The room became completely silent when the industrial door closed. A breeze from the outside offset the hot, dry air and the scent of linen and aldehyde. Some lint dust danced in the bit of sunshine that streamed through the basement window. The stillness was erry, almost palatable, until it was broken by two figures climbing out of a laundry bin.
"Can you believe this, Bogg?" the younger Voyager laughed. "An actual soft landing!"
"Yeah, that doesn't happen very often, does it?" Bogg replied cheerfully. "Imagine getting dropped into this bin just as it was being wheeled in here. Now, let's find out where "here" is." He flipped open his Omni. "Washington DC, November 30 1960. And it's a red light. Any thoughts, kid?"
Jeff shook his head. "Nope, doesn't a ring a bell. And Bogg,..." he glanced at the over sized machines, rows of white uniforms and the sterile packages that lined the shelves. "Far be it from me to complain about a soft landing, but we're obviously in a hospital or an institution of some kind. I hope that laundry was clean."
"Hmmm..." Bogg's expression sobered a bit. "I see your point kid, but we can't worry about that now and we're not going to find out anything down here. Let's go upstairs and start looking around."
"Put one of these on,'' Jeff suggested pointing to a rack of lab coats. "That way people won't ask too many questions."
Jeffery was right. They were in what looked like a hospital emergency department. The Voyagers came up from the stairwell and the door open into a hallway. There was a room full of patients at the end of the hall and a busy nurse was moving among them.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as they walked towards the room. Then a shaky, ashen faced young woman staggered out of the ladies' room and made her way to a vacant wheelchair, leaning against the wall for support.
"Are you all right, ma'am?" Jeff asked, visibly concerned as he assisted her. "Can we get anything for you? A drink of water maybe?"
"No, the last thing I need right now is anything in my stomach," the woman replied, hazel green eyes looking up from her sandy bangs. "But thank you anyway. You're very kind."
"You're welcome, ma'am. My name's Jeffery Jones and this is..."
"Jeffery ..." the woman mused. "What a nice name."
Bogg, who had been standing off to the side smiled during this dialogue, touched by the boy's compassion. Unfortunately, this feeling was apparently not shared by a frazzled looking nurse who had just come from the waiting room.
"Young man, what are you doing?" she asked Jeff, perhaps more sharply than she intended. Jeff looked up with surprise, uncertain how to respond. He didn't need to, however. Bogg stepped forward and he cleared his throat.
"A doctor, finally!" the nurse exclaimed with relief turning her attention to the patient and apparently forgetting about Jeff. "Doctor this is Mrs. Sarah White..."
Mrs…. bat's breath! Bogg thought with a smirk, noticing the woman was rather attractive and approximately his age.
"She's suffering from extreme morning sickness..." the nurse continued
"Like it stops at noon!" Mrs. White quipped.
The nurse smiled at her sympathically and said, "Now that the doctor's here, I'll give you some Kevadon."
Suddenly Jeff's dark eyes snapped open with alarm and he shook his head wildly.
"No!" Bogg said abruptly, seeing Jeff's reaction.
"No?" the nurse repeated in disbelief. "but doctor, Kevadon is the safest, most effective treatment we have for morning sickness!"
The boy continued to shake his head wildly and staggered backwards down the hall.
"Oh Jeff, you're having a seizure!" Bogg exclaimed, picking Jeff up and laying him on a near by gurney.
"I know what's happening now," Jeff whispered, as the older Voyager took his pulse and peered into his fear dilated eyes.
"Doctor, what about our patient?" the nurse asked, with an irritated note in her voice.
"Yes, where can I take him?" Bogg demanded, not looking up.
"The examination room's the door on your left. But doctor, what about Mrs. White?"
"Get someone else to help you with her!" Bogg ordered as he wheeled Jeff into the room. The nurse gave an exasperated shrug and walked away as the door closed behind them.
"What's going on, kid?" Bogg asked, unbuttoning his lab coat and helping Jeff sit up.
"Kevadon was the trade name for thalidomide," explained Jeff."
"Thali- what?"
"Thalidomide was drug used to treat morning sickness in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was considered absolutely safe, but it actually caused terrible birth defects. The children were born with their arms and legs seriously deformed, or missing completely, and a lot of them died even before they were born."
"Seriously?" Bogg exclaimed. "That's horrible!"
"Yeah," Jeff continued, "but the United States was spared almost completely from the disaster because a scientist with a lot of guts kept the drug from being licensed here."
"Then I guess we better find this scientist," Bogg concluded. "Who was he?"
"She," Jeff corrected, amused at Bogg's surprised expression.
A/N: Like it so far? The conclusion is about 2/3 finish, but I could really use a beta reader to bounce ideas off. Anyone interested?