Chapter 23
Charlie was awake when Cameron entered. She was glad to see that he was actually sitting up and looking much better than she'd last seen him. "Hi," she said, smiling. "It's nice to see you awake, Charlie. How are you feeling?"
"Better. Still not 100, but better."
"He feels a lot cooler," Amita said, holding Charlie's hand and touching his cheek.
Cameron noticed the possessiveness of Amita's gesture. Could she possibly be jealous? She decided to defuse the situation, "I'm so glad Charlie is surrounded by people who really love him."
Charlie apparently picked up on the signals – not bad for a sick man – and squeezed Amita's hand. "I'm very lucky," he murmured. He turned back to Cameron and said, "I understand you gave me the bacteriophage already."
"Yes, almost an hour ago. I just took your first blood test results up to Dr. House. We weren't expecting much so soon after the injection, but they were encouraging. Dr. Chase is running the second sample now, and Dr. Foreman will be down to take the third in a few minutes."
"What are you expecting to see?" Charlie asked.
"We're hoping to see your red blood cell count go up, and your white blood cell count go down. We're also hoping that your temperature keeps going down, and your blood pressure goes back up. Dr. Adukalil is checking to see if the bacteriophage are starting to affect the anthrax bacteria."
"I'm feeling better," Charlie said hopefully.
"That's good," Cameron said, taking his temperature. "But we tend to pay more attention to the numbers than to the feelings." She stopped, surprised at the laughter in the room. "What?"
"Well," Don said, "Charlie here is a math professor, and he's normally all about the numbers. The anthrax must have addled his brain."
"Hey," Charlie said, "everything's numbers, but in this case, those numbers translate into feelings, too. I was just providing additional data for the doctor.".
"Actually, you're right, Charlie," Dr. Cameron said. "For example, you're feeling better, and your temperature is down to 100.2. When your red blood cell count gets back to normal, you'll have more energy."
"See," Charlie said to Don, "so the feelings do make a difference."
"All right, I'll leave you to it," Cameron said, "I've got to get back to work. Unless you have any more questions?"
"Not I," Charlie said, as everyone else shook their heads. "But thank you for your explanations."
After Dr. Cameron left, Alan said, "You know, Charlie, while you were sleeping earlier, we were talking about Mohammed Abu-Hassan."
"Really?" Charlie said. "What conclusion did you come to?"
"No conclusions," Don said. "Just questions. We were hoping you could tell us more about why you didn't think he did it."
Charlie rubbed his face as he pondered. "Well, he seemed to enjoy being with us, speaking English, discussing the improvements in his country. We didn't spend much time with Iraqi civilians, but there were some who seemed resentful of us. I definitely didn't get that feeling with Mohammed."
"Feelings again, Charlie?" Don chuckled.
"Come on, Don," Charlie said angrily, "I am just giving you my impressions. I'm sorry I don't have any hard data for you."
"Charlie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."
Charlie waved his hand. "It's okay." He sighed. "I'm just tired of being sick."
"Why don't you get some sleep?" Alan said. "We can discuss this when you're feeling better. I'm sorry I brought it up."
Charlie smiled, "Don't be." He leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes. "You said Ali Abu-Hassan got sick, right? But Mohammed didn't? They both ate with us, so why didn't Mohammed get sick?"
Larry stood and approached Charlie's bed. "But, Charles, did he eat everything you ate?"
Charlie sighed and shook his head. "I don't remember, Larry. It was a huge meal, lots of courses. Lots of things I never heard of before. There were multiple conversations going on."
"At least there was no alcohol to cloud your thought processes," Larry said.
"Of course not. They're Muslims," Charlie said. "But I was tired, and stressed. That would affect my thought processes."
"Maybe I should get back to Colby," Don said, "See if he's found out anything else. And I should let him know about your thoughts too, Charlie." Don stood, pulled out his cell phone and headed for the door.
"Don," Alan said, "You might also want to let Charlie's friends know how he's doing."
"Oh, yeah, I guess they might be wondering." He grinned at Charlie. "Just kidding, Chuck. Every time I've talked to them, they've asked about you."
"Tell them I'm feeling a lot better, and thank them for their concern," Charlie said.
"I will, Buddy."
Don sat in the waiting area and dialed. When Colby answered, Don said, "Hey, Colby."
"Don! How's Charlie doing?"
"A lot better. They've tried an experimental treatment on him, and it looks like it's working."
"That's great, Don. So what's up? You just calling to make sure I'm not using your desk?"
"No. We were discussing how Charlie got the anthrax. He doesn't think it was Mohammed Abu-Hassan."
"Really? Why not?"
Don told Colby about Charlie's feelings about Mohammed, then said, "I know it's kind of sketchy, but I told Charlie I'd let you know. Have you heard anything more?"
"No. But I haven't really pursued it either. I thought you just wanted to know about the anthrax."
"I did. But then we've had a lot of time on our hands and we started theorizing."
"Oh, man, Don, you're hanging out with the math and science geeks way too much. Next thing you know, you're going to be wearing a pocket protector and using a slide rule."
"Colby, you've lost touch with what the well dressed geek wears these days. Pocket protectors are so last century."
"Yeah, but remember when we were investigating Saida Kafaji's murder? Professor Fleinhardt attempted to reenact the murder by using a slide rule as a knife."
"Okay, I'll grant the slide rule. But no pocket protector."
"That's fair. Listen, I'll find out what I can, and I'll pass on Charlie's concerns. It may be sketchy, but he's got an uncanny knack for being right. And tell him we can't wait for the Whiz Kid to come back."
Don laughed. "Okay, thanks Colby. I'll tell him."