This Dying World: The End Begins (8 page)

Chapter Ten

Chris leapt from the bed, picking up his daughter and gently laying her on the mattress.  His wife startled awake as he snapped the lights on and started frantically throwing on his clothes.  Anna’s confusion quickly abated as she saw the sickness on her daughter’s unconscious face.  He grabbed his truck keys from the night stand, stuffing them into his pocket.  He went to his closet and pulled out his Sig 9mm and Colt .380.

“Where are you going?” Anna asked.

“Taking Faith to the clinic,” he said, stuffing his weapon into his concealed holster.

“With a gun?”

“Gut feeling.  I just feel like being overly cautious today,” he said, scooping his daughter into his arms.

“Take this, don’t go anywhere today.  Don’t let anyone in until I get home,” he said, shoving the .380 into Anna’s hands.

“Chris, you’re scaring me,” she said.

“Let me know when you’re terrified.  Then we’ll be even,” he said, rushing out the door.  Anna followed on his heels, rattling off the small list of shots Faith had received in the previous three months.  Chris threw on his jacket after laying Faith on the sofa.  He grabbed an extra box of ammo from the hall closet as Anna wrapped Faith in a heavy blanket.

Once Faith was back in his arms, he walked with his wife to the front door.  She carried a small bundle of paperwork with her.  Stuffing the documents into the front pocket of her husband’s coat, she gently kissed Faith on her feverish cheek while stroking her sweat soaked hair.

Faith’s bloodshot eyes opened.  Her arms lifted out of the blanket slowly, reaching for her mother.  She gripped the loose collar of Anna’s nightgown, pulling her close and wrapping her arms around her mom’s neck.  Faith worked her jaws, opening and closing her mouth.  She pulled her mother tight to her face.

“I’ll get better soon.  Don’t worry mommy,” she whispered into Anna’s ear.  Tucking her arms back under the blanket, she closed her eyes and slipped back into a deep sleep.

“Lock the doors, don’t go anywhere, and don’t let anyone in,” Chris said as he bounded down the stairs toward his pick-up.

The tires of the old silver Dodge kicked up gravel as Chris sped down the long driveway towards the main county road.  He had chosen this house because of the seclusion.  It was out of the way, set far enough back that it could hardly be seen from the main road.  The land rolled across gently sloping hills, ending in a line of trees running the length the main road for as far as he could see.

Tires screeched as they left the gravel and dirt of the farm driveway and hit the solid asphalt of the county road.  He held his daughters shivering hand as he sped towards the urgent care center. He was determined to cut the twenty minute drive in half as his speedometer topped 100mph.  It had crossed his mind that he might be over reacting a little bit, but he wasn’t willing to risk anything with his daughter’s life.

The sun had just peaked over the horizon when he pulled into the clinic’s parking lot.  Other than a lone car occupying a space near a large delivery door on the side of the building, the area was deserted.  It was early, but Chris couldn’t remember a time where the clinic was so devoid of people.  No matter the hour he had driven by, there were always several cars in the lot.  It was very strange to see the place so empty.

He parked in the front of the building and tried to peer through the building’s shaded windows.  All the lights on the inside were off and the door was locked despite the door sign proclaiming “We’re Always Open”.

“Power outage?” he questioned.  He doubted the idea even as he spoke it.  The large generator in back would have kicked on as soon as power went out.  He knew the clinic owners, and they were responsible enough to keep plenty of fuel in the tanks to keep the building powered.  He thought he saw some movement inside as he peered through the glass doors into the darkness.

“I have a sick kid out here.  I need help.  If someone’s in there please, my daughter is very sick!” he pleaded.  No answer came from inside.  Whatever he had seen moving around had stopped.

It quickly became clear to him that he would not find the help he needed at this clinic.  The hospital was over an hour away, but he had no choice.  He climbed back into the truck in time to catch Faith retching.  Dry heaves came with such force her face had turned bright red.

“It’s okay baby girl, daddy’s gonna get help,” he said.  A feeling of helplessness crept into him as he looked into his daughters eyes.

He slammed the accelerator, sending tendrils of white smoke in the air.  In less than a heartbeat he was back on the road thundering towards the hospital.  His mind drifted to the images he poured over just a few hours prior, and he feared the absolute worst.  Since it was too early to worry about traffic, he accelerated well above speed limit.

Chris was halfway to the hospital before he realized he had forgotten his phone.  He would have to call home as soon as he got Faith checked in.  She was fast asleep again, laying her head on his lap.  Her body was pale, except for her cheeks that burned red with fever.  He rolled his window down a crack, hoping the frigid air would help keep her fever down.  Faith groaned and pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders.

Turning the radio on to try and distract his thoughts from playing out the worst scenarios possible, he went straight to the news.  He didn’t have to wait long for national and international news.  When the local population can be counted in the hundreds, local news didn’t take long.

It was filled with reports of sudden hospital overcrowding in the US and abroad.  There were even unverified reports that some hospitals overseas had gone into quarantine.  This information only served to add to Chris’ already overflowing paranoia.

Twenty minutes later Chris pulled into the ER parking lot.  The hospital was a modern facility recently built by Wisconsin’s rural health care system.  It was a small two story building.  The concrete walls were bright and clean, still with the luster of new construction.  Dark shaded windows spanned the length of the building on each floor.  A mirrored glass dome sat atop the roof, no doubt to allow natural light into the building.  The long pedestrian walkway to the ER stood covered with a metal framed awning, the top of which was adorned with the same reflective glass as the roof dome. The emergency bay held one ambulance.

Chris scanned the area, looking for anything out of the ordinary.  The parking lot was almost full, but there were no outward signs of panic.  People walked in and out of the building, with no real concern on their faces.  It appeared the growing fears across the globe had not yet reached the rural heartland.

He looked down at Faith, and found her awake and staring back at him.  “You ready to go inside and get better?” he asked with a big smile.

“Yes, please!”

“Let’s go!” he said more cheerily than he actually felt.

He slid out of his seat and went straight to the passenger door.  He popped the door open, and picked up the shivering Faith bundle before shutting the door with his foot.  He checked to be sure his weapon was concealed before heading to the emergency doors.

As he approached, a tall skinny man and two shorter women in blue scrubs emerged from behind the glass doors.  They each wore double layers of gloves, their faces covered with masks and clear plastic vomit shields.  Every inch of their skin was covered.  Even their shoes were covered with yellow protective cloth.

“Sir, please stop!” the tallest of the three said holding his hand up.

“My daughter is sick.  She’s running a high fever and she been throwing up all morning,” Chris said stepping forward.

“Sir, stop!” he ordered.

“What the hell is the matter with you?  What’s going on here?” Chris demanded.

“Has your daughter traveled out of the country in the last ninety days?” the older of the two women asked.

“No.  Not even out of town.  What’s this about?”

“Sir, are you sure?” Old Blue Scubs asked.

“Of course I’m sure!” Chris shouted.

“Sir, if you don’t calm down we’ll be forced to call security.  You can bring her in,” Old Scrubs said with as much compassion and warmth as a dead fish.

Chris carried his daughter past the welcoming committee and laid her on a cot in front of the nurse’s station.  Faith was immediately wheeled into triage where Young Scrubs began to examine her.  She buzzed around Faith’s bed, asking questions and taking notes, but never removing her protective barriers.

“Doctor Urban, can you come here please?” Young Scrubs said looking into Faith’s left ear.

Tall Scrubs, or Dr. Urban came into the room and walked straight to the left side of Faith’s head.  Taking the instrument into his hands he squinted as he looked deeply into her ear canal.

“Acute otitis media,” he mumbled.  “No rupture that I can see, but the fever is a bit high for it.  Let’s run her blood to be sure there’s nothing else going on.  In the mean time I’ll call pharmacy and get some antibiotics in her.”

“Yes doctor,” the nurse replied.

“Oral only unless absolutely necessary.  Understand?”  The doctor gave a stern look to Young Scrubs as she backed out of the room.

“
Yes
doctor,” she said with a hint of sarcasm.  The doctor didn’t see it, but Chris saw her shaking her head just before she was out of his view.

“Umm, doctor.  With all due respect, I am sitting right here.  Can you please tell me what’s happening?  Who is a cute Otis, and what does it have to do with my daughter?” Chris demanded.  He was trying to stay calm, but truthfully his patience was wearing paper thin.

“Acute Otitis Media,” Dr. Urban spoke as if Chris was a five year old trying to get hooked on phonics.  “It means she has an ear infection, and a bad one too.  Nurse Medina will be back in a few minutes with some medication to help clear it up.  Normally we would give her medicine through IV, but there’s a sudden shortage in supplies, and our stock was already low to begin with.  As long as your daughter can take fluids orally we need to save our equipment for the most critical cases.”

“Well then, what was with the warm welcome at the door?” Chris inquired.

“Oh, that.  There has been some concern about some bug overseas.  I’m sure you heard about it.   It seems to be all over the news this morning,” Urban said.

“Has anyone come in with anything like what they are talking about?” Chris asked.  He didn’t believe the doctor’s answer.  The interrogation at the front door seemed too direct for something the doctor had just heard on the news.

Dr. Urban shrugged his shoulders.  “Nothing that I’m concerned with.  It’s flu season and we have our hands full with that.  We honestly don’t even know if there’s anything to be worried about.  We’re just being overly cautious.  Besides, you needn’t worry about anything other than getting your daughter well.”

The doctor’s words hung in the air as he walked out of the room.  He was sure the doctor was hiding something, but Chris had the distinct impression that the doctor would not spill his secrets anytime soon.  Instead of wasting his time interrogating the stubborn doctor, he used the phone at the nurse’s station to call Anna.  He spent the next fifteen minutes explaining to his wife why she had not heard from them for over an hour, and apologizing for scaring her to death.

After updating her on Faith, he asked her to call his sister-in-law.  He knew Abby worked at a hospital, but wasn’t sure what she did.  His brother Dan told him what she did once, but he wasn’t paying attention.  He did know she was a manager and Chris thought she would have some insight if something strange was happening.

He hung up the phone and returned to Faith’s room, sitting in the cold plastic chair next to his daughter’s bed.  He found himself listening to the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor somewhere in the ER.  The beeps became hypnotic and soon his body reminded him of how little sleep he actually had.

He tried to shake the exhaustion when Nurse Medina came in.  She woke Faith long enough to swallow a couple pills and an orange fluid, informing Chris it was for dehydration.  She helped Faith change into a hospital gown while giving Chris instructions on her home care.  She spoke fast, whirling around the room like a brunette tornado.  She handed him a small vial of ear drops, and after a couple rehearsed words of encouragement she flew out of the room, closing the curtain behind her.

The room was suddenly quiet again.  He took Faith’s warm hand in his own and leaned his head on the mattress next to her.  The stillness of the room was only broken by the near hypnotic rhythm of her sleeping breaths, and the beeping that threatened to lull him to sleep earlier.

Faith was going to be okay, and for the first time that day he was able to let go of his fears.  Holding his daughter’s hand, he closed his eyes and slipped into a comfortable sleep.

**********

Chris shot up in his chair as a shrill scream echoed through the E.R.  Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he glanced at the clock.  Somehow he managed to doze until the early afternoon.  Faith’s forehead was cool to his touch.  To his relief, the fever had broken while they both slept.  He stood, back cracking as he stretched the stiffness from his joints.