Blood Will Tell (Chimeria Book 1) by Meredith Mansfield

Author:Meredith Mansfield [Mansfield, Meredith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-04-19T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18: Emergency

The doctor, no longer wearing his mask, came back into the room just as the nurse was silencing the various alarms.

"Good news," he said as he turned the corner. "What's this?"

"Miss Murphy isn't feeling well. She definitely has a fever," the nurse said. "Blood pressure and heart rate are way up."

"Well, it can't be the virus from the attack," the doctor said.

"Why can't it?" Rolf asked.

"We just analyzed it. It's a new strain of rabies. But rabies takes days, sometimes longer, to begin to show symptoms. That's why it's good news. We can give you all a dose of human rabies immunoglobulin and a rabies vaccine. You'll need four more vaccinations over the next four weeks. But this treatment is 100% effective before symptoms appear. The nurse is bringing your first shots right now. You'll be fine."

"Valeriah is not fine," Rolf said, irritated by the man's attitude.

"I can see that. It's vital that we start the rabies treatment as soon as possible. We'll go ahead and do that and then we'll find out what's wrong with Miss Murphy."

The nurse gave two shots each to Rolf and Cristel, while the doctor checked Cristel's throat and prescribed a mild cough suppressant. When the nurse turned to give the first shot to Valeriah, she pulled her arm away so violently that the nurse was actually thrown across the room.

"Get away from me!" Valeriah shouted. "You're trying to kill me."

Rolf leapt over to restrain Valeriah. It took all his strength to contain her violent muscle spasms. Another man ran in to help.

"Hold her while we get the restraints on her," the doctor said.

"Your restraints won't hold her."

"Of course they will." The doctor finished fastening the restraints to Valeriah's arms. "You can let go now."

The other man let go and stepped out of the way. Rolf didn't move.

"Please, we need to be able to get to her to treat her."

Rolf let go, but he didn't move far. As soon as the doctor approached, Valeriah snapped the restraint like it was made of string. Rolf had to move fast to capture her arm before she sank her nails into the doctor's face. Valeriah was actually growling now--a low threatening sound.

"I told you it wouldn't hold. She's a lot stronger than she looks," Rolf said.

"What's wrong with her?" Cristel asked.

The stunned doctor looked at Valeriah. "It can't be. Symptoms shouldn't begin to show anywhere near this soon."

"It can't be what?" Rolf asked sharply, tired of getting no information or only half answers.

"Rabies. Malaise and fever, followed by violent movements and paranoia. They're symptoms of rabies. We'll have to rule out any other causes of encephalitis. A skin sample may give us a definitive diagnosis. I'll get a couple of orderlies to help us."

~~~

Donny hovered against the wall, being as unobtrusive as possible. He really wanted to get a chance to talk to these two near-victims of the Virus Killer, get their stories for the paper. It'd make a good article. But his instincts told him they weren't ready to talk to anybody right now.

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