LITMIR.BIZ

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held their hands, comforted them as best he could. It was personal for him, and he was still angry his patients had been left to the mercy of a medical center that wasn’t equipped to handle this kind of disease.

      Could the four victims have been saved if they’d made it to a larger hospital? It was a question that would undoubtedly dog him for a long time...

      “I heard,” Avery said, a note of sympathy in her voice. “For what it’s worth, I think it was a crappy thing to do.”

      He jerked one shoulder up. “Fortunately, we caught the other six before they bled out into their lungs. They got pretty sick, but at least they’re not dead.”

      “What kind of drugs did you use on the ones who survived?”

      Grant leaned back and ran a hand through his hair again, exhaling through pursed lips. “What didn’t we try is the better question. I pumped them full of anything I thought might help—steroids, antivirals, antibiotics, epinephrine, versed, Plasma-Lyte, albumin—you name it, I tried it.”

      “Do you have any idea if one of the drugs was responsible for saving the other patients?”

      He shook his head. “At that point, I was just trying to keep them alive. I don’t know if it was the combination of the medication, the supportive care or the fact that we caught them early enough that allowed them to survive.”

      “Probably all three factors,” Avery said. She laid her notebook on his desk and set her pen down, then leaned back and met his eyes. “It sounds like you did a hell of a job.”

      Her praise washed over him like warm summer rain, and he wanted to close his eyes and savor the feeling. He had always respected her opinion, and it meant a lot to know that she thought his actions had been appropriate. “Thank you,” he murmured.

      There was a flash of warmth in her eyes, there and gone in the space between heartbeats. “You say there have been no new cases in the past three days?” she asked, getting them back on track.

      “No. At least, no one has come to me with symptoms.”

      “And none of the staff that treated the patients have been affected?”

      “No. I think we really dodged a bullet here. Whatever this thing is, it doesn’t seem to be very contagious. Otherwise, the whole base would have come down with it by now.”

      Avery tilted her head to the side, apparently considering his words. “Possibly,” she said. “But we don’t know what the incubation period is. For all we know, more people have already been infected but haven’t started to show symptoms yet.”

      A cold chill washed over Grant as the implications of her suggestion sank in. “My God,” he whispered. “This thing could be a ticking time bomb.”

      “Let’s hope not,” Avery replied, her mouth set in grim lines.

      “What do we do now?” That helpless feeling was starting to creep up on him and he pushed it away. They would come up with a plan, and it would work. It had to work. The alternative was unthinkable.

      Avery sighed quietly. “I’d like to look at the patient files for all the cases. We need to identify common behaviors or exposures that might tell us something about where they picked up the agent. Do you have any samples we can analyze to try to identify the pathogen?”

      “I think there are some blood samples left, but I don’t know what state they’re in now.”

      “That’s fine.” She waved away his concern. “The tech I brought has a reputation as a miracle worker. We’ll see if she can find anything.”

      “What can I do?” Grant wasn’t going to just sit on his hands while they worked. He would go mad if he didn’t have something to do, some way to contribute to the investigation. Even though he’d only been on-base a few months, he felt a sense of ownership of the place. Not in a material way. But this was his home for the next few months, and these were his people. It was his responsibility to take care of them, and he’d already failed four times. Logically, he understood those deaths were not his fault. His internal scorekeeper saw things differently, though, and he felt a strong need to redouble his efforts. Perhaps he could somehow make up for their deaths by saving others.

      Avery eyed him across the desk, her expression assessing him as if she was trying to determine what he could handle. “First of all, I need you to get some sleep. You’re no good to me exhausted.”

      He couldn’t stop the laugh that rose in his throat at her unexpected order. “That obvious, huh?”

      “Quite.” She gathered her notebook and pen and stood, and Grant rose to his feet, as well. “Come find me after you wake up.”

      He waited until she got to the door before asking the question burning in his mind. “Can we stop this thing?”

      Avery paused and glanced at him over her shoulder. “If we’re lucky,” she said, suddenly sounding as tired as he felt. Then she walked out of his office, closing the door softly behind her.

       Chapter 3

      “I have results.” Paul glanced around out of habit, but there was no one nearby to eavesdrop on his conversation. Still, it didn’t hurt to be cautious...

      “I’m listening.”

      He took a deep breath, feeling very much like he was about to step out onstage in front of a roomful of people. Would his contact be impressed with his results? Were his findings dramatic enough?

      Only one way to find out...

      “I was able to infect ten people. All became symptomatic, and four died within forty-eight hours after showing signs of illness.”

      “What about the other six?”

      “They survived. But I’m not sure if they suffered permanent damage. I haven’t been able to see them yet.”

      The man on the other end of the line made a noncommittal sound, and Paul felt his stomach clench. I did what you asked. What more do you want from me?

      He heard a muffled noise and imagined the man had placed his hand over the receiver, likely so he could talk to someone nearby. A few seconds later, he was back.

      “It is not enough.”

      Despair washed over Paul and he put a hand against the wall to steady himself. “What do you mean?” he asked softly.

      “We need more information. You must infect additional people.”

      “But...” He stopped, knowing his protest would fall on deaf ears.

      Apparently, his reluctance came through loud and clear. “Now is not the time to back away,” his contact said, a note of steel in his voice. “Finish the job, or your family will suffer for your incompetence.”

      It was the first time they’d explicitly threatened his family. He’d known it was coming, but a sense of bone-deep terror gripped him nonetheless. Not for the first time, he kicked himself for getting involved with this group in the first place. The promise of financial security was not worth the cost, but he’d been too desperate at the time to recognize it.

      “Very well.” There was no other acceptable answer, and they both knew it.

      “We have arranged for you to have some assistance.”

      “What?” He couldn’t hide his incredulity. How was that even possible? He wasn’t aware of any incoming flights scheduled in the near future, so how on earth were they going to bring someone in? Unless they were already on-base...

      Just how many people were working for this shadowy organization? And did they all have the same mission? His mind spun with possibilities and questions, but he knew better than to ask.

      “He will reveal himself to you soon.

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