Kim was waiting anxiously for the doctor, clutching Rufus tightly in
her hands. Princess Jenna was seated behind her, also waiting for news.
It had been a mere twenty minutes since the ambulance had arrived, but for
the three of them it seemed like an eternity.
Finally, the doctor walked out of the Emergency Room, and motioned for Kim. She jumped to her feat and briskly crossed the room to where he stood.
"You're with Mr. Stoppable, correct?" he asked.
"Yes, doctor, how is he?" Kim demanded, her voice full of tension and fear.
"I have good news and bad news. Right now he is stabilized. We had to give him sedatives to curb the spasmodic reaction he's having and he has a pretty high dose of antibiotics in him to keep the venom from affecting his vital organs. The bad news is, there is not much more we can do. Without the specific anti-venom, my hands are tied, and ultimately, it's only a matter of time until the venom wins out."
"How do you get the anti-venom?" Kim asked, doubting the question would have a simple answer.
"Well, if we had the spider, that would be a start. We have anti- venom for anything from around here; we just need to identify the species. Normally we can determine that based on symptoms, but your friend is having some sort of allergic reaction... far different from what normally happens."
"I do have one of the spiders with me, Doctor," Kim said, producing the arachnid she had captured, "but I doubt it is from around here."
The doctor bent over, carefully studying the small arachnid. "Your right," the doctor replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I've never seen anything like it. Look at the color, the brilliant red. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who could tell us what it is, let alone get us anti- venom."
"Perhaps I do," Kim said, drawing her communicator from her pocket. "Wade, can you tell me where Professor Acari is?"
"One sec, KP," Wade replied over the communicator. He typed furiously for a moment. "San Diego, at an entomology conference."
"Well, Wade, I need a way down to San Diego, and I need it fast. Ron may only have a few hours."
"Kim?" Wade asked, his eyes widening visibly. "What are you talking about?"
Kim suddenly remembered she had not yet informed Wade about Ron's situation. That is the first thing I should have done. This isn't good... my judgment is getting clouded.
"Ron was bitten by some sort of venomous spider. Several times. He's in pretty rough shape." She tried to remain objective, choking back the tears that welled in her eyes.
"There's nothing in California that should be too much of a problem, Kim. Just calm down and take him to a doctor. No need to bug professor Acari... no pun intended."
"Wade, you don't understand!" Kim replied angrily. "We're in the hospital. Ron is in a coma! We need to get anti-venom soon, or he could..." Kim's voice trailed off, her mouth unable to speak the final word of her sentence. It was too terrible to utter.
******
"Professor Acari, I'm really sorry to disturb you at your conference, but I really need your help."
"Kim, after you recovered my robo-tick? It's not a problem at all," the stout professor replied, somewhat confused by the depressed attitude of the normally upbeat teen. "What is it that's so important?"
"It's Ron. He was bitten by a spider and is in the hospital. No one knows what it is or how to treat him."
"Hmm... I would of thought they would be more familiar with the species found locally," the stout man replied. "You wouldn't happen to have a specimen I could examine?"
"Actually, I do," Kim answered, pulling the glass containing the spider out of her backpack.
Acari's eyes widened as he saw the small red spider. "A Firebird Funnel Web. How did it get here?"
"A what?"
"A Firebird Funnel Web. It's a relative of the Sydney Funnel Web Spider. It really is a most frightening little creature. It doesn't kill as fast as the Sydney, but the death is longer and far more painful."
"So, how do you cure it?"
"I don't know," Acari replied, shifting his gaze to the floor for a moment. He then returned his stare to Kim. "But I might know someone who does."
The short professor pushed his way through the crowd, Kim trying to squeeze through the hole he created before it closed. Kim saw the Professor shake hands with a tall thin man dressed in a dark suit, but she couldn't hear them exchange greetings over the din.
"Kim," Acari called loudly, grabbing her hand and pulling her closer. "This is Professor Eric Cunningham, probably the world's leading expert on spider anti-venoms.
"A pleasure, Ms. Possible," Cunningham said with a mild British accent.
"Likewise, Professor, but if you'll forgive my rudeness, we do need to hurry."
"As I just mentioned, Eric, we have a bit of a problem," Acari interjected. "That conference room over there is empty; it will certainly be quieter than out here."
Kim and Cunningham nodded their approval and the three entered the small conference room. Kim, in no mood to make small talk, whipped out the captured spider once again, handing the glass to Cunningham.
"A Firebird Funnel Web!" Cunningham exclaimed, "Where in heaven's name did you find this?"
"Los Angeles... my friend was bitten a number of times."
"Most unusual, these spiders don't live outside of a few small islands off the Australian coast."
"There is probably more to it, but that is not important right now," Kim said. "I need to get an anti-venom, or something, for him."
Cunningham scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, there are a number of factors to be considered. First of, your friend... boy or girl?"
"Boy."
"Height and weight?"
"I'd guess five eight and maybe a hundred fifty pounds... I'm not sure," Kim responded, hoping that the line of questioning was leading somewhere.
"Any major health conditions?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Kim responded.
"Alright... how long ago was he bitten?"
Kim glanced at her watch. "About four and a half hours ago now."
"I assume he was stable when you left?"
"Yes, the doctor's had him sedated though."
"Well, the Firebird's venom is unusual in that it attacks strongly for the first hour or so, and then will go into a recessive state for a period of, for someone of your friend's size and gender, perhaps twelve to sixteen hours. Not that the victim will feel anything different than he did during the initial attack... the pain is just the same, but no new systems will be affected. After that, the end game begins."
"The end game?" Kim asked nervously.
"Unfortunately, the venom again resumes its attacks on new bodily symptoms, slowly at first, then more violently. At this point, there is no known effective treatment. Depending on a variety of circumstances, it may take only a few hours for the respiratory and circulatory systems to fail, or the victim could suffer an agonizing death over several days. The key is t get the anti-venom into the victim before the end-game begins."
"Which means eight hours, twelve if we are lucky," Kim said softly. "Where can we get anti-venom?"
"My lab... but that's in Boston. I don't see how we can make it there in time."
Kim's hand was already reaching for her communicator. "I think I might be able to call in a favor."
Finally, the doctor walked out of the Emergency Room, and motioned for Kim. She jumped to her feat and briskly crossed the room to where he stood.
"You're with Mr. Stoppable, correct?" he asked.
"Yes, doctor, how is he?" Kim demanded, her voice full of tension and fear.
"I have good news and bad news. Right now he is stabilized. We had to give him sedatives to curb the spasmodic reaction he's having and he has a pretty high dose of antibiotics in him to keep the venom from affecting his vital organs. The bad news is, there is not much more we can do. Without the specific anti-venom, my hands are tied, and ultimately, it's only a matter of time until the venom wins out."
"How do you get the anti-venom?" Kim asked, doubting the question would have a simple answer.
"Well, if we had the spider, that would be a start. We have anti- venom for anything from around here; we just need to identify the species. Normally we can determine that based on symptoms, but your friend is having some sort of allergic reaction... far different from what normally happens."
"I do have one of the spiders with me, Doctor," Kim said, producing the arachnid she had captured, "but I doubt it is from around here."
The doctor bent over, carefully studying the small arachnid. "Your right," the doctor replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I've never seen anything like it. Look at the color, the brilliant red. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who could tell us what it is, let alone get us anti- venom."
"Perhaps I do," Kim said, drawing her communicator from her pocket. "Wade, can you tell me where Professor Acari is?"
"One sec, KP," Wade replied over the communicator. He typed furiously for a moment. "San Diego, at an entomology conference."
"Well, Wade, I need a way down to San Diego, and I need it fast. Ron may only have a few hours."
"Kim?" Wade asked, his eyes widening visibly. "What are you talking about?"
Kim suddenly remembered she had not yet informed Wade about Ron's situation. That is the first thing I should have done. This isn't good... my judgment is getting clouded.
"Ron was bitten by some sort of venomous spider. Several times. He's in pretty rough shape." She tried to remain objective, choking back the tears that welled in her eyes.
"There's nothing in California that should be too much of a problem, Kim. Just calm down and take him to a doctor. No need to bug professor Acari... no pun intended."
"Wade, you don't understand!" Kim replied angrily. "We're in the hospital. Ron is in a coma! We need to get anti-venom soon, or he could..." Kim's voice trailed off, her mouth unable to speak the final word of her sentence. It was too terrible to utter.
******
"Professor Acari, I'm really sorry to disturb you at your conference, but I really need your help."
"Kim, after you recovered my robo-tick? It's not a problem at all," the stout professor replied, somewhat confused by the depressed attitude of the normally upbeat teen. "What is it that's so important?"
"It's Ron. He was bitten by a spider and is in the hospital. No one knows what it is or how to treat him."
"Hmm... I would of thought they would be more familiar with the species found locally," the stout man replied. "You wouldn't happen to have a specimen I could examine?"
"Actually, I do," Kim answered, pulling the glass containing the spider out of her backpack.
Acari's eyes widened as he saw the small red spider. "A Firebird Funnel Web. How did it get here?"
"A what?"
"A Firebird Funnel Web. It's a relative of the Sydney Funnel Web Spider. It really is a most frightening little creature. It doesn't kill as fast as the Sydney, but the death is longer and far more painful."
"So, how do you cure it?"
"I don't know," Acari replied, shifting his gaze to the floor for a moment. He then returned his stare to Kim. "But I might know someone who does."
The short professor pushed his way through the crowd, Kim trying to squeeze through the hole he created before it closed. Kim saw the Professor shake hands with a tall thin man dressed in a dark suit, but she couldn't hear them exchange greetings over the din.
"Kim," Acari called loudly, grabbing her hand and pulling her closer. "This is Professor Eric Cunningham, probably the world's leading expert on spider anti-venoms.
"A pleasure, Ms. Possible," Cunningham said with a mild British accent.
"Likewise, Professor, but if you'll forgive my rudeness, we do need to hurry."
"As I just mentioned, Eric, we have a bit of a problem," Acari interjected. "That conference room over there is empty; it will certainly be quieter than out here."
Kim and Cunningham nodded their approval and the three entered the small conference room. Kim, in no mood to make small talk, whipped out the captured spider once again, handing the glass to Cunningham.
"A Firebird Funnel Web!" Cunningham exclaimed, "Where in heaven's name did you find this?"
"Los Angeles... my friend was bitten a number of times."
"Most unusual, these spiders don't live outside of a few small islands off the Australian coast."
"There is probably more to it, but that is not important right now," Kim said. "I need to get an anti-venom, or something, for him."
Cunningham scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, there are a number of factors to be considered. First of, your friend... boy or girl?"
"Boy."
"Height and weight?"
"I'd guess five eight and maybe a hundred fifty pounds... I'm not sure," Kim responded, hoping that the line of questioning was leading somewhere.
"Any major health conditions?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Kim responded.
"Alright... how long ago was he bitten?"
Kim glanced at her watch. "About four and a half hours ago now."
"I assume he was stable when you left?"
"Yes, the doctor's had him sedated though."
"Well, the Firebird's venom is unusual in that it attacks strongly for the first hour or so, and then will go into a recessive state for a period of, for someone of your friend's size and gender, perhaps twelve to sixteen hours. Not that the victim will feel anything different than he did during the initial attack... the pain is just the same, but no new systems will be affected. After that, the end game begins."
"The end game?" Kim asked nervously.
"Unfortunately, the venom again resumes its attacks on new bodily symptoms, slowly at first, then more violently. At this point, there is no known effective treatment. Depending on a variety of circumstances, it may take only a few hours for the respiratory and circulatory systems to fail, or the victim could suffer an agonizing death over several days. The key is t get the anti-venom into the victim before the end-game begins."
"Which means eight hours, twelve if we are lucky," Kim said softly. "Where can we get anti-venom?"
"My lab... but that's in Boston. I don't see how we can make it there in time."
Kim's hand was already reaching for her communicator. "I think I might be able to call in a favor."