Once Bitten, Twice Dead - By Bianca D'Arc Page 0,102

with three private offices in addition to the trailer-sized bubble labs and a separate room where they could see a bed through the open door.

Sam was in the bed and Dr. McCormick was at his side, as were Sergeant Tomlinson and Private Kauffman.

The men had both looked up when the outer door opened. They came forward, out of the bedroom and into the lab area over to Xavier and Sarah. Tomlinson spoke first, in hushed tones.

“He just fell asleep,” the SWAT commander reported. “He had a rough time of it, but the doctor had him well in hand.”

“What happened?” Xavier asked in a clipped tone.

“Sam went into convulsions twice more,” Kauffman reported. “Each time was less severe. The doctor thinks the worst is passed. She just said he’ll probably sleep it off now and will likely be okay when he wakes.”

“Thank heaven for that,” Sarah muttered.

Tomlinson’s eyes narrowed. “The doc won’t even hint at what your friend was exposed to and I’m not going to ask. I understand the concept of top secret. As I’ve already told you, I don’t like being kept out of the loop, but I’ll accept it for now. The minute this stops being a federal matter and starts affecting the local population, I expect to be called.”

It was a bold statement. Sarah respected the other officer’s willingness to get involved in something that was clearly more dangerous than even his normal activities on the police force.

Xavier shook Tomlinson’s outstretched hand. “I won’t forget your help tonight. If things get out of our control here, you’ll be the first to know. Let’s all pray it doesn’t come to that.”

“Amen,” Tomlinson agreed. “Do you need me to stay? I could loan you a few officers to make sure Dr. McCormick remains safe.”

“Thanks, but no. I’ll make provisions for her with my people.” He glanced toward Kauffman, who nodded. “You’ve already been more help than I ever expected, Sergeant.”

“Just doing my job.” He tipped an imaginary hat in their direction as he headed for the door leading to the outside. He was gone a moment later.

Sarah followed Xavier into the small bedroom where Sam lay sleeping. The normally robust soldier looked pale and sweaty. After all, Sarah realized, he’d been in a molecular fight for his life unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Dr. McCormick got up from the chair at Sam’s bedside and motioned them outside the room so they could talk. Kauffman reclaimed his spot, keeping vigil at Sam’s side.

“He’s resting, finally. I think he’s done with the convulsions, although I will continue to monitor him until he wakes up again. I don’t know what I’m going to do when Dr. Caruthers gets here. He’s my new boss. A Nobel laureate. I’m his research assistant along with one other, Dr. Roberto. He’s off today, but Caruthers expects me to help him begin a new experiment today.”

“Don’t worry.” Xavier pulled his phone from the holster at his waist. “I’ll get you some help. I hope you don’t mind losing this job. After the miracle you just worked for Sam, I think our Uncle Sam will want to put you back on the payroll.”

McCormick smiled, and Sarah could see her expression was filled with relief. “I don’t mind. I actually prefer to be running my own experiments. Being knocked down to research assistant was a blow to my ego, if I’m being brutally honest. I’d like the opportunity to pursue the antidote to this contagion. It’s worked once, but I’m sure it could be improved upon. We were lucky with Sam. He had the right antigens and the strength to live through the ordeal. Given time to devote myself to this project full time, I’m sure I could come up with something much better.”

“All right, then. I’m going to make a few calls. What time do you expect Caruthers?”

“He never gets here before nine thirty.”

“Good. That should give us just enough time.”

Dawn broke while Xavier made his calls. Dr. McCormick had shown Sarah where the small bathroom was located and left her with a set of clean scrubs she could change into. There was even a shower and plenty of hot water. Sarah took full advantage of it, washing from head to toe twice over. She put on the shapeless scrubs, grateful just to be clean for the first time in many hours.

She rejoined Xavier a half hour later. By that time, he had everything lined up. Commander Sykes was on his way and would take over from