Chapter 14
AVA
Ava slid her eyes sideways, her pulse quickening as she tried to assess Alex’s condition. She couldn’t stop, her gaze constantly searching for any small change in his color, breathing—anything that might signal he needed more urgent care.
She’d already called Kyle twice to get updates on the situation at the hospital, and to touch base, desperate to reassure herself that Alex could somehow escape what was happening to the others in that tiny town hospital.
She glanced down at her phone again, frowning. She wanted to reach out to someone else for the zillionth time, to get some sort of reassurance that things would work out, but she couldn’t keep interrupting Kyle’s work.
She blew out a shaky breath, twisting to count the rise and fall of Alex’s chest, each and every breath a comfort and a worry. While it gave her a tangible sign of life, would the next inhale be his last?
She pressed a hand against his warm skin, trying to assess his fever as he slept.
Ava’s breath caught in her throat as she watched Alex’s chest go still.
For a terrifying moment, the room closed in around her, the world narrowing to the space between his breaths.
Seconds stretched like hours. Breathe, Alex, she willed him silently, her own lungs burning with a held breath.
And then, finally, his chest rose again, a gasp of air that felt like a lifeline pulling her back from the brink of hysteria.
She let out the breath she’d been holding when his chest rose again, this time taking in a bigger breath.
“Alex,” she whispered, her voice holding back a sob. The fever reducers she’d given him did little to lower his temperature, suggesting that when they wore off, it would soar higher than it already had this morning.
Kyle had suggested giving him another round of ibuprofen in four hours followed by the acetaminophen in six to stagger the doses and always keep something in his system to fight the fever.
Unfortunately, it was a meager balm as he couldn’t offer any clear signs of hope other than symptom reduction. More people were pouring into the tiny hospital, but beds were becoming available as previous patients–those infected earlier–died.
Tears stung her eyes as she recalled the sight of the stacked body bags Sebastian had sent a photo of earlier. She was determined to make certain that Alex did not end up in one of those.
With a lick of her lips, she rubbed his chest, shimmying him gently. “Babe? Time to wake up.”
She hated to pull him from what seemed to be a restful sleep, but Kyle had told her to keep him moving every few hours to avoid liquid pooling in his lungs. He had already been asleep most of the morning, and it was time for another round of meds.
“Alex, wake up, babe,” she said, fear coursing through her veins as he failed to respond immediately.
A second later, he sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes fluttering open. “Huh? What?”
“Hey, sleepyhead” she said, forcing a smile. “Time to get up. You need some food, some meds, and a little walk.”
“Ugh,” he moaned as he covered his face with his hands, “okay.”
“I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t want to wake you, but Kyle was very insistent that we not let this fever get out of control.”
“Yep,” Alex murmured as he pulled his hands away, staring up at the ceiling. “Woo, I feel awful.”
Her heart broke as she patted his clammy skin, noticed the dullness in his eyes and his lethargy. A shiver shook her as she tossed back the covers. He was so warm next to her, it was like a heater.
She grabbed the airline blanket she’d bought on her second trip to the pharmacy for more provisions and held it out as he slowly climbed from the bed.
With it wrapped around his shoulders, she slid an arm around his waist to steady him as they paced back and forth at the foot of the bed.
“Wow, this flu is terrible,” he murmured.
“I’m so sorry, babe,” she said with a weak smile. “Doc’s doing everything he can to find a solution, but so far, nothing.”
“Doc will figure it out. I know it,” he murmured, his speech a little slurred.
“You okay?” she asked as he stumbled sideways, knocking into her when they turned to amble in the opposite direction.
“Y-yeah,” he mumbled. “Just…tired. I want to crawl back into that bed and go straight to sleep.”
“In a few minutes,” she said. “Just a few more passes here, and then some food and meds.”
“Ugh, food. You know what’s awful…I don’t think I even want cheeseballs. Avs, this is serious. Not even the cheeseballs can appeal to me.”
“Maybe you’re actually healthier when you’re sick,” she said with a grin that faded the moment she caught a glimpse of his grey skin.
“Hahaha,” he forced out as he collapsed on the edge of the bed, swaying a little.
“Don’t lay down,” she instructed as she shook two pills from a bottle and offered them to him along with a bottle of water.
His skin–hot to the touch–brushed hers, sending another shiver down her spine. “Down the hatch, then eat some crackers.”
“Did you get any spray cheese?” he questioned after downing the pills and swinging his legs back onto the bed.
“Seriously?” she asked. “I thought you had no appetite?”
He punched at the pillows to fluff them before he pulled the covers higher. “I don’t. But those crackers are so dry and nasty.” He stuck his tongue out with a grimace.
“Well, good thing I know you pretty well,” she answered as she pulled a can of spray cheese from the bag.
“Sparky, you are truly the best wife a man could ask for.”
She delivered the can and crackers to him, allowing him to serve himself. He ate four crackers before he led his head fall back against the pillows.
“No good?” she asked.
He offered her a thumbs down. “Can I go back to sleep?”
“Yes,” she said with a nod, her insides knotting a little. Rest was key to recovery, but she hated how much of it he needed right now. She wanted him to show signs of relief not a downward spiral.
He slouched down in the bed, closing his eyes and falling asleep almost immediately.
She climbed onto the bed beside him, resting her head lightly against his chest, feeling the warmth of his feverish skin through his shirt.
Each breath he took seemed to echo in her ears, a rhythm she counted obsessively, afraid that if she stopped, his breathing would too.
She wrapped her fingers around his hand, squeezing gently.
“I’m here, Ace,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Her phone jangled, and she nearly dropped it as she swiped to answer. “Doc, tell me something good.”
“Nothing super great on this end, but a few things that may be sort of promising. First, how’s Alex?”
She heaved a sigh. “Not good. I just had him up for a walk, meds, food. He barely made it back and forth once, ate four crackers with spray cheese, then went right back to sleep.”
“Well, sleep is a good thing for him right now. How’s the fever?”
“Hovering between one hundred and one-oh-one,” she reported. “Which means if we let the meds wear off, it’s going to go higher.”
“That’s why we don’t want to let the meds wear off,” Kyle answered.
“Right,” she said with a nod, silently calculating when the next doses needed to occur.
“How about his breathing? Any signs of distress?”
“No, he’s breathing okay. He wasn’t puffing for breath or anything when we were walking.”
“Good, those are all good signs, Ava.”
She nodded, her fingers twisting around the comforter as she tried to take solace in the words despite her worry.
“Now, we may need to transfer him to the hospital—"
“Hospital?” Her voice went an octave higher as panic set in. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Easy, Ava, it’s only so that he can be monitored.”
“I’m monitoring him, Doc. I take his temperature every hour, sometimes twice an hour. I’m watching his breathing—"
“Ava, Ava, Ava,” Kyle said, his voice soft and soothing, “no one is saying you’re doing a bad job. But there’s news.”
Her heart skipped a beat, hope blooming. “You found something that works?”
“No,” he answered. “Nothing is touching this, but something feels off to me about this whole thing.”
She furrowed her brows. “I’ve been having the same feeling.”
“Yeah, this is…pretty dangerous. The spread, the death rate…all of this has a level of unpredictability to it, right? I mean, if even one person slips out of the noose here, we could have a world-wide pandemic.”
“I think that’s the point,” she answered.
“But is The Board willing to lose some of its own?”
She sat straighter, her head bobbing. “That’s exactly what I have been thinking. Unless they have some sort of bunker where they will all stay until this all blows over.”
“No…what if someone comes into the bunker infected? It’s a recipe for disaster,” Kyle answered. “There has to be something else.”
“Like what?”
“Like a cure or a vaccine–something to stop them from either getting it or dying from it.”
Her mind worked through the scenarios. “A failsafe.”
“Exactly. I’ve got Shadow checking into that, and I think he’s getting close to a lead. Thing is, it’s looking like we may have to travel. Somebody needs to stay here and hold down the proverbial fort. I should go because I’m a doctor, I can assess this on site.”
“That makes perfect sense.”
“Then, it’s you or Shadow who has to come with me.”
Her mind spun through the options. She hated to leave Alex, but she also couldn’t sit here and do nothing. “I can go with you if that’s what it takes. We need to find a solution to this, Doc. We can’t let anything happen to Alex.”
“Good. I was hoping you were on board with this plan. As soon as he gets a location, we need to move…like yesterday.”
She climbed from the bed, already readying for the moment they could spring into action. “Right. Okay. So, should I bring Alex in now? Oh, you know what, he’s never going to make that walk.”
“I’m sending an ambulance to you. Bring him in, I’ll make sure he’s monitored while we head to the airport. Shadow already has the jet being fueled. The moment we know where a potential cure is, we’re wheels up.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll see you soon.”
She ended the call, breathing out a deep exhale. Could they actually be on to something that would save Alex’s and the other people’s lives? She wanted to believe it with all her heart but worry still choked her insides.
The wail of a siren interrupted her thoughts. She glanced out the window, catching sight of red lights spinning as the vehicle pulled into the parking lot.
With her hoodie zipped a little tighter, she crossed to Alex and shook him. “Wake up, babe. You’re going to the hospital.”
“Hospital?” he asked, his eyes bleary.
“Yeah. Doc may have found something, and we need to track it down. You need to be monitored, so you’re going to the hospital while I go with Doc to find a cure.”
“Ugh, okay,” he murmured. “But I don’t like this plan.”
“I hate this, Alex. I hate leaving you when you need me, but I have to. I have to find the cure... for you, for all of us. We’ll beat this, I promise. I just—I can’t stay here, not when there’s a chance to save you. Even if it means we’re apart for a little while.”
She opened the door for the paramedics, and within minutes, they’d inserted an IV into Alex’s arm and strapped him to the gurney.
Ava climbed into the back of the ambulance and sat next to him, squeezing his hand. They made the short trip to the hospital, met by Sebastian and Kyle. As the medical team situated Alex, Sebastian filled her in on the details.
“I managed to track work on this virus to a lab in South America. It’s a remote place in the middle of the jungle, but I’ve already made arrangements for someone to meet you at the airport and drive you to the facility. He should have a set of credentials for you both to gain access.”
Ava bobbed her head, her eyes stuck on the monitors that no constantly declared Alex’s proof of life.
“Ava?” Sebastian questioned until she glanced at him. “You need to stay focused.”
“I am,” she answered. “There’s nothing that I am more focused on than saving Alex’s life.”
Her eyes slid back to her husband, weak and feverish in the hospital bed. She couldn’t let him die. She had to take any and every chance to save him. She had to find this cure.