Steve and Jo sat and looked at each other for about five minutes then Steve stood up. "Jo, come here, you will have already infected me if that's what's gonna happen, I can't stay here and not touch you."
Jo smiled at him, but she shook her head. "I can't, what if holdin' your hand, or kissin' more than once or twice makes it worse? Ron said it's deadly remember." Jo ran her fingers through her curls and Steve was instantly reminded of Rae, although she hadn't been doing it so much lately. "I can't believe all this is happenin' why did I ever go to work there?"
"Hey, hindsight is a wonderful thing. I love you, Jo. You are the best thing that's happened to me in a very long time, and I wouldn't have met you if you hadn't been working there, so come here, let's agree that hugs and cuddles are safe, and what ifs are off topic, ok?"
Jo nodded her head and sank gratefully into the sofa next to him then she leant back against him and tried to relax.
Ron had headed for the sanctuary of Amanda's path lab. He tapped on the door and then moved into the room. She looked up and took her goggles off. "Hi, what are you doing here?" She saw his face properly as she straightened up. "That is not a happy pleased to see me look is it? What's up?"
"I can't talk about it. I'm happy to see you, but if you're happy to see me then you're about the only person who is." Ron sat down behind her desk, looked at a set of photos that were resting there and stood back up again. "I gotta stop doing that."
"Ok, if you can't tell me why you're here, can you at least tell me how long you are going to be here this time?"
"Nope, but I am going to try to get my superiors to let me stay until the whole thing is tied up. I am getting fed up with spending most of my life in the air. Besides Sloan is a loose cannon right now, even if he is temporarily confined."
"Confined, why is he confined? I think you had better tell me a little of what is going on."
Ron looked at the woman staring at him. He loved her, and wished they could be together more often than they were. He also recognised that the look on her face meant that he would be lucky to get his foot in through her front door if he didn't let her in on some of the things that had happened.
Rae stood up and stretched. She had hit a brick wall just after she had phoned Steve, and they hadn't found any more useful information for over an hour. They had gone over all the sites again and again, but she couldn't find any names of people they could interview, or any details of rallies or meetings. She looked at her watch and realised that she had been working all day. She was very tired, but suddenly she felt really good. She smiled and walked over to Martin.
"I want to go home now. Ok?"
"Yeah, I think we did well today. Are you back tomorrow?"
"Yes, please, if I can."
"Maybe tomorrow we can have another look at the night watchmen case? It's kinda got lost in all this today."
"We need to talk to their wives."
"Why? They have been spoken to by the officers who got the call, I don't remember anything that made Steve want to rush to see them."
"I just keep thinking about 'he was an honourable man'." Rae yawned. "Sorry, I'm tired. Bye."
Martin smiled at her. She was talking so much better now and the pauses were getting less and less obvious, but when she wanted to finish something she just did it. It could be a bit disconcerting, but he guessed that would disappear in time too.
It was five o'clock when Rae arrived home, Jesse's car was in his space so she paid the cab driver and headed purposefully towards his apartment. She rang the bell and waited.
Jesse looked through the peephole and saw Rae standing there. Part of him just wanted to open the door, pull her inside and start to hug her; the other part felt all the hurt and worry well up inside of him. He opened the door, and just stood looking at her.
"I need to talk to you." Rae smiled at him; she didn't want him to think she was angry.
"Ok, you had better come in." Jesse smiled back, and moved away from the door. "Won't you sit down?" You are treating her like a stranger. Snap out of it.
"Will you listen and let me talk…? I can tell you when I've finished, if you want."
"Yeah, Ok."
"I know you don't love me any more…Even though I still love you…But I need you, Jesse…would it be too hard to be friends…?"
"I don't know, Rae. I don't hate you, or not love you, I wish I could say that I did, it would make it so much easier to not be with you. I just don't think I can stand to see you get hurt, and not be able to do anything about it. You seem to only have to get out of bed and things happen to you."
"I don't know how to do anything else, Jess. I like being a cop… But I like being with you too."
"I know, and I like to be with you, but I just can't do it any more. I'm sorry, Rae, I know I'm not describing it very well, but spending time with you is just… too hard."
"You keep saying that… that you can't do it any more… Why did you ask me to marry you then…? I don't understand." Rae looked upset and confused.
"Because I wanted you to be with me, always, but then you were injured again, and it just got harder and harder to watch you suffer." Jesse looked at her; he didn't want to say any more.
"Do you want me to stop being a cop?" Rae looked at the floor. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
Jesse considered for a minute. "If I thought you could give up, and not miss it, yeah, I'd like you to quit. Whether you were with me or not, so that you would be safe."
Rae tried to process all the arguments she could think of to answer him. Her words were limited but when she finally spoke her voice was full of passion. "If I stopped, other people wouldn't be … pro…tected… I am proud of this." She pointed to her badge. "No, I won't stop doing it…" She tried to explain some more. "It's …it's who I am, Jesse I don't think I could live without it… not here anyway."
"I know, and I can't live with it, Rae. That is who I am. I'm sorry." Jesse moved away from her and looked out of the window. He could no longer make eye contact with her.
"Jess, you know where I am… If you change your mind…I'll listen to you. But I guess I really am finished this time." Rae got up and without a second glance she left his apartment.
Steve and Jo sat for most of the evening, talking and playing cards. Both of them could now sympathise with Rae who had got extremely fed up with playing snap and pairs. In the end Jo couldn't take it any more and swept her hand across the table. The cards went everywhere.
"Oh, this is drivin' me bug eyed nuts. I don't think I can stand it for another minute, let alone another week!"
Steve got up and moved over to where she was now standing and put his arms around her. "Honey, let's try and be positive, we get a week just the two of us together."
"Steve, I love you very much, but I feel like a caged animal, I can't do this for a week."
"Shhh, yes you can, we both can. I love you too, and I can't think of anybody else I would rather be with for a week of rest and relaxation." He looked at her, he wanted to kiss her with every fibre of his being, but he resisted the temptation and just massaged her shoulders through the back of her shirt, and then began to pick the cards up off the floor.
By the next morning Steve was definitely feeling very strange. The room next to Jo's suite had been opened up for him and then their part of the floor had been placed in quarantine. For a while as he lay there he had no idea why he was in the hospital, but as he sat up it came back to him. He realised in a flash of horror that he had shaken hands with Ron and that Rae had held his hand. The guilt he felt threatened to overwhelm him and he knew he needed to get to Jo to make sure he hadn't harmed her too. He got up to walk into Jo's room, and knew that he wasn't going to make it. Everything swam round violently, and suddenly he was very sick right where he was. Steve sank to the floor and leant back against the bed. He didn't think that he had the energy to move any part of him so he just sat there and hoped that it wouldn't be too long before somebody came to find him.
Jo had been awake for hours. She had been trying to fill in all the names that should be on her list; the idea of her missing somebody off was too terrible to contemplate. The first ones had been easy, awful but easy. She didn't think she had touched anybody apart from Steve, but people had touched her, that had been harder to remember, she ran her hand over her eyes. She felt drained already, and she knew it could get worse before it got better. Finally she could stay in bed no longer and she got up and began to walk over to her bathroom. As she got to the end of the bed she heard some noises from Steve's room, and with a smile she headed for her door. But the smile fled her face as she heard him begin to vomit in the other room.
Steve looked up weakly and through the haze he saw a shape coming towards him. His voice felt like it belonged to somebody else. "Please get my dad." His breathing was laboured, and as he looked up the figure in front of him disappeared and his world turned black.
"Steve, oh, my, I'll do it right now, darlin', an' then I'll be back." Jo rushed to the side of Steve's bed and began to press the nurse's buzzer over and over again.
Rae woke up with a headache, she grabbed her medication and once she had taken it she headed for the shower. She stood in there for a long time, going over and over what she had said to Jesse the night before. Then she shrugged, and decided that she could do nothing but get on with her life, however hard it may be.
With that in mind she got ready for work, called for a cab and waited in the front entrance for it with ideas racing around her head. Once she arrived at the station she sat at her desk and pulling her pad towards her she began to make a list.
She had been working for almost half an hour before Martin came over to her. "Hi, you look busy, how are you today?"
Rae looked up. "Fine. It was good yesterday wasn't it?" She smiled at him and returned to her list. Martin waited.
"Can I see what you are doing?"
"Yes, I need to arrange things." Martin looked at the piece of paper. Most of the items on it were to do with the things she had found out yesterday, but written at the top were two items just for her. Get driving tested, get job back.
"I guess that means your proper job, working with Steve, huh?" He would like to have her as his regular partner, but he knew that was never going to happen.
"Yes, I need to drive and be able to carry my gun again. I will go and see the Captain." Rae got up. Then she turned to Martin. "I will be back, then we can work, ok?"
"Yeah, go on, I'll make two drinks, and then we can concentrate on the night watchman case this morning."
Rae walked towards the Captain's door and knocked gently. Then she stood and waited.
Captain Newman had seen Rae working steadily since she had arrived. He was impressed with her dedication, she had been under no obligation to come into work every day, but she seemed very keen to be back where she clearly felt she belonged. He heard the knock and looked up. "Come."
Rae entered and stood by the desk. She felt relaxed and confident with this man, and she wanted to be working for him, officially. "I need to talk to you about my future, Sir."
The Captain smiled. "I thought you might. What is it that you want to say, Detective?"
Rae took a breath; she knew that there was a lot resting on how she spoke about this. "I want to stay here. This is my home now. But if I can't work with you, and Steve and everybody, then I will have to leave."
"I would like you to stay as well, Detective. I have received a letter from Doctor Mulligan, who informs me that she feels that you are fit to work, if this weren't the case, then as you said there is very little point in you remaining here, unless it is to be with Doctor Travis." He saw Rae shake her head and then she continued.
"Doctor Travis and I aren't together any more. Can you get me tested, for driving and for shooting?" Rae winced. That sounded childish. "For … carrying a gun, Sir?"
"It's your reflexes that need testing really isn't it?" The Captain looked at her.
"Yes, Sir." She paused. "The part of my brain that is motor fu…functions wasn't harmed. But I need to be tested, just in case."
The Captain was playing with a worry ball that he kept on his desk. "Good, good. That is a different part to your speech isn't it…Catch!"
Rae put her hands out and caught the worry ball as it flew towards her. Then she smiled. "See." She threw it back, on target and the Captain sent it back again, this time over to her right. She took it out of the air without any problems, and threw it back.
Detective Campbell was walking down the hallway towards the front desk when he happened to glance into his boss's office. He did a double take as he watched Rae and the Captain playing catch. Then he decided it was probably better if he didn't know why they were doing that, and carried on his way.
"I will see what I can arrange, Detective." The ball flew across to Rae again. "I'll try and get something done for today on the driving, and I would suggest that you and Detective Robertson take a trip to the firing range a little later in the day."
"Thank you, Sir." Rae threw it back one last time and put her hands in her pockets. "I have finished."
"I thought you had. You may go back to work then, Detective."
Rae headed back towards her desk with a smile on her face. She had to take hold of her own destiny, that way she could live where she wanted and maybe one day how she wanted, and then she would be a better cop. Her mind was busy, busier than it had been in a long time. What she had said to Jesse last night was true. Being a cop was more than what she was, it was who she was; she didn't ever want to change that. She had thought that he could live with that, but she had been wrong, for the second time she had been wrong, and once again she was alone. She had coped last time, and she would cope this time too. She squared her shoulders and carried on walking to her desk. She would be the best that she could be, by herself and for herself.
Mark heard the buzzer for the quarantined area and raced to the elevator. It seemed to take forever to arrive at the right floor and then he rushed towards his son's room. He saw Steve lying on the floor with Jo beside him and stopped. Suddenly the seriousness of the situation hit him and he began to speak to Jo.
"Honey, I have to go and get a suit on, I will be back in a minute…He is breathing, isn't he?"
"Yes, Mark, but it's not as good as when I came in. I'm tryin' to make sure that he's ok, but please hurry."
Mark rushed to the locker room, and in less than five minutes he was back at the door wearing a full quarantine suit. He knelt down by the prone form of his son and began to check him over.
"Steve! Steve, can you hear me?" There was no response and Mark had to push down the blind panic that threatened to overwhelm him. "Jo, honey, tell me what happened." He began to take his pulse as he spoke, and then to check his other vital signs.
"I heard him get up an' I walked to his room so that I could say good mornin', but then I heard him bein' sick an' when I got here he was just lyin' like he is now. Mark, he hasn't spoke or moved since I got in here an' he asked me to call you." Jo swallowed down the tears and watched as Mark tried to get a response from his son.
Mark stood up and walked over to the phone, he barked instructions down it, and before Jo knew what was happening the room was full of other people in quarantine suits and she was being ushered out into the hallway.
In less than ten minutes Steve's room had been turned in to an ICU suite and he was on a ventilator lying back on his bed. A very worried looking Mark had supervised the collection of the vomit from the floor and sent it to be analysed STAT. There were more machines than Jo knew existed all around Steve and she couldn't believe how ill he had become, she knew he had got much worse in the short time since she had found him. An' it's all my fault. Damn you James, what will I do if he dies? "Mark what do all these machines do?"
"Honey, they are keeping him alive right now. There is a ventilator to breath for him, and he is receiving fluids, saline solution and a broad-spectrum antibiotic, because we have no idea what is causing this. Whatever it is has almost shut his body down. The symptoms are different to the ones you had." Mark stopped talking. All of a sudden he could say no more.
"Mark, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am about this. I swear I didn't know…"
"Jo, if Steve thought for a minute you had any idea of what was happening at Worthington he wouldn't still be with you. I don't blame you, and he won't either."
"Thank you, Mark. While you have that suit on I could sure do with a hug."
Mark smiled at her and enveloped her in a very strange smelling, plastic feeling suit and held her close to him. After a little while they pulled apart and Mark ran his gloved finger down her cheek. "You need to be strong for him, honey, he is gonna need you."
"Mark, I love him, I'll be here for him. Did you want to take a blood sample from me while you're here? Then I had better phone Rae. She needs to know what is goin' on, an' I, I just need to speak to her."
Mark nodded at her and took the sample he needed. As he left he saw her sit at the table in her room and pick up her cell phone.
Rae was starting to read through her notes when her phone rang. She sighed, ran her fingers through her hair and picked it up. "Detective Yeager… Hi, Texas, how are you today…? No. Oh, no."
Martin looked over. Rae had lost all the colour in her face. She had her hand over her mouth and she looked… He considered for a moment, she looked terrified. He stood up and moved over to her and wondered how he could help her.
"I'll come now…I'll get someone to drive me." With that Rae put the phone down and turned to face her temporary partner. "Martin, please take me to Community General … I need to see the Captain first."
Ten minutes later Rae and Martin were hurrying down the steps and out into the sunlight. Rae followed Martin to his car and they sped off. "Rae, talk to me, tell me what is going on."
"I don't know…But Steve is in the ICU…on life support." Rae ran her hand over her eyes. "I saw him yesterday he was fine... Real cross, but fine." Rae started to think, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket but then put it away again. "I wanted to call Ron…but I don't know his number."
Rae shut her eyes. She was dreading what she was going to find when she got to the hospital. Steve was so strong, the thought of him on life support was … She gave up, she couldn't find the word she was looking for.
Martin drew up outside the main entrance to the hospital and smiled across at Rae. "Do you want me to wait?"
"No. I'll get a ride from… somebody… Martin could you ask the Captain to get my driving put off until the morning?" She saw him nod. "Thank you. I'll let you know how he is." Rae smiled at him and got out of the car. She stood for a second as he drove away and then with a deep breath she headed into the hospital.
When Rae asked at the front desk for Lieutenant Sloan's room she was told to wait in the lobby. It was ten minutes before Jesse came over to her.
"Jess. I want to see Steve. Why can't I?" Rae looked at this man that she loved who wouldn't love her and she saw almost complete despair in his face. "Jesse, I'm not too late am I?"
"No, Rae, sit down and listen, ok? Steve has been infected with the same pathogen as Jo."
"But she is better. I don't understand."
"No, well that makes two of us. It's germ warfare, Rae, Steve is still alive, but he is dying. Unless we can find an antidote there is no doubt that he will die."
"Oh, God. Poor Mark, poor Texas… Jesse, please let me go see him. Even through the glass, I need to see him."
"You will have to get suited up, but you can see him." Jesse led her to the elevator and they went almost to the top of the building. There were armed guards on the elevator door and the double doors into the suites; they were all wearing quarantine suits.
Rae said nothing as she was handed the suit she had to put on. It took a while to get it all sealed up and then after Jesse had completed the same procedure they walked together through into another world.
Jo's room looked to Rae like something from a five star hotel, she couldn't see anyone in it, but there was a double bed, a seating area, even a basket of fruit on the table. Then she passed on to the next room and she could see nothing but masks, protective clothing and beeping machines. She put her gloved hands together almost in silent prayer as her eyes sought out Steve's lifeless form lying beneath all the tubes and wires on the bed. Jo was sitting next to him. Rae looked over to Jesse and pointed into the room. He nodded and she entered.
Jo felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Rae's concerned face looking down at her through her helmet. Suddenly the tears she had been trying all morning to hold back started to flow and she flung herself into her friend's waiting arms.
"Shhh. Texas, come on. Come outside just for a minute, maybe he can hear you, you don't want him to listen to you cry." Jo looked at her and they walked together out into the hallway. Jesse took Jo's place at the bedside of his best friend without a backward glance.
"Rae, I am so sorry. I just can't believe all this." Jo was sobbing almost uncontrollably.
"Texas…look at me… This isn't your fault…" Rae paused and Jo strained to hear her next words. "But if I see James Worthington or Ron Wagner any time soon…" Her thoughts were left unfinished, but Jo was left in no doubt where Rae thought the blame lay.
The two friends sat together for a few minutes, drawing strength from each other as they both struggled to come to terms with the fact that they may lose a man they both loved very much.
They were suddenly shaken out of their companionship and contemplation as a cry went up from in Steve's room. They both rushed back but a very large suited figure refused them entrance.
"For God's sake, just tell me, is it Steve?" Jo's voice was high pitched and Rae knew she was only just holding on to herself.
"No, ma'am." The man moved away from them slightly and Jo and Rae could see that one of the people in the quarantine suits was on the floor.
The doors to the hallway were suddenly flung open and a gurney was rushed through. The two women looked at each other in terror and backed away until the wall stopped them from moving any more.
As they stood and watched the next room down the hall was being made into another ICU unit. They could see that the figure on the floor was being intubated and that the people around him or her were very worried indeed.
A figure came to the door of Steve's room. "We're ready for him."
Jo and Rae watched in total horror as the figure was wheeled past them and they could at last see that it was Mark on the gurney.
Realisation dawned on Jo as he went by them. "My God, a touch of the hand, or a kiss on the cheek will pass this on." As Rae turned to ask her friend what she was talking about she saw the machinery for another room being wheeled in.
Rae moved towards it. "What is going on here?"
"Excuse me ma'am, but we have to set up an isolation suite down the hallway."
Rae took a very deep breath. "Who for?"
"I can't say, ma'am, I'm sorry."
"My name is Detective Reagan Yeager, please tell me who this is for."
"Agent Wagner, ma'am." Rae was glad he hadn't asked for I.D. It would take her about half an hour to find her belt.
Rae turned back to Jo. "You have to tell me what is going on here. Do we have an epidemic? Mark, Steve, Ron, there must be a pattern here." For a moment Rae let the seriousness of the situation slide. Her mind was buzzing, she felt alive, really alive, and instantly guilty as she thought about it.
"Yeah, me. I did this, an' now they will all die."
"But you didn't touch Ron, did you?" Rae waited but already she knew what had happened and her heart sank.
"No, I don't think so, so how…" Jo tried to think, but her mind was on overload.
"Steve did. He shook hands with him… and then… I touched Steve too."
"Oh, God, all of you are gonna die, because of me…." Jo wrapped her arms around herself and tried to regain control.
"No. That can't happen. James is a scientist. We need to get on to him. Find the cure for this." Rae looked at Jo and was shocked by her face. "What…no, Texas, no. There has to be a cure…there has to be."
"Some of them have no cure." Jo's voice was no more than a whisper. She couldn't believe how much she hated herself right now.
Rae was prevented from answering by the arrival of Ron, who was unconscious. Amanda was stopped by the door.
"Please, I have to go in with him."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but this is a restricted area. You can't come in here."
Jesse came out of Steve's room at the sound of his friend's voice. "Amanda, you have to stay there."
"Jesse." Amanda's voice was a sob. "Please."
"Look we are gonna have to set up another area for people who have been in contact with Jo, and all those that she has been in contact with."
"Jesse you haven't been in contact with Mark, Steve or Ron. You need to stay in that suit. But I don't … I held onto Steve's hand yesterday, just after he shook hands with Ron." Rae's voice was soft inside her suit as she saw Jesse's reaction.
"Mark, Steve, they're in here too. My God what is going on here?" Amanda looked at her friends and held onto the doorframe to steady herself.
Jesse felt as if his heart would stop. He looked at Rae and taking a deep breath he asked, "And how do you feel?"
"Fine. I don't even have a headache."
"Good, let's hope it stays that way. I'll find you a room so you can stay on this floor and then we can set up a holding area for anybody that you, Jo, Mark, Steve or Ron have been in contact with elsewhere. My God, if news of this gets out we will have a nationwide panic on our hands."
Jo looked up. "Just use my room, Jesse, I'm goin' back in to be with Steve."
Rae looked at Jesse who just nodded. She moved inside and Jesse followed her. "You're right, you don't need to stay suited up. As far as I know this isn't airborne, but I don't think anybody knows very much about it. So I need to know if you start to feel ill. This moves so fast." Rae watched as Jesse moved back outside towards where Amanda was standing. He didn't know who to talk to first. "Amanda, were you with Ron last night?"
"Yes, he stayed with me. He was fine until this morning and then he just got ill real quick." Jesse grabbed for her as he saw her sway. He eased her onto a chair and crouched down in front of her.
"Amanda, tell me how you are feeling right now."
"I'm all right Jesse, I don't feel ill, just very, very worried."
"Amanda, did he tell you about the pathogen that Jo had?" Jesse saw her nod and carried on "Well then, I need you to go and check the bloods I have taken this morning. Can you do that? There isn't anybody else I trust to do it as well as you. If you put a suit on you should be prevented from spreading it yourself."
"Sure, I will take them with me now. It will take my mind off it… Jesse I'll work on my own and speak or come into contact with nobody."
"No, you have somebody in the room with you. If you are taken ill, I want to know STAT! I'll page Alex and get him to meet you there, in a suit. Don't let anybody in unless they are wearing one, ok?"
"Ok. Thank you, Jesse."
Rae was sitting in Jo's room with her notes spread out in front of her. She was baking hot and feeling a little dizzy. "Jess."
"Rae, what is it?" Jesse was by her side almost immediately.
"I am boiling in this suit. Please can I take it off before I pass out?"
"Sure, want me to give you a hand?"
"Yes, please."
Jesse pulled the helmet off her, and then began to remove the suit. Rae shivered at his touch and for a second he had to back away.
"I'm sorry, Jesse. Please forgive me."
He removed the rest of her suit without a sound and turned and left the room with it immediately. His hands were shaking inside his gloves. Just for a moment he removed himself mentally from his surroundings. He wanted to go back in and just pick her up and take her away from the danger she found herself in once again. His need to protect her was so strong that nothing else mattered.
Amanda put on her quarantine suit and headed back down to her lab. Her mind was racing, she was worried half to death about Ron, Steve and Mark, but not only that, she was thinking about her boys. Trying to remember if Ron had touched them last night. He hadn't gotten in from work until just after eight. CJ had already been in bed and Dion was playing computer games in his room. No, she didn't think there had been any contact. Thank God. Then she thought again. She had touched Ron, could she pass it on? She had started work early and Ron had come with her. The sitter had got both children up and off to school, she thought they would be safe. She would ask next time she went upstairs. She shook herself and began to work. As she did so there was a knock on the door and she saw another suited figure. She waved her hand and it entered.
"Hi, Amanda, Jesse told me to come and stay with you. Can I do anything to help?"
"Yeah, you can help me get this digital imaging equipment up and running, and then you can double check my results for me."
Alex looked through his mask. "Yes, ma'am."
Soon the two suited figures could be seen working closely together looking at slides on the computer screen, typing up information and talking quietly together. So great was their concentration that neither of them was aware of anybody but each other and the work they had to do.
Rae had got on the phone to the station as soon as Jesse had left the room. She had asked for a low-key police presence in the hospital, not in numbers but in visibility. She had also said that she would keep them informed about what was happening in the hospital, especially to Ron and Steve. She asked for the Captain's extension and told him that he needed to come in and be checked over, because of their game of catch, then she had put the phone down and placing her head in her hands had tried to come to terms with what was going on around her.
About a mile away from the hospital Joseph Donovan was sitting in a coffee shop thinking. They had struck gold when they had stolen the discs from Worthington's lab. But the search for the antidotes at Worthington's house had been a disaster all round. They had just kidnapped Candi Worthington, and had finished spraying the wall with the slogan when she had tried to move towards the phone. They had planned to hold her hostage for a few days before killing her but somehow bloodlust had taken over. Dani had been a bit of a problem afterwards, but he had sorted her out. Her scientific knowledge had been invaluable; he would have done anything, well almost anything to keep her with them. A few kisses, a bottle of wine and an evening at his place and she had agreed to everything he said. She had been one of the original animal rights activists, and was actually in it to save the whale, whereas he saw it as a chance to fight under a banner, any banner, while using the violence he craved to turn every meeting he could into a riot.
He looked up as Richard Crisp walked over with two hamburgers with all the trimmings and a large plate of fries.
"Hey, man, you took your time. What gives?"
"Sorry, I had to dig around the pockets. This cost $10.00. So, now what do we do? The Walters chick has disappeared, according to our information she will be fine by now, and all we got out of it was the money and I'm still eating hamburgers."
"Yeah, well I can cope with that, we'll share it out once the heat dies down. I should have followed the girl and gotten rid of her once we knew she had infected somebody. I won't make the same mistake twice. If you had been given a pathogen that nobody knew existed where would you be kept?"
Crisp thought for a minute. "A secure hospital. Quietly. I bet she is still in Community General."
"So that is where we need to be. You wanna do the killing this time?" Donovan looked over at Crisp and laughed when he choked on his lunch. "Guess not. Ok, well you know what your part of this plan is then, by the time I finish at the hospital I expect all hell to have broken loose, understand?"
Jo stood up from where she had been sitting for the past hour with Steve. She stretched her aching body and then leant over him. "Honey, I'm just gonna go see your dad for a while, I'll be right back." She didn't say where Mark was, not knowing whether or not he could hear her. She walked away from him and into the room next door. "Jess, I'll take over for a while. Why don't you go see Rae, maybe you could talk?"
"And tell her what? That we are in the biggest crisis of our lives, but, hey, maybe I made a mistake, and when this is over and our friends are all dead we could live happily ever after?"
"Jesse, no." Jo put her hand out to him but he walked away from her. She turned towards Mark and sat down with a sigh.
"Mark, I am so sorry, I have come into your lives an' ruined them, an' I never meant to do that. I would change places with any of you if I could." She ran her hand over her eyes, she was so tired, she had been awake half the night worrying, but no amount of sleep could have prepared her for the day she was having.
Rae went over to the sink and poured herself a drink. She suddenly had an insatiable thirst. She sat down and tried to think. Her head had begun to pound, and she felt in her pocket for her tablets. As she put them in her mouth she saw Jesse out in the hallway, watching her. She swallowed them down and turned away. She needed him so badly that it hurt; she closed her eyes to try to shut him out and bring herself back to a state of mind where she could concentrate on what was happening. But for an instant her personal need took over and she turned back to him. "Jesse, please."
He moved towards her, but the elevator doors opened and Alex and Amanda came out. The moment was lost as he turned and walked over to them. "Amanda, what did you find out?"
"I have no idea. Ron, Mark and Steve all have the same bug, for want of a better word. Rae has it in her system, so do I, and I feel extremely sick… Jesse." She swayed as she spoke and Jesse caught her as she fell. "Alex, there is a room set up next to Ron, get me the gurney."
Alex was half way down the hallway before Jesse had finished speaking. He rushed it back and between them, they got Amanda out of her suit and onto it. Five minutes later she was hooked up to all the machines and had become the last member of Jesse's family to be lost to him.
Jo had heard the commotion and turning from Mark's bed had seen Amanda being wheeled along the hallway. She knew that Steve saw Jesse and Amanda as his kin; she had effectively wiped them all out. She had to get hold of James and get him here.
Rae got herself another drink of water and spotted Jo's list by the side of the bed. She picked it up and walked back over to the table. Of all the people that Steve or Jo had actually had physical contact with she was the only one not hooked up to a ventilator. Why? I spend so much time here I should have a room named after me. She looked at the list again. Neither she nor Ron was on it. Steve must have forgotten about touching them. She hoped he hadn't forgotten anybody else. Rae had finished her drink and so she went and got another one. Once she sat down again she put her own list of things to do on top of Jo's. She had called everybody who was involved in this case, all the people who had been in actual contact with her, Texas, Mark, Steve, Ron and Amanda were coming in to the hospital to be evaluated. She had called Amanda's mom and arranged for her to take the children out of school, she had phoned the station and arranged for the school to be cordoned off. She had no idea how they would deal with the children that CJ and Dion may have been in contact with, and she had no space left in her brain to worry about it. She had even covered the shifts at Bob's. As she crossed everything off on her list she saw Alex come into the room.
"Rae, can I talk to you a minute?"
"Yeah, sure, I'm not going anywhere." She smiled and saw him visibly relax inside his orange home.
"You're feeling all right, aren't you."
Rae just nodded; she knew it hadn't been asked as a question.
"You should be on one of those beds, hooked up to all that machinery. You have the pathogen in your system. So why aren't you?"
"I have no idea. All I have is a raging thirst. Do you want some more blood?"
"Yeah, I have Amanda's notes and findings, I'm gonna go back and carry on." He began to draw the blood from her arm and as he did so he looked at her. "You seem so much better. Your talking is almost back to normal. I am so glad."
"Thank you, Alex. The rest of my life is falling down around me, but, hey, at least I can talk about it fluently." She saw him flinch as she spoke and instantly regretted it. "Alex, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You have been there for me every step of the way since I got hurt. I apologise; it's not your fault." Rae took a breath. Her thoughts, which had been racing, seemed to slow back down. "I have been trying to get James Worthington all morning… and I can't… Nobody seems to know where the scientists who made the damn thing are… and most of my friends are on …life support. You were just a convenient… whipping boy. I'm sorry." She put her hand up to his face, and rested it on the mask. He put his equipment down on its stand and put his arms around her. They clung together for a long time gaining the strength they needed from each other to carry on.
Jesse walked down the hallway, he would speak to Rae, and maybe they could get through this together. He stopped as he got to the room and saw her in the arms of someone else. He moved back and saw them break apart. Then Rae smiled at the person and he heard her speak. "Thank you, I don't know what I would have done without you since I've been here. Let me know what happens next, ok?"
Alex picked up his case with her blood in it and, without even noticing Jesse; he headed back towards the elevator. Rae went over to the sink refilled her glass and turned. The hallway was clear and she moved out into it. As she walked along she looked in through the doorways, in each room was a friend, either extremely close or just an acquaintance, fleetingly she wished she was one of them, then maybe the ache around her heart would go away.
Steve was alone in his room and so she moved over and sat next to him. She pulled on a pair of the latex gloves that were lying on the side and took his hand in hers. "Come on, partner, I need you to fight this. I'm ready and waiting to get back on the job, but you have to be there too." She ran her fingers through his hair and moved a few strands back off his forehead. She picked up one of the disposable cloths and gently mopped his brow. For the first time he looked vulnerable to her. He was a big, muscular man but now there was no strength in him, he was dying and she could do nothing about it. Rae stood up and swallowed down her fear. "Steve, I'll come back in a little while, but you keep fighting, y'hear, or you'll have me to answer to."
She walked on to where Jo was sitting. Mark was lying completely unresponsive, his hair was messed up and suddenly Rae wanted desperately to neaten it. He was such a dapper man that it seemed so wrong for him to be lying there with untidy hair.
"Texas, I can't get hold of James, any bright ideas? Does he play golf, tennis, anything like that?"
"No, but he always has lunch at home every day. I'll ring Mrs Barraclough, I won't be a minute." Jo moved out into the corridor and Rae followed her. "Rae, sit with Steve a while an' I'll come an' tell you what I find out."
Rae went back and sat down in the seat she had only just left. Steve just lay there; looking so vulnerable, that Rae felt her heart would break. His breathing was steady but Rae had no doubt that without the machines the pathogen would already have won. She leant over and poured herself a drink of water from the jug behind her and drank from it steadily. As she sat there she became almost hypnotised by the steady rhythm of the machines around her. Shaking herself she returned to her awful reality. She knew that whatever happened, it would take her a long time to get this picture of her partner out of her mind.
Jo came back into the room and Rae turned towards her. "Any luck?"
"What? Oh, no. Mrs Barraclough said that he was feelin' so rotten about everything that he decided to go away for a while. She thinks he's in San Francisco, but she's not sure. I told her we needed him to contact us real quick an' she said she would let us know if she heard anything. I suppose we could put a trace on his credit cards."
"Of course, give me the phone, I'll get right on it." Rae put a call through to Martin and then as she moved away a thought struck her and she came back. "Texas, how do you feel?"
"Fine, I could get up an' walk away from here, I feel fine, the man I love is dyin' an' so are almost all his friends, but I don't feel ill, just sick to my stomach."
"Why don't you feel ill? You were with Steve, why didn't he re-infect you? Did Alex take your blood just now?"
"No. I didn't see him."
Rae moved over to the phone on the wall and called down to the path lab. Five minutes later Alex was back up and was with Rae, Jo and Jesse in Jo's suite.
"Rae, what's up, why did you need me back up here so urgently?"
"Alex, I want you to take Texas …Jo's blood and check it right now. She should be re-infected and she isn't. I want you to see if she has it in her blood, like I do, or I did."
"You still do, I just finished your blood work. I have no idea why you aren't flat on your back, but you're not."
"Alex do Jo's now, and then compare the two. I know I'm not a doctor, but there has to be a reason why she isn't ill. Maybe we can get an antidote from her, or me, maybe I have a natural resistance to it. I don't know that either, but we can't get Worthington or any of his lackeys on the phone, and we have to solve this, now. Before someone dies."
Alex took Jo's blood and headed back towards the elevator once again. Another suited figure came onto the floor as he left it and with his mind whirring Alex went back down to the pathology lab. It had never been his intention to work in this type of investigative medicine, but Amanda had told him while they were working that he was more than capable of doing what she had been and her words kept ringing in his ears as he now carried on her job alone.
Joseph Donovan looked up and down the hallway; he needed to find Jo Walters without arousing suspicion. As he began to walk slowly towards the double doors he heard a voice. "Ah, good a replacement. Nurse Jackson you can go and have your break now. Go straight to the locker room on the floor below and go through the decontamination process, tell no one what you are working on. You'll need to be back in two hours."
"Yes, Doctor Travis."
"Right…" Jesse looked at the face under the mask. "I don't think I know you. You do have experience in this kind of emergency medicine don't you?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good, right, well, I need you to check the vitals on Agent Wagner and Doctor Bentley first, then report back to me, ok?"
Jesse moved away before he got a complete answer and headed off towards Steve's room. Jo was back with him now and she had his hand in hers. "Jo, I need to do some tests on him, can you go back with Rae for a while?"
"Sure, but you come an' get me the minute you finish, you hear?"
"Yes, ma'am." Jesse smiled at her and put his hand out to her. "I will tell you what I find."
Jo pulled off her gloves and walked back towards the room where Rae was sitting. She saw one of the medical staff watching her as she moved up the hallway. Rae switched her phone off and stood up. "I can't get hold of anybody. Not your wonderful boss, obviously, but now I can't even get his housekeeper, or her daughter, nobody is anywhere that they should be." Rae slammed her phone onto the table and picked up the glass again. She headed towards the tap talking as she went. "I have never been this thirsty, I am either at the tap or the toilet."
"Well, I'm glad that you're not in there right now, because that's where I need to be."
"Ok, do you want me to sit with Steve or Mark? I am doing nothing useful at the moment. If not, if you share the Sloan's I will go and sit with Amanda and Ron. They should have somebody with them…just in case." Rae let the words hang and then seeing Jo nod headed towards Amanda's room.
Donovan walked down and into Jo's room. He couldn't see her so he waited just over the threshold. He had a syringe in his hand and he knew exactly what he had to do. As he heard the door being unbolted Donovan heard a voice. "Hey, you, you are supposed to be taking vitals." Jesse moved up to him and continued talking. "This is an extremely serious situation we are in, if you can't undertake the simplest of tasks I will have you replaced."
"Yes, Sir. I am just waiting to use the bathroom."
Jesse rolled his eyes skywards and then left the room. Jo, who had heard the exchange and decided to stay where she was, came out into the room. "There you go, it's all yours." She began to move away and didn't realise that he was coming up behind her with the syringe ready to use.