CHAPTER 72

McJohn guided Lee to the room where Phillip was and then left him alone with the boy. Lee walked in quietly, then sat down on the chair beside the bed.

The boy that he saw was not the same one that he'd come to know and love over the years, first through Amanda's accounts of her sons' escapades and then through the countless number of unknown nightly observations of her household. Compared to his usual energetic and chipper self, Phillip now looked pale and very vulnerable.

An intravenous bag had been set up; pumping heavens only knew what into the teenager and, at that moment, Lee was very glad that Amanda was not here to witness this. If his heart was breaking, he couldn't even begin to imagine what affect it would have had on her, especially in her present condition.

Tentatively, Lee reached out a hand and pushed some of his damp hair away from Phillip's eyes. He had to smile as he remembered Amanda trying just weeks earlier to convince him to get his hair cut but Phillip had insisted that all of the boys were wearing it longer. Lee wasn't sure but he thought it had something to do with the current group of rockers that dominated the top of the radio charts.

The teenager's skin felt hot, just as his mother's had.

Lee shook his head.

"Oh, Phillip," he breathed silently.

The boy's eyes fluttered open.

"Lee?"

"Hey Chief," Lee greeted him, thrilled to hear the youngster's voice.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, back home," Lee told him.

Phillip inhaled a few times, then blinked his eyes.

"I don't feel so good," he managed to mumble.

"I know," Lee told him. "Give it awhile, until the antibiotics kick in."

"Where's wormhead?"

Lee couldn't even bring himself to scold the sick boy.

"He's on his way back to DC right now."

"Dad?"

"A few rooms down the hall," Lee told him.

"Where's Mom?"

"She'll be here soon. I promise."

"So sleepy," Phillip mumbled, his eyes already drifting shut.

Lee reached out and grasped the youngster's hand in his.

"You just sleep. I'll be right here if you need anything."

"Okay," Phillip managed to say.

Lee sat there for a few minutes, until he was sure that Phillip was asleep. He was almost afraid to leave, afraid to take his eyes off one of the most important things in the world to Amanda. If anything were to ever happen to either of the boys, he knew it would crush her.

Finally, assured that Phillip was sleeping soundly, he got up. He had one more visit to make, before calling back to the Agency to check on his wife.

He turned to the left and headed down the corridor, to room two-twelve. He found a nurse inside, wearing enough protective gear to insulate her from just about anything. She looked up at him and then picked up her chart and left.

Lee found himself left alone with Amanda's ex-husband, both participants in a scene that neither could have ever imagined would be played out.

All manner of equipment had been set up, far more than had been in Phillip's room. Of course, after speaking with McJohn, Lee had been expecting it. Still, he found that he hadn't been prepared for it. Here was a man only a few years older than himself, a man who up until a few days ago had everything in the world going for him.

Staring at one of the monitors, Lee was startled to hear Joe's weak voice.

"Lee."

"Joe."

"Phillip?"

"He's a few rooms down."

"How is he?"

"He's gonna be fine," Lee tried to reassure the man.

"He got so sick, so quick," Joe managed to say.

Lee nodded.

"I know," he told Joe.

Joe closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to find the strength to continue the conversation.

"What is this?"

"A bug that's going around," Lee tried to tell him.

"I know better, Stetson. Tell me," Joe pleaded. "What does my son have? What do I have?"

Lee pulled up the chair and sat down beside him.

"You deserve to know the truth," Lee told him.

"Damn right I do," Joe replied.

"The Russians managed to unleash a virus."

"What kind?"

Lee sighed.

He really didn't want to be the one to inform Joe.

Why did he have to be the one?

The look in the man's eyes told him that he wanted the truth, would accept nothing less than the truth.

"It's a form of the plague," Lee finally said.

"How?"

"They managed to infect members from the Agency, the NSC, the FBI and the CIA."

"Doesn't make any sense," Joe murmured.

"Amanda," Lee began. "She was exposed to it through our director."

"Is she okay?" Joe suddenly asked.

Lee nodded.

"The doctors said they caught it in time. She's weak, but improving."

"Jamie?"

"He wasn't showing any signs of it. They're still treating him, as a precaution."

The look of relief was evident on Joe's face.

"Some vacation," he said as he began to cough.

"Take it easy," Lee told him. "You need to rest."

When the coughing fit subsided, Joe shook his head slightly.

"Need to talk."

"About?"

"Manda and the boys," Joe said weakly. "You need to promise me that you'll take care of them."

"I thought we were going to do that together," Lee told him.

Joe closed his eyes for a moment.

"Promise me, Stetson, promise me that you'll take care of her. Take care of the boys."

"Don't think you're getting out of it so easily," Lee tried to joke.

"You're the only one," Joe said as he began to cough again.

Lee waited patiently until Joe stopped, watched silently as the man seemed to be fighting for his breath.

"I loved her," Joe said, "but it wasn't enough. Promise me," he began coughing again.

"Joe, save it for later, when you're well," Lee tried to tell him.

"You…tell her…tell her that I loved her…tell her that I want her to be happy."

"You're going to tell her that yourself," Lee pointed out to him.

Joe brought a hand up to his chest and grimaced.

"You're the best thing…that…ever happened…to her," Joe said, pausing as though he had to fight to get every word out. "Our sons…you be what I…couldn't… be."

"Joe, stop," Lee told him. "You're going to be fine. You need to rest."

"Tired," Joe said.

"Get some sleep. I'll stop by later, so will Amanda," Lee told him.

Joe reached out his hand to Lee, grabbing his arm as if he needed to make his point.

"Tell her…please…I really did love her."

"I will, if you promise to get some rest."

Joe nodded, then closed his eyes.

Lee rose up from his chair and left the room, nodding to the nurse who had been waiting to go back in Joe's room.

As he stood there, unsure of what to do next, that feeling returned, ten times larger than it had been at the Agency. Something told him that he should see if Amanda might be up to a trip to her ex-husband's side. Maybe, just maybe, her presence might make a difference.

He gazed down both sides of the corridor and then spied what he wanted. Heading back down towards Phillip's room, he stopped at the pay phone just across the hall.

He had just picked up the receiver and begun to dial the number for the Agency when the page blared across the loudspeakers.

"Code Blue, room two-twelve, Code Blue, room two-twelve."

Lee turned around to see a team of medical personnel rushing into the room he had just left. The telephone fell from his hand as the reality happening in front of him blurred and the memories came barreling back at him like a ton of bricks.

The voice of Doctor Neely sounded loud in his ears.

"Mr. Stetson, you can't help us save her life, but if you get in the way, you will help us lose it."

He could actually see the scene, happening again in front of his eyes. The medical staff swarming around Amanda's bedside and the screeching sound coming from one of the monitors.

"Sir? Sir?"

A woman's voice broke through the replaying nightmare and Lee shook his head to clear the image.

"Are you okay?" the nurse asked with a gentle concern.

Lee looked down first at the dangling telephone and then he turned his gaze back down the hallway.