CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“I think we need to try something radical,” said Kennedy staring at the others around the conference table.
“Radical? Like how radical are we talking?” asked Ajei.
“The pond.”
“We can’t,” said Jane shaking her head. “We just can’t. If that kind of information got out, we’d have a real problem on our hands.”
“I’m not talking about people swimming in the pond. I’m talking about a small taste of the water. That’s it. We give them ibuprofen with a small cup of water from the pond. It might at least prevent them from dying,” she said hopefully.
They all looked at one another, then back at Claudette and Gabriel who were standing in the doorway.
“Well? What do you think?” asked Riley. “Will it work?”
“It might,” said Gabriel, sighing next to his sister. “But we can’t be sure. If it does work, what will you tell everyone?”
“I have no clue,” said Kennedy. “I was going to say something dramatic like ‘it worked its course’ or ‘it’s a miracle’ but that all seems like bullshit I don’t want to spread.”
The others chuckled realizing that she was joking but not. They would have to make it simple and without any fanfare around a drug given to them or any special care.
“How many do we have in the hospital?” asked Claudette.
“Forty-six,” said Hezekiah. “I just saw the worst of them before I came here to check on them for you.”
“Forty-six,” muttered Claudette.
She paced around the room and then looked at the medical professionals. They would be the ones that had the medical answers but when it came to the pond, none of them really had an answer as to why it worked, or how it worked.
“I think it’s worth a try, sis,” said Gabriel.
She looked at her younger brother, although now he was an old man, just like she was an old woman. They didn’t look it but that was the reality.
“Alright. It’s worth a try to save forty-six souls. Just a small amount, right?” she asked Kennedy.
“An ounce each. That’s it.”
“Okay.”
Cruz and Doc took sterilized glass pitchers to the pond and filled them with the water. They carefully brought it back to the clinic and small cups were filled with tiny amounts of the liquid.
Each patient was given two ibuprofen and told that it was simply to help reduce their fever, aches, and pains.
Then, they waited and watched each patient. By midnight, the fevers were under control. By 0400, no one was vomiting, no one was experiencing abdominal pain or diarrhea. By 0700, they were sitting up in their beds and asking for food.
“Was it successful?” asked JT watching his wife sign a stack of charts. She looked up, smiling at him.
“These are discharge papers for all forty-six patients. All of them, JT. It worked,” she said standing to hug him.
He lifted her, kissing his beautiful wife who once fought for her own life due to cancer. Now, she was leading the medical teams and treating the mysterious disease everyone feared.
“I knew you’d do it, babe,” he said kissing her again.
“We’re so fortunate. We won’t be able to tell anyone how it happened but we did it,” she said confidently.
“What happens when new patients come in? Do we keep giving them the water?” he asked.
“I hadn’t really thought about that, but yes, I suppose we do.” JT frowned, nodding his head.
“Babe, is that wise? You still don’t know who patient zero is which means we still don’t know where this is coming from. It could continue to be an issue until we discover that.”
“I know, JT but I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“Honey, I know that,” he said pulling her onto his lap as he took a seat in the big desk chair. “I know that you had to do something. But this might have opened some doors that you can’t close.”
She stared at him, then looked out the window, scanning the property. The cottages in the distance were all billowing the smoke of wood burning in the fireplaces. The winds were howling, as if they knew something was coming but she did not.
“I don’t know what I’m doing, JT. Maybe I’m not ready for this role. I mean, we’re trying. Me, Jane, our new docs and nurses, we’re all trying but what if we can’t maintain the level of care that Riley and Gabi and the others did?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Cruz standing in the doorway. “Sorry. I was going to let you know the beds are all empty, the patients are gone and we’ve sanitized the rooms. For now, we have a break and you should get some sleep.
“But. Don’t be ridiculous. You’re ready for this. All of you are ready for this and you’re doing an amazing job. You did what you had to do, Kennedy. So far, it’s worked. If we get a rebound of patients, we’ll figure it out.”
She stood from JT’s lap and kissed Cruz on the cheek.
“Thank you, Cruz. I needed to hear that,” she smiled.
“Any time, honey. Now get that big idiot to take you to dinner and then take a hot bath and get some rest. I have a feeling that this isn’t over with yet.”