Dr. Pazzo had recovered his usual reserve, but Nella's chest was tight with anxiety. She'd seen no indication of madness in Dr. Pazzo yet, nor did she expect to. Beyond a fairly normal case of narcissism and an understandably high level of depression, he was remarkably healthy. His hints of withholding vital information were all the more frightening to Nella because of this. She could see, however, that Mr. Courtlen was becoming more suspicious of his client. Nella was increasingly convinced that Dr. Pazzo was telling the truth.
They resumed their seats. Nella heaved an inward sigh at the contrast between the bright and airy cafeteria and the grim, hunched narrowness of the cell block. She was glad she would get to walk out at the end of the day.
"Dr. Pazzo," she began, "You said it took you several weeks to notice Ann's symptoms. How did you finally find out that she was infected?"
"It was the day I took her to the hospital. She had accidentally cut herself on some broken glassware. If I had known what we were dealing with at that point, the cut would have been enough for me to suspect something."
"What do you mean?"
"Ann was never klutzy, but over a few days preceding this incident she was stumbling pretty often. I thought it was the exhaustion. She would slur her speech every so often as well and we had some really nasty fights in those last couple of days. What else should I have thought? It was a normal reaction to lack of sleep. But- well let me show you."
The video began again. The camera was still focused on the window into the animal room. The monkeys seemed sluggish, but Nella thought, perhaps it was the beginning or end of their sleep cycle. Somewhere off the screen came a loud, splintering crash as glassware was dropped.
"Oh Jesus, Ann. Oh God. Are you all right?" Dr. Pazzo's voice moved away and Nella heard Ann mumbling but couldn't hear what she said.
"Okay, just stay there. Don't. Move." Nella heard footsteps run past the camera which tilted as Dr. Pazzo ran past. Now it pointed partly into the lab. Nella could see computer screens and equipment as well as the animal room in the corner of the screen. She still couldn't see Ann but could hear her whimpering. Something black thudded across the screen. It was Dr. Pazzo.
"Here, we have to keep pressure on it. Look at me Ann, I need to call for help. Can you keep pressure on it?"
Nella didn't hear any response from Ann. She heard the quick skid of Dr. Pazzo's shoes as he ran back toward the camera followed by a stumbling, irregular trot that was Ann. They came on screen, Dr. Pazzo dragging Ann and pressing a towel onto her upper arm. He fumbled with a phone for a minute, trying to dial with one hand and hold Ann's arm with the other. "Hello?" his voice was shaky and loud, "I need an ambulance at-"
Nella tuned the rest out. She was watching Ann intently. Ann was not looking at anything in particular, her eyes wandering in the pattern Nella now recognized. She was rocking gently back and forth and seemed utterly calm. Nella could see the towel darkening on her arm. She watched the two run past the screen and heard a door open and slam and then everything was quiet. The video cut out and returned, refocused on the animal room.
Nella heard the door open and the heavy tread of Dr. Pazzo. "Robert, is that you?" Dr. Schneider's voice sounded distant but Nella heard the sharp clicks of high heels head steadily toward the camera. "Where have you been? I come in and the lab is abandoned with broken glassware everywhere-"
"Ann cut herself. She had to be rushed to the hospital." Dr. Pazzo stooped into the frame fiddling with the camera.
"What? Where is she now? What kind of tests did they run at the hospital?" Dr. Schneider's voice was shrill and panicked.
Dr. Pazzo looked up from the camera, his tired face drawing into a scowl as he turned away towards Dr. Schneider. "She's at home sleeping. Jesus, do you even care that she was injured?" Dr. Pazzo shook his head in disgust and turned back to the camera. "Christ, this thing is a mess," he mumbled and picked up the camera, carrying it with him to a desk. A cloth swiped over the lens and the camera was lifted to shoulder level as Dr. Pazzo looked through the eyepiece. Nella felt slightly dizzy, but at last the view settled onto Dr. Schneider's angry face. "She needed stitches and the emergency tech said she seemed exhausted, which I agreed with. So they stitched her up and sent her home to sleep. Why would they need to run tests?"
Dr. Schneider hesitated, frowning at Dr. Pazzo. "Nothing. Never mind," she said.
The camera was abruptly set on the desktop. "No, what did you mean? What tests?"
Dr. Schneider was silent. Dr. Pazzo came into view, rapidly crossing the space between himself and Dr. Shneider.
"Gerta, what tests? What did you do?"
"She was exposed to the Recharge bacteria."
"She's infected? How did she become exposed?" Dr. Pazzo threw up his hands. "No, you know what, I don't even want to know. When was she exposed?"
"Calm down Robert. It's a harmless strain, you checked it yourself. Don't you see? This is good. This will push the trials forward-"
"Shut up. Where did you get your doctorate anyway? Mail order? It was a harmless strain. Every time it crosses species- every time it infects someone new, in fact, it has a chance to mutate. This whole experiment was supposed to be about control. The dopamine and amphetamine levels, yes, but also keeping a pure strain. We have no idea what mutations may have occurred at this point." Dr. Pazzo clutched his head. "Jesus, Gerta, she could be exposing others right now. How long ago was she exposed? Are we infected?"
"Relax! My guess is that it's been about four weeks. She's fine. We're fine. There's nothing to worry about."
It startled Nella to see Dr. Pazzo run out of view. A few seconds later, she heard a violent retching. "Really Robert, there's no need for all this melodrama. If it will make you feel better, I'll run some cultures when she comes in tomorrow and show you it's the same strain."
"No. I'm going to go get her now." He came back into view, clutching one of the pale blue biohazard suits. He walked up to Dr. Schneider and pointed a shaking finger at her. "And you're going to stay right here until I get back."
Dr. Schneider laughed. I don't think so. I have a fundraising dinner tonight."
"I don't give a damn about your fundraiser Gerta. We have to figure this out. You're going to take a sample of the bacteria in the animal room. Then, you're going to sit your ass down and do some actual lab work. You need to compare it to our original strain. I'm going to get Ann before she infects anyone else. Maybe it's not too late."
Dr. Pazzo began stepping into the biohazard suit. "Hey, I'm the lead scientist on this project," Dr. Shneider said shrilly, "I don't take orders from you."
Dr. Pazzo stopped with one arm in the suit. "I don't care about seniority Gerta. Don't you understand? We fucked up. We have to find a way to fix this."
"There is nothing to fix! Everything is fine." Dr. Shneider rolled her eyes. "This is ridiculous. I'm going home."
"Gerta, if you take one more step toward that door, I'll have to do something we'll both regret. We have to maintain quarantine."
"Quarantine?" she hissed, "Do you even hear yourself?" She shook her head and then started walking past Dr. Pazzo toward the door. Looking grim, he punched her in the jaw and then caught her as she fell.
Nella felt Mr. Courtlen tense in surprise. She watched in shock as the young Dr. Pazzo dragged the unconscious woman back to the desk chair near the camera. He slumped her onto the chair and then reached for a roll of medical tape sitting nearby. Nella could hear the loud squeal of ripping tape as he bound Dr. Schneider to the chair. He paused to rub a hand over his eyes and Nella could see he was crying. He rocked back and forth on his knees and held his head in his arms. He was so close to the camera that Nella could hear the crackling rustle of the suit. "Please let it be okay," he whispered, "Please let it be okay."
Dr. Shneider groaned and began to stir. Dr. Pazzo stood up, his eyes still streaming. "I'm sorry Gerta, but you've got to stay
until I figure this out."
"Idiot," she spat.
"I'm going to get Ann now. I'll be back soon."
"If she is infected then you're already infected too," Gerta sneered, "I know all about you're little trysts. That suit isn't going to protect you."
Dr. Pazzo shook his head. "It's not to protect me from Ann," he said, "It's to protect everyone else from us." He pulled the plastic helmet over his face and walked away.
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