"I don't know what to do anymore. How can he expect me to save her? Her eyes don't open, I'm getting a pulse but she's just barely breathing. Why? What is keeping that child alive! But I won't tell a soul, I promise. So please…"

Dr. Kaufman now makes sure Alessa receives no painkillers. Ever since he has taken them away, Alessa's eyes remain shut. Lisa assumes that it is too painful to have her eyes open. Sometimes it looks as though the girl is dead. She hardly ever moves unless she is crying from the pain. Lisa has started taking more than two pills at a time to relax her. But it causes her nightmares to become more and more realistic. Kaufman has often seen her doing unusual things or screaming about something that is not there.

Harry is very upset when he finds his wife unconscious on the floor. Immediately he runs to the phone to call for help. He is not told to move her incase she is injured. The baby begins to cry so Harry must tend to her while he waits impatiently. When the ambulance arrives, he and the baby go with it to the hospital. Emily is rushed to the emergency room. "Sir," a nurse says, "You're going to have to stay in the waiting room now. Is there anything I can get you?"

"I need something to feed her," he says. "Please."

"Okay. Have a seat and I'll find something. I'll just be a moment." Harry sits down in one of the chairs. Cheryl gurgles in his arms. He is afraid for Emily. He is afraid he did not find her in time. If she dies he will never forgive himself. Cheryl turns her fragile little head into Harry's chest. She hears his heat pound out of nervousness. The nurse returns with a bottle filled with formula. "Here, she can have this," she says.

"Thank you."

Lisa has to change Alessa's bandages once a week now. Kaufman has warned her that she may have to do it more often than that. He will not let her ask for help from any of the nurses or the doctors. They are not allowed to see the child under any circumstances. Dahlia hardly ever visits her suffering daughter. When she does, Lisa has to leave the room. She sits out in the hall for a long time. She decides that next time, instead of waiting, she will try to get the files from Kaufman's office. One night the nurse Michelle wanders downstairs to Alessa's room. She looks pale and sick. "What's wrong?" Lisa asks her.

"Upstairs," she says, "everyone's sick… They're dying, Lisa. It's spreading outside too. In the paper it said the flu was getting around but that's not it. Something's killing us."

"What do you mean?"

"People are moving away because they're scared. I'm leaving too. I can't take it anymore. You should leave too."

"I can't. I have to stay here and take care of her."

"This is all that woman's fault. She wants to kill us! Look at what she's done to that poor child! Dr. Kaufman knows about it too. I heard them talking about it. They don't want her to get better. They said-"

"Michelle! What are you doing down here?" Kaufman demands.

"I'm getting out of here and Lisa is coming with me."

"Is that so? … Well, why don't you come to my office and I'll give you your final check. Lisa, you wait here." The two leave the room. Lisa slips her heels off and goes to see what is going on. The office door shuts so she stands by to listen. She hears Kaufman's muffled voice saying something about leaving. Michelle begins to argue then she screams and a shot is fired. Lisa's eyes widen automatically, her hand rises to her mouth. Immediately she flees back to Alessa's room. She sits in the chair and begins to sob. Luckily for her, Kaufman does not come back right away. Alessa can hear Lisa crying and it makes her feel sad.

"She's comatose," the doctor tells Harry. "We're not exactly sure what set it off but her whole body seems to have shut down- with the exception of her heart of course. She isn't breathing on her own so we've hooked her up to a machine to help her."

"When can I see her?" Harry finally asks.

"Not until tomorrow. We still have some tests to run and I'm not sure how long they will take. I guarantee you can see her in the morning though." Harry just nods his head slightly. Once Cheryl is securely in her car seat, the two head home. Harry has no time to grieve over the condition of his wife; he has a baby to take care of. All he can do is pray that she will wake up in the morning. Cheryl cries and screams at night. The noises she makes are horrible. She sounds as though someone is beating her. Harry picks her up and rocks her. No matter what he tries, it does not help. She cries until early in the morning. Then it ceases and they both fall asleep. They do not go back to the hospital until after lunchtime. Emily has numerous tubes running from her body to help her survive. Harry hates to see her this way. Cheryl seems to recognize her mother because she reaches for her.

"No Cheryl," Harry says. "Mommy's not going to pick you up." His breath hitches in his throat and forces him to choke up. Cheryl's angelic face turns to the source of the noise. She sees her father try to hold himself together so he does not cause a scene. Cheryl makes a sound that is almost as if she is trying to comfort her father. He puts his hand on the baby's head and swallows his emotions. It goes down with a bitter pain left in his stomach.

The doctor comes in after fifteen minutes. Harry sits in a chair with Emily's hand clasped in his own. "Excuse me, Mr. Mason," the doctor says. "I'd like to have a word with you if you don't mind." A nurse comes in and takes Cheryl. Harry follows the doctor to the hallway. "One of the tests we ran was a blood test. We found an unusual virus in her bloodstream. It's unlike anything we have ever seen before. But we're still not sure why her body shut down though. When we know something more. I'll be sure to tell you."

"Thank you, doctor."

Lisa is feeling a little better now. Her tears have quit flowing and she is calmer. Alessa is crying again. Lisa finally convinces herself that she has to go upstairs. She has to get into the storage room where the painkillers are hidden. She slips her shoes off so the heel of them will not be heard clicking around in the hallway. The first floor appears to be empty but Lisa keeps as quiet as she can. Up on the second floor is a storage room. Her feet slide along the dusty floor to the end of the hall. As she gets closer to the door an awful smell reaches her nose. It causes her eyes to water. She brings her hands up to her face to block the stench. The door swings open with noiseless ease. The room is too dark to see anything. She rubs her hand against the wall until she finally finds the light switch. When the room is lit, Lisa sees the bodies of nurses all over the floor. One of the nurses is Michelle. Lisa bites down on her tongue. She tastes blood but it is the only way to keep from screaming. Without closing the door or turning the light off, she runs back down the hall. On her way back to the staircase, she falls. Panic and fear set into her mind when she sees the cause of her body slamming against the floor. Blood runs from the storage room down the hall and down the steps. She crawls to the first floor to another storage room. This one is even farther back and locked. A bobby pin from her hair aids her in opening the door up. Inside the cool room is some medicine. Only a few painkillers remain. She has a feeling Dr. Kaufman has done something with most of them. On the way back, Lisa discovers the blood is no longer on the floors.

Alessa is still crying when Lisa returns. She injects the medicine into the IV. Within twenty minutes, the crying stops. Lisa takes a few more pills then tries to get the dirt off her clothes. There is no blood on her clothes like she thought there would be. The faucet squeaks on and as Lisa uses the cold liquid to cool her face down it starts to get warmer. She looks down to see blood in her hands. A panicked gasp escapes her throat. Blood is filling up the sink even though the drain is not plugged, and voices of the murdered doctors and nurses echo in the room. Her reflection in the cracked mirror shows that her skin is charred, cracked, and bleeding. Her back hits the wall and she slides down to the floor. Alessa can hear the nurse sob.

Emily stays in the comatose state for almost a year. When she does wake up, she sees her loving husband and their daughter waiting for her. "Emily," Harry says in shock. "You're awake." Her head bobs slightly saying that yes, she is awake. She finds it difficult to move any part of her body. Harry presses the button to call the nurse. "Lie still, honey. Someone's coming to help you." Her eyelids feel heavy which makes it hard for her to keep them open. She tries as hard as she can though because she wants a nurse or a doctor to see that she is no longer sleeping. The uniformed woman that comes in takes a glance at Emily then leaves. She comes back with a doctor. The two proceed to look over Mrs. Mason. After they leave, Harry notices the sad expression that is painted on his wife's face. "What's wrong?" he asks her.

"I had such horrible dreams," she says. "I don't know where I was. Everything was dark. These horrible creatures hid in the darkest places. There was blood everywhere, dead people just… There was a little girl. She was crying. I could hear her. Her skin burned up and she…" Tears begin fall from her eyes. Harry tries to comfort his wife the best he can. He lets her hold Cheryl so she feels a little better. Seeing the child stops her from crying. An hour later, the doctor pulls him aside.

"We're going to do some more tests," he says to Harry. "We need to see if that virus is still in her or if her body managed to kill it off. I hope you don't mind me saying that I'm surprised she's still alive."

"I'm glad that she is," Harry responds. Like the doctor he is also surprised.

"Hopefully we only expected more from this virus than it actually had. It may have been weaker than we originally thought."

Emily is not allowed to go home until she regains her strength. On the ride home, she sits in the back with Cheryl. She is still a little groggy from the drugs they had her on. Cheryl on the other hand bounces happily in her car seat. Emily stares out the window, watching the road as it rolls under the tires of the car.