Chapter 11

Corridor outside Level 5 Containment Lab C

"Dr. Cooper, I have to tell you again, once you cross this threshold and the door closes behind you, you are not coming out until the problem is resolved, one way or another, is that clear?"

The words were muffled by the thick plastic and the sealed faceplate but he got the gist of what the team leader was saying. He nodded and turned to the thick glass door and then stepped into the chamber and pulled the trolley in behind him.

Some kind of chemical mist streamed out of nozzles in the floor and ceiling and he waited as instructed for the mist to clear before pushing in an access code that would open the inner door to the lab.

It had taken far too long to gather the additional air tanks that would enable the scientists to survive for 24 more hours. He knew that some of them must have been breathing foul air by this time.

He went to the nearest researcher who was lying on the floor and he could see the panic in the man's eyes as he gasped for breath. Sheldon exchanged tanks and waited until the man's features calmed and went to the next researcher on the floor.

He exchanged tanks and waited for some signs of consciousness returning but finally had to admit that he'd been too late. The contract virologist on loan from the CDC, had asphyxiated. From the look on her face, it hadn't been a gentle passage into that good night.

Finally he got to Bernadette. She was gasping for breath and he quickly exchanged tanks and then put his faceplate to hers so that she could see him.

Her eyes widened and then she leaned against him in the cumbersome suit and hugged him. He wasn't sure how much time had passed but finally he disengaged from her and squeezed her hands and smiled at her.

He grabbed notepaper and wrote a quick note and gestured for her to show the others. He opened the large plastic sports bag and pulled out his equipment and started spraying each of the researchers with a solution that was lethal to all known viruses and other pathogens.

Sheldon started spraying the floor, being meticulously thorough as only he could be. He wrote instructions and got Bernadette to pass another sheet around. He glanced at the large clock immediately over the door and shook his head. Too long. This was taking too damned long.

Much later, after completing the decontamination steps he'd been given, he sat down heavily in a clear corner of the lab and leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He used too much air while cleaning and spraying all the furniture and workstations. Moving around in the heavy suit was taxing and the internal temperature was climbing so he sat down to relax and try to cool down.

News travels fast but bad news travels faster. There's a part of human nature that seems to thrive on situations such as found in the lab. The talking heads considered it 'human interest', a phenomenon similar to the inability to turn one's eye from a train wreck.

A TV remote van showed up and soon all of Pasadena knew of the horrible lab accident. And then the Networks picked up the story. The CDC began issuing denials, warnings, and then began the usual stonewalling when someone in government got caught with their pants down.

Flashback

US Embassy
Beijing, China

He'd been roughed up, certainly more than he'd sustained on the playground when Wally Fenstermacher had demanded his lunch money and he, of course, had refused. Like his playground experiences, his bruises were only physical, not psychological, or so he told the Embassy staff.

He sat across the table from a woman who said she was the 'Deputy Commercial Attaché' but whose mien screamed 'C.I.A. Station Chief'. He'd sat through the Borne Identity after losing a bet to Penny and had absorbed details that his mind provided now.

"Dr. Cooper, the Chinese government has quietly dropped all charges against you on the condition that you never return to their country or try and contact Professor…" and she fumbled for his name in her notes.

"Dr. Li. He's under house arrest according to Chen Hu Li for 'anti-government activities'. I came here to speak with him regarding my – "

"It doesn't matter. You're going home and your passport will be confiscated until an investigation into your conduct here has been completed."

She looked at the battered man leaning heavily on the table across from her and wondered what else had been done to him other than a broken nose and a black eye and a few cracked ribs?

He'd gotten off lucky. If they hadn't been watching the Chinese agents at the airport he could have been 'disappeared' and his disappearance would never have been investigated.

"I'm not going home. If I return to the US, it will be to Galveston. I think a few weeks are appropriate for recovery."

He didn't utter another unnecessary word until the sequence of flights he'd taken finally arrived in Houston. He had utilized the amenities offered by 1st class and gotten quietly drunk while desperately trying not to break down in tears.

Everything he had done in life lately had gone wrong: Penny, his attempt to escape his pain through alcohol, and now this. He took another sip of his chilled vodka and stared out the window of the plane.

He would see a dentist in Galveston. The broken molars would need to be tended to.

Bush Int'l Airport
Houston, TX

Sheldon had called Missy from San Francisco and asked to be picked up and she immediately picked up on his speech patterns and hesitations.

"Shelley, why are you talking like you have a mouthful of cotton? My lands, I swear you…"

"I ran into the Chinese equivalent of Wally Fenstermacher but I wouldn't give them my lunch money this time either and so…"

"Sheldon, are you drunk? I thought you promised me – "

"No. The embassy gave me some pain pills and you know how pure my blood is."

"I'll pick you up, Shelley. Just give me your flight info…"

He palmed two of the pain pills and dry-swallowed them. He'd need them if Missy allowed her enthusiasm free reign. 'It would be ironic if I succumbed to a punctured lung due to excessive celebration, wouldn't it?'

"Goodbye, thank you for flying American Airlines…goodbye, thank you for flying American Airlines…goodbye…"

He brushed past the flight attendant who was the official 'Goodbye, thank you…' voice of the airlines and walked slowly down the jetway to the concourse. Knowing Missy, he would have time to find a quiet corner to sit down and center him self. She was as prone to being late as was Penny.

He dozed off, reliving a portion of his interrogation at the hands of the Chinese BSS and woke up gasping for breath. He'd been water boarded a few times and it was a recurring nightmare and probably would for years to come.

Level 5 Containment Lab C

He jerked awake, unable to breathe and for a moment was back in the hands of the Chinese and being interrogated again. He couldn't catch his breath and he started to rip off the faceplate of his suit when strong hands grabbed his wrists to stop him. Panicking and calling on reserves he didn't know he had, he batted away the restraining hands and tried to open his faceplate.

The same strong hands slammed into him and held him down while others sprayed his suit and then lifted him onto a gurney, out of the lab and down endless banks of fluorescent lights into a 'clean' room. His suit was quickly cut from his body and an oxygen mask placed over his face.

He heard Bernadette saying his name and then Howard say 'We have to go, Bernie, it's not safe. They'll take care of him. Let me take care of you,' and then slipped into darkness.

LAX
Arrivals Terminal

Penny had flown to Los Angeles after her brief and bitter conversation with Leslie Winkle. She Googled the 'CalTech Incident' and read all about the accident and how one 'teacher at CalTech' had entered the contaminated area to deliver oxygen to trapped researchers.

There had been only one fatality: S. Cooper, PhD.

From that point on she was on autopilot. She took the airport shuttle to Pasadena and then a cab to their house not far from the University.

It was lit up like a Christmas tree and she wondered if Missy and Mary had flown in for the funeral and were staying there rather than a hotel. Knowing Leonard, he offered them Sheldon's house for as long as they needed it. There were at least a dozen cars parked along the street and several in their driveway. "His, not ours, not any more."

This was going to get awkward fast.

A/N Going as fast as I can. Be patient, all 28 of you.