A/N: This really should have been put up earlier... But it turned out to be shorter than I planned. I wanted to put in more, but I guess I'll have to save that good stuff for the next chapter... Oh well. This is about 7000 words...
"...This." Gabriel's right arm was exposed to the two surgeons in front of him. "This isn't the regular breaking news I'm talking about, this is the epidemic all over again." His words sounded rather nonchalant, but his face showed every detail of how serious this could get.
What was on the diagnostician's hand and wrist wasn't revolting, but nor was it giving any relief- faded but visible dark lines were seen covering the area from his fingertips to near the wrist. If one were to look at the pattern more carefully, one could tell the straight lines were accompanied by smaller lines that connect them. It seemed to look more like a game of connecting lines than a patch of blood vessels becoming discolored.
Dr. Sartre was first to run out into the hall and head toward the conference room. Dr. Rosellini followed, but asked the diagnostician as she went, "When did those lines first appear?" To her, Gabriel wasn't badly affected, since the lines were barely seen. She thought the lines wasn't only darkening, but increasing in length to another destination on his body. Where to was her main concern.
Dr. Cunningham was the last to leave the room, he answered as he ran, "That tattoo thing... I first saw it this morning. Those things were already at my palm by then, that's all I know." His voice was drained of his usual sarcastic attitude, causing the girl to only be discomfited more. "I thought they were just bruises, well, I guess they aren't." Gabriel murmured as he turned the corner. He saw the girl grumble to herself about something and entered the conference room before him.
You could consider it was as if there was an afternoon conference. The Chief and six doctors of Resurgam were gathered in the room in there usual spots. The screen behind the Chief was showing the a news chopper flying above Portland- streets filled with police cars and officers eying every sidewalk and crossroad. Everyone heard the sirens from the speakers and some could even hear the ones outside the hospital.
It was the quarantine from two-years ago all over again. Sooner or later tanks will be dominating the roads and not a single civilian car will be in sight. As for the hospital, thousands of new patients would arrive at any moment, swarming the courtyard and lobby.
The doctors and Chief were still witnessing the massive movements and actions being taken in the city as the screen showed a reporter from atop a building. "I have received word that the mayor has declared a state of emergency in the city of Portland from the unknown virus that is spreading at an alarming rate-" The reporter was a female, she seemed calm at first, but then lost her composure as someone from the news team whispered something into her ear. "We just got another update, the federal government has decided to quarantine the city, now to remind everyone of the rules when the city is under this status..." She went on as the doctors started to discuss among each other.
"Again? Didn't they learn their lesson last time?" Dr. Torres said with her arms crossed. "They're just getting in the way of treatment..!" The others agreed to her statements, though none verbalized anything.
Dr. Rosellini was the one that doubted the paramedic the most. "No- in this case..." But before anyone could ask why she said so, she brought up, "How many of us are affected?" Her voice was rather quiet and somber at the subject.
"I'm pretty sure I'm the only one..." Dr. Cunningham said as he pulled out a cigarette; at the same time the others noticed the strange marks on his hands. He also had a melancholic expression as he grumbled, "Don't get too close, huh?" Hank, Tomoe, Maria and Esha all went in shock to see the diagnostician being so blunt.
Maria, who stood across from him with the table between them, was in disarray, more so than the others. "No way... Gabe... those marks..." The paramedic ran to the other side of the room and grabbed the diagnostician's hands for a closer inspection. "You gotta be kidding me... I..." A hint of awe and disappointment crossed the paramedic's face.
"Hey- I said not to get too close, you don't wanna get..." Gabriel's cigarette dropped out of his mouth when he jerked away from Maria's hold. He was embarrassed at the reaction that came from her, compared to Hank and Tomoe, who only lowered their head. Esha had a completely blank face; which was acceptable in the diagnostician's point of view. But Maria completely missed the message of 'stay away.' "What's your problem...?"
Maria closed her eyes and said, "Pick up your trash, idiot." The paramedic backed off as she watched Gabriel bend over to retrieve the fallen cigarette. She crossed her arms slowly and took in a breath. "Um... there's something I have to say..."
When Dr. Cunningham had a new cigarette in his mouth and the old one disposed of, he rolled his eyes at the paramedic and said, "You'd better hurry before I die off."
"Those weird lines...I have them, too."
Gabriel almost choked on his cigarette, he took it out and exclaimed at the paramedic, "Wha-? You have it?" His surprise was the same as the others in the room. But there were no gasping or stunned faces, just silence.
Maria had a insouciant expression as she said with her eyes closed, "Yeah... I first saw them last night on my feet. This morning when I checked, they got to my ankle...It's like they're vines..." She looked down on her legs as she checked for the status of the virus' accumulation, "It's gonna be at my knees sooner or later. I never thought that...I could get infected so soon..." She then had a defeated look on her face as she went up against the wall. "Damn." She looked at the others. "I guess you guys have to stay away from me, too." The paramedic lowered her head and shut off herself from the others, the diagnostician looked to the side with the same expression.
The room went into a moment of silent as the news continued on with repeating the same information. Suddenly, three different voices spoke at once:
"I have something to-" "I also-" "Uh, I got..."
The voices came from the opposite side of the room from the pair of affected doctors. Dr. Sartre and Rosellini raised their eyes to the direction where the voices came from.
The four couldn't believe it.
Hank, Tomoe and Esha.
The three who just spoke looked at each other in surprise as well. After a few exclamations were made, each decided to take turns on 'presenting' how they contracted the markings.
Dr. Freebird had his hands in the front so the others could see the lines rooting into his large palms like some seedling. His symptom was similar to Gabriel's, except the odd discoloration had yet to reach his wrist. "...I saw these when I was eating lunch... I was going to go ask Gabriel about these...but now it is known as the virus of this epidemic..."
Dr. Tachibana still had her hands folded. After Hank was done with his presentation, she started, "I have signs of the same symptoms as Dr. Torres, Maria, does. I felt a slight numbness this morning...and discovered these strange bruises on my feet..." She looked to Chief Patel and said, "So does this mean gender will affect the types of symptoms?"
Esha shook her head and said, "Nope. Mine's like Hank's." She took her hands away from her side and extended her arms outwards. The others saw the faded lines had climbed from her fingertips to right where her sleeve was, just a bit past her wrist. "I saw these guys on my fingers yesterday. I thought the pen accidentally leaked or something, but when I tried washing, it didn't rub off." She lowered her arms and sighed, "I think we're all affected. I mean, the hospital's no longer safe."
The five affected turned their attention to the last two people. Dr. Sartre looked at his hands then looked up and answered, "I never left the building, or..."
"That would make sense. Unless the food's been contaminated, you wouldn't have it." Gabriel then shrugged as he theorized, "Or this thing just spreads randomly, and we happen to get it first. If you don't want it, you might want to stay in that office of yours." He then shifted his eyes to Alicia, who seemed to be no longer part of the conversation. "And you."
Dr. Rosellini's red eyes were lowered when the diagnostician referred to her. "...Are you going to say I started it?" Their eyes met and the room was silenced once more. The only sounds came from the distant sirens and the speakers.
"We're still trying to figure out the origin of this virus, but officials are more concerned about the health and survival of the citizens of Portland. They are not answering any of our questions at the moment..." The news reporter's voice stood out.
"I'm not going to put it like that." Dr. Cunningham said as looked to the screen. "I'd say the ones who got the virus out were the kidnappers." He glanced back at the girl, who had no response to his statement, and noted, "That incident, I'd like to ask what actually happened, if you don't mind sharing..."
The sound of the ringing cellphone grew louder as the diagnostician was talking. The ringtone was a continuous ring of a usual telephone. Esha and Maria didn't move, as they didn't recognize it as their own.
Gabriel sighed as he reached for his pocket, knowing the source of the disturbance was his phone. He checked the caller before flipping the cellphone open, the only hint he gave to the others was him cocking his eyebrows in curiosity. "Making your last phone call?" He then winced, perhaps from whoever it was calling him snapping from the remark. "Uh...Yeah..." Gabriel flipped the phone shut and raised his head to talk to the machine in the ceiling, "Hey, RONI, Naomi and her agent wanna connect to us through the computer, which is...you."
The screen showing the news was changed into the familiar blue background of RONI. "Understood. Connecting to Cumberland Institute of Forensic Medicine- Agent Navel's computer. Since medical examiner Dr. Kimishima is already sharing with this-"
Gabriel cut off RONI's talking by saying, "I know, I know... that means we can talk to her, too. I got the message." He said, "Hey Naomi, I forgot to ask, who's affected over there?"
"You can ask Little Guy about the institute. I'm currently at home with Alyssa. Here, she already contracted the virus, I may sooner or later." Naomi's voice was as stern as usual, but what she just said could be the reason behind the hint of rush detected through her tone. "The markings have almost reached her knees..."
The agent reported after Naomi finished, "Only a handful here aren't showing signs. I have a discoloration on my palm and fingers... Chief Wayne also noted that he felt numbness in the past 24 hours." Navel had a dark tone as he said, "This virus doesn't discriminate...at least we know a few things about it."
Tomoe despairingly noted, "I remember Hanzou mentioning that he felt numb for a long period of time yesterday...I suppose that would mean he has contracted the virus as well." She looked at the others, who were thinking of their friends and family being some of the many affected. Out of everyone, Dr. Cunningham seemed to catch her eye the most with his solemn expression. Tomoe questioned, "Oh, Dr. Cunningham, do you have any information on Joshua's status?"
Gabriel avoided eye contact and muttered, "Don't ask... He isn't the only one we have to worry about." The diagnostician shifted his focus to the girl in the back and as he stared at her guilt-ridden face, he asked the medical examiner, "So Naomi, can you give us the details of how this all got out?" He glanced back at the screen, which showed the agent's computer desktop. "If we're gonna get a cure, we better know what we're dealing with."
Dr. Kimishima paused for a moment and said, "I think Dr. Rosellini could fill you in better than any of the investigative agencies." There was a another wait, then the forensic expert volunteered, "If she's not willing, then I'll give a quick synopsis on what happened. But keep in mind that my explanation is partial, it may not even help us."
The Chief and doctors in the conference room all looked at the girl once, but none able to encourage her. They all saw that she was conflicted with herself- perhaps after hearing that everyone, except one person, in the gathering was plagued. Dr. Cunningham scratched his head in disappointment, and sighed, "At least start us off...kid." He slid his hands into his pockets as he awaited for a decent introduction from the girl.
Dr. Sartre looked to the one beside him- to him, she seemed as if she was hesitant to admit something. Whatever it was, it wasn't something the others would like to hear. He was about to say something to have the medical examiner go instead.
"My kidnappers...were once acquaintances of mine. You could say they were nice enough to have me alive."
"What? You're saying that you knew those idiots?" Maria and Esha both shouted from their surprise. From their perspective, the kidnappers were senseless morons that didn't know who they were messing with.
Before anyone else could follow the two's example and exclaim aloud, Naomi said through the speakers, "I suspected as much, these three men tried hiding their identities... They are all 'government agents' as every-"
Alicia interrupted without warning, "No- I believe the better term for them is 'orphaned researchers.'" There was a slight wait before she continued, "They injected several deadly pathogens in me... I don't know what they were or how many..." She regretted that she didn't know the facts.
"17." Naomi put her statistic into a brief statement, "I discovered 17 different fluids used. That's the number the kidnappers could've used and did use." She then informed to her agent, "Little Guy, I've sent you the list. Get it over to them." The agent confirmed the action and announced the he faxed the papers over to the hospital.
"I'll get it. I also need to talk to the other staff, so I'll be back in a while." Esha said as she stepped out of the room in a rush.
Dr. Sartre didn't notice the Chief depart as he was concerned about the effect of the foreign diseases on Alicia's virus. "So the kidnappers' goal was to hasten the development of the virus in her..?" He found this situation to be a part of a well thought-out plan.
"Unfortunately, myself, the last two culprits behind the attempted bio-attacks and Sara...perhaps even more, are part of this immense plot that resulted in this epidemic..." Dr. Rosellini then went silent after admitting that she took part in the scheme.
Gabriel grew skeptical and said, "You can apologize later, you know. Or did you willingly go along...?" He received no answer and took out his hands from his pockets out of an uneasy feeling. "Don't tell us that you helped get this started?"
"If I wanted to start an epidemic...I had other easier ways." The girl said before anyone else could doubt her. She carried on cautiously, knowing the 'Master of Deduction' was giving her no slack and was pointing out every flaw and possibility from her explanation. "These three planned carefully; they used the kidnapping as a cover so they could get to me. After speeding up the evolution of the virus, they took samples...I believe they have predetermined to make themselves as sacrifices...vectors, almost." Her eyes focused on the screen as she finished, "They're most likely dead by now. But their effort paid off, so here we are now."
Her cold words filled the room; since it was the truth, no one objected. For being the victim, Alicia seemed not at all angered at her perpetrators but nor was she sympathetic in any way. She broke the silence and asked the two who communicated through computers, "Any information on them, by chance?"
There was a sound of shuffling papers, and the doctors could see the mouse on the screen open up three documents. Each had a photo of one of the assailants and a description. Navel's voice was heard saying, "Well, as on how they died... The assumed leader of the three died upon being transported for treatment of the stab wound in his stomach. It was claimed that he tried to run despite that he was hemorrhaging severely and jumped from a bridge. It's not confirmed."
Naomi noted, "That would make the quarantine's effectiveness questionable." She said, "If this man fell into a source of water while still bleeding, heaven knows where the virus traveled to."
The agent assured, "This information is from the federals, the claim was from the local forces." As he switched data from the first person to the other two on the computer, he said, "The accomplices...died in prison in the city while a decision was being made where to transport them not long ago. One source says that one of them was unable to walk normally due to an injury, and... the other wrote several numbers on the cell wall in blood he vomited before dying..." The documents about the two were closed and the mouse hovered a picture file. "It's..not easy to see."
Tomoe and Maria looked away at first glance at the dreadful image. Naomi drew a breath , but since she had seen it before, she made no comment. The men in the room were able to bear reading the gruesome message in blood for a few seconds longer than the women. Only Alicia and Gabriel could read the entire message before turning away. The few others looked back to finish reading, but took their eyes off it right after.
'Only 3874'
Dr. Kimishima said, "I don't assume anyone would know what this means except..." She stopped from completed her phrase. "This doesn't look to harbor much information...We have searched through everything; there weren't any matches that made sense with the situation."
This time Alicia seemed unwilling to share information. The others didn't pursue the subject any further and thus the subject was dropped. The picture was no longer shown and the screen returned to showing the agent's computer desktop. Navel added, "I would like to mention that the three bodies were taken to a 'safe location' somewhere in the city, at least that was what the federals said. They didn't give any more information."
"So this virus...spreading this quickly and evenly as Rosalia in such a short time..." Dr. Tachibana murmured, "This virus could be airborne...but the vector must be different..." She trailed off, and only to be replaced with another topic.
"Oh, before we get carried away here...Shouldn't we name this thing?" Gabriel received a sharp glare from the girl and he shrugged at her, saying, "I know there's one name I'd like to avoid."
Before anyone could answer, Chief Patel entered with several papers. She declared, "Everyone, I've talked to the others already, so let me repeat this only once... We're expecting a crowd by tomorrow morning. Not many are coming in right now because the quarantine is being tight, so I want you guys to try to contribute something new about this virus while we wait. We're holding another meeting at midnight."
"Mi-midnight? Are you nuts, we-" Gabriel flinched as he was talking then stopped when Esha looked at him. He then realized that with the quarantine, going home isn't really an option anymore, he's stuck in the hospital. Along with everyone else. "...Aren't we going to get at least some sleep for tomorrow?"
The Chief said in a stern face, "You guys also need time to scramble for some info, too. The deadline for a cure is late tomorrow, after that, we might be facing a bunch of dead people. Including us. I canceled all our appointments...so..." She threw the papers onto the table and said, "Biopsies, list of symptoms, anything that could help us... we need to cure this thing! Midnight is the conference, got it?" She had her hands flat on the table in determination for a successful outcome.
The diagnostician sighed and found the Chief's confidence deplorable. "Hey, don't think this is going to be easy, Esha..." He received no comment, so he went on, "How long does the nation have, huh?"
"I daresay we have very long." Dr. Kimishima said through the speakers. She sounded exhausted for some reason, but continued, "It would be accurate to say we have less than a week. The kidnappers lasted about four, so if the quarantine should fail, perhaps America will be gone in a little over a week."
"How about the anti-body from last time? Can't it do at least something?" Dr. Torres asked, her arms now uncrossed. She looked as if she was about to storm out of the room out of impatience. The doctors were interested in the same question.
Esha cleared her throat and answered, "We tried that. That only delays the virus from getting bigger, it doesn't seem to be treating it. After awhile, it starts to become useless. We're distributing it, but that's only going to extend the time we have by a couple of hours...Maybe a little longer for the nation."
"No- since the virus started inside the city and if we assume the claim about the leader are false... The city is good as gone... but not the nation if the quarantine holds." Alicia brought up, then she heard the surgeon next to her object.
CR-SO1 looked at the girl as he reasoned against her statement. "If the virus is airborne, then the quarantine would be useless...how-"
"The virus is meant to make isolation attempts futile, but so far I starting to think it's not-" Dr. Rosellini shook her head and sighed, "Just save this for later." The doctors and Chief showed slight confusion on the previous conversation, but listened to the advice about continuing it later.
Esha repeated, "Okay, remember to research and come up with something for the next meeting. Gabe, I want a full report, so don't slack off. Maria, I need you with me- we gotta talke about our paramedic team..." She left without anything else. Maria followed her out immediately, while Tomoe and Hank took time to give their goodbyes before exiting- no one left with optimistic feelings.
Before the computers disconnected, Dr. Rosellini said ti the medical examiner, "I need to ask you a favor." The diagnostician and other surgeon listened in, curious on what she wanted to request at this time.
"Go ahead. I'm assuming this has something to do with the kidnapping?" Naomi said leisurely as she willing to accept the task because of the fact the quarantine made it impossible to do much else. "Don't forget I have to tend to Alyssa. I can't promise you anything."
Alicia smiled for a brief moment. "I don't think this will be too hard to carry out. Can you figure out...who was behind the entire plot..?" The doctors next to her shifted glances between the girl and each other.
"I thought you knew the answer."
Dr. Rosellini had her eyes closed as she replied, "I just want to know how much evidence there is to support it..." With that, the computers disconnected, and the last to leave the meeting were Gabriel, CR-SO1 and Alicia.
Before the diagnostician took his leave, he said to the girl, "Esha expects me to give some detailed presentation...Since the virus is from you, you think you can come up with a passable name?" He took out the cigarette from his mouth as he waited. He looked at the girl as he mumbled, "I don't wanna resort to calling it...that." Last time Resurgam called the virus from the name of the host it came from, whether it was his reputation to not say the girl's name or how ridiculous the virus would sound if the same method was used, the diagnostician would hate to refer to it as...
"If you really want to resort to another name, use Greek or Latin..." Alicia said as she walked past him towards the doorway. She was content with everyone simply sticking with 'the virus,' though she did agree that naming it after herself would only put more stress on her.
Gabriel threw the cigarette back into his mouth and snickered for a few seconds. "You think I know any of that...?" He was well aware of what the hospital's name meant, but... "I don't have a Greek or Latin dictionary with- well actually, I might, but I'm not gonna use it." the diagnostician thought of his computerized assistant, but dared not to enter in any discussion with it. "Just gimme something...In Greek, I don't care."
"'Timo̱ría.'" The girl sighed as she left the room. Dr. Sartre remained at his spot, but moved to the front of the room later to look through the papers Esha placed on the table. Gabriel grumbled to himself as he exited, wondering where exactly the name came from. He scratched his head at the idea of working a night shift and the horrors of the next morning. So, to take a breather, he decided to go to the rooftop; maybe stop by the lounge to get a coffee.
Rooftop
3:38 PM
Gabriel trotted onto the spacious roof with a cup half-full of his caffeinated drink. A cigarette was still clasped in his mouth as he looked at the hopeful blue sky. It felt too peaceful, which started to bug him. He was expecting the sky to be all gray and dull from the quarantine- but the only odd thing about the scene was the bunch of helicopters flying around the city.
He walked up to the helipad, taking a sip at his coffee as he thought about what he could possibly talk about in the next meeting. What he could 'present.' A biopsy was probably Tomoe's sort of thing. A list of symptoms was pretty much what his job was. But he couldn't diagnose anyone, because...well, the virus was already discovered by the media. Maybe asking RONI to form up something would do.
Nah, was he kidding? This isn't the regular 'Esha pushing the paycheck' and forcing him to stay the night situation, it was a freaking epidemic. And it was his life on the line, and a bunch of others.
To be more accurate, no one was safe. Everyone's going to die except...
"I thought you were busy on that presentation of yours."
Dr. Cunningham turned around to see the girl was staring off into the city from another corner of the helipad. He must have really dozed off and completely missed her coming in. Or was she there the whole time? "Not even a 'good afternoon' to your fellow doctor, huh?" He retraced the statement and replied, "I'm getting there."
A gust of wind blew Alicia's hair far in front of her as she said, "You're pretty calm to be one of the many affected." She glanced at the diagnostician's hands, she noticed one holding the coffee cup and the other about to pull his cigarette out of his mouth. The black lines were visible past his wrist. "...Still on drugs." But the girl seemed more concerned about the cigarette.
The diagnostician spun back around, annoyed to hear the girl whining about his renowned habit. He didn't feel like continuing the conversation, so he just stood for a few minutes in silence then turned to reenter the building. He was getting sick of running around and being nagged at.
"So, you're both going to die...are you going to do anything about it?"
Gabriel had just stepped past the girl as he heard the question. He didn't glance back, but he didn't move forward, either. First things first, he needed to verify, "What do you mean by both? Everyone except you is gonna die, so I'm not sure-" He stopped and laughed a bit at the side.
"I'm talking about Joshua, you moron."
He instantly reverted back to his old composure as soon as the girl finished her phrase. She was still looking out into space with a slightly melancholy face, not yet exchanging glanced with him. Dr. Cunningham had two separate thoughts that resulted from her words. One, she mentioned Joshua; two, she just called him a moron. He only gave one of them his full attention. "Just stay out of it." Staying put, he raised the cup to his mouth.
Alicia closed her eyes and crossed her arms, she responded to the best of her ability without losing her temper, "Is that all you're going to say? That didn't even scratch the question." She finally shot a look at him directly as he was lowering his coffee and snapped, "I want to break away from this, but you were too pitiful to ignore."
Gabriel felt like repeating what he yelled at RONI long ago. He really did. And the girl looked like she wanted to scream out something in his face. Should he get into an argument? "This is one hell of a mess, kid. You sure you want to fight now?" He walked back to where he stood before and said, "Stop trying to be my personal consultant. I...decided to leave him alone."
A few seconds passed by before the girl said, "That's funny. Before you didn't want him, now to me you seem like you suddenly do." She never cracked a smile, despite her words.
"Oh, about that kind of irony. You're acting like you want to die now." Gabriel defended.
There was a long silence between the two former parents.
"...We just get these issues solved now. Your parenthood troubles, and my guilt problems." The voice was from Dr. Rosellini. She swiped the cigarette from the diagnostician and said, "If one of us doesn't follow through, the other is bound to wind up the same. So it's all or nothing." To him, her statement sounded like another one of those one-sided deals.
And it was. If he doesn't somehow get the Joshua deal solved...she might do something stupid. "Fine." Gabriel let out a long sigh before changing the subject, "So what did that freaky message in blood mean?" He didn't expect an answer as before, all he intended to do was to run off after a silent treatment from the girl.
He was wrong. Alicia hesitated not a bit as she said, "'3874' represents me. That kind of four-digit number was like a bar code that they assigned to mark each of us." Another breeze went by as she went said, "But the message had various meanings. It could mean that I'm the only orphaned researcher that survived from that fire, I'm being the only one able to live through this epidemic, or..."
The diagnostician was still processing half of the answer as she paused to say the final possibility.
"I'm your only hope of ever finding a cure." The girl had already turned and after than phrase, she began walking away. She heard a 'wait' that came from Gabriel and asked, "What?" The distance between them was quite far, so whatever the other doctor had to say had to be said loudly.
"You're not going to hide that kind of information from us, are you?" Dr. Cunningham exchanged serious glances, then he broke away and muttered to himself, "Of course you wouldn't..." He turned back around, not watching the girl slowly leave.
Gabriel was back where he started. He aimlessly looked below at the quieted city- from where he was, the police sirens seemed to be only flashing. Maybe he got used to the wailing sounds that he could no longer perceive them.
He raised the coffee and felt that the cup had been emptied. "I guess it's time to get back to work." Not wasting any more time, the diagnostician withdrew the cigarette from his mouth and stuck it into his pocket. He did a quick stretch and headed for the stairwell down.
Dr. Sartre's Office
5:57 PM
"Dr. Sartre, I brought dinner..." Dr. Tachibana said as she knocked on the door. She entered a moment later with a graceful bow. Her purple eyes watched as the surgeon piled up the papers on his desk and turned to greet her. "I see you're busy finding information..." Tomoe placed the carry-out bag on the shelf beside the surgeon's desk.
CR-SO1 let out a small breath. He said quietly, "...I haven't felt any numbness. None of the recent symptoms..." He was heavily concerned of that fact everyone else was affected but not him. And if he had already contracted the virus, why are the main signs not showing?
"That is quite strange. What do you and everyone else here have that is not common?" Tomoe said as she tightened her hold on the other bag that was for the neighboring surgeon. "I ran a biopsy as soon as I could in hopes on more data. So far I only know that the virus begins accumulation at areas farthest from the center of the host, and cannot be found anywhere else... There seems to only be two types." She felt a little displeased with her results so far.
"I've eliminated the possibility of the virus being carried airborne..." That was all that Dr. Sartre had to add. He mumbled to himself as he had his hands holding on to the edge of his desk, "Alicia was right...If it was in the air, I should have caught it by now..."
"Oh, there had been reports of others outside Portland contracting the virus...But I cannot say for sure if they are true..." Tomoe's voice grew softer by the end of her report. She watched the other doctor only thinking harder for a conclusion, so she assured, "We still have plenty of time to sort this matter out. I have no doubt that-"
"That..?" Dr. Sartre turned to see why Tomoe stopped her phrase. She had her eyes closed shut forcefully and tilted her right ankle, as if she was experiencing...pain. "What's wrong-?" He stood up, but Tomoe motioned him to stay back.
"I'm fine...it's only that..." Dr. Tachibana regained her usual stance after a minute and said, "Many of us learned that the symptoms grow worse over time, which was expected..." She began walking away said as she reached the doorway, "Hanzou and I agreed that our numbness has grown into a strain similar to a muscle spasm. Or...what Maria would call a 'cramp.'" Tomoe then gave her goodbye with a short reassuring statement, "Don't worry about us...Goodbye then."
Watching the endoscopic surgeon leave, CR-SO1 felt more guilty than ever. Just why wasn't he infected as everyone else? That thought never left his mind as he retrieve and emptied the bag.
Tomoe brought a sandwich stuffed with greens and sliced turkey, a sugar cookie, several napkins, and a water bottle. The surgeon was slightly overwhelmed at first, since she would never bring anything else other than a sandwich and a bottle of water for a meal. The cookie was new- not that there was a problem with a little variety...
But there was something else that crossed his mind.
The bottle of water. Exactly how long ago did he utilize a public water source...a drinking fountain or the drinks from the lounge? Or even touched tap water from a sink...?
He immediately recalled the medical examiner's words:
"If this man fell into a source of water while still bleeding, heaven knows where the virus traveled to."
At this point, concrete evidence was all he should rely on. Though now he must consider that single possibility. If the rumors are true...
The quarantine has failed. Again.
He didn't know what to believe.
Ugh. I bet everyone's gonna have a contradiction to point out. Go ahead.
But- know that this isn't an old 'the world is ending/epidemic' sort of plot. There's more to it that that. A whole LOT more. *winks*