The Joanna Protocol
Chapter 10
"There were some hard times,
But in the end, the successes will always remain."
Conchita Martinez
McCoy opened his eyes to a room filled with a pale grayish light. He glanced at his chrono and saw it was only 6:00 am; no wonder it was still dark outside, the San Francisco sun rarely made an appearance before 7 am. He yawned as fatigue dragged at him, but he knew the tiredness was more mental than physical. He had slept well and dreamlessly for a change. He turned to face the other twin bed and saw that it was empty. Spock must be up and about already. The smell of coffee and other good things reached him from the kitchen; he sat up in bed and reached for his robe while his feet sought his slippers; they were not to be found. He huffed in annoyance; he'd look for them later. San Francisco mornings were always chilly and he needed them.
He padded to the kitchen in his socks and saw Spock at the stove. "Morning, Spock. How are you this morning? What are you doin'?"
"Good morning, Doctor. I am well, and I'm making breakfast for us. Eggs, toast and fried tomatoes for you; porridge and tea for me. Is that acceptable?"
"Absolutely, Spock. Thank you. I'm hungry this morning for a change. I think I'd forgotten what hunger felt like. My stomach's been in knots since Jim broke the news to me about Joanna."
"That is understandable, Leonard." Spock put his and McCoy's plate on the table. He waited for McCoy to sit down before he sat too. "I am gratified that your appetite has returned. You must have adequate nourishment and rest to be at your best."
"Yeah, you're right, Spock, and I'll try to do better now that we've gotten through so much of our research." He swallowed some strong black coffee and ate hungrily. The eggs were good; fluffy and not over done, the tomatoes, fried just like he liked them, and the toast was still warm when he put a pat of butter on it.
"Good job on the breakfast, Spock, it's mighty good. Thank you."
Spock nodded and mindful of Jim's injunction to him to watch over McCoy asked, "Did you sleep well, Doctor?"
"Yeah, I slept like a log. I was real tired last night and I'm still a little tired this morning. Guess I should have slept a little longer. Have you heard anythin' from Jim?"
"Not yet. I believe we will not hear anything until this afternoon or this evening. Today was their first full day at the bank. We can rest assured that the Captain will report to us as soon as he is able."
McCoy sighed. "I surely hope so, Spock. I worry 'bout that boy, 'specially when I'm not with him. I sure hope we can find the terrorists. Jim was mighty mad 'bout Joanna, although I could tell he was holdin' it in for my sake. You know how much he loves Jo." He rose from the table and took his plate and coffee mug to the recycler. "I'm gonna' take a shower and then we can go. I want to look in on Jo before we go back to the lab, and maybe check in and see how Jocelyn is holdin' up. Jim will want a report on how baby girl is doin'."
"I will clean the kitchen and make our beds while you shower, Doctor. We will leave as soon as you are ready to go."
McCoy finished his shower, dressed, looked for his lost slippers and found them under the bed, then checked his comm again. There was still nothing from Jim. McCoy was anxious to hear what they'd discovered at the bank; if they'd gotten anywhere in their search for the names of the terrorists. He met Spock at the door, and they walked to SFM. There was only pale diffused sunlight peeking up over the horizon, and there was fog, thick, and smoky, hovering over the bay. The San Francisco Bridge looked ominous peeking in and out of the dense fog. The morning was chilly and he was glad of his SF issued jacket this morning. Spock too, was wearing his. Both Bones, being from warm Georgia, and Spock, from hot Vulcan, generally disliked the chilly weather. Jim, being from frigid Iowa, was the one who enjoyed the cold.
They reached the hospital and went through the onerous security checks and walked down the hall to Joanna's room. "I will go directly to the lab, Leonard. Take as much time as you need with your daughter and with Ms. Darnell. I will be running our computer simulations so there is not need for you to hurry. I will meet you in the lab," said Spock.
McCoy nodded and entered Joanna's room. The room was softly lit and the little girl was on her back this time. The nurse had changed her pajamas; they were covered with yellow baby ducks similar to the ones that McCoy had sent her for Easter. The nurse stood by the bed, her gloved hands gently running a sponge over the little girl. Joanna received a bath every morning. They could have used a sonic on her, it was faster and did a great job, but research had shown that patients who were unconscious or in stasis, needed to be gently touched several times a day. McCoy noticed her long brown hair was brushed, shining in the soft light of the room and spread out behind her on the bed. The nurse nodded and smiled. "Good morning, Dr. McCoy."
McCoy looked at her name tag. "Morning, Nurse Gardetto. How's my little girl doing this morning?"
"She's doing well, Doctor. Her vital signs are all good; I weighed her this morning and she hasn't lost any weight. Her PT is scheduled for 8 am. Today the therapist will be working with her neck, shoulders, and legs. This afternoon, it will be her arms, fingers, and hips. Her reflexes are still very good; I checked them all this morning" She handed him a padd. "Here's her chart with all the notations from the 10 pm, 2 am and 6 am shifts."
McCoy checked the chart carefully. All her vital signs were good. He was satisfied with what he saw; Joanna was doing well. It was always tricky when a patient was in an induced coma or in stasis. Great vigilance was required of all the medical staff to make sure the body didn't deteriorate during that time. Muscle mass was lost quickly, as was bone density, especially in a child Joanna's age. Her artificial feeding had to be carefully calibrated to be sure she received enough calories, calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients that growing children got as a matter of course during their day. She was weighed twice a day, and the physical therapist checked her reflexes and muscle mass twice daily. The nutritionist checked her blood calcium, minerals, and vitamin D on a daily basis.
"Thank you, Nurse Gardetto. We're hoping she won't have to be in stasis much longer. I'll come again during my lunch hour," McCoy's gloved hand stroked her soft cheek and he ran a long finger down her small nose. His hand brushed lightly over her forehead; even through the glove, he could tell that she was cool to the touch, her skin soft and supple and her lips and cheeks had their usual rosy hue. She looked healthy. He left Joanna's room and went next door to check on Jocelyn. Her nurse also reported that all was well with Joanna's mother and McCoy, checking her chart, saw that she too, was holding her own.
McCoy walked down the corridor and stood in front of the lab door, but not close enough to trigger the door opening. He breathed deeply, centering himself and reining in his excitement and high expectations, trying to distance himself from outside worries and concerns, divorcing his mind from his deep constant worry about Joanna. Right now, he had to put everything aside and focus only on his medical expertise and extensive scientific and research knowledge in order to be an effective researcher and doctor. He'd had a lot of practice doing this; it was what he always had to do when Jim was brought to him torn and bleeding, sometimes at death's door. He sighed; he was not always successful.
He entered the lab, grabbed his lab coat and saw that Spock was already at work, deeply focused on the virtual computer models. This morning's simulation was the effects of the inert Choriocytosis gene therapy on Vulcan and humanoid circulatory and pulmonary systems. McCoy and Spock both knew they were very close to a cure and this simulation was the last one they would have to do. McCoy sent a mental thank you to Dr. Sobar, the main researcher at the Vulcan Science Academy. His findings had been invaluable in hastening the search for the cure. Later today, their results would be forwarded to him and his research team on Vulcan.
"Doctor, all the virtual computer models will conclude in 43 minutes. If they are successful, which I am 97.4 percent certain that they will be, we can proceed to the next step."
The next step, thought McCoy, is a doozy. He and Spock would need to determine the exact mechanism that had triggered the mutated Choriocytosis strain in Jo, Jocelyn, and the other infected patients. They would then target their new specially designed viral gene therapy to fight the terrorist engineered Choriocytosis virus in their DNA (and those of other humanoid species such as Vulcans) and then rewrite the genetic sequence with an alternate version that would make the terrorist virus inert and harmless.
If they could do that, then the infected patients' immune systems would reset and they would recover. In other words, Spock's and McCoy's designer gene therapy would specifically rewrite the damaged portion of the infected organism's genome.
The benefits of this type of therapy, was that resequencing the Choriocytosis virus, was not invasive and there would be no need for further tinkering with the patients' DNA. Also, there was a low risk of debilitating side effects and no reason to put Joanna, Jocelyn, or any of the other patients through potentially hazardous medical treatments and drugs. The idea was simple and elegant. Their gene therapy had only one job to do; modify a potentially lethal mutated virus and fix it. McCoy and Spock had no wish to manufacture a cure that was worse than the disease. 1
McCoy, long used to exhibiting patience during lab trials, waited silently by Spock's side until the computer finished the virtual models. At last the computer beeped; it had finished. Spock brought up the results on the screen and then printed them. He handed McCoy a hard copy and they looked at the results. After a careful scan of the results, a big grin broke out on McCoy's face. "We did it, Spock. It works!"
"Indeed, Doctor. I am most gratified. I must send these findings immediately to Dr. Sobar. He also will be gratified that we have succeeded where they could not."
"You really think they'll be happy we found the answer when they couldn't, Spock?"
"Of course, Doctor. It would be highly illogical for Vulcans to feel anything other than gratified that we have found a cure for this dread disease. Once we have replicated and used the actual cure, it can be sent across the galaxy; this disease and all its variants will be eradicated."
"You're right, Spock. I was thinkin' like a human and not like a Vulcan," McCoy grinned at Spock.
"Indeed." Spock said, one eyebrow quirked. "Let us begin with the next step of our work, Doctor. Perhaps by the end of the day, we will have the actual cure in our hands ready to use on Joanna and the others."
"From your mouth to God's ears, Spock." McCoy told him solemnly.
Spock opened his mouth, no doubt to express his doubt about that unlikely possibility, but McCoy interrupted by raising his hand. "No need to say anythin', Spock. It's just a figure of speech." He opened his comm. "I'm thinkin' that we should update Admiral Nogura, let him know how close we are to having the cure in our hands, just in case he gets another letter from the terrorists. He'll feel a lot less pressure if he knows their threats are empty now. Not that he'd ever cave in to them," McCoy said, "but it will buy him some peace of mind."
"I believe you are correct, Doctor. Admiral Nogura looked very tired and stressed during our meeting. This news will greatly ease his mind."
"When we hear from Jim and Gavin this evening, we'll have real good news for them. I hope they'll have good news for us too, about who these men really are." McCoy said, stepping to the back of the lab with his comm to update the Admiral on the cure. The lab doors suddenly opened and Ensign Torres and the Admiral walked in.
"Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock, good morning."
"Admiral, this is a surprise! We weren't expectin' you this morning."
"I just wanted to check in with you, before I begin my day."
"And I was just gonna' comm you. We have very good news, Sir," McCoy said. "Mr. Spock and I are ready to replicate the cure."
At McCoy's words, the Admiral's usually inscrutable face broke into a big smile. McCoy realized he had never seen the Admiral smile before. He was known as Old Stone Face for a reason. Now his smile transformed his face and made him almost unrecognizable.
"Excellent news! Well done, gentlemen. I knew I picked the right officers to do this work. Fill me in."
McCoy and Spock alternated in explaining the science and their processes to the Admiral as he listened attentively. They showed him the computer simulation reports and explained how they planned to engineer and replicate the modified virus gene to manufacture the cure.
"I am very relieved," Nogura said. "Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, if you need any additional help, please let Ensign Torres know. We will bring in more techs to help you during the replicating stage. We want to manufacture the cure as quickly as possible and make as many doses as we can manage right away. We have several lab replicators available here. We may get more sick people before this is over."
"I thought we had three days, Admiral? Isn't that what that damn letter said?" asked McCoy.
"Yes, that's what it said, Doctor, but we can't place any trust in these people; who knows what they're willing to do for those 50 million credits." He sighed tiredly. Sleep had been elusive since the first terrorist attack. "Have either of you heard anything from Commander Bradford or Captain Kirk?"
"No, Sir." Spock said. "I anticipate we will hear something this evening after their first full day at the bank, and I am sure that Commander Bradford will report to you at that time."
"I hope so, Mr. Spock. Although our first priority is the cure, I'm also anxious to hear what they found at the bank. I want to apprehend and punish these terrorists. They're blight on our planet. I'll be on my way, gentlemen and let you get back to work. Ensign Torres is at your disposal should you need anything."
"Thank you, Admiral."
Spock and McCoy got right back to work. For the first time since Jim had broken the news to him about Joanna, the knot in McCoy's stomach had disappeared. He felt hopeful that his baby girl would soon be well; up and running around with her usual exuberance very soon. Jocelyn too, he told himself. Even if she had made his life miserable in many ways, and had made his access to Joanna extremely difficult, he had no wish to see her like she was.
He and Spock worked all morning, stopping only for the quick bite to eat that Ensign Torres brought them. Spock was being especially strict about stopping for meals. In his heart, McCoy knew he was right, they needed to stay well nourished, rested and hydrated to do their best work, but he resented even the short time that eating took away from their pursuit of the cure.
It was late in the afternoon when Spock straightened up from his viewer. "I believe we've done it, Leonard. Look here."
McCoy stopped breathing. He almost dove into the viewer to check Spock's work. He went over it once, twice, three times before he raised his head. "You're right, Spock. We've done it. We can start replicating the cure!"
He pitched himself at Spock and gave him a big hug; a huge grin on his face. Spock stood rigid in his arms. "Dr. McCoy, there is no need for such an overt display of jubilation. A "well done" or even a pat on the arm would have been more than sufficient."
"Shut it, you green hobgoblin. I'll hug you if I want to. This here cure is somethin' that deserves a hug. Just wait until Jim hears. He's gonna' be so happy! So will the Admiral. We'll start replicatin' all the doses this evening, Spock, and we'll be ready to give the first infected patients the cure first thing tomorrow morning. Let's go share the good news with the Admiral. This is something that should be told to him in person."
"I quite agree, Doctor. After we share our news with the Admiral, we will have a good dinner, rest for an hour, and then come back to the lab and begin the work on the Replicators. We'll test the first batch of the virus early tomorrow morning and if everything goes as well as I believe it will, by noon tomorrow we will be able to distribute the cure to all the infected patients."
"Spock, you know what Jim gonna' say?"
Spock shook his head.
"He's gonna' say that it's not just me that can cure a rainy day, it's you too, you amazin' green blooded elf!"
1 Three paragraphs of made up, but some real Science. Thanks, Wiki.