Chapter 11
The two gunmen jerked Steve back in the chair, each of them pulling one arm to secure him. In doing so, they had to lower their weapons for a brief moment...and it was the only moment Steve had. He swung his legs forward and out, catching Rubens in both of his kneecaps and sending him straight to the floor, writhing in incapacitating pain. He swung his right arm out at full force and flung that gunman straight into the wall then turned and delivered a solid punch to the other's solar plexus.
He was free! He twisted the two henchmen's weapons into bionic pretzels then grabbed the gun out of Ruben's hand without a struggle. His captor was still conscious, but there was no way he'd be giving chase. Steve took the gunmen's handcuffs and cuffed one gunman's hands to the other one's feet and then took their keys for good measure. He left the basement and then the factory complex behind and tore out of the parking lot, heading for his rooming house. If Rubens had other cohorts (or hit men) and was somehow able to alert them, this would be the first place they'd look, so he had to move fast. He blinked away a momentary clouding of his vision to grab only what was necessary then fled the room.
An American-oriented diner-type restaurant a few blocks over afforded him the use of a telephone when he flashed his credentials to the English-speaking manager. ''Russ, it's me,'' he began.
Half of the world away, Russ sat bolt upright in his chair. It was too soon! Or...was it? ''Steve, are you alright?''
''I'm not hurt...and I'm out.'' Steve had to sink into the manager's chair as exhaustion and dizziness overtook him. ''I'm safe - for the moment, anyway. But I need a flight home and I need it yesterday.'' He blinked again to bring the room back into focus. ''And Russ? Let Rudy know I'm having the same problems as Jaime...''
News that Steve was free reached Clayton's bionics wing at bionic speed. Rudy silently praised the saints when Oscar told him the good news...then he paged Michael and sat down behind his desk to begin puzzling out the symptom that were troubling 'his kids'.
Oscar returned to his own office at OSI Headquarters with a long night still ahead of him. After meeting with Russ to ensure Steve had a secure and fast way home, he had a brand-new investigation to kick straight into high gear...an investigation into one of their own...
Mark Conrad heard the page and the flurry of activity and quickly found Rudy and Michael. Jaime's (and Steve's) two doctors and therapist began putting the pieces together. Michael pointed out that it could no longer be considered a side effect from Jaime's original injury, the regeneration or his latest 'treatment'.
''Contagious illness?'' he threw onto the table.
''Then why wasn't Becca affected? Or the nurses?'' Rudy wondered.
Mark thought of Jess's somewhat odd behavior (especially if what Becca had insisted upon was really true) and an awful possibility occurred to him. ''What about poison?'' he suggested softly. ''Maybe in something Steve and Jaime ate or drank...that was prepared for them...''
He didn't have to finish. Three pairs of eyes met around the table. The pieces fit. There'd been someone in the Austins' household who until very recently had been under Anna and Jack's influence. Rudy was first to pick up the phone. He ordered a full spectrum tox screen on Jaime and - just to be on the safe side - on Becca too.
Jaime rolled over in bed and woke with a start, her 'mother's instinct' suddenly on high alert. Becca was still sound asleep in her own bed, but she coughed once...twice...and made a tiny whimpering sound. Jaime turned on the dimmer reading lamp (so as not to wake her) and took a closer look. The child's eyelids looked swollen and she was sweating profusely. A gentle hand to her daughter's cheek told Jaime that Becca was burning up. Jaime dove for the call button. It was at that moment that the lab tech arrived to draw blood.
''I need a nurse!'' Jaime said urgently. ''And have them page Doctors Wells and Marchetti. And -''
Two nurses rushed into the room, followed immediately by Mark and the doctors (since the call light also was wired into Rudy's office). Becca whined and coughed again as the flurry of activity woke her. Jaime drew the child onto her bed, encircling her in her arms.
''We have to draw blood, Honey,'' Rudy said quietly, ''from both of you.''
Jaime nodded and did her best to soothe her feverish child, turning Becca's face toward her own as the tech drew near. She looked into Becca's eyes - they were bright red and swollen - and tried to smile reassuringly, to not let Becca sense her own fear. ''Little stick, Sweetie,'' she whispered.
The child wailed at the prick of the needle and Jaime held her still, rubbing her back until it was over. Then she kissed the hot little forehead and smiled again. ''Good girl,'' she praised. ''Such a big girl. I know you don't feel good. Can you be a really big girl and let Doctor Rudy take a look at you, so he can make you better?''
Becca nodded, sniffling and coughing, and Rudy helped Jaime ease her back into her own bed, then the lab tech drew Jaime's blood as well.
''I need everything else dropped until those screens are complete,'' Rudy instructed. ''Faster than ASAP. Faster than STAT.'' With Becca ill, contagious disease was back as a possibility...but her symptoms seemed very different than the ones afflicting Jaime (and now, apparently, Steve). The blood screens were crucial.
The tech nodded and hurried from the room. Michael looked up from Jaime's bedside. ''No symptoms here. Normal temp, normal vitals.''
Rudy took the cool cloth offered by one of the nurses and ran it along Becca's forehead and gently across her cheeks, then looked at the thermometer.
''101.2,'' he announced.
