Pathogen

by Jessica L. Webb

  “She contracted it here,” Kate said, her voice a monotone.

  “What’s that?”

  “Serena Cardiff contracted the virus here,” Kate said, doing the math again in her head, counting back from her onset of symptoms. Seven to ten days before that put her right here at Valley General. How is that even possible? Kate wanted to pound her brain into making it make sense.

  “What does that mean?” Jack asked, his eyes round.

  “I don’t know, but I think I need to call Andy,” Kate said just as her phone chimed in her pocket. “Unknown number,” Kate mumbled as she read the screen, her thoughts in too many places.

  Jack picked up his own phone. “I’ll call Wylie, you get that.”

  Kate looked at the screen on her phone as it signaled she had a message. She opened the text.

  I need your help.

  She quickly texted back. Who is this?

  Jack called her name and held out his phone. “Wylie wants to talk to you,” he said. Kate detected a note of urgency in his voice.

  “Andy?” Kate asked, pinning Jack’s phone between her ear and her shoulder, watching the screen of her own phone in her hand.

  “I think we know who we’re looking for,” Andy said, her voice intense and focused. “We retraced Roberta Sedlak’s route, adding in the Fullworth farm as a waypoint and came across a backpack. It’s a camera bag, which fits, given what was found there.”

  Kate listened, trying to follow as another message came through on her phone. She hit the button automatically.

  Chris Ozarc, I need your help, please.

  “Kate, are you listening?” Andy said in Kate’s ear, annoyed by her obvious distraction.

  “Chris Ozarc,” Kate mumbled into the phone, reading the name on her screen.

  “How did you know?” Andy demanded.

  “Because he was here a week ago. He gave the virus to Serena,” Kate said as she worked it out in her head. “And he just sent me a text, asking for my help.” Kate was struggling to track all of the details. A sudden image intruded into the barrage of information flooding her thoughts. She’d seen him, Chris Ozarc. Just now she’d watched him climb the stairs: the dark hair, the athletic body, the hastily tied gown. He’d been admitted to Ward B.

  Andy was talking in her ear, asking her questions, but Kate didn’t hear it.

  “He’s here,” Kate blurted out.

  “What?” Andy asked, stopping mid-sentence.

  “Chris Ozarc. Andy, he’s in the hospital.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Confusion. Mass confusion. Andy yelling in her ear, Jack picking up the landline and dialing, the sound of the Yukon’s engine racing in the background. Kate gripped her cell phone tightly and stared at the message on the screen.

  “Kate!” Andy’s voice commanded on the other end of the phone.

  “What?” Kate asked, trying to focus.

  “When did you see Chris Ozarc in the building?” Andy asked. Kate could hear someone talking in tense, commanding tones in the background. Constable Slater probably, Kate thought.

  “Five, maybe ten minutes ago,” Kate answered, checking her watch.

  “And you’re sure it was him?”

  “I didn’t see his face, but I’m sure it was him.”

  “Slater’s on the phone confirming. We should have an answer soon. We’ve got security starting a lockdown. Slater and I and the two other officers should be there in about five minutes…”

  Kate had stopped listening at lockdown. “Andy, I’ve got to get patients out,” she said urgently. “Harris Trenholm, at the very least. Dr. Doyle was arranging helicopter transport—”

  “Ward B is going into lockdown,” Andy said firmly. “We won’t be able to get anyone out until this situation…”

  Kate was already moving, Jack’s cell phone pressed to her ear, her own cell still clenched in her fist.

  “We’ll see how quickly we can apprehend Chris Ozarc. Any idea what he wants?” Andy asked, and Kate could hear that she was on the highway.

  Kate moved quietly out of the room and down the hall, trying to even out her breathing, so Andy wouldn’t know she was walking. “No, he just said he needed my help.”

  “And how does he have your cell number?”

  “I gave it to him last week when he came by the hospital. I thought he wanted to get looked at in the ER. He looked so lost, I gave him my cell phone number and told him to call me about anything,” Kate said, taking the stairs slowly.

  “Of course you did,” Andy said, under her breath. “We’re almost there, two minutes out.”

  “Okay,” Kate said. She pulled out her ID for the security guard as his two-way radio beeped and squawked loudly on his shoulder. Kate knew she only had seconds.

  “Kate, where are you?” Andy asked suddenly.

  Kate didn’t answer.

  “Kate Morrison, answer me! Where are you?” Andy demanded.

  Still she didn’t answer, showing her ID, getting the nod from the guard even as he picked up the receiver and pressed the buttons. Kate was through the doors and down the hall as he got his orders to lock down the ward.

  “I’m on Ward B,” Kate said as calmly as she could into the phone.

  Andy swore violently. Kate felt a moment of guilt. She knew she’d just made everything harder for Andy. But she couldn’t sit downstairs with Jack in the meeting room. She needed to be with her patients, needed to get Harris Trenholm out of here, soon. Twenty-four hours. The clock was ticking down.

  “What do you need me to do, Andy?” Kate asked, approaching the nurse’s station. Lucy was on the phone, and her face was bloodless, her eyes wide with fear.

  “Where is Chris Ozarc now?”

  Kate made a questioning gesture with her hand to Lucy. She pointed with a shaking finger to Serena’s room, and Kate moved down the hall and peeked through the blinds.

  “He’s in Serena’s room,” Kate said quietly into the phone. “He’s sitting by her bed, holding her hand. That’s all I can see,”

  “Get back to the nurse’s station, immediately. We’re here,” Andy said, and Kate could hear her moving.

  “Andy, I’m putting the phone in my pocket, so just listen, okay?”

  Kate didn’t wait for an answer, dropping Jack’s open phone into the pocket of her gown. She still held her cell phone in her other hand as she walked into Serena Cardiff’s room.

  “Hello, Chris,” Kate said quietly. Serena was asleep, and even from the doorway, Kate could hear her laboured breathing. Twenty-four to forty-eight hours, thought Kate. Dr. Doyle had better find two available hyperbaric chambers.

  Chris Ozarc’s mask and gown lay discarded on the floor. He sat exactly as he had last time Kate had seen him in Serena’s room, holding her hand. This time though, there was no look of pain. His face seemed blank, completely devoid of emotion.

  “Dr. Morrison, tell me Serena’s okay,” Chris said, his voice an alarming monotone.

  “She’s not,” Kate said. “But I’ve never seen anyone fight as hard as Serena,” she added. Kate calmly picked up Serena’s chart and flipped it open. Lowered O2 sats for the past four hours. Kate checked the monitors and inputted the newest vitals, all the while feeling the intensity of Chris’s gaze on her. She adjusted the O2 monitor on Serena’s finger and checked the flow of the oxygen through the mask. The familiar, routine movements calmed her. She could see Chris’s posture relax a little out of her peripheral vision.

  “You said you needed my help,” Kate said quietly, looking over the bed at Chris.

  He stared down at Serena. “I don’t know what to do,” he finally said, in the same, deadened tone. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “You came here to see Serena,” Kate said, posing it as a statement, trying to keep any accusation out of her voice.

  Chris met Kate’s eyes again, and she felt a flash of fear. That wasn’t the only reason he was here. He had some desperate, half-formed plan. He looked away again, back to Serena,
and Kate could now see the pain in his eyes. This was good. This was something she could connect with.

  “Chris, we have a plan to help Serena and the other critical patients. We need to get them out of the hospital, though.” Kate watched as he gripped Serena’s hand convulsively, and her heart sank.

  Kate let the silence stretch, forcing herself to not check her watch, not to feel the countdown of the minutes. If only she could get Harris Trenholm out of here. She heard the muted squawk of a radio in the hallway, and Chris looked up at Kate, then out the open door.

  “Who else is here?” he demanded. His body was tense again, and the hand farthest from Kate hung awkwardly down by his side.

  “Last I checked there was a nurse on the floor and a security guard at the doors,” Kate said evasively. Chris’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Kate sighed and sat down in the chair and looked directly at Chris. “The RCMP were on their way when I came in. I assume they’re here by now,” Kate told him evenly.

  “I’m making them nervous.”

  “Yes.”

  “Am I making you nervous?” he asked Kate in the same monotone, but his eyes were pleading.

  Kate considered this. “What makes me the most nervous is that you’re trying to hide,” she said gently. “If I’m going to help, I need to know what’s going on in your head.”

  Chris glared at her from across the hospital bed, but Kate looked back at him impassively. After a moment, his shoulders sagged. He slumped forwards in the chair, resting his head against the bed.

  “Why are you helping me?” His voice sounded muffled.

  “Because you asked me to,” Kate said. “I’m a doctor, Chris, it’s kind of what I do.” Another minute, another sound from the open door, and Kate wished she’d thought to close it on the way in. “Chris, there are four other patients on this ward and one of them is in critical condition. I need to go and arrange transport for them.”

  Chris looked up in a panic, one hand gripping Serena tightly, the other reflexively touching his jacket pocket. Kate didn’t need to be a cop to figure out whatever Chis had hidden wasn’t good. Her hope this would be resolved easily and peacefully dissolved in a heartbeat.

  “Are you here to hurt Serena?” Kate asked quietly.

  “No!” Chris shouted, sitting up. “No, no, no, no…” His body twisted in panic, every muscle tight, like he was fighting off the accusation. Kate felt alarm at his reaction, how unstable he was, how unnervingly quickly he moved between numbness and fear. At the very least, though, Kate was convinced that he wouldn’t hurt Serena.

  “It’s okay. Chris, listen to me. I trust you, I need your help,” Kate held her hands up, a gesture of peace and calm. Eventually he listened, his breathing returning to normal, and he looked to her for direction. Good. That was good. “I’m going to go move the other patients,” she said. “I will be back. While I’m gone, I need you to watch this number.” She pointed to the O2 monitor. “When I come back, I want to know if the number has gone below eighty-five.”

  “Eighty-five,” he repeated, staring at the monitor.

  “Eighty-five,” Kate said calmly and she stood up. Chris looked up at her movement, uncertainty etched in every nuance of his body language.

  “You’ll be back.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “I am going to arrange to have the other patients moved and then yes, I will be back,” Kate said. “You’ll hear us moving in the hallway, and you’ll probably hear the police radios, but it will just be me who walks back into this room. Promise.” God, Andy was going to be pissed.

  “Okay,” Chris said, staring back down at Serena.

  Kate moved towards the doors, watching for signs of movement in the hallway. Nothing. But as soon as she stepped out of the room, a familiar hand gripped her upper arm and pulled her down the hallway. Andy said nothing, her face an angry, stone mask, marching Kate quickly and quietly to the nurse’s station. Constable Slater was there, along with two other officers Kate didn’t recognize, a security guard, and Lucy. They all looked at Kate, wide-eyed and cautious. Kate didn’t have the time or energy to wonder what they thought of her in that minute.

  “He’s not here to hurt Serena,” Kate said immediately, addressing the group but looking at Andy. “He’s got something in his pocket. I’m guessing a weapon but I don’t know. If he’s got a plan, it’s not very detailed. Right now I think he just wants to sit with Serena and know that she’s okay.”

  Andy looked at her with calculating eyes. Kate could see the sharp edge of her anger as Andy forced herself to breathe evenly. “Do you think moving your patient will set him off?” Andy asked, her voice direct, devoid of emotion, though her grey eyes pinned Kate to the spot.

  “I think it will be fine, as long as no one mentions anything about moving Serena at this point. Is there a transport available?”

  “Yes,” Lucy jumped in, her voice a nervous whisper. “Dr. Doyle said Whistler is sending an air ambulance.” She checked her watch. “Should be arriving in twenty minutes.” She looked back to Kate, waiting for direction.

  “We need to get him out now,” Kate said.

  Andy finally looked away from Kate and gave a curt note to Slater. “Let’s go.”

  Kate followed them to Harris Trenholm’s room, waiting for Andy’s objection. It never materialized. Kate updated his chart, wedged it against the bed, unhooked the IV bags from their poles, and attached them to the bed frame. Andy and the officers watched and waited for direction as Kate moved around the bed with urgent efficiency. Kate triggered the wheel lock mechanism on one side of the bed and indicated the officer on the other side should do the same. They wheeled Harris Trenholm out of the room and down the hallway, the complete silence strange and ominous. Kate focused on Harris’s dusky face. Please let this work, she thought. Please let this be enough.

  Out in the hall, Kate waved for Lucy to take her spot with the patient.

  “The others,” Kate said once the elevator doors had closed. No time for relief. “They’re not critical, but we need them out. Do we have somewhere to take them?”

  “We can’t move them,” Andy said, cutting in. “We would have to send multiple staff past the room multiple times. It’s too risky. If the patients aren’t critical, they should stay.”

  Kate shook her head, ignoring Andy’s irritation. “I’ve already told Chris what was going to be happening. If I’m in the room with him, I think he’ll stay calm. I don’t think he’ll even notice.”

  “You are not going back in that room,” Andy said, her voice deadly.

  “Yes, I am,” Kate said, aiming for calm, for certainty.

  Andy said nothing, staring down at Kate. Kate couldn’t help but fidget, knowing others were watching, but she kept her chin up and refused to look away. The silence stretched.

  “Serena needs to be treated,” Kate tried again, when it was clear Andy couldn’t or wouldn’t speak. “She’s the next most critical patient and someone has to be in there with her in case she crashes. I think Chris trusts me, he just needs someone to help him end this. You heard him, Andy.” Kate took a breath. “I think he’s here to hurt himself, not anyone else.”

  Andy still said nothing, and Kate could see her working through the details, coming up with a plan. She watched Andy wrestle, her grey eyes boring into Kate’s. In that moment, Kate knew she had won. Kate was the best chance they had of ending this quietly.

  She heard muted shouting down the hallway, by the locked doors leading out of Ward B. Kate could see indistinct shadows against the frosted glass and could hear someone pulling frantically at the doors. “What’s going on?”

  Andy looked up briefly, gestured sharply at one of the new officers, indicating he should deal with it. Then she looked back to Kate.

  “Michael Cardiff,” she said shortly, her body rigid with stress.

  “He knows already?”

  Andy nodded once, quickly. Kate watched the officer slip through the doors of Ward B, caught a very brief glance of
a furious, terrified Cardiff, trying to get through the doors to his daughter. For the first time Kate actually felt empathy for the man. She knew what that kind of desperation felt like.

  “Have you called anyone for Chris? Maybe his dad could talk him out of this.”

  “I’ve got Ferris on it,” Andy said. “But I wouldn’t count on it. Ferris said Chris was basically raised by a series of household staff. His father might not be the best option.”

  Kate thought about the man, possibly armed, sitting in the room three doors down. She thought she would be afraid of the person who had released a fatal virus into the community. But she wasn’t, not really. She mostly just wanted to talk to him until that haunted, dead look left his eyes.

  “When I go back in,” Kate started, meeting Andy’s gaze, “what’s my best approach with Chris?”

  “You aren’t trained for this,” Andy said through gritted teeth.

  “Really?” Kate said, her own anger rising to the surface. “You think I’m not trained to deal with an unstable patient with mental illness? You know the clientele I work with on a daily basis, Andy. I can handle this.”

  Andy glowered at Kate, her fear showing as anger. Kate wished she could offer some kind of reassurance. But there was absolutely nothing she could do to make this easier on Andy other than end it, soon.

  “Take off your gown,” Andy said suddenly, tersely.

  Kate didn’t understand at first, then she watched as Andy undid the Velcro straps of her own soft body armour vest. Kate untied her gown and stood still while Andy placed the vest over her head, her movements almost rough. She spoke as she secured the straps around Kate’s ribs.

  “You have time, so use it. If he can’t handle the possibility of Serena being taken from him, then you’ll have to make him give himself up. Don’t push him there, lead him there.” Andy pulled the last strap tightly across Kate’s body. “Any hint that he’s threatening you or Serena, and we will take him down. If we forcibly enter the room, you will immediately hit the floor. That will be your only reaction, leave the rest to us,” Andy finished fiercely.