"I'm sorry we had to haul you out of your bed to come here," she said softly.
"I was already in my office. I'm an early morning man."
"I like the morning."
"Best time of the day for me. No distractions, well not usually."
"Sorry about Colin, he's quite upset about this thing," she said.
"I think I got that message loud and clear but why?"
"We've never seen anything like this before. It must be pretty bad, eh?"
"There's nothing to worry about. This is good quality," he said pointing to the protective clothing.
He smiled at her but she didn't respond and that surprised him. She sat silent with her head bowed and he realised he didn't have the full picture.
"I'm feeling frustrated like I've missed something here."
He leaned forward to look at her face now pale and drawn.
"We touched the dog and Colin got fluids on his hand," she said and stared at the floor.
"SHIT!"
Gavin Shawlens wanted to point out their stupidity but too late for that to do any good. She nodded her confirmation and looked up to his eyes for support. He shook his head and they stared at the floor. He didn't know if Colin and Carol had been exposed to anything. He wasn't sure if he should be sitting so close to her.
He knew Streptococcus wasn't responsible and no official research laboratory would experiment on a mongrel dog with unknown genetic profile but that didn't rule out a rogue company. His mind swung back and forth trying to decide whether or not he should advise Carol to seek a course of antibiotics. Hospital treatment would draw attention from authorities and could cause a problem for the Lambeth Group if a research project had indeed backfired.
Hairs standing on the back of his neck pricked his skin as he looked at Carol's fearful face. Her left hand fidgeted with the seam of her trousers and she placed her trembling damp sweaty right hand on his left hand.
"Dr Shawlens please tell me what I should do about this. I don't want to die like that poor dog," she said as tears ran down her cheeks and she squeezed his hand.
Everything to Lose Page 31