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Day 21

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Jasper needed to go home to sleep and calm Alice, but Bella stayed up, counting the hours until he returned to the hospital.

Her mother called last night, with her urgent question—what should she bring for Bella to wear home? She wasn't sure if it was denial or optimism but her mother's musing on the weather and if Bella wanted a blue or red sweater made her want to pretend that that's exactly how it would happen. Her parents would show up, she'd put on the new clothes her mother picked out, they'd go to the hospital where Edward had a severe but short lived reaction to something he ate, and they could all go home. The end.

The reality wouldn't be so pretty, she knew, watching the light change out her window as the sun rose. Before Jasper went home he chased after the doctor in charge of the case, who would only say the tests were incomplete and inconclusive at this time. Another way of saying 'I think I know what it is, but everyone in the country is watching so I've got to be damn sure I'm not making a mistake'. At this moment, the most important question had a binary answer, yes or no. He had Ebola or he didn't. Everything hinged on the answer.

She knew the hospital, she had privileges there, but she didn't know the doctor handling Edward's case. She knew they'd be giving him the finest care humanly possible which was the only reason she wasn't climbing the walls. She looked around at the walls that had contained her for the last 21 days. This might be her last day here but no matter what else happened, she'd never be the same.

…

Angela brought in her breakfast, a spinach omelet. Bella had no appetite, but was treating herself with food and drink as if it were medicine.

Angela didn't leave as usual but stood in the doorway. "I…Ben and I are really sorry about this."

Bella glanced up while sipping grapefruit juice. "It's not your fault."

"I know but…we never had anyone actually get sick. We were kind of treating it like a joke, like this whole quarantine was just for public relations, but this virus is really scary."

"Yeah, it is." Bella couldn't blame anyone here. "I've seen it in action. It's deadly and fast, people die in a week, sometimes only days. And no one goes near them, they can't. Someone came up with a saying, 'Hugs Kill'. It's true, the people in the clinics died in stranger's arms, because no one without protective gear could come near them. Being back here, Africa seems like a different universe. You can't imagine." She looked back to the window. "I should have known better."

"You people are really brave."

"Brave or delusional. Somehow you have to think you can beat this monster, and that it won't get you." Bella remembered the last moments of the people the monster got. "Angela, what usually happens after the 21 days?"

"About midday Lieutenant Commander Campbell or whoever is the senior medical officer on duty does a last check and then you're dismissed."

..

She had nothing to pack. Whatever she brought back with her from Africa had been either destroyed or sanitized and stored. The dismissal procedure said that whoever was picking you up had to bring a full set of clothing, shoes, socks, everything. Anything that they'd touched during the quarantine had to stay here. Of course there was nothing in the books regarding her situation. As far as the government was concerned, you either left on your own two feet or in an ambulance. Rebounders were not on their radar.

No call from Jasper. She'd left him four messages. She had nothing to do but wait. Wait and think. Speaking of thinking, was Edward thinking at all when he signed up to fight Ebola? She'd heard the desperate pleas, sent to former volunteers who could get up to speed quickly and step in to stem the tide of this virus. But with his immune system—there had to have been somewhere less hazardous for him to help. His illness had left him with a zeal for life, that she loved, but was he ignoring the possible dangers? Did he not care or did he feel he had nothing left to lose? She knew cancer survivors who went both ways. Some jumping out of airplanes or hiking the Appalachian Trail or running with the bulls or moving to Vegas because they feel like they got a second shot at life. Some hunker down, eating organic everything, avoiding every toxin and even the slightest imagined danger because they feel they escaped death by too narrow of a margin. It would be nice to settle somewhere in between the two. She didn't want to change Edward's spirit, but they'd be discussing this for sure.

At last, Jasper was on the line.

"What's going on with Edward?"

"I don't know. Alice took a fall trying to reach something in the closet. We're at Hackensack University Hospital, waiting to see her doc. They think she broke her wrist."

She heard Jasper say that he'd try to call RWJ, but they weren't too forthcoming on the phone. More than one news agency was trying to get information. He had to turn his phone off where they were, so he'd try to reach her later. She barely was able to wish Alice and the baby well without becoming hysterical herself. Now she had no way to even find out what was happening with Edward. She could only hope his parents would arrive soon. Jasper told her the night before that they would take a car service to RWJ as soon as they landed.

She couldn't take it anymore. She leaned on the wall and hammered with her fists in frustration. She expected the door to open, and Angela to come check on her, but when she turned around it wasn't her guard in her room. It was Lieutenant Commander Campbell.

"Dr. Swan, is there a problem?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm here for your exit checkup. Or should I say, check out."

Arlene walked in and stood behind him, her lips turned up just at the corners.

Bella held her breath, hoping so badly that this was not a dream or a mistake.

"Does that mean Edward doesn't have Ebola?"

"Due to the privacy laws I'm unable to discuss the medical diagnosis or treatment of any other patient. But I can say, there's no reason for you to stay here any longer."

She surprised herself when she gave into her first impulse, and tackled him with a hug.

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-21 days- Day 21-

Edward swallowed, his back was itchy, his head was aching, but he heard the sweetest sound in the world.

"About time you woke up."

"Grmmm. Water."

"I have something better." Bella tipped a cup over and took out an ice chip for him.

"Mmmm. Better." He stuck his tongue out and she gave him another. His lips felt like they were cracked, and before he could say anything she was swabbing them with Vaseline. "You'd make a good nurse."

"Thank you." He felt her kiss on the back of his hand. "You had me worried."

He suddenly realized they weren't in either of their rooms. "Hey, we're out of quarantine."

"Well, technically, I'm out. You're back in."

"That doesn't make sense."

"What do you remember? I'll explain from there."

"I felt like crap, my head hurt, I hurled, and then, flashes, getting into an ambulance, a bunch of suited up people around me. I felt like ET."

"Yes, you were the biggest thing that ever happened at Fort Monmouth. You had a temp, headache, vomiting...and you have ten news crews outside the hospital, waiting to get the scoop on the Ebola Hottie."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, about all of it. You have a virus, but you don't have the Ebola virus."

"I kind of guessed, since we're having this conversation. So what do I have?"

"You're on Benadryl, Aciclovir twice a day and calamine lotion."

"Calamine lotion?" His head was still cloudy but when he added up his symptoms with the treatment, he came up with, "Varicella?"

"Yep. You have chicken pox."

"Chicken Pox? So what's with the news crews? I'm not the first adult to get it."

"No, but watch this." Bella clicked the remote to turn up the volume on the TV. He hadn't realized it was even on, he'd been so focused on Bella.

"Today Time Magazine announced their person of the year 2014 is a group of people, the Ebola Workers. Medical saviors—"

"We're famous." He coughed and she handed him another chip. "We shouuuld 'ave champaane."

"Finish your chip, doctor's orders. Champagne when I take you home."

"So, I'm the Ebola Hottie?"

"You're on one of the covers. And, someone posted some pictures of you half naked in one of the outdoor showers. Your abs have quite the following." Her hand on his forehead felt cool and good as she caressed his face. "Go back to sleep now babe. Sooner you get better, the sooner I can get you out of here. And you can sign some magazines for the nurses."

"Mmph." He rolled onto his side while holding her hand. "Where's my mom and dad?"

"They won't let them in the hospital since they flew in from Guatemala. It would have been nice of you to mention that they were orthodontists and both volunteered for Smile Train."

"Mmm. Then you wouldn't have been as impressed with me."

"Explains your perfect teeth."

He smiled, intending to sleep until he remembered who else was missing. "Where's Jasper and Alice?"

Bella tilted her head as she spoke. "Alice is pregnant, remember?"

"Oh, right, and she can't come near chicken pox."

"And Jasper is taking care of her. She fell and broke her wrist trying to get scrapbooking supplies from the closet." She chuckled. "See that sign on the door? You're in isolation. Soooo, you're all mine."

"I don't need a sign to tell me that." He looked around the room, at the foot of the bed and the wall, looking for the plastic pocket they used for folders. "Where's my chart?"

"Silly Edward, it's on a tablet, they don't leave them laying around. You're fine, I checked. I told them I was your doctor, they showed me everything."

"How'd you get away with that?" He hadn't questioned Bella wearing scrubs since that's all he ever saw her in, but she also had on a white coat over the scrubs. Why wasn't she wearing street clothes?

"I have privileges here. I told them I was your physician, and when they asked you if Isabella Swan was your doctor you said 'forever and ever'."

"Even sick I'm charming."

She smiled while rolling her eyes. "And humble." She examined his IV and felt his head with the inside of her wrist.

"I still don't understand why I got chicken pox. I know I was immunized after I finished my chemo."

She sighed, "Your immune system is a little wonky. So you're the one in a million guy who gets it, despite the vaccination."

"I'm one in a million." He smiled, and went to scratch his back, but she knocked his hand away and gave him the mom eye. One day she'd be an amazing mom.

"More like one in seven billion. You're it for me." She rubbed his head and he leaned into her hand. "Don't ever do this to me again. Ever."

"What the heck!" Edward sat up, grabbing for the remote. "Turn up the volume!"

"…the fifteen year old sister of Miss Reno was pictured on several social media sites wearing her sister's pageant sash. The man in the photo, thirty one year old Emmett McCarthy, was hospitalized after allegedly being beaten by the father of the young girl, former Dallas Cowboys Offensive tackle, Terry…"

He couldn't hear the rest of the interview, Bella was laughing too hard.

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AN: Today, in a perfectly timed announcement, Ebola Workers were declared Time magazine's person of the year 2014. Well-deserved recognition for these brave and dedicated men and women. Lolypop82 made fantastic 2 manips of Time magazine featuring Dr. Swan and Nurse Cullen. They are on her tumblr account. I bow to her skill with a pixel

For those worried, Emmett only kissed the faux Miss Reno, but his beat down by her enraged father was real, and so deserved.

Chicken pox, like Ebola, has up to a 21 day incubation period. I know this, I lived through my first child having a terrible case of chicken pox and a full 21 days later, they showed up on his sister. Two sharp reviewers guessed what Edward had, sassygirl156 and maymay74. Well done ladies. Chicken pox in adults is more severe and can occur (very rarely) in people who have had the disease before and who may not have developed the proper antibodies when immunized. I consulted with a doctor whose adult grandchild had recently been hospitalized due to chicken pox, who assures me, it's miserable.

There will be another 'day' or two, I just need a breather.

Thanks so much for all the reviews and the trust. Glad you stuck with me