DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS.
Chapter 17
Fever and Reunited
No one's POV
"Too late?" Tori asked.
"If I don't get you to a hospital soon, you'll all die, since we don't know what else you could be infected with." The doc answered.
"How long?"
"A week or so, and treatment is slow. It all depends on what other pathogens you may have."
"Do what you have to do, doctor." Tori said. The doctor nodded and left the tent. A few minutes later, a few guards came and escorted Tori and Cat out and rolled Jade out on a gurney. The doctor had called in for an airlift to the base to a nearby hospital that is fully functioning and equipped. Tori was worried about the others and ran to the boy's tent, only to find all three of them showing symptoms similar to Jade and being rolled out on gurneys. Tori ran to Andre's side, only to be impeded by one of the guards.
"He's my boyfriend!" Tori shouted.
"It's not safe, miss." The guard said.
"I'll be fine, Tori." Andre groaned. Tori turned to see Cat attempting to see Robbie and also being impeded by the guards.
"Where are we going?" Cat asked one of the guards tearfully.
"You'll be airlifted to Ridgecrest Regional; the airlift will be here soon." The guard replied, pushing Robbie's gurney.
The airlift arrived as multiple helicopters. The gang was put inside them and were in the air in a matter of minutes. On the way to the hospital, Tori started feeling sick and Cat vomited.
They arrived at Ridgecrest Regional in an hour and all of them were rushed to the Ers to be treated immediately. Tori and Cat's symptoms worsened and were now getting a high fever.
"How did this happen to us?" Cat groaned as she was rushed into a room and hooked up to a monitor and an IV was started. The gang were in the Intensive Care Unit and were in separate rooms. The doctors wore masks and gloves to protect them from the fever. Soon, the medical chief came in the unit.
"Nurse, what do we have?" she asked.
"6 cases of typhoid fever. Only showed symptoms for several hours. Cause unknown at the moment."
"Alright, get blood samples and we can figure out how they got it and what treatment to start."
"Yes, doctor." The nurse replied and rushed off to relay the chief's orders. The chief observed the new patients and her eyes fell upon one of them in particular. Her eyes widened as she saw her son, Beck lying on one of the beds, stricken with typhoid fever. Chief Oliver was shocked to see her baby alive, having survived the storm, but now ill with a deadly disease.
"Nurse Cobb!" Chief Oliver called out to one of the nurses, who came running over.
"Yes, chief?"
"Page Dr. Rogers to come to ICU for typhoid vaccinations; I can't be here." She said, tears coming to her eyes.
"What's wrong, chief?" Cobb asked.
"My son is in that bed." Chief Oliver explained, pointing to the pale form of her son on a bed in front of them.
"Ok, I'll page Dr. Rogers stat." Cobb said before running off. Chief Oliver left ICU, crying now and she took her phone out and dialed her husband.
"Hi, honey, how's it going?" her husband Don answered.
"Don, Beck's alive." Chief Oliver explained trying to fight back the tears.
"Oh my God, I can't believe that he's-wait, what's going on, Nikki?" Don replied.
"He and his friends have typhoid fever. I don't know yet how they got it, but I can't be here." Nikki answered, letting the tears go.
"They all got typhoid? Shit, we'd better call their parents and tell them."
"Yeah, I'll call Jade's and Cat's parents."
"Ok, honey, I'll call the others. Hang in there, you hear me?"
"I hear you; I'll try. Love you, Don." Nikki cried.
"I love you too, honey, talk to you soon." Don replied before hanging up. Nikki immediately dialed up Jade's mom first. Jade's mom, Karen picked up quickly.
"Nikki, do you have news?" Karen said quickly.
"Yes, Jade's here at Ridgecrest Regional, with her friends and they all got typhoid fever." Nikki explained. Karen cried out.
"Jesus Christ! How did this happen?"
"I don't know yet."
"I'm on my way know."
"Ok, see you soon. She's in ICU." Nikki answered and hung up and called Cat's mom, Sierra.
"Hello, Nikki, what's the news?" Sierra asked.
"Cat and her friends are at Ridgecrest Regional, with typhoid fever. I don't know the cause yet, but we're doing our best." Nikki explained once again and it hurt her every time she had to mention typhoid fever.
"Oh no, I'm coming now." Sierra moaned.
"She's in the ICU." Nikki stated and hung up.
"I'm here, Chief; what have we got?" came a voice from in front of here. Nikki looked up to see Dr. Rogers coming towards here.
"6 cases of typhoid fever with unknown cause; my son is one of them." Nikki informed him.
"Alright, I'll handle it from here, chief." Rogers answered before going inside ICU to tend to her son and his friends.
"Be strong Beck." Nikki whimpered. Her phone rang from a text alert and she looked at the message. It was from Don.
I've informed the others. They're on their way to you now.
Nikki texted back ok and put her phone away and left he ICU ward altogether, unable to be close to her son, but unable to keep him safe. She headed downstairs to the main entrance to wait for everyone else.
Like Don and the others said, they would be there soon. Cat's parents, Sierra and John arrived with Cat's brother, Connor. They were soon joined by Jade's mom and her little brother, Alan.
"Where's your ex?" Nikki asked Karen.
"I don't know, I told him what happened and he said he would be here, though I doubt it." Karen replied meekly. Alan was looking around his surroundings nervously.
"Hi, Alan. How are you?" Nikki asked the timid child. Alan jumped and stared at Nikki as if he never saw her before.
"Um, I'm fine I guess. Where's my sister?" Alan said quietly.
"She's upstairs, but she can't been seen by anyone yet."
"Why? What's wrong with her?"
"She's sick honey." Karen told her youngest.
"Will she be alright?" Alan asked now terrified.
"Yes, she will be soon." Nikki answered. She looks up to see the rest of the gangs' parents enter the hospital. David, Holly and Trina enter followed by Mrs. Harris, Andre's grandma, who has panphobia and is looking around terrified. Don arrived with Robbie's parents, George and Mary.
"I know what you're about to say, so I'll just answer; they are suffering from typhoid fever from an as of yet unknown cause and we're waiting on blood test results." Nikki said to the crowd. The families exchanged nervous looks.
"How long do we have to wait for the results?" George asked.
"We're diagnosing their results they got from the National Guard camp in Bakersfield; right now, they're in the ICU ward and are uncomfortable, with upset stomachs and high fevers; can't let anyone see them yet."
"What about treatment?" Holly asked.
"Once we have the cause, we can start treatment; I believe they ingested contaminated water, so to combat the salmonella, they'll be given ciprofloxacin and ampicillin to take on their high fevers."
"How serious is it?" John asked.
"I DON'T KNOW YOU!" Mrs. Harris exploded all of the sudden, causing everyone in the lobby to jump and take several steps back.
"Relax, Mrs. Harris; if diagnosed early, it is not very serious. However, we don't know how bad it is yet; the next few weeks will be painful for them."
"Chief Oliver?" a voice came from behind Nikki. She and everyone turned to see Dr. Rogers coming towards them with a clipboard.
"The results in?" Nikki asked.
"Yes, they have ingested high amounts of contaminated water. Other pathogens beside the salmonella include some parasitic worms that are in early stages of incubation, so we can treat those quickly; they're all also malnourished and slightly dehydrated." Rogers explained calmly to the families. Everyone gasped from this news.
"What are you going to have to do, doctor?" David asked.
"We've started them on antibiotics and quinolones to combat the typhoid fever and an anthelmintic to kill the worms."
"How long will treatment take?" Mary asked.
"Not very long, but they'll be uncomfortable for a good week or two; our main concern is the typhoid fever."
"How far along are they in the fever?" Trina inquired.
"Only in the first week, next week, they'll have a high fever and will be delirious."
"Do what you have to do, doctor; just make our babies healthy." Sierra said.
"I'll do my best. Excuse me." Rogers replied before leaving to tend to his patients.
"I STILL DON'T KNOW YOU!" Mrs. Harris shouted again.
"Will you quit screaming?!" Connor shouted at her, massaging his ears.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?!" Mrs. Harris shouted at him.
"QUIT SCREAMING!" Connor bellowed louder than her. Everyone else was keeping their distance and didn't bother stopping them.
"OH NO YOU DIDN'T!"
"OH YES I DID!"
"OH REALLY?!"
"REALLY!"
"Everybody, shut the fuck up!" came a small but loud voice in the background. Connor and Mrs. Harris kept glaring at each other. Everyone else turned to see who just shouted. They saw little Alan, eyes wide, his hands over his mouth. No one seemed surprised by his profanity.
"Who's that?!" Mrs. Harris asked.
"Jade's brother." Karen replied, keeping Alan close to her. Alan composed himself and stepped forward.
"We're all scared and hurting, but we need to be strong for our families; they wouldn't want us to be fighting each other. I know none of you would want that if the roles were reversed. I'm scared for Jade, even though we don't get along." Alan spoke.
"He's right, we have to be brave for them," Don said. Everyone nodded. Connor and Mrs. Harris kept glaring at each other though.
"Is there a way we could see them without getting sick?" George asked Nikki.
"You won't be allowed in their rooms as the nurses are busy, but you can see them from outside their rooms." Nikki replied.
"Let's do that, then." Mary said.
"Follow me then." Nikki replied and she led them all down to the elevators and took them to the ICU.
Soon, the families of the gang were outside their rooms, watching their children struggling and in pain in their individual rooms and couldn't be comforted by their families. The gang seemed to be unaware that their families were outside their rooms, watching them sadly. The gang was miserable with the fever and stomach aches. The next few weeks were gonna suck.
Chapter 17. R+R plz. One chapter left.