Lost Immunity by Daniel Kalla

Author:Daniel Kalla [Kalla, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2021-05-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 33

“There’s been a serious reaction.” Lisa’s five-word text pops up in top right corner of the laptop’s screen and stops Nathan cold in midsentence as he’s addressing Delaware’s senior executive committee via videoconference from his hotel room.

“Nathan?” Peter Moore prompts on the screen. “You still with us?”

“Oh yeah,” Nathan mutters as his stomach knots. “Excuse me, everyone. I have to run.”

“We’ve only got two more items on the—”

But Nathan slams his laptop shut before the CEO can even finish his sentence. He grabs for his phone and taps Lisa’s number. “Your text?” he demands as soon as she picks up.

“There’s a girl at Harborview who’s in critical condition,” Lisa says. “She got Neissovax two days ago.”

“A girl?” he blurts.

“Yeah. She has Stevens-Johnson syndrome.”

“What the hell is that?”

“A type of immune reaction that causes a potentially life-threatening rash—terrible blistering like severe burns, especially around the mouth.”

“You’re certain it’s from the Neissovax?”

“There’s no other explanation.”

He listens, numb, as she describes the girl’s condition. He takes little solace in the fact that the victim has stabilized on the ventilator, or that Lisa’s team has decided not to suspend the vaccination campaign.

Lisa’s tone softens. “We’ll figure this out, Nathan.”

“No doubt,” he says, his mind already gearing up into damage-control mode. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

As soon as he hangs up, he dials Fiona, but her phone goes straight to voice mail. “Need to talk!” he texts her.

As he waits for her to call back, Nathan opens his laptop and searches for photos of victims of Stevens-Johnson syndrome. The online images of faces disfigured by blisters, open sores, and puffiness pain him to view. He knows this case can’t be a coincidence, but he refuses to consider the full implications.

Fiona calls about ten minutes later. “I just spoke to Lisa,” are the first words out of her mouth.

Nathan hears a lot of background noise. “Where are you?”

“At the vaccine clinic downtown,” she says.

“Let’s meet.”

Nathan heads down to the lobby and grabs a waiting cab that drops him off at their arranged spot in front of the Seattle Center, one of the city’s busiest cultural and tourist hubs. The iconic, six-hundred-foot-tall Space Needle looms overhead, but Nathan barely notices it as he hurries across the lawn toward the fountain where Fiona is waiting.

Her face is calm, but as he nears, he sees the worry dancing in her eyes. “I tracked down the clinic the girl attended,” Fiona says in a low voice even though no one else is within earshot. “I ran the serial number of the vial she received. That batch was tested back at the plant in Littleton last week. Twice. Zero imperfections.”

“Of course,” Nathan says. “They’ve all been perfect. No one’s doubting the quality control here.”

“But Stevens-Johnson syndrome? We never saw anything like that in our trials.”

“It’s idiosyncratic, right? As I understand it, it can happen with almost any drug.”

Fiona only nods. “Maybe we should pause the campaign until we can investigate further.”

“No one in Lisa’s office is suggesting that.”

“But isn’t it what

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