Chapter 2: Pandemic
"Are you okay ma'am?" the officer asked, placing his hand onto Caitlin's shoulder. She glared up at his face, unable to speak. The morning's events whirled through her mind; everytime she closed her eyes she could see the woman snapping at her face, blood dripping from her mouth. The officer signalled for one of the nurses to fetch her a glass of water and he took a seat beside her.
"I understand you're in shock but I need to ask you a couple of questions, can you answer them for me?"
"I-I'll try." she replied, rubbing her hands along her thighs.
"Okay, well first up Caitlin my name is Officer Halwood. I just need you to tell me what happened and why you were in that house."
"I don't know what happened! Some crazy woman attacked me! I was just trying to help, you know? I was taking a short cut to work because the traffic was horrific and I see a man lay on the ground, he told me his wife was inside and she was ill so I went to check on her... Then she.." Caitlin stopped, the image of the woman sprung into her thoughts, clawing away at her body. Officer Halwood handed her a glass of water and carried on writing his notes. All of a sudden Caitlin felt a wave of panic, she was over an hour late for work; as she pulled her phone out of her bag she saw that she had over ten missed calls from Michelle.
"Shit."
"Are you okay?" Officer Halwood asked, startled by her sudden outburst.
"No. I was due in work for 9... My boss is going to kill me."
"I'm sure she'll understand, go and give her a call. We can carry on when you get back."
Caitlin managed to drag herself from the chair and made her way through reception; she came across the small shop and wandered inside, she found herself buying cigarettes even though she hadn't smoked for over three years. Walking through the front doors of the hospital she embraced the warm sunshine on her skin, pulling a cigarette out of the packet and lighting it up she suddenly felt at ease. The first drag of the cigarette was the best, she smiled and turned to find Officer Halwood staring at her, laughing to himself.
"Can I help you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Look like you're enjoying that." he replied, lighting up his own cigarette.
"Are you spying on me?"
"Not at all."
Caitlin wandered off and dialled Michelle's number into her phone, as it began to ring she took a deep breath, preparing herself for the ear bashing that was bound to come her way.
"Caitlin? Where the hell are you? I've been stood outside the bakery for over an hour now. You know I can't enter the premises on my own!" Michelle hissed through the speakers.
"I know, I'm sorry. I'm at the hospital."
"Well a word of warning would've been nice. I'm going to have to call Fiona now and wait for her to come in and cover your shift. This is a joke. I've had four customers asking why I'm not open. You're losing me money here."
"I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking. I'll keep you updated." Caitlin said, putting the phone down before she could reply. She was so annoyed; that woman was so selfish and she couldn't bear to hear her voice anymore. Not after the day she had had.
"Ready?" Officer Halwood asked, creeping up on her yet again. She stumped the cigarette out and followed him back inside.
Caitlin was taken to a small waiting room; she found herself alone in there. The doctors and nurses were running around frantically; more and more patients were being wheeled into the hospital on stretchers, Caitlin was beginning to get anxious. Officer Halwood entered the waiting room, a worried look was spread across his face as he sat on the seat opposite her.
"Okay, I have one more question for you Caitlin. Where you bitten or scratched during the attack?"
Caitlin let out a nervous giggle; she certainly wasn't expecting a question like that. Officer Halwood kept a serious face, he obviously wasn't joking.
"No.. I don't think so."
"But you're not sure?"
"Well I'm pretty sure she didn't bite me.. Can't see any scratches. Why? What's that got to do with anything?" Caitlin quizzed him, confused by the whole situation. She had been in the hospital now for over an hour even though she had explained she wasn't injured and they had Officer Halwood following her around like a lap dog, scared in case she left the vicinity. Nothing seemed to make any sense.
"Well, I'm going to get one of the nurses to run a blood test and then we'll see what happens from there." he got to his feet but Caitlin grabbed his arm.
"Wait a minute. What's going on? I don't need a blood test, I've told you that I'm fine. I need to go. If I don't I'm not going to have a job by the end of the day."
"I understand that Miss Bates but please be patient, I'll be back in a minute." He pulled his arm out of her grasp and made his way out of the door leaving Caitlin alone once more. She was feeling extremely anxious about the situation now and began thinking about the news report on the radio, what if they were worried she had the infection? What would happen to Jessie if they didn't let her leave? Caitlin couldn't control her anxiety, she jumped up and rushed out of the waiting room. As she made her way down the corridor she noticed most of the staff were wearing masks. She started to speed up a little, keeping her eyes on the ground. There were footsteps behind her, getting closer. A nurse rushed past her and into one of the ward's, Caitlin let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey! Miss Bates! Wait!" came Officer Halwood's voice from down the corridor. Caitlin refused to turn around, she had to get out of the hospital, she didn't feel ill and certainly didn't want to catch anything from being around all those that were. As he began to gain on her she found herself sprinting towards the exit, without a word of warning a huge weight crashed on top of her and forced her onto the ground. Before she even had the chance to grasp what had just happened she was handcuffed and hoisted onto her feet.
"What the hell? What's going on?" Caitlin asked, completely baffled. Officer Halwood shook his head and led her back to the waiting room where a nurse was sat waiting for her.