Author's note: If you are familiar with other shows Chris Gorham has been in, you might recognize a few characters here. :)

Chapter 2

"It's not the Flu"

Around 10am, Auggie called Annie to check on her, but she didn't answer. She must be asleep, he thought to himself. I'll try again at lunch.

But at lunchtime, Annie again didn't answer. Concern threatened to overwhelm Auggie as he considered the possibilities of why she wasn't answering her phone now. Especially after at least eight phone calls and countless texts.

Unfortunately, he couldn't leave right away. The newbie operative, Kyle, he was working with this week had just been burned on a mission in Rome and Auggie had to arrange his transport home before he could go home himself.

Around 2pm, Auggie had everything arranged and Kyle was finally on his way to the airport to leave Rome. That was Auggie's cue that he could leave to go check on Annie. Since calling her at lunch, he had called her another five times without an answer. Calling his usual car service he got home 30 minutes later.

Opening the door to the apartment, he immediately called out to her. "Annie, are you here?"

Without a response, he decided to call her to see if she had went out before searching the apartment room by room in the only way he could. As he called, he heard the phone ringing from the bedroom. From the sound of it, it sounded like it was still on the nightstand where it had been this morning. With this information he decided to start his search in the bedroom. As he walked up the stairs he listened carefully. He could faintly hear her breathing from the bed as he entered the room. Approaching the bed, he ran his hand up the side until he found her arm.

"Annie. Annie, wake up. Walker!" Auggie said, trying to wake her as he grew more concerned with each passing second that she didn't answer him. She was breathing and she had a pulse, albeit slower than normal. "Annie, you need to wake up. We need to go to the hospital." As helplessness overcame him he realized that she was unconscious and not going to answer him. After a moment of, quite frankly, freaking out, he gathered his thoughts and called 9-1-1.

All he knew was Annie was non-responsive to him shaking her and yelling. He couldn't rouse her at all and it concerned him greatly. A cold didn't do this to you and he'd never heard of an influenza being this severe either. Gathering a bag from top of the closet he put a few of his own things and Annie's in the bag for what he was sure would be an overnight stay at the hospital. He wasn't going to chance having to leave her side to come back home for anything.

As he waited for the paramedics to arrive he called Joan to tell her he wouldn't be coming to work tomorrow. She understood his need to be with Annie. He was appreciative of her willingness to work with him.

In the ambulance 20 minutes later, the paramedics are checking vitals and asking Auggie questions.

"Do you know how long she's had a fever?" One of the paramedics asked Auggie. "No, I don't. She's been travelling for work the last few days and just got back yesterday. She said she was sick a couple days while she was gone, but she just thought it was a cold or the flu."

"Any nausea or vomiting?"

"Yes, she's been throwing up the past two days. I don't know about before that." Auggie said wishing he knew more about what symptoms she had presented.

"Did she complain of a headache, stiff neck, or rash?"

"She had a headache, but I don't know about the other two. She didn't say anything about either and I can't exactly look for a rash myself." He said, holding up his cane.

"We're almost to Georgetown University Hospital, is there someone we can call for her?"

"Thanks, but I can do any calling that needs to be done myself." Auggie said almost defensively.

"Okay, just asking buddy. It's a routine question we ask everyone. They will ask you again in admitting."

Once the ambulance arrived, one of the paramedics lead Auggie inside the hospital as the other rolled Annie in.

"What do we have?" A new voice said.

"29 year old non-responsive female, presenting with high fever, headache, vomiting, and rash. Unknown on the stiff neck or confusion, but it sounds like one of the cases you've been dealing with." Said the paramedic who had questions Auggie..

"Wait, what cases? What do you think this is?" Auggie asked aloud, but no one seemed to pay him any attention as they pushed Annie further into the hospital.

"Take her to the quarantined unit just to be safe. She doesn't fit the pattern completely, but best to be proactive in case she does have what the others do." The voice from earlier said to the paramedic, seemingly ignoring Auggie. "Dr. McCabe, go with her and monitor her progress." Auggie heard the person talking to someone else, but was at the mercy of the paramedic for cues where to go.

"Wait, I need to be with her." Auggie said as he realized was not being lead with her.

"The doctors will let you know something as soon as they can. Right now, someone in admitting is going to need you to get Annie admitted since she can't do it herself. She's being taken to a quarantined unit in the ICU." The paramedic told him.

"ICU? Why is she being isolated? What does she have?" Auggie asked frantic for answers no one was giving him.

"I don't know sir. I have to go, there's someone here to take you to admitting now."

As Auggie waited for someone to acknowledge him he felt confused, lost, and frustrated. No one was telling him anything, he wasn't 100% sure where he was, and now he was waiting for some stranger to come take him to fill out countless amounts of forms that he couldn't see to fill out himself anyway.

"Sir, come with me." A voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Ma'am, I can't just follow you. I'm blind. Could I take your arm so you can guide me where we're going?" Auggie stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize." She said, embarrassed that she had not paid attention to the white cane prominently placed in front of Auggie as he leaned on it. "Has anyone told you that you look just like one of the doctors on staff?"

"Nope, no one's said anything to me." Auggie said, still waiting for her to indicate to him where she was.

After some awkwardness of how to perform sighted guide, Auggie was lead to a small room. "There's a chair right in front of you. Let's get this paperwork filled out so we can get you to your friend."

Auggie extended his hand in front of him and took a step forward. As his hand met the chair, he walked around it and sat down. "She's my girlfriend. Can we just get this over with so I can see her please?"

"Okay, my name is Eva Rossi. I'm with the NIH. I'll be helping you fill these out."

"The NIH? Why are you guys here?"

"We have an outbreak we're investigating. Annie is showing similar symptoms to some of the others here."

"What do you think it is?" Auggie asked trying to hide his now extreme panic at just how sick Annie might be.

"We're not sure yet. We will let you know as soon as we have more information. But she may not even have the same illness as the patients we are working with."

As they went through the process, Auggie became increasingly more annoyed with the monotony of it all. Annie was alone somewhere in the hospital and he was sitting here answering pointless question after question.

"Has Annie been out of the country in the last month?"

"Yes, she's been to Africa, Europe and South America. She works for the Smithsonian; she's always travelling the world acquiring artifacts for them."

"How long has she been sick?" Eva asked.

"I don't know for sure. She got home yesterday and told me she had been feeling sick for a few days. I already told all of this to the paramedics though."

"Sir, I know this is frustrating, but we need as much information as possible."

"I understand." Auggie said, sighing.

"We are almost finished then the doctor will come to take you to see…er, be with Annie." She said, embarrassed at her mistake.

"It's okay; you can use the words see, look, watch, etc. I'm not offended by these words. I use them as well. I just "see" a little differently than most people."

After finishing with the paperwork, Auggie waited once again for another stranger to come lead him to where Annie was.

"Auggie Anderson?" A faceless voice asked from the waiting room door. As Auggie stood up from where he was, Miles was shocked at just how similar they were. He hadn't believed Eva when she said there was a blind guy here who looked like a slightly older version of him, but now seeing it with his own eyes, the similarities were uncanny.

"That's me." Auggie said, unfolding his cane and walking over to where he knew the door was. He was surprised when the stranger touched his hand with the back of his own hand. Auggie grabbed the stranger's arm and allowed him to lead him from the waiting room area.

"I'm Dr. Miles McCabe. I will be overseeing Annie's care." Miles told Auggie as they walked through the corridors of the hospital.

"How is she doing? What's wrong with her?" Auggie asked anxiously.

"She's been conscious a couple times. She's very confused when she's awake. Her temperature is still quite high and we are working on bringing it down. We don't know yet what this is. We know it's not the flu, but she may have what the others we're treating have." Miles explained as they reached the ICU. "We're at the ICU now; I can't allow you to stay with her for long right now until we know what this is and how it is transmitted."

"Thank you doctor, could you lead me to her bed?" Auggie asked.

"Certainly." Miles said as they made their way through the ICU to where Annie was. "There's a chair to your left, about a meter away from where you currently are. Try to avoid touching her."

"But it's how I connect with her." Auggie said, uncertain.

"I know sir, I'm sorry. I wish I could be sure you won't get whatever she has." Miles replied sympathetically. "I can give you twenty minutes with her. I'll be back after that time is up to lead you back out."

"Thank you Dr. McCabe." Auggie said, grateful for any amount of time with Annie.

"No problem." He said.

Auggie found the chair Miles described to him and pulled it over closer to the bed where Annie supposedly lay. It frustrated Auggie that he wasn't allowed to touch her, to confirm for himself that she was there. It felt like someone was trying to play a practical joke on him, what if Annie really weren't there and they just wanted to see how long it would take the blind man to figure it out. As the selfish dark thought swirled in his head, additional thoughts of Annie crept in as well. She was pretty sick. Sick enough for the National Institutes of Health to be involved. Of course, they had no idea that Annie was CIA and he intended to keep it that way.

Authors Note: Just like you'd clap or boo for the concert you just sat through, please review my writing as you read it. I'm not above saying, I really do NEED to hear from you each chapter so I know your comments, likes/dislikes, and expectations for future chapters.