WOW. TOTALLY OUT of left field. So not what she had been expecting him to say.
It took a few seconds for her scrambled brain to get itself in order. Then her professional mode switched into play. Donovan Reid wasn’t the only one around here with an encyclopaedic knowledge—she just hadn’t had much opportunity to show hers off.
She swung her legs off the bed and walked towards him. ‘What’s going on? The Marburg virus? Is that what we’ve got?’ Because from what she could remember, she certainly wouldn’t want to have it.
He shook his head. ‘No. It’s not what we’ve got. But someone else has it—down in Florida. First case in the US in years.’ He started pacing around; she could tell he was agitated. Desperate to get out of this glass box and start dealing with another infectious disease. Donovan Reid was permanently looking for the next disaster to deal with. And this would be the biggest disaster since the suspected smallpox outbreak. How on earth could an African disease be in the US?
She screwed up her face. The migraine was still there, but the dimmed blue lights were definitely helping—as was the fact she’d had something to eat. Along with the meds and the quick thirty-minute nap she might actually shake this off.
The blue glow was doing strange things to Donovan Reid’s skin. It was almost like being in a nightclub. She didn’t even want to think how pale it was currently making her look.
She reeled off the first thing that came into her head. ‘Marburg haemorrhagic fever. First discovered in Germany in the 1960s where workers were exposed to infected tissues from monkeys. Now it’s usually passed to humans by bats. Previous cases have mainly been in Africa, or in travellers who’d just visited. There’s no vaccine, no real cure, just treatment of symptoms.’
Donovan spun around to face her, his eyebrows lifting appreciatively. ‘Well, well, I’m impressed. All that with no computer in front of you.’
She folded her arms across her chest. This was it. This was her chance. A chance to make up for her earlier blunder and try and find a foothold into his team.
Everyone wanted to get a permanent place on one of the fieldwork teams. It was the cutting edge of disease detective work. The front line in dealing with patients and making the biggest difference to the prevention of infectious disease.
She’d made an agreement with girls earlier to fight dirty for a place on his team. It was time to show him just how encyclopaedic her brain was.
‘Actually, that’s the just the summary. Would you like me to tell you the rest of the details? The fact that the last known case was in Uganda? It’s got an incubation period of five to ten days. And it’s got between a twenty-three to ninety per cent fatality rate.’
Oh, yeah. She was batting big style now. Being trapped in here hadn’t been much fun. Getting naked in front of Donovan Reid had been nothing short of humiliating.
There had to be at least one bonus in this lousy day.
Her mouth was running away with her now. ‘Under the microscope it has a really distinctive shape—like a shepherd’s crook, which means it’s rarely mistaken for anything else.’
She saw the flicker of amusement in his blue eyes. ‘That’s okay, Grace, that’s more than enough.’
Just as well. The light in here was doing distracting things to his blue eyes. Enhancing the colour and making them look a movie-star bright shade of blue. She was fast losing all concentration.
David, one of the other doctors, was reading a whole host of information through the glass to Donovan about the lab tests. ‘Frank just got phoned about these. He’s confirming the results.’
It was standard procedure. Most labs weren’t equipped to do the specialist tests that the DPA carried out. Anomalies were noted, along with patient’s symptoms and if there was any query of infectious disease, the samples were forwarded to the DPA.
‘Do we know anything about the victim?’
Victim. Not patient. It only meant one thing.
‘They’re dead?’
David nodded. ‘They died an hour ago. But they’ve had a child admitted with similar symptoms, so we’ve got a rush on to try and get a diagnosis.’
It made sense. Once they had a diagnosis they could find the best possible treatment for the patient.
David was still reading from the paper in his hand. ‘Jessie Tanner, sixty-seven, from Florida. Admitted four days ago with diarrhoea, vomiting, maculopapular rash and jaundice.’
That name.
Grace’s skin prickled, every hair on her arms standing on end. There was no air movement in the isolation room but she could almost swear a cold breeze had just blasted her. No. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.
David was still talking, ‘Deteriorated rapidly. Didn’t respond to IV or oxygen support.’
‘Oh, no.’ Her hand covered her mouth. She was trying frantically to remember. When was the last time she’d spoken to her? Had she said anything different? ‘Oh, no. I’ve missed something. I didn’t take her seriously.’
Donovan frowned. ‘What on earth are you talking about. Grace? How on earth would you know someone in Florida?’ His face paled, ‘Is it family?’ There was an edge to his voice, a real concern.
Grace shook her head fiercely, her heart beating furiously in her chest. ‘You don’t get it, Donovan. It’s her. Jessie Tanner phones here every day.’
‘What for?’ He didn’t get it. It was clear he had no idea what she was talking about.
She took a deep breath, ‘Donovan, Jessie Tanner is crazy bat lady.’
* * *
‘What?’ All the heads outside the isolation room shot round at the rise in pitch in Donovan’s voice.
Grace jerked back as if she’d just been stung by a wasp.
He couldn’t believe his ears. This wasn’t happening. It just wasn’t. This was one of those crazy, muddled dreams you had, with totally random things happening all around.
Nothing about today seemed real.
Least of all being naked in a shower with Grace.
He put his hand on her shoulder, trying to make sense of what she’d just said. ‘How can you be sure?’ He had a bad feeling about this.
She took a deep breath. ‘Because I remember things. I remember details. That’s her name. That’s where she lives.’ Grace put her head in her hands and groaned. ‘She hasn’t phoned the last few days. I wondered what was wrong with her.’
Donovan looked at David. ‘Get the call log. Find out the last time she called and who spoke to her. Find out what her query was.’ David walked away swiftly.
Grace lifted her hands. ‘But it’s the same thing every day. It’s always questions about the bats. There are some in the caves near her, and in the forest next to her.’
She screwed up her face. ‘But how could African fruit bats get to a cave in Florida?’
David shook his head. ‘African fruit bats probably couldn’t, but Jamaican fruit bats could. I’ll get someone from environmental health or the fish and wildlife service.’
There was a movement to their side. Frank from the lab. This time he