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A Way Back from Disaster: Saving the World | bold-fencer | 8

 

Evelyn Saunders was 5'6" with wavy black hair, grey eyes and a serious demeanor. Oliver had met her some years ago when he needed a bunch of med students to volunteer for some experiments; he'd tried a number of doctors, but in the end Dr. Saunders had had the connection to the local medical school that was instrumental in getting such volunteers. She was about Oliver's age and they had a great mutual professional regard for each other, each recognizing in the other a gifted specialist in their given field.

Callie called when Dr. Saunders arrived, then let her in a few moments later. "Dr. Simpson." she greeted him with a nod, speaking loudly to make herself heard through the clear walls of the isolation chamber. He grinned to see her outside of the hospital; his mental image of her was always wearing scrubs or a lab coat. Today she was in a nondescript business suit, grey jacket, pants and low pumps, looking pretty much like a million other business women. "Thank you for making room in your schedule to come see us, Evelyn" Oliver began, raising his voice likewise. "No, no - don't come into the chamber! There's a possibility that we've been infected with one of our compounds." She impressed him even more by simply stopping, rather than recoiling in horror or fear.

"So what do you want me to do?" she asked quizzically.

"Well, I mostly want your professional opinion, in two aspects. Sort of bounce some ideas off you, see what you think of my reasoning."

She nodded briskly. "Since you're not looking particularly distressed, I take it that you're not in mortal danger?"

"Well, I don't think so, not anymore. There was a rough patch where I thought we might be." he sighed. "But I just don't think there's conclusive evidence of that."

Evelyn found a chair, pulled it close the edge of the isolation chamber, and sat down. "What is your evidence?"

"The dish was dropped and released some amount of the compound into the air; we've both been exposed." Oliver hesitated and then decided not to mention that she was now exposed to it, too. He didn't want any chance of emotions clouding her judgment. If it was safe, there was no need to tell her. If it wasn't, chances are she'd have the viruses within a day or two at the most, given the rate at which they multiplied in tissue. Thinking of that, he mentioned it: "I took a skin sample and added a bit of the culture from the dish. The viruses inside grew amazingly fast, replicating across a millimeter in less than a minute!"

"That's incredible." Dr. Saunders whistled meditatively through her teeth. "So...why aren't you worried?"

"Well, the mutagen is having no effect on the sample's DNA. It's just the viral carriers that are reproducing that might cause problems."

"Really? Is there some way I can...?"

"Yes, yes, sure." Oliver turned the terminal's monitor around to face Evelyn. As he brought up the different data tables, she stood up and leaned in to the clear wall, pressing against it to see through the distortion of the thick transparent material. Oliver watched her gauging the data and interpreting them. Very impressive. She flicked her eyes to him, and he realized he was lost in thought, his eyes focused on her torso pressed against the glass. He looked up, mildly embarrassed. "I hope she doesn't think I was..." he thought to himself.

She noticed his glance and dismissed it as irrelevant. "Yes, your data seem conclusive in that the DNA is not being affected by the mutagen at all." She paced back and forth for a few moments, chewing on a lock of her hair as she did when she was really concentrating. "How long does it usually take for a mutagen to begin affecting a host's DNA?"

Oliver called up a different set of data tables. "This is a fairly typical set of data, from an experiment we performed last week on a rat. You can see here," he gestured at the screen, the two of them with their heads together like schoolkids sharing a secret, except that the wall was between them and they were practically shouting at each other. "These are the DNA strands in the control, and these are the DNA strands in the subject after a 10-minute exposure."

"Airborne, or liquid?"

"Uh...liquid, in this case. Just like with this sample." Oliver made the data set on the rogue culture appear next to the other set on the screen. "But this sample shows no such effects. We've never had any mutagen take longer than an hour to begin altering genetic structures."

"Okay," she said, "So why did you call me? It seems like you've got a non-starter here."

"Well, I hope so. But we've experienced some sensations that may be symptomatic."

"Yes?"

"Well, they're not the same between us. I've been feeling more and more hot in here," Oliver indicated his rolled-up sleeves and stockinged feet, "but the AC seems to be working fine. Hank, on the other hand, seems to be experiencing significant flu and flu-like symptoms: congestion, not able to get warm enough, slight disorientation, some trembling in his extremities."

"Well, Mr. Darkchilde, you do look terrible today. I hope you're feeling better than you look." Hank roused himself slowly, painfully from his place squatting on the floor, coughed vigorously for a few moments.

"Thanks doc, that's all I needed to complete my perfect day."

"Hank, would you tell me: did you do anything unusual which might be another explanation for the symptoms?"

"No, not really."

Oliver chimed in, "But he was up all night here in the lab, so he's feeling really tired."

"Well, that's probably it, although I'd think that it is more likely to be your body trying to fight off the viruses. Hank, we'll see if we give you a clean bill of health and then your wife can take you home to rest for a while."

Oliver asked eagerly: "So you think it's harmless?"

Dr. Saunders clucked her tongue on her white teeth. "I wouldn't characterize it as *harmless*, exactly. He is exhibiting symptoms of viral infection, but it doesn't seem a particularly dangerous one. You've been exposed for how long?"

"Ah...since 11 last night"

"That's nearly twelve hours. By now you would both be experiencing symptoms if you were going to. All you feel is a little warm?"

"A little hot, actually. It's kind of uncomfortable in here." Oliver unbuttoned his shirt a little, and wiped the perspiration from his brow on the back of his arm.

"Hmmmyes. That's likely also a product of the viral reproduction. But as there's no signs of system failure nor of difficulty breathing, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the two of you are good to come out. Just keep washing your hands and try not to touch anything that a lot of other people are going to touch after you. Cover your mouth with your arm anytime you sneeze or cough. Rest and drink lots of fluids. You look like you need it." Oliver started, realizing that he'd unbuttoned his shirt all the way, and crossed his arms over his chest in an awkward attempt to conceal his naked torso from the Doctor. She quirked a half smile at him. "Looks like your weekend will start a little early, men."

Dr. Saunders pushed the chair back under the workbench, where it had been before, and turned back to the isolation chamber. "Well, that's all I've got. Is there anything else you want?"

 

What else could there be?


          Just to thank her

 
 
 

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