sanitation stations. Maybe they’d have masks too. That way, if her dad ever found out she’d been here, she could at least tell him she’d taken every possible precaution, or at least every reasonable one.

  “You have to be really careful when we get in,” she told Woong as they entered through the automatic doors. “Don’t put your hands on anything, and try not to touch your face, ok?”

  “Why not?”

  Kennedy didn’t have the stamina to give him a well thought out,
scientific response. “Just be careful, all right?” She felt like Forrest Gump’s mother, repeating the same couple phrases over and over again.

  Once they entered the ER, Woong frowned. “Hey, where’s my dad? This is usually the room where he visits people and prays with them. That reminds me, my head hurts. If I ask my dad to pray about it, think it’ll go away?”

  “Your dad’s in a different room this time,” Kennedy told him. “In fact, buddy, your dad’s here because ...”

  “Oh, baby boy, come over here, little pumpkin.” Sandy burst out of a doorway and bustled over to Woong, her long, flowered skirt rustling round her legs until she reached her son and smothered him in kisses.

  Woong squirmed in her arms.

  “I missed you so much, darling. Are you ok? Your daddy wants to see you. Kennedy, thank you so much for bringing him here. The doctors are doing tests right now, but they said I could bring him back. Were you a good boy for Miss Kennedy?” she asked. “You didn’t give her too much of a hard time? Your daddy’s been asking for you, honey. He’ll be so happy to know you came to see him.”

  And with that, Sandy ushered Woong past the nurse who held open a door labeled authorized personnel only.

  Kennedy and Willow looked at each other.

  “So do we wait or head out?” Willow asked.

  Kennedy glanced around. The ER wasn’t overcrowded, but it was more sick people than she was comfortable sharing space with if she didn’t have to. “Maybe I’ll text Sandy real quick and ask.” She pulled out her cell.

  “Yeah, what’s wrong with your pastor, anyway? I didn’t want to ask in the car. Didn’t want to worry the boy.”

  “Me either. But I have no idea what’s going on. Sandy didn’t really say anything, just that it seemed serious if it meant he’s here at the ER. He’s not that fond of doctors, actually.”

  Willow glanced around. “Can’t blame him.”

  Kennedy stared at the text on her screen. “Well, that was easy enough. Sandy said she’ll keep Woong here for now, so I guess that means we don’t have to stick around.”

  Willow shrugged. “All right. Hey, wanna hit L’Aroma Bakery? They’ve got this new eggless quiche I’ve been dying to try.”

  “I better not. My dad ...”

  Willow smiled. “Say no more. Time to go sequester ourselves again?”

  “I guess so.” They started to walk toward the exit. Kennedy cleared her throat. “Thanks for coming with me.”

  “No problem.”

  “I really mean it. That was ... Well, it was nice not having to drive Woong by myself. I was pretty worried.”

  “I could tell. Hey, can I ask you a question?

  “Sure.”

  “It’s about your PTSD.”

  “Oh.” Kennedy took a deep breath. Good. No choppiness. “Go ahead.”

  “I was wondering if you think you’re ...”

  “Kennedy!” The voice behind them made both girls stop and turn around.

  “Dominic!”

  “What are you both doing here?” he asked. Concern laced his words. “Everything ok?”

  “We just brought Woong over to see Carl,” Kennedy told him, hoping Dominic could give more details about her pastor’s condition.

  Dominic frowned. “Carl? Is he here visiting someone?”

  Kennedy bit her lip. “No, he’s here as a patient. You didn’t know?”

  “No.” Dominic glanced behind him once. “I got called here on different business.”

  “Everything ok?” she asked.

  “Oh.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “You know. Work stuff.” Why wouldn’t he meet her eyes? “So, you’re taking off then?” he asked.

  Kennedy tried to read his muted expression. She hated the way he couldn’t talk to her about his job as a police chaplain. She understood the need for privacy, but she was his girlfriend, after all.

  “Yeah, we’re heading out right now.” Was he trying to rush her out the door? What was going on?

  He looked relieved. “Ok, well, I’m glad we bumped into each other.”

  Kennedy paused. “Are you ok?”

  Dominic was looking over her shoulder. “Hmm.”

  She didn’t know if that was an affirmative sound or not. She reached out and touched his arm. “What’s wrong?”

  Something beeped, and he grabbed his pager out of his pocket. “I’m sorry, I’ve got to run. I’ll call you tonight.” He took off at a sprint.

  Willow chuckled. “Wow. When he said he had to run, I didn’t think he meant it quite so literally.”

  Kennedy stared after him. What was that all about?

  Willow planted on a chipper expression that clashed glaringly against Kennedy’s current mood. “So, we’ve got a whole week ahead of us, no kids to watch, and nowhere to go. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a little bit of fun.”

  Willow was right. This was spring break, after all. Even if the stupid epidemic meant they were trapped indoors, at least they could have a good time together. Board games. Movies. They’d find ways to keep each other from getting stir-crazy. And even though they were in the midst of an epidemic, maybe they could stop by the gas station on the way home and pick up a gallon of ice cream. What her dad didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.

  “All right, let’s head out.” Even though she felt bad for her roommate, she was thankful the New York trip had been cancelled. If you had to sit around hiding from a horrific virus, might as well do it with someone you enjoyed spending time with.

  “Sounds like a plan.” Willow rubbed Kennedy encouragingly on the back. Kennedy tried not to think of her strange run-in with Dominic. He was always serious at work, but that’s because he did his job so well, felt so much compassion and empathy for the families he prayed with and assisted. She knew he’d keep his word, and they’d talk more tonight. Until then, she and Willow could afford a day of fun.

  “Hold on.” Kennedy stopped at the hand sanitizing station by the exit. “All right.” She wiped the excess lotion on her pants legs and smiled at her roommate. “Let’s go.”

  The automatic doors swung open as an alarm blared across the hospital PA system.

  “This is a hospital-wide code 241. Repeat. Code 241, hospital wide.”

  Kennedy and Willow stopped and glanced at each other as a security officer came up behind them. “Excuse me. I need you both to have a seat in the lobby.” He stepped in front of them, blocking their exit.

  “What’s going on?” Kennedy asked.

  “Just have a seat.” He nodded toward the chairs in the waiting area as the announcer on the PA system repeated the encrypted announcement.

  Kennedy and Willow slowly made their way to two empty seats. Kennedy’s open-toed sandals, cute as they were, pinched against the sides of her feet. Another security officer closed the doors that connected the ER to the main hospital then stood there, mute and expressionless. Across from her, a middle-aged man coughed into his coat sleeve. A mother held her small son against her chest and adjusted his face mask to cover his mouth and nose. A baby cried somewhere behind her, but Kennedy didn’t turn around to look.

  “What do you think’s going on?” Willow asked.

  Kennedy made a valiant attempt to control the terror swirling around in her gut. She visualized herself compressing it into a tiny, infinitesimally small singularity, burying it along with all her other fears and anxieties.

  “I don’t have the slightest idea.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Kennedy tried calling Dominic’s cell five different times. Either he didn’t have it on or something kept him from answering.

  She went up to the nurses’ station and stood in line behind ten other people until the petite triage nurse finally told her that a Code 241 meant no one could enter or leave the building.

  “For how long?”

  “I can’t say.”

  “What are they keeping us here for?”

  “I really don’t know.”

  Did she know anything? “I came i
n to check on a friend. Carl Lindgren,” she explained. “Is there any way I can go back and see him?”

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry. Right now I can’t let you back there. Not with the hospital on lockdown.”

  “Is this a quarantine or something?”

  “I really can’t say. I’m sorry.”

  “Is it about the Nipah virus?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know any more than you do. I’m sorry.”

  I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

  Kennedy was sick of it.

  “Would you like a sanitation mask?” the nurse asked.

  “Sure. Actually, can I have two? I’m here with a friend.” At least they’d be waiting out this lockdown in style.

  “No problem.”

  Kennedy plodded back to her seat and handed her roommate a mask.

  “No answers?” Willow asked.

  “Nothing.”

  And so they waited. Willow wanted to play Scrabble on their phones, but Kennedy’s battery was running low.

  Willow sighed dramatically. “This stinks.”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s the Bible have to say about stuff like this?”

  Kennedy had grown used to Willow insulting religion for so long at first she thought she was joking. Her eyes alone proved Willow’s question was earnest.

  “I don’t know. I guess there’s Romans.” She shifted in her seat. It was uncomfortable the way the mask made her talk so much louder than normal to keep her words from getting muffled. “It says all things work together for good for those who love God.”

  “Yeah? Like we’re here on a hospital lockdown, and while we’re stuck here, I’m gonna end up meeting the love of my life? That sort of good?”

  Kennedy smiled. “No, it could just mean he’s teaching us patience.” Wasn’t there a verse like that in James? Or maybe it was one of the Peters. A verse about being thankful for your trials because they mature your faith. Why couldn’t she have done a better job memorizing Scripture and keeping track of all those references?