WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER
O.S.I. WING

The room was quiet save for the sound of the respirator. Rudy was sitting in a chair a few feet away, reading through book after book on the subject of biotoxic microbes. He sighed and pulled his glasses off, rubbing his eyes. He looked at the figure lying on the bed, and noticed a slight twitching in his legs and arms. Concerned, Wells set the books down and walked over to the bed.

Gently he picked up the hand closest to him, and examined it, following suit with the rest of Goldman's limbs. He tested his friend's reflexes, and realized the twitches were a reaction to intense pain. Rudy looked up at the pallid face and noticed blood trickling in a steady stream out of Oscar's nose and the corners of his eyes.

Oh God....

Rudy hit a red button on the wall and a moment later a nurse was in the room, followed by Russ and Callahan.

What's going on, Rudy?

Rudy ignored the question and turned to the nurse, Get me a 10 cc IV saline solution, one part hypertonic, one part glycerol, and Nurse, I need 5 cc's morphine in a syringe.

Yes doctor.

The nurse left to comply. Russ and Callahan looked on helplessly as Rudy applied gentle pressure with a cloth to try and slow down the bleeding. The twinges in Goldman's limbs had turned into tremors. Russ gently held Oscar's legs steady so he wouldn't hurt himself.

What the hell is causing this, Rudy?



Can't you stop it?

I have limited options at this point.

The nurse came back, carrying an IV saline solution, which she quickly hooked up to Oscar's arm. She then handed Rudy a syringe loaded with morphine. Rudy lifted the blanket and swabbed Oscar's hip, then he gently inserted the needle, depressing the plunger. After a moment, the tremors stopped.

Rudy let out the air he had been holding, Thank God.

Callahan's voice was unsteady, What just happened here?

The tremors were a reaction to intense pain, Callahan.

Russ was angered by the idea, So you shot him up with morphine?

The recrimination in Russ' tone put Rudy on the defensive, When you receive your license to practice medicine, you can question my judgment, until then, I suggest you bag it. Or perhaps you just enjoy watching Oscar suffer.

Realizing he went too far, Russ looked at the floor, I'm sorry Rudy, I didn't mean to, you know......

Rudy squeezed the back of his own neck, the tension was getting to all of them, Forget it, I know you didn't. I'm sorry I reacted. He looked again at Russ, Have you heard from Jamie?

No, not yet.

Wells sat back down in the chair by the bed and picked up the medical books once more, When you do hear from her, patch it through to me here. I'm going to see if there's anything that might help him in one of these.

Russ nodded, and indicated quietly to Callahan, that they should both leave.

As she passed Rudy, she squeezed his shoulder, If anyone can figure this out, it's you, Dr. Wells.

At the sound of the door closing, Rudy looked up at his patient, Hang on, Oscar.

********************

AIR FORCE CARGO PLANE
SOMEWHERE OVER THE ATLANTIC

Paree, clad in military fatigues, sat next to Jamie, pouring through pages and pages of notes. She unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn.

Why don't you lie down and catch a nap?

I will sleep later. If we're going to help your friend, we must find something.

This is the last file, honey, you lie down, I'll keep going.

Reluctantly, the girl stretched out, but within moments, she was fast asleep. Jamie kept reading, straight through to the last page. There was nothing. Not one mention of an antidote in all of Gillespie's notes. Then she remembered what he had said at the lab....

Jamie's voice was soft, So each antidote would have to be created specifically for an individual.



But there would have to be a few common denominators; places to start building an antidote.

Maybe there are, but it makes no difference to you, or to Goldman.

Jamie picked up the intercom, Fred, can you patch me through to the O.S.I.?

Sure thing, Jamie. After a moment he said, Go ahead.

Jamie? Is that you?

She was relieved to hear Wells, Yes Rudy....how is he?

There was an awkward silence, then sadness permeated the air waves, It's bad, Jamie. What's your ETA?

We're about five hours out.

Did you find anything in Gillespie's notes?

No, but at the lab in Tabriz, Gillespie mentioned that the bug alters the DNA markers of the person it attacks, in addition to its own. Each antidote is specific to the individual.

Yes, I already figured that out. Did he say anything else?

Not really. But he indicated that there might be some common factors in an antidote.

Did he say what they were?

The silence on the other end stretched on, so Jamie spoke again, Rudy....level with me. How long?

Matter of hours--

His voice broke and for the first time it hit home that they might lose Oscar.

We must have missed something, Rudy. We can't just give up. When Wells didn't answer, she prodded him,

Tell me about the lab.

It was a lab: tables, microscopes, beakers, Bunsen burners--

--Bunsen burners....was he working on anything?

Jamie closed her eyes, thinking, then, Yes. Yes, there was a beaker on a burner, it had what looked like crystals in it.

Were they still solid?



Now this is important, Jamie. Did you happen to notice the temperature of the burner?

She thought and it came to her, Yes, it was 1869.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hmmm.....not that many elements will still be solid at that temperature. Did you see anything else?

She thought back and it came to her, The footprints!



Yeah Rudy, in the original basement lab, the light burned out when I was in there, and in the dark, I stepped on some glass. When I looked down, my shoe was glowing, and that was when I noticed the glowing footprints.

Phosphorus.....Jamie, do you still have the shoe?

I'm wearing it.

Look at it for me and describe what you see.

Jamie pulled her shoe off and examined it, Wow.....there are a lot of small crystals embedded in the sole of the shoe.

Ask the pilot to turn off the lights.



Just do it.

Jamie pressed the intercom button, Fred, can you turn the lights off back here?

A second later, it was dark, and Jamie realized the bottom of her shoe was still glowing.

It's still green, Rudy.

There aren't many phosphors that will last that long....



Promethium. That must be one of the common elements. I have an idea, I'm going to work on it. I'll see you when you get here.

Rudy....don't let anything happen to him.

You know I'll do my best. Base out.

Jamie knew that the remainder of the flight was going to feel like forever.

****************

WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER
O.S.I. WING

Rudy grabbed Russ as he ran through the hospital corridor, Come on, I'm going to need your help.

Russ followed him into the lab, and he watched while Rudy pulled out vials of Oscar's blood.

He looked up at Russ, Get me some neodymium, Russ.



Preferably neodymium-145. If you can't find that, I'll take promethium-145. It will be faster if we have neodymium though. Hurry up!

Russ picked up the phone and started dialing. A moment later, Rudy slammed his hand down on the lab table.

Damn it!

What's wrong?

I can't use this blood. These samples were taken after Oscar was infected. I need a clean DNA sample. Shit.

Calm down, Rudy, DNA can be found in a hair follicle or a toothbrush, right?

Anything you find in his office could contain the wrong DNA sequence if it got there after he licked that damned envelope.

Fine. He never had a chance to go home after Gillespie disappeared, so I'll just get the sample from there.

Rudy smiled at him, Get going!

There was a chance. It was small, outside, but it was a chance.

*****************