Tanzania

She had a sense of dread.

She was dreading that she was right. That there was something more to it, or that something sinister had taken place, and for the time she was powerless to stop it. She walked back into the World Heath Organization building, wringing her hands. She didn't stay gone long, but she couldn't take the anxiety of the unknown anymore. She walked right back into a small office.

"Maureen."

"Hey Asia," A thin, beautiful woman stood. Her white lab coat contrasted her deep chocolate skin. "You are back early,"

"I know, I'm sorry," Asia answered. "I couldn't wait any longer." She looked behind her and lowered her voice. "Did you get the results?"

"Yes, I did."

"And?"

Maureen sighed. "I am not sure what I saw, or what the report says. It's typical of what you described, but there is something else in the water."

Asia took the printout and scrutinized it. She tugged at a stray strand of her dark brown hair out of nervousness with her free hand. "This isn't a natural substance." She said, looking up.

"I know," Maureen answered.

"It's coming from the water. The supposedly clean well water."

"Yes,"

"The well water that was supplied by-"

"Shh," Maureen cut her off. "You know that by testing this water for you without my supervisor's approval I have put my career in jeopardy. This will have to be conducted formally if you want it to stop."

"I can't do that," Asia said gravely. "This is way larger than I suspected."

"Does he know that you are suspicious of his actions?"

"No," Asia shook her head. "At least, I don't think so."

"What are you going to do?"

Asia sighed. "I don't know. But I need to get back. Thank you Maureen. I won't tell anyone that you helped me."

Maureen smiled. "You are welcome. I owe you my life Asia, it is the least I can do. You have helped me and my family, so now I hope I can help you. But be careful, this sounds dangerous."

Asia hugged her friend. "I will, don't worry. I'll see you soon."

The Beach House

The morning sun shined brightly through the window. Jesse's still body started to stir. He groaned and opened his eyes. The light was so bright. He cried out in alarm and shut his eyes. But it was still too bright. He pulled the extra pillow over his head in attempt to shield his eyes from the bright sun.

Everything hurt. His legs, arms, back, head, neck, even his fingers and toes. His head was throbbing, the pressure was overwhelming. His legs and arms felt like they were breaking. It was agonizing. He curled up into a ball, trying to get the pain to stop. It was hot in the room, he was sweating profusely. He threw the covers off, but that caused the extra pillow to slip off of his face. The sun was so bright, but he didn't want to move anymore. He whimpered softly, what was wrong with him? It was so painful. His fetal position wasn't helping at all, nothing was helping.

He tried to relax, to fall back asleep. Maybe it was a bad dream. He squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as he could, but it didn't help. He wanted unconsciousness, sleep. He just laid still, in his agony.

Mark looked at the clock in the kitchen. It was a little past 10. Maybe he should check on Jesse. His young friend had been asleep for over 12 hours; he needed to check on him. He walked to the door and tapped on his softly. "Jesse?"

Jesse heard his mentor's voice. "Mark?" he asked weakly. His voice was barely audible behind the door.

Mark slowly opened the door. "Jess? You okay?"

Clearly the young man was not okay. Jesse didn't move from his curled up position. "Could you shut the blinds, it's too bright." He whispered.

Mark quickly walked over to the window and shut the blinds. "Is that better?"

"Not really," Jesse said as he slowly opened his red rimmed eyes.

Mark walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Jess you don't look too good."

Jesse laughed softly. "Do I look as bad as I feel?"

Mark felt Jesse's forehead. He sighed. "You're burning up." He had brought his bag in with him just in case. "Let me take your temperature." He put the thermometer in Jesse's mouth. It beeped after a minute and Mark took it out and looked at it. "103.2," he reported. "That's very high."

"I feel really bad," Jesse said, his voice drained and soft. "Everything hurts. My head, legs, arms, back. And the light hurts my eyes."

"Hmm," Mark said. "Are your legs and back aching, or is the pain more intense, like throbbing?"

"It feels like the time I broke my arm, only my whole body feels that way." Jesse answered. "Mark, what's wrong with me?"

Mark sighed. "I think I might know. Jess, did you get bit by a lot of mosquitoes in Tanzania?"

"No more than usual." Jesse said. He sighed and closed his eyes. "A few times, but I took precautions. Why? Is it malaria?"

"No, I don't think its malaria. It sounds like you have Dengue fever. It's not quite as lengthy, but it's much more painful. A blood test would say for sure."

"Dengue? I don't remember reading that it's widespread in Africa." Jesse shifted his weight, flinching.

"It's more widespread in parts of Southeast Asia, but it's still in Africa." Mark answered.

"Dengue is a virus, so that means, that means that it can't be treated, right?"

"I'm afraid not. Only supportive care. But I think you need to go to Community General. Dengue can be life threatening if you're not monitored."

Jesse groaned. "I don't want to move. I'm not sure if I can."

"I know its painful Jess, but if we get you to the hospital you'll be able to rest. We'll give you something for the pain. Hold on one sec." Mark went into the bathroom and ran water over a washcloth. He walked back into the bedroom. "I'll help you to the car, then you can put the washcloth over your eyes to shield the sun."

"Okay, I'll try." Jesse slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, Mark supporting him. "I need some sweatpants or something." He said. "I think there are some in the top drawer."

Mark grabbed some sweatpants and Jesse stiffly pulled them on. The effort exhausted him even more. He just wanted to curl back up in a ball and sleep. He started to lie back down but was stopped by Mark. "Jess, let's go to the car. I know you want to sleep, but you need to go to the hospital. I'll help you."

The slowly made their way to the car. Mark put his arm around Jesse's waist as they walked. Jesse leaned heavily on his older friend, every step drained him. Mark opened the passenger door of his car, leaned the seat down, and helped Jesse inside. "Okay Jess, you made it. You won't have to walk now." He handed Jesse the washcloth and went around to the driver's side.

Jesse laid down in the seat, and put the washcloth over his eyes. "Okay, just drive quick." He said softly. He tried to relax again as Mark drove to the hospital, but his throbbing body wouldn't let sleep come. "Some morphine would be really nice right now." He muttered.

"We'll be there soon Jess." Mark said.

88888888888888888888888888888888

Mark got Jesse admitted and settled. With some simple painkillers and a mild sedative, Jesse was asleep quickly. Mark walked to the lobby and was about to call Steve when he saw Amanda running towards him.

"Mark! One of the nurses told me that Jesse was admitted here. What's wrong?"

"He's pretty sick; I think it might be dengue."

"Oh no! Are you sure?"

"We took some blood to make sure, but the symptoms are all there. Severe headache, malaise, joint and muscle pain, sensitivity to light, and he just came back from a tropical area with known dengue carrying mosquitoes."

"Poor Jesse," Amanda said. "Is he in a lot of pain?"

"He was, and he will be off and on. We gave him some painkillers and something to help him sleep."

"What room is he in?"

"309."

"Okay. I'll stop by in a few hours and see how he's doing. Are you going to call Steve?"

"Yeah, I was about to," Mark replied. He dialed Steve's cell phone. He sighed, "I got his voicemail," He said to Amanda. "Hey Steve, it's me. I'm at Community General with Jesse, he's pretty sick. Give me a call when you get this, and I'll talk to you then." He turned to Amanda. "I'm going to go get the blood work. I'll see you in a little while."

A few minutes later Steve rushed into Community General. "What room is Dr. Travis in?" he hurriedly asked the receptionist.

She recognized Dr. Sloan's handsome son, smiled slightly, and looked at her computer screen. "309," She said sweetly, smiling at him.

Steve ran down the hallway until he got to the room. Mark was inside, studying Jesse's chart. "Dad!" He said loudly. Then, noticing Jesse's sleeping figure, he lowered his voice. "What's wrong? I came as soon as I got your message."

"Hey Steve," Mark replied. "Jess woke up this morning really sick, so I brought him in. We just got his blood work back, he has Dengue Fever."

"Dengue Fever? What's that?" Steve asked.

"It's a mosquito borne virus, there's a certain type of mosquito that carries the virus. It's not as chronic as malaria but it's still serious and makes you very very ill. It causes a high fever, severe muscle pains, nausea, intense headaches, sensitivity to light, sometimes a rash or internal bleeding. The headache and muscle pains are so severe that it's hard to sleep. We gave Jesse a painkiller to help him sleep."

"Is it curable?" Steve asked, worried.

"It just has to run its course. Usually it's only severe for a week or so. Jesse will probably be pretty week for at least another month after that. We have to monitor him though; the virus can quickly progress into a hemorrhagic fever and cause internal bleeding and shock."

"So he should be okay?"

"Yes, he should be fine. It's just going to take a while. And it's not going to be comfortable for him at all. He'll sleep for awhile though."

Steve looked over at Jesse's still form. "Yeah, that's good. Are you sure he's going to be alright?"

"Well, there could be complications, but it's not likely. Usually hemorrhagic fever doesn't develop with the first case. He should be fine."

Tanzania

Asia nervously walked back into the village. She felt like she was entering enemy territory, even though this had been home to her for 3 years. She needed a better water sample, a larger amount that she could save just in case she needed to get out quickly. She immediately went to the large well in the middle of the village, right next to the hospital. She pulled out her large plastic water bottle and began to fill it.

"Since when do you drink the well water?"

Asia jerked around, shocked. "Oh, hello Randall." She said, trying not to appear too shocked. "I'm trying something new," she explained, smiling nervously.

"You might want to be careful, even though the water is clean, it still may not be healthy for you."

Asia tried not to appear as scared as she felt. "Oh, I'm being careful." She said. "And besides, if the water is clean, why would it be a problem?" She asked. "You talked about how state of the art this system is, it should be fine for anyone to drink."

Now Randall was the one looking nervous. "Yeah, it is state of the art, it should be fine. Um, go ahead, have at it."

Asia smiled. "Um, I will later. I'm not really thirsty right now." She looked down at her phone. "Oh, I have a meeting. I'll talk to you later Randall." She lifted her water bottle, smiled, and walked away. As soon as she got out of earshot, she shook her head "Crap, that was close," she muttered to herself.

Randall stayed at the water supply, still nervous. He looked at the well. There was no way she had figured it out. He'd give it a couple of days, he was probably being paranoid. But if she started snooping around, well, he thought as he looked at the well, he'd just have to make sure she couldn't figure anything else out.


Chapter 4 coming soon!