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John helped himself to a second toasted bagel. ‘Are you ready for the onslaught?’
He focused. It was time to keep all his attention on the job. ‘What onslaught?’
‘The five hundred and fifty questions you’re going to get about the bats. Maybe we should start calling you Dr Doolittle?’
Donovan shifted in his chair. ‘Where are we with the bats? Do we have confirmation of the primary site yet? When can we collect samples?’
John shook his head. ‘The state parks are giving me the runaround right now. I think they’ve been inundated by calls from frantic parents. About the only thing I’ve managed to accomplish so far is to get them to put a temporary closure notice on the caves. What I haven’t managed to do yet is secure us entry to collect samples.’
Donovan sat back in his chair. ‘You are joking, right? I’m going to a press conference, and I’ve got to tell the world we have an outbreak of Marburg virus but we haven’t even managed to collect samples yet?’
John lifted his hands. ‘Doing the best I can, Donovan. These things take time—whether we like it or not. And Marburg virus is tricky. Most people have never heard of it. It’s not like smallpox, with a six-hundred-page plan ready to download from our website if there was ever an outbreak anywhere. Our trouble is we didn’t really plan for this.’
John was right. Donovan knew he was right. But it didn’t make things any easier.
He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. ‘Okay, guys, keep me posted on any changes and I’ll let you know how things go once I’ve been thrown to the lions. Here are the details of our accommodation. No doubt it will be a luxury five-star, all-inclusive resort.’
There was a collective groan around the table. The DPA didn’t like to waste money on staff accommodation. They were lucky they hadn’t been expected to pitch tents.
He lifted up his coffee mug, ‘To teamwork.’
‘To teamwork.’ The mugs clinked together. ‘Here’s hoping the rest of the staff arrive soon.’
CHAPTER FIVE
GRACE CHECKED THE list again. The words were beginning to swim in front of her eyes. She still had two children to check over then another review of the three she was worried about.
She felt a warm hand at the base of her spine. Not low enough to be cheeky but something familiar. Donovan’s head rested on her shoulder for a second. ‘Are we still awake?’ he groaned.
‘Barely.’ She turned round to face him, dislodging his chin from its resting place. If she wasn’t getting to sleep, neither was he. She was still worried about these kids.
‘Spoilsport.’ He arched his back and it gave a loud crack.
‘Yeurgh.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘You should see a doctor about that.’
He wagged his finger at her. ‘Don’t even go there.’ He rested his elbows on the nurses’ station. ‘I’m sorry I’ve been so long. The good news is I’ve found another four nurses, the equipment and supplies have been sorted and it’s only two hours until the other team arrives. The bad news is I’ve got the press conference in twenty minutes.’
She let out a long slow breath. It was difficult to be patient when all she wanted to do was grab the nearest bed and lie down. But that was the thing—there were no empty beds now. All sixty beds were filled. All with patients with suspected Marburg virus.
There were a few cases she suspected were false alarms, but nonetheless all samples were currently lined up and waiting for David to test them in the lab.
She pushed her clipboard towards him. ‘Well, my bad news is we’re full. No beds. The last two were filled as soon as the previous patients were transferred to another local hospital.’
‘The hospital director managed to get all the other patients transferred?’
She nodded. ‘He’s been great—even though he looks as if he’s about to have a heart attack.’ She lifted her hands and let out a sigh. ‘We are now officially the Marburg hospital.’
He bent over the list. ‘You’ve got through all these patients?’ His voice rose and she felt a little tingle across her skin. Was that a note of admiration in his voice?
She tried not to smile. ‘Yes, by the time I get to them John has done the patient history and background. I’ve been taking care of all the clinical components.’
‘Show me the children you’re worried about.’
She nodded and grabbed the sets of notes she’d put aside. The admiration for her hard work would only take her so far. She started down the corridor. ‘I’ve done some moving around. The three patients I’m concerned about are all in single rooms down here. All children.’ She lowered her voice. ‘All on the kindergarten trip.’
She heard him suck in a breath. She knew exactly where his mind was going. They really needed access to those caves. They needed to identify where the virus had originated and get plans in place to help stop the spread.
She stopped at the entrance to one of the rooms. Donovan was concentrating so hard that he wasn’t paying attention and walked straight into the back of her.
Her body shot forward, her hands still clutching the clipboard, with no time to try and break her fall as her feet started to disconnect from the floor. The green rubber flooring loomed beneath her eyes.
A warm arm grabbed around her waist with such intensity that her breath was taken clean away from her. She was yanked back hard, straight into the chest of Donovan Reid.
‘Grace, I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.’
She couldn’t speak for a few seconds. All the air had shot out of her lungs. When she finally managed to suck in a breath and relax back against him, all she could do was laugh.
It was a nervous laugh. An I’m-feeling-something-I-shouldn’t kind of laugh.
Like the heat of someone else’s warm skin seeping straight through her thin scrubs. The feel of the rise and fall of his chest muscles against her shoulder blades. She should have kept her dress and her heels on. The thicker material and little more height wouldn’t have left her quite so exposed. She could feel the outline of other parts of his body too.
His hand was still locked around her waist, holding her close to him. It didn’t matter that he’d already seen every part of her. It didn’t matter she’d been naked in a shower with him. This was up close and personal. This felt even more intimate than that.
This was the kind of position you assumed with a lover when you were looking out at a setting sun and glorious landscape. This was how you stood before he murmured in your ear and started to nuzzle around your neck. This wasn’t a position for a public setting.
She jumped forward, pushing her hair out of her eyes. The shorter style was beginning to annoy her. It was at that in-between stage. Not quite long enough to stay in a ponytail band and not quite short enough to go without.
Donovan was looking at her with a strange expression on his face. His brow was furrowed but his blue eyes were fixed completely on her. Was he about to say something?
Then she got it. He felt it too.
It wasn’t just her. She wasn’t going crazy.
All those mad midnight dreams about Donovan Reid in a semi-naked state weren’t as wasted as she’d thought. In her head he’d always been miles out of her league. The man hadn’t even noticed her, let alone spoken to her. But things were definitely changing. He looked just as confused as she felt.
She broke the gaze, staring at the clipboard. Patients. Let’s talk about patients.
‘Okay, Donovan, there’s three kids I’m worried about—and you already reviewed them earlier. All aged five, all on the kindergarten trip. David has just confirmed that all three have Marburg virus. Jacob and Sophia are both showing signs of jaundice. Both are now having bloody diarrhoea. Breathing is becoming laboured and I’d really recommend that we transfer both these kids to the ICU in Panama City. Ryan is also det
eriorating rapidly. Pulse is rising, blood pressure dropping and oxygenation rate is decreasing. Although all of these kids have had anti-emetics, they’ve had limited effect. All three kids are still vomiting and severely dehydrated.’
She took a deep breath. The words had just rattled out. She hadn’t been able to stop them. She had real concerns about these three kids. Donovan was watching her carefully. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she couldn’t cope. Because she could.
But every instinct in her body told her that these kids needed specialist treatment. She knew the death rate for Marburg could be as high as ninety per cent, but those rates were based on Marburg in countries that weren’t as developed as the US. With all the facilities available, these kids had to have a better chance than that.
