Chapter 3: On viruses and pride.

Shari was in seventh heaven, and the man sitting in front of her was to thank for that. He was Dr. Lawrence Byron, an eminence when it came to designing epidemy-containing strategies. She was very familiar with his work, since she had devoured every article he had published and when she heard he was working at San Francisco General, Shari knew she wouldn't be able to rest until she had talked to him.

It had taken her a great deal of courage to knock on his door and introduce herself, but the man had been delighted by her interest and invited her to have breakfast with him and talk about their field of expertise. So, there she was, discussing with him the different ways in which an inappropriate health-care facility could accelerate the dissemination of a disease.

Realizing it was almost 2 PM, she thanked Dr. Byron for his time. He asked her to return soon and, after promising she would, Shari decided to grab a quick bite at the hospital's cafeteria. She would then go back to the lab and start running some tests on cells infected with West Nile disease. Shari was supposed to have them ready by the end of day and knew she would have to work fast. Still, she didn't regret the time she had spent with the distinguished researcher.

Tucking her hands on her pockets, she got on the elevator and hit the 12th floor button. With a smile she thought she looked like one more of the doctors in there. A couple of them tried to make eye contact with her, but she wasn't exactly in the mood for that, so she just ignored them.

When she got to the 12th floor, she went inside the canteen, took a tray and picked a small salad. Once she had paid for it, someone tapped on her shoulder and Shari found a smiling Matt standing in front of her.

" Shari, hey!"

" Hi Matt, good morning!" She said, before giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

" Have a bit of time for lunch?"

" Yup," answered Shari, not knowing that in less than ten seconds she would be regretting her answer.

" Then come sit with us," he offered, gesturing to a table where Dr. Kokoris was sitting.

He was staring at them, a measuring look in his eyes. Shari felt like refusing, but that would have only given him the pleasure of knowing he intimidated her, so she grabbed the tray and joined the two men.

" Good morning, Dr. Kokoris," she said, forcing a smile the best she could.

" Good morning," he answered curtly, before turning back to his hamburger.

Matt tried to break the ice. " I didn't find you at the lab nor in your office and thought you hadn't come to work today."

" Oh, I was at Dr. Lawrence Byron's office. He told me a lot of things about his research in African hospitals and their lack of epidemic strategies," explained the woman, a grin quickly setting on her face.     

Matt's brows furrowed. " You found that interesting?"

" A lot! I've read all his papers and I admire him a great deal."

" The man's a walking fossil!" He joked.

" Well, he was very nice to me. He said he was glad to know that there were still young people interested in his work. I'm not that young… but it doesn't matter."

" You are. After all, you are only 25," intervened Nicholas.

" I'll turn 26 in August," she said, shrugging.

" And you got degrees from Harvard and Yale," he stated.

He had said it in a way that made Shari wonder if he thought it was a wonderful thing or the epitome of horror. She decided to remain silent instead of sending him to... well, where here deserved to be sent.

" What made you move here, to SF?" He asked.

" Well, I had a teacher back in Yale who I helped a couple of times contributing with some articles to his science magazine. Because of it, he knows many people from different hospitals and he told me about this opening. So I decided to send my CV. After all, I had nothing to lose," replied the woman with a smile. Just because he was being rude didn't mean she had to be impolite as well.

" And you like your new job?"

" Yeah! I never had a real job before and, so far, I'm really enjoying it. I just wish I could do some fieldwork, you know. Go where the real outbreaks occur."

Matt laughed. " Dynamite, pure dynamite," he said with a chuckle.

The smile his comment had brought to her face was quickly replaced by a killer stare at Nicholas' question.

" You think you are ready for the world outside?"

" What do you mean?" She asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

" Do you think you can face the destruction and misery that an epidemy brings along and remain immovable?"         

" No, I wouldn't like remaining immovable," replied Shari, with an air of superiority.

" I am trying to warn you. I have been to Gabon during an Ebola outbreak and I've seen things you would not be able to stand."

That was it. " Oh, really? Lookit, I might be young, I may appear fragile, but I'm qualified. And I AM ready! Now, if you excuse me... Matt, I'll see you later."

Shari got up gracefully, threw the remnants of her salad in the nearest bin and stormed out of the cafeteria. The two doctors watched her leave, one of them entirely puzzled, the other one with crescent irritation.

Now, Nicholas knew he was a nice man, that's why he couldn't understand his reasons for feeling so hard against Shari. He wasn't judgmental and always believed in giving people a chance.

" Then why is it I keep trying to find flaws in her?' He asked himself.

Then answer seemed to elude him. Or was it him who was eluding the truth?