Robin Cook - Fatal Cure

"The only trouble I had was when I got back. Wadley's being unreasonable. He even threatened to terminate me."

"No!" David said. He was aghast. "That would be a disaster."

"Don't worry," Angela said. "He's just blowing off steam. There's no way he could terminate me so soon after I complained about his sexual harassment. For that reason alone I'm glad I went to Cantor. The conversation officially established my complaint."

"That's not a lot of reassurance," David said. "I'd never even thought of the possibility of your being fired."

Later, when dinner was served, Nikki reported she wasn't hungry. Angela made her come to the table anyway, saying she could eat what she wanted. But during the dinner, Angela urged Nikki to eat more. David told Angela not to force her. Soon David and Angela exchanged words over the issue, causing Nikki to flee the table in tears.

David and Angela fumed, each blaming the other. For a while they didn't talk, preferring to turn on the TV and watch the news in silence. When it was time for Nikki to go to bed, Angela told David that she would see to Nikki's respiratory therapy while he cleaned up the kitchen.

David hardly had time to carry the soiled dishes into the kitchen when Angela returned.

"Nikki asked me a question I didn't know how to answer," Angela said. "She asked me if Caroline was coming home soon."

"What did you say?" David asked.

"I said I didn't know," Angela admitted. "With Nikki feeling as poorly as she is, I hate to tell her."

"Don't look at me," David said. "I don't want to tell her either. Let's wait until this bout of congestion is over."

"All right," Angela said. "I'll see what I can do." She left the kitchen and returned upstairs.

Around nine David called the hospital. He spoke at length with the head nurse who kept insisting that Sandra's condition had not changed, at least not dramatically. She did admit, however, that she'd not eaten her dinner.

After David had hung up the phone, Angela appeared from the kitchen.

"Would you like to look at the papers we got from Burlington today?" she asked.

"I'm not interested," David said.

"Thanks," Angela said. "You know this is important to me."

"I'm too preoccupied to worry about that stuff," David said.

"I have the time and energy to listen to your problems," Angela said. "You could at least extend the same courtesy to me."

"I hardly think the two issues are comparable," David said.

"How can you say that? You know how upset I am about this whole Hodges thing."

"I don't want to encourage you," David said. "I think I've been very clear about that."

"Oh, you're clear all right. What's important to you is important; what's important to me isn't."

"With everything else that's going on, I find it amazing that you are still fixated on Hodges. I think you have your priorities mixed up. While you're chasing off to Burlington, I'm here bringing antibiotics to our daughter while her friend is dying in the hospital."

"I can't believe you're saying this," Angela sputtered.

"And on top of it, you make light of Wadley threatening to fire you," David said. "All because it was so important to go to Burlington. I can tell you this: if you get fired it will be an unmitigated economic disaster. And that doesn't even account for the jeopardy you're putting us all in by pursuing this investigation."

"You think you are so rational," Angela yelled. "Well, you're fooling yourself. You think that problems are solved by denying them. I think you have your priorities mixed up by not supporting me when I need it most. And as for Nikki, maybe she wouldn't be sick if you hadn't allowed her to visit Caroline before we knew what the poor girl had."

"That's not fair," David yelled back. Then he restrained himself. He did think of himself as rational, and he prided himself on not losing his temper.

The problem was, the more controlled David became, the more emotional Angela got, and the more emotional Angela became, the more controlled David got. By eleven o'clock they were both exhausted and overwrought. By mutual agreement David slept in the guest room.

At first David had no idea where he was when he opened his eyes in the dark. Fumbling with the unfamiliar bedside lamp, he finally managed to turn it on. He looked around in a daze at the unfamiliar furniture. It took him almost a minute to realize he was in the guest room. As soon as he did, the previous night's unpleasantness came back in a flash.

David picked up his wristwatch. It was quarter to five in the morning. He lay back on the pillow and shuddered through a wave of nausea. On the heels of the nausea came cramps followed by a bout of diarrhea.

Feeling horrid, David limped from the guest bath to the master bath in search of some over-the-counter diarrhea medication. When he finally found a bottle, he took a healthy dose. Then he searched for a thermometer and stuck it in his mouth.

While waiting for an accurate reading to register, David searched for aspirin. As he was doing so, he realized that he had to keep swallowing, just as some of his now dead patients had.

David stared at his reflection in the mirror as a new fear made itself known to him. What if he had caught the mysterious illness that had been killing his patients? My God, he thought, they had the same symptoms I'm manifesting now. With trembling fingers he took out the thermometer. It read one hundred degrees. He stuck out his tongue and examined it in the mirror. It was as pale as his face.

"Calm down!" he ordered himself harshly. He took two aspirins and washed them down with a glass of water. Almost immediately he got another cramp and had to hold onto the countertop until it had passed.

In a deliberately calm manner, he considered his symptoms. They were flu-like, similar to those of the five nurses he'd seen. There was no reason to jump to hysterical conclusions.

Having taken the diarrhea medication and the aspirin, David decided to take the same advice he'd given those nurses: he went back to bed. By the time the alarm in the master bedroom sounded, he was already feeling better.

He and Angela first eyed each other warily. Then they fell into each other's arms. They hugged each other for a full minute before David spoke.

"Truce?" he asked.

Angela nodded her agreement. "We're both stressed out."

"On top of that, I think I'm coming down with something," David said. He told her about the flu symptoms which had awakened him. "The only thing that's still bothering me is excessive salivation," he added.

"What do you mean by excessive salivation?" Angela asked.

"I have to keep swallowing," David said. "It's something like the feeling you get before vomiting, but not as bad. Anyway, it's better than it was."

"Have you seen Nikki?" Angela asked.

"Not yet," David said.

After they had washed they went down to Nikki's room. Rusty greeted them eagerly. Nikki was less enthusiastic. She was a little more congested despite the oral antibiotics and the added effort at respiratory therapy.

While Angela made breakfast, David called Dr. Pilsner and told him about Nikki's status:

"I think I should see her right away," Dr. Pilsner said. "Why don't I meet you in the emergency room in half an hour?"

"We'll be there," David said. "And thank you. I appreciate your concern." He was about to hang up when he thought to inquire about Caroline.

"She died," Dr. Pilsner said. "The end came around three this morning. Her blood pressure could no longer be maintained. At least she didn't suffer, though that's not much consolation."

The news, though expected, hit David hard. With a heavy heart, he went into the kitchen and told Angela the news.