A Note From Lara: Okay, this is just an incredibly short chapter, only one short scene, to wrap up Pressing Matters. I know I said I was going to try to keep my updates consistant, and I promise this will be the only time I'll break that promise, 'kay?
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Peter walked through the rows of patients, surgical mask safely in place. At every makeshift cot, he stopped to ask if the occupant was comfortable, or to offer words of comfort. The ill were arranged by condition. The worst-stricken patients were on the far side of the gymnasium, while the least infected lay closer to the door.
It twisted Peter's heart to hear the coughing, and see little children lying in hospital beds with no one to care for them because all the medically trained people in Odessa were overwhelmed as it was. This was his fault, no matter what Parkman and Drey said to try and convince him otherwise.
He glanced across the sea of stricken people to the makeshift nurse's station. The boy he had met- Zack, who was Claire's friend- was working there. He had volunteered his help a few hours ago, and they had immediately put him to sanitizing everything in sight.
Peter paused by the bedside of a pretty blonde woman, who appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties. She was mixed in with those with the virus who weren't really seriously ill. "Do you need anything?" he asked gently.
She opened clear green eyes, yet untouched by fever, and smiled. "No. Not much wrong with me, really. I just can't--" She broke off, raising her hand in an obscure gesture.
"Can't what?" he asked.
"It's nothing. I'm just bored out of my mind," she said, but Peter had the distinct impression she was lying. "I picked a helluva day to try and come visit my daughter, didn't I? I came driving into town, started to feel funny. Next thing I know, I'm waking up here." She laughed mirthlessly.
Sensing that this woman needed a sympathetic ear, Peter shifted the unoccupied cot next to hers closer, and sat down on the edge of it. "I'm Peter," he said.
"Meredith," she answered, smiling. "Meredith Gordon."
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Another Note From Lara: Huh. I think the A/N's on this on might actually be longer than the chapter itself. *shrug*
Teasers for Chapter: Where Angels Fear To Tread
Elle awakens in unfamiliar surroundings
Sandra discovers that her children have absconded, and seeks help from.... ???
All this and more next time!