Chapter 12
ELIZABETH
A s Elizabeth shut the door behind her on a sleeping Ava, tears filled her vision.
A penetrating fear created a hole in her chest that she would never see Ava awake again.
She shoved the thoughts from her mind. She didn’t have time to break down, she would save Ava, no matter what it took.
She checked her phone, the medication should be arriving by courier any second now, then they would have to test it in the lab before taking the chance of pulling Ava off the antiviral that was just barely keeping the virus at bay.
She looked up at the double doors as a courie r walked through carrying a small cooler.
Elizabeth rushed to him, quickly signing the documentation without even opening the cooler.
She rushed past Dr. Mars on the way to the elevator, just giving her a curt nod as she took the stairs two at a time.
There was not even enough time to wait for the elevator.
She climbed to the third floor, her breath only starting to become labored, and rushed into the lab.
She set the cooler down on the table and Lindsey immediately began pulling samples from the cases.
Lindsey worked methodically, and for the first time in Elizabeth’s life, this annoyed her.
She should be commending Lindsey on her commitment, and her attention to detail, but she needed answers, and she needed them now.
Ava had already coded once, and Elizabeth had been a doctor long enough to know that any more than that risks damaging her heart, even if she survived another code, it would potentially severely limit her.
Elizabeth’s mind drifted back as Lindsey pulled the samples and worked her magic.
Elizabeth had never felt as helpless as when Ava was ac tively dying in front of her.
She knew from experience that the best place for her in those situations was out of the way, but she still felt utterly helpless.
Ava was slipping from her grasp and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
“I think we have something,” Lindsey said as she stared through the microscope. “It’s working on the active virus and doesn’t seem to be causing it to go dormant.”
Elizabeth’s heart leapt in her chest, but she struggled to get her hopes up too much.
“What about the dormant ones?” she asked.
That had been the problem with most of the antivirals, once it went dormant, the medicine wouldn’t work anymore, and they would just lay in wait until the coast was clear, so to speak.
“There aren’t any dormant cells in this sample, I’ll try another one,” Lindsey said and put the slide to the side.
Another round of excruciating patience as Lindsey gathered another sample and prepared the slide. Elizabeth felt each second ticking by quickly, too quickly. They needed this drug .
Her cell phone pinged—another code. Her pulse started hammering, but she noticed the room number.
Relief washed over her, quickly followed by guilt as she realized that it wasn’t Ava’s room.
It was Heather’s. Elizabeth prayed that the young woman would survive the code, they were so close.
There was nothing Elizabeth could do for her at this moment, though.
She needed to be ready for when, if, this new drug worked.
Lindsey started to shake her head and Elizabeth’s heart plummeted. “It doesn’t recognize them when they’re dormant,” Lindsey said, fighting to keep her voice even.
Elizabeth nodded slowly. So it wasn’t perfect, but it still worked against the live virus. Which meant that they would have to remove the other antivirals that kept it at bay before the medication would work.
“What if we were to wean the patients off the other antiviral while giving this medication?” Elizabeth asked. “That way, the virus wouldn’t have the chance for the explosive replication.”
“It’s worth a shot,” Lindsey said. “We will have to see what it works well with. The antibo dies this produces doesn’t attack the virus directly, which is why, I think, it doesn’t go dormant.
Instead, they take it out during the replication process, once the cell replicates, it dies, so maybe something like Interferon?
” She lifted her eyebrows at Elizabeth as though looking for approval.
Elizabeth nodded and Lindsey’s face lit up, but it was quickly subdued when the door to the lab swung open and Dr. Mars strode through, her face nothing short of furious.
“Tell me we have something,” she barked. Lindsey visibly flinched, but Elizabeth lifted her chin.
“We do,” she said.
“Then why aren’t we treating patients?” Doctor Mars asked, her lips pressed into a thin line.
“We’re getting ready to,” Elizabeth answered, “we just have to find the right combination, otherwise this will be a null treatment.”
Doctor Mars waved her hand indicating that Elizabeth needed to explain, so she did.
She told her what they had learned about the new medication, and how they planned on imp lementing it, but just withdrawing treatment and switching drugs proved a big risk, one that Elizabeth was not willing to take with Ava’s life.
“Heather survived the code, but barely, her mother is a complete mess, and her sister has been induced into a coma. I don’t think I need to remind you of Ava’s situation.
These patients are circling the drain, Doctor Grant.
I don’t want to lose another one,” Doctor Mars said as Elizabeth finished her explanation.
“I’m aware,” Elizabeth practically growled.
She fought against the implication that this was somehow not important to her.
She was working through every possible angle.
She knew that she would never be able to live with the guilt if she lost Ava because she took too long to figure out a cure.
She met Dr. Mars’ stare with a cool one of her own.
Elizabeth didn’t blame the woman. Everything is life or death, and that always brings out the best, and worst, of everyone involved.
Elizabeth couldn’t imagine what Heather and Lacey’s mother was going through right now, but she did understand Dr. Mars’ need for urgency .
“I have it!” Lindsey shouted from behind them. Ending their staring contest. Both doctors looked over at her. “Interferon seems to work. It blocks the virus from attacking the other cells while the new drug takes out the replication, all we need is dosage.”
“Go,” Doctor Mars barked and stormed out of the room.
Elizabeth prayed that it wasn’t too late.
Rushing to the computer she ordered all of the patients to be removed from whatever treatment they were on and to begin Interferon, she would give the drug long enough to work through their system then begin the new drug.
She had no idea how much to give to each person, so she hoped that the doctors involved in the original trial kept good notes.
She ordered the maximum dosage according to their research and headed down the stairs to start administering them.
Elizabeth went from room to room, checking to make sure that the plan of action was being implemented.
She soon realized that the sample she had been sent from the trial was not going to be sufficient.
She had enough for each patient to have a dose, except for one.
She called the trial doctor s back and had some more on the way, but for now she was being forced to make a decision that she didn’t want to make.
She could lighten each dose and spread them evenly among the patients, but that was risky for everyone.
She needed to see which patient was the most stable and they would have to wait for a few extra hours.
She went room to room again checking vital signs, they had all been put into induced comas, the virus was beginning to get around the treatments they had been trying so far.
There was one patient who was arguably more stable than the rest, but Elizabeth’s heart sank when she read the name.
It was Lacey. She was only seventeen, if these few hours meant the difference between life and death…
Elizabeth couldn’t even consider it. Ava would never forgive her.
She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she did.
Her lungs felt as though they were collapsing.
She knew what the right decision would be, or at least the one that Ava would be able to live with, but she couldn’t bring herself to make it.
Elizabeth marched down to Dr. Mars’ office while she waited for the Interferon to take effect.
“What is it Doctor Grant?” she snapped as she covered the receiver to the phone that was held up to her ear. Doctor Mars had never interrupted a phone call to acknowledge her before, either she was on the phone with someone who needed to know or she was just as desperate as Elizabeth.
“I only have enough of the drug to start treatment on seven of the patients,” Elizabeth said and shook her head.
“But more is on the way?” Doctor Mars asked, though she knew the answer.
“Yes,” Elizabeth nodded, her chest tightened. She was certain Dr. Mars knew where she was going with this, but she didn’t want to say it. She wanted Dr. Mars to force the decision.
“So you take the person who is the most stable off the table for now,” Doctor Mars said, her eyes narrowing. This was the most basic practice in medicine, not something she should be explaining to an accomplished doctor like Elizabeth.
“If I do that, then the person left off the list w ould be Lacey,” Elizabeth said, finally releasing her breath.
“Ah, I understand,” Doctor Mars said and tapped a finger to her lips. “Ava would never be able to live with that.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” Elizabeth said.
“I can’t make this decision. You have been with the patients almost from the beginning, you are more connected to each individual case,” Doctor Mars said to her, but her expression was soft, understanding. “You know what the right answer is, Doctor Grant.”