After the Cure

by Deirdre Gould

Nella didn't know how long it was before they were sent through the decontamination shower, but it felt like years. The plastic suit was scratchy and slimy with sweat and her hair was sticking to her skin. Even her breath felt sluggish and thick, like she was in a sauna and she had to fight the urge to rip the face mask off more than once. She could tell the others were having trouble too. But at last another group of soldiers in biohazard suits, a different color, led them out of the cell block and into the parking lot where the chemical shower and a large bus were waiting. As soon as they were through the shower, the suits were allowed to come off and Nella heard audible sighs of relief around her as her group removed the hot plastic. The cool afternoon breeze made her feel like a hollow reed. They piled onto the bus and were driven to the City's unused hospital. Her heart raced in her chest as the bus pulled up to the defunct ambulance entrance. There were a number of other buses sitting in the street. The exterior lights had been turned on and large barriers in orange and red made a ring around the building, as if it were a pustule about to burst and flood the City with illness. Soldiers in plastic suits scurried in and out or stood at the barrier with conspicuous guns.

  A masked soldier shouted a muffled order at them. Stan led them into the hospital. The floor they were taken to was empty and Nella's heart sank. She'd hoped to find Frank or Christine and Sevita at least. The masked soldier stood on the counter at the nurses' station. "Folks," he shouted, "Thank you for your patience. I understand you've all been briefed on the situation-"

  One of the group shouted, "We were the ones that discovered the situation!"

  The masked soldier continued, "Yes. Then you know how grave it really is. At the moment we're hopeful that none of you have been exposed. You are free to roam this floor as long as you stay on it. The general populace has been informed of the situation through the news network, but I understand some of you may wish to contact loved ones. The phones in the patient rooms have been turned on. However, there are several hundred people on the other levels of the hospital who came from the courthouse and as you know, our phone system is limited at best. Please have some patience when you're trying to get through to your family. I understand you folks haven't had chow since breakfast. Someone will be around with dinner shortly. Later on several doctors will be coming around to assess the chance of your exposure. Please cooperate with them. We don't want you to have to be here any longer than necessary."

  "How long is that exactly?" asked Stan.

  "Best case scenario, a week." The men around Nella groaned and she felt her own chest tighten with panic. The soldier raised an arm for quiet. "I know it's not ideal. But the last thing any of us wants is to carry this out into the City, back to the people we care about. We all know how serious this is. From what I understand, there's no hope for a Cure this time. Our only recourse is to contain it. I know I don't need to tell you, of all people, the extremes we will take to keep it contained if we have to. Please cooperate and we'll all get through this together."

  The soldier hopped down and headed to the elevator. The small knot of soldiers broke apart, some headed for bed, others for the television set. Nella felt lost, unmoored, bored and terrified at once. She wandered into a patient room. They'd been hastily set up with an army cot and a folding chair, the old furniture scavenged long ago. She sat on the cot and stared out the broad window into the bright spring sparkle of the City. The trees were waving in the breeze but the windows were sealed shut. She snapped on the air conditioner. A phone rang distantly down the hallway.

  "Dr. Rider?" someone shouted, "Nella Rider?"

  Nella walked out into the hall. "Yes? Here I am."

  A man down the hall waved a phone receiver at her. "What room number are you in? Someone's looking for you."

  She peered back at her door. "312."

  The man nodded and put the receiver back to his ear. Nella ran back into her room and picked up the phone halfway through the first ring.

  "Frank?" she asked.

  "Sorry, Nella, it's me."

  "Sevita are you okay? Is Christine with you?"

  "Yes, we're fine. But Frank isn't with us. He and all the rest of the people on the floor were taken away separately. I think he's upstairs but I can't find a soldier who can tell me. Are you all right? Are you infected? Someone said you found the broken vials."

  "No, we didn't find anything. It was Stan Kembrey that figured out Dr. Pazzo had infected himself."

  "The metal detector guy?"

  "I think he's responsible for a lot more than the metal detector."

  "You think they'd let me have an interview with him?"

  "A phone interview maybe. We aren't going anywhere for at least a week."

  "Us either. One of the soldiers said that the people who were on the courtroom floor were going to have to be in isolation at least a month. They had a greater chance of getting infected and they won't be symptomatic until then."

  Nella sighed. "At least the interior phones are working."

  "Yeah, outside lines are tied up but I should be able to talk to anyone inside. At least I'm where the action is." Sevita's voice broke and Nella was shocked to realize that her friend was truly scared.

  "Hey, there's a guy down here, one of the techs. He thinks we caught it in time."

  "Yeah?"

  "He says Dr. Pazzo could have been infected in the time he had, but he probably isn't contagious yet." She heard Sevita blow out a shaky sigh.

  "That's good. Christine will be so relieved." She paused for a minute. "Listen Nell, I don't want to hang up, but they're here to check our vitals and take blood tests and stuff."

  "It's okay Sevita. I'm going to try to find Frank though, so if I don't answer for a while-" Nella trailed off, unable to speak past the panic choking her throat.

  "Okay, Nella. I'm sure he's fine. I'll try to find out which room he's in too. If I hear anything, I'll call. Chris and I are in 517 if you need us. Talk to you later."

  "Yeah, all right." Nella hung up the phone. She walked down to the elevator where there were two guards posted.

  "Can I help you ma'am?" One of them shouted over his mask.

  "One of my friends was on the floor of the courthouse. I'd like to call him. Could you find out which room he's in?"

  The guard shifted his weight. "They're awfully busy up there ma'am. I can try to reach someone, but it will probably be a while before we hear back."

  Nella summoned a charming smile. "That's okay, I can try each room on the floor if you just tell me the floor number."

  "Sure, I think they are up on seven."

  She thanked the guard and tried to walk calmly back to her room. She noted the room numbers as she passed. 333 was the last number on this hall. She hoped the seventh floor had fewer. Nella closed the door to her room. She sat on her cot and held the heavy phone. What if she got Dr. Pazzo instead? She decided she didn't care. She dialed 701 and held her breath.

  "Hello?" It was a woman's voice. Nella hoped it wasn't Dr. Schneider but she couldn't tell.

  "I'm looking for Frank Courtlen. Do you know which room he's in? Can you see him?"

  "No, they have us in separate cells."

  "Cells?"

  "They're all glassed in. I can't see down the hall, just the room across from me. Do you know what's happening?"

  "They didn't tell you?"

  "No. Court was going on as usual and all of a sudden a large group of soldiers burst in and started yelling. That defendant, Robert Pazzo flew past me and kissed the other defendant square on the mouth. And then all hell broke loose."

  "Who did he kiss? Ann Connelly?"

  "That sweet girl they found incompetent yesterday? No she wasn't there. That Schneider woman. Jake- that's the other bailiff and I, we jumped up to stop him but the soldiers already had their weapons out and they bundled us all into a bus, except for Pazzo, he went separate and brought us here. They told us someone w
ould be by to talk to us, but it's been hours. What's going on? Is it a coup or something?"

  Nella tried not to scare her as she explained, but the woman was in tears by the time she finished. "I'm sorry," Nella said, "I just wanted to find my friend." She hung up. Then she remembered that she hadn't asked the woman what the room number across from her was. Nella swore. She walked to the nurses' station and scrounged for a pen and clipboard. She tried to avoid looking at the patient files that had been abandoned during the outbreak of the Plague. They still lay scattered on the desk and underfoot. The dusty footprints of scavenge teams and the soldiers here now obscured most of the information, but Nella felt like it was an invasion of privacy anyway. She found an old takeout menu in a drawer. She wrote down 701 in the wide margin and returned to her room. She tried 702. The other bailiff. She kept her answers perfunctory, trying to keep the man from panicking. He hadn't seen Frank since the bus either. Dr. Schneider's lawyer was across from him in 712. She thanked him and hung up. 703 was Judge Hawkins. He managed to flag down a soldier for her. He sounded sad and frightened and angry at the same time.

  "We think we caught it in time," she offered.

  "Really?" he asked, "How soon will we know?"

  "I guess when Dr. Pazzo starts showing symptoms. I think they are going to let everyone down here go in a week if our tests are clear. We had far less risk of exposure. I know- I know that doesn't really help you, but I thought you might like to know."

  "No, no, that's a big relief. I know I was reluctant to let you and Frank pursue this- I thought the military would handle it better. I just wanted to say that I don't think anyone but you two would have followed it this long or found it in time."

  "I wish we'd found it sooner. I wish I hadn't been searching for an elaborate plot and just paid attention to what was staring me plain in the face."

  "I guess I can say this now, because I don't think we're going to be seeing Robert Pazzo return to the trial, if there is a trial after this. He had most people fooled Dr. Rider. I confess, I watched that footage that Mr. Courtlen left with me. I wasn't supposed to, it could have tainted the case, but I was so worried about what you two were up against and whether I'd made the right decision, so I watched it. And I was convinced right along with you. I don't know how you figured it out. Maybe someday after this, when I'm retired or Mr. Courtlen's decided to get out of the lawyer trade, we'll all have a drink and you can tell me about it."

  "That would be nice, Your Honor."

  "Now though, you must be itching to talk to Frank. This fine young gentlemen tells me he is in 708. Don't be a stranger Dr. Rider. It's going to be a long month and I have a feeling we're all going to need your services up here before the end."

  "I'll check in with you often, I promise."

  Nella hung up and dialed Frank's room.

  Finding Frank