by Alex Apostol
She emerged from the cramped bathroom and almost ran right into Sylvia Goldstein, the last person she wanted to see. Why had Liam invited her and her husband after their disastrous double date?
“Great party!” Sylvia said in her loud, nasally voice. “It’s quite a group you’ve put together. So many people here in this tiny apartment!”
“Thanks. It was all Liam’s—”
“And you still don’t look a day over twenty-one. What is your secret?” Sylvia interrupted as she raised a hand to her dark, bouffant hair to make sure it was still in place.
“Actually,” Christine said as she nudged her way past Sylvia. “Would you excuse me? I have to say hi to…” she looked around the room for someone available. She spotted an old woman with white hair sitting alone on the bay window seat. Christine pointed to her and walked away without another word. Once Sylvia’s back was turned, Christine changed her course for Liam.
“Hey,” she leaned in to whisper. “Who brought the Golden Girl?”
Liam stared blankly back.
“The Golden Girls? Blanch? Rose…nothing? Let me try again. Who brought the old woman sitting by the window?”
He turned to look and his green eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh, that’s Ralph Sherman’s mother-in-law. Her flat’s on the first floor.”
She smiled. Flat. His British accent got her every time. “And who’s Ralph Sherman?”
Liam gazed around the room until he spotted Ralph and his wife, Sally, who held their nine month old daughter in her arms while she talked to Ben and Sylvia Goldstein. Liam pointed them out with a slight nod of his head. Sylvia gave an enthusiastic wave before Christine could look away and pretend she hadn’t seen her.
“And how do we know him?” she asked.
“He’s the kid who installed our cable and internet when we moved in.” Liam raised his glass to Ralph when their eyes met.
“Oh.” She didn’t remember him. How could these people live in the same building as her for a year and she still had no idea who they were? And why did Liam know everyone?
As if Christine’s thoughts were written across her face, Liam looked at her with soft eyes. “You’ve been really stressed with work, staying late at the office…It’s hard to get to know people with those hours.”
She nodded, but was still lost in thought. Maybe it was her fault she didn’t have any real friends. She’d always preferred time alone as opposed to being surrounded by people. That was just who she was, until she met Liam during her last semester at law school. Then all she wanted to do was spend time with him when she wasn’t working. She didn’t have the time for much else.
Liam could tell his fiancée was stuck inside her own head by the glossy, vacant look on her face. He was determined to get her out to enjoy the party, maybe even make some new friends. “Yeah, I feel bad for the whole lot of them actually,” he said as he looked back at Ralph. “They don’t get out much because his wife is always at home with the baby or taking care of her mother. Seems like she could really use a companion. Someone to expand her horizons a bit, or just to talk to…” He trailed off when he saw the stern look on Christine’s face.
“You promised me no more blind friend-dates,” she hissed. “Not after Sylvia Goldstein.” She spat the name out like it was a rancid piece of meat. “You’ve lost all hook-up privileges.”
Liam laughed and threw his arm over her shoulder to reel her in. “How about another drink?” He turned to walk to the buffet table, but his path was blocked.
“Looks like we’re going to have to get going,” Dr. Ronald Conrad, Liam’s colleague, said with his wife at his side. Her cheeks were burning bright red and she kept tugging at the sleeve of his crisp blue shirt.
“Everything alright?” Liam asked.
“Yeah, it’s just Gloria, here, installed one of those nanny cams, y’know, to see what Olivia was up to when we’re not home. Turns out the minute we left she put the baby to bed and invited her delinquent boyfriend over.”
Liam stretched his mouth back and grit his teeth in a show of pained sympathy. “Sorry, mate.”
“No matter. It’s this one who’s all bent out of shape now because she caught this kid plowing her seventeen-year-old niece.”
“They weren’t having sex!” Gloria Conrad screeched. She turned to Liam and spoke to him directly. “They had their clothes on.”
He nodded his head and opened his mouth, but was at a loss for what to say.
“Great party,” Gloria said as she touched Liam lightly on the arm and then turned in a flurry to head for the door. Ronald scurried after her.
“She’s…” Christine said as the Conrads hurried off, “…passionate.”
“Right,” Liam laughed. “Well said.”
“When is Ronnie being transferred out to Stanford?”
Liam shrugged his shoulders. “He hopes soon. He hates it at the university’s lab.”
“Why’s that?”
“He thinks Dr. Hyde uses him like an errand boy. I mean, the man’s got a doctorate in microbiology. He shouldn’t be picking up the dry cleaning.”
“And Dr. Hyde is your new boss?”
“Correct,” Liam said with a nod. “He invited me to join his team to create a vaccine for that new strain of flu everyone’s on about.”
Christine nodded her head. She tried to remember when Liam had told her all this, but she couldn’t. She did, however, remember all the breaking news over the deadly flu. It was hard to miss. If they weren’t interrupting shows to update everyone with breaking news, it scrolled slowly across the bottom of the screen on every local channel.
“They project it to wipe out almost forty percent of the population if someone doesn’t make a working vaccine soon.”
“What’s taking so long?” Christine asked with a furrowed brow.
Liam gave a discordant laugh. “It’s not that simple. Every time we think we’ve got it, the flu strand changes and we have to start all over. That’s why almost every lab in the country is working around the clock to stop it. They just…can’t.”
Christine let Liam’s word drift in and out of her mind as the wine hit her all at once. Unexpectedly, a ball of panic dropped in her stomach and weighed it down like a bowling ball. Forty percent of the population could be wiped out in one year because of something as common as the flu. Maybe she should consider getting one of those disposable hospital masks, even though it looked creepy when she saw someone walking around in one.
Over the next twenty minutes people said their goodbyes. The crowd dissipated until it was only Liam, Christine, Luke Benson from upstairs, and Carolyn Bock left.
Luke claimed he wanted to help the couple clean up, but it was his anxiety over Carolyn cornering him at his apartment door that kept him there. She had jumped at the chance to offer to help once he had. Her eyes lingered on him whenever he bent over to pick up a dropped plate or napkin. She watched his dark skin tighten over his rounded arm muscles and sighed. Each time, he looked to Liam and Christine with wide, desperate eyes.
“Poor guy,” Christine cooed in a whisper to Liam. “We should help him.”
Liam nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the muffled sounds of shouting from the floor above. Everyone looked up in silence.
“I better go,” Carolyn said immediately and dropped the trash that was in her hand before she darted out the door. She left it open behind her.
The warm breeze from the open hallway wafted up Christine’s nose, bringing the scent of the Dunes and Lake Michigan along with it. A vision of her grandmother picking wildflowers along the Calumet bike path swam through her fermented mind. She missed her so much, even though she died almost ten years ago. The woman had practically raised her while her parents immersed themselves in their work.
A faint knock, only heard because of the door that stood ajar, brought Christine out of her reminiscent trance. A new slew of curses from Colt Hansen upstairs was now directed at Carolyn for interfering in the argument with his wife.
“Shit,” Liam said and put down the garbage bag he’d been filling. “Think we should help her out?”
Luke didn’t stop for a second to think about it. He continued to pick up paper plates with half eaten pieces of vanilla cake on them. “Carolyn’s tougher than she looks. She got this. It’s not the first time she’s stuck her nose in the middle of the Hansen’s business. Ever since she called the cops on him last month, he usually checks himself. He mighta learned his lesson if his wife hadn’t bailed him out right away. Don’t know why she did. She shoulda left him to rot. If I ever did that to my wife…ex-wife…she’da let me rot too. That’s for sure.”
A heavy silence hung in the room like a storm on the horizon. Christine couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be hurt by someone she thought loved her. No matter what she did, she couldn’t picture Liam ever raising a hand to her, even as an empty threat. He was a good, gentle man. If a bug got into the apartment, he was the one who cupped it in his hands and set it free out on the patio.
“Well, I’m going to head out while crazy is occupied,” Luke said as he looked down at the gold watch on his wrist. It was half past midnight.
“Yeah, we’re going to nod off now too.” Liam tied the last garbage bag closed and tossed it by the door.
Christine dragged her feet along the beige carpet. Little pieces of shiny confetti stuck in between her toes. She peeled them from her feet, but when she tried to throw them away they stuck to her fingers. No amount of flailing freed them. “Dammit Allison,” she mumbled as she shuffled off to the bedroom, still flicking her hands through the air. She sighed and tossed herself back onto the bed.
Liam stopped in the doorway and smiled at her. He’d never been so happy in his life.
III.
Liam’s phone beeped relentlessly early Sunday morning. At first he thought it was part of his dream, then a truck backing up in the parking lot outside their bedroom window, and finally the sound of an unread text message on his phone on the bedside table. He groaned and rolled over. It was a struggle to open his eyes as he rubbed the back of his hands over them. Everything was a blur.
He patted the table in search of his red-rimmed glasses and put them on. He blinked a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes and the remnants of his dreams. There was a red light blinking on his phone. When he pushed the button on the side the time flashed. It was six-eighteen in the morning. He threw his head back and sighed. Despite his desires to drop the phone and go back to sleep, he read the message.
Dr. Hyde
Please come in to work today, as soon as you can. I have something important to tell you. There’s still work to be done.
IV.
Liam arrived at Valparaiso University at eight in the morning on the dot, like every work morning, though it was his day off. His legs moved swiftly as he rushed to Dr. Hyde’s office, as if he were gliding instead of walking.
Dr. Ronald Conrad joined his side from an adjoining hallway and tried to keep pace with him. “What’s this all about?” he asked with perfectly rounded eyes.
“I don’t know,” Liam said through labored breath as panic rose in his stomach. There couldn’t be something wrong with the vaccine. It’d worked. They did the trial. He saw it work.
Liam burst into his boss’s darkened office. He stopped with his hand still on the doorknob. Ronald ran into his back, his hands up to brace the impact. The only source of light was a small lamp that gave off a dim orange glow. Behind the desk Dr. Hyde sat hunched, a soft rattle emanated every time he took a breath, the movement of his shoulders almost undetectable.
“Dr. Hyde,” Liam said as his chest clenched at the sight of his boss. “Dr. Hyde, are you OK?” He rushed around the desk and bent down at his side.
Ronald stayed where he was with his hands on his hips as he tapped his foot. He did a small circle while he rubbed his hand over his blonde hair to slick it back.
“The vaccine,” Dr. Hyde huffed out through slightly parted, cracked lips. They were blue around the edges.
Liam bent in closer, his ear next to the doctor’s mouth.
“No…good…” Dr. Hyde gave a hacking cough and struggled to raise his arm to place his hand over his mouth.
Liam looked at the desk and saw drops of blood splattered over the large, paper calendar. He took a deep breath.
“Call nine-one-one. Hurry!” Liam said to Ronald as he reached out to Dr. Hyde. “Just relax. Help is on the way,” he said louder than he needed to. His heart beat at twice its normal speed.
Dr. Hyde’s breath slowed. It hissed from his chest with every exhale. “The trials…they’re all…going…” he gasped. His pale blue eyes were distant.
Liam stood up straight and covered his mouth with one hand. His lips trembled. He turned to look at Ronald, who had taken a few steps out of the office to call the police, his back turned to them.
Dr. Hyde’s body shook violently as he coughed again. The sound echoed through the office and down the hall. He threw himself forward, face down, onto the desk as he struggled to breath between fits of coughing. More blood flew from his lips to speckle the surface of the desk with red droplets.
“Oh, God, Dr. Hyde!” Liam said as he turned to him again and bent over him. He lightly touched the man’s back to feel his chest wrack with force. “Dr. Hyde! Ronald, help!”
Ronald rushed in, but froze in the doorway. Dr. Hyde strained to take in air as blood oozed from the sides of his ivory lips. A puddle formed slowly under his face and crept outward. Then, all at once, the office fell silent.
Dr. Hyde lay still. He no longer gulped for air like a fish out of water. Blood reached the end of the desk and dripped over the side as Liam still stood bent over him, frozen. He shook his head slowly, his eyes wet.
“My God,” Ronald whispered. “Is he…?”
Liam didn’t hear him. He couldn’t hear anything. All his focus was on the now dead Dr. Hyde who lay across the desk, arms outstretched before him.
“Liam…Liam!” Ronald yelled, finally making his way across the office to put a hand to his friend’s shoulder. He shook Liam from his stupor.
“We have to help him!” Liam yelled as he reached out to an inert Dr. Hyde. “We have to save him!”
Ronald pulled at Liam’s shoulders as he struggled to grasp Dr. Hyde, sure that there was something he could do to bring him back. He swung his body to try and break free from Ronald’s grip
“He’s gone, man. He’s gone. There’s nothing we can do. Look! He’s gone.” Ronald said as he threw his arms from Liam and gestured to Dr. Hyde, who remained silent and unmoving.
Liam broke down. Death had played an important part in his life, but he’d never seen it up close before. He’d never seen the life of someone he knew extinguished before his eyes. His whole body shook as he tried to pull himself together. His knees wobbled as he stood up straight.
Ronald rested a hand on Liam’s shoulder to lead him away from the dead man slumped over the desk.
“Wait,” Liam said as he looked over his shoulder. “Do you hear that?”
Both men strained their ears, rooted where they stood, and leaned their bodies forward toward Dr. Hyde. A low rattle followed by a hissing wheeze grew in volume until there was no mistaking what it was.
“He’s alive!” Liam yelled and rushed back over to the doctor. “Dr. Hyde, can you hear me? Are you OK?”
The doctor’s fingers flexed and released. His nails scratched deeply into the wood of the desk. The rattling subsided and transformed into a low, rumbling growl from the depths of Dr. Hyde’s throat.
Liam backed away slowly, hands held out in front of him as if his boss were a possibly rabid dog. The man clearly needed help. He didn’t know why he was frightened. He should’ve given him CPR, but all he could think about was getting as far away from him as possible. He jumped when he felt the solidity of the door frame at his back.
“What the…” Ronald mumbled next to Liam, his head leaned forward as the rest of his bod
y pressed against the wall.
Dr. Hyde’s head moved from side to side in a jagged, broken motion, the growling built until it escaped his lips. Blood dripped from between his teeth as he lifted his head slowly. His eyes opened to reveal sickly yellowish-green irises veiled with a milky glaze, sunken in and surrounded by dark circles. As he stood up, his bones cracked like the popping of bubble wrap until he stood, slackened, with the desk in front of him. It was a small barrier between him and the two terrified doctors.
“No…fucking…way,” Ronald whispered as his hands reached behind him to feel for the opening of the door.
Neither men wanted to make a move. Liam didn’t know what they were looking at, but scrambling in a panic felt wrong, like painful and certain death. Liam wanted to say something to Dr. Hyde, sure that the man was lost and in some sort of pre-death shock, but nothing came out when he opened his mouth.
Dr. Hyde twisted his head slowly to the side like an animal assessing its prey. A moan escaped from between his red teeth. Liam gasped loudly and the doctor’s head snapped to focus on the source of the sound. He wretched his mouth open and forced out a high cry as his feet dragged on the floor to move him alongside the desk and then forward. He gave a guttural growl with his arms outstretched, his stiff fingers flexed to grip the first thing they came in contact with.
Liam turned and fell through the doorway at top speed. “Come on!” he called out to Ronald, who ran as fast as he could but still fell behind Liam at lengths.
There was no thought of trying any of the other office doors to take shelter behind. No one had been there to unlock them since it was Sunday. All Liam saw in his mind was the pathway laid before him to the parking lot. He wasn’t going to stop until he was in his car, his vision tunneled to the door at the end of the hallway that lead to the reception area.
He looked over his shoulder when he heard Ronald cry out. His friend was spread across the floor and was trying to crawl in a scramble away from Dr. Hyde, who closed in on him. Ronald attempted to stand up, but slipped on the tile and fell back down onto his chest. Liam stopped to face his friend. “Ronnie! Come on!”