“Give Mr. Parker some privacy, would ya’,” the fat cop said loudly.

“But we just have to ask a few questions-”

“The people have a right to know-”

“Look, I got my orders,” the cop said even more loudly and stepped on a few toes.

While they were sorting body parts, Kyle snuck around the column and over the half-wall that blocked in the waiting area. He moved over to Mr. Parker quickly. “Mr. Parker, what happened?”

He got a frown and the fiercest expression he’d ever seen on Mr. Parker’s face. “No, I am not alright. They have my wife and my little girl in there and I can’t do a thing about it. I’ve been trying to get some answers all night and no one will tell me anything.”

Kyle nodded. “I’m beginning to think it’s one of their hiring points. You know, ‘Straight answers must give you the squirts’ or something like that.”

“What?” Mr. Parker looked completely befuddled. “The squirts?”

“Never mind,” Kyle said with not a little embarrassment. Not enough sleep. He must be delirious. “Did you see Liz in there at all? They said she’s come down with the virus...”

Mr. Parker groaned and leaned over his knees. “I know. I know.” He shook his head helplessly. “They won’t let anyone near her, or Alex, for that matter. That’s why I got released, see?”

Kyle frowned and moved closer to Mr. Parker, trying to understand.

“They’ve had Alex and Liz off in this room by themselves, insisting that they’ve developed symptoms and must be quarantined completely.”

“You sound like you don’t believe them,” Kyle had to comment.

Mr. Parker paused and then met Kyle‘s eyes honestly. “I don’t. Liz and Alex were upstairs alone for hours before the old couple even came in the diner. How would they have been the ones to contract the disease?”

Kyle nodded and leaned over to speak quietly. “My Dad thinks the whole operation is a crock. I think he‘s working on something. But I’ve got my own plan.”

“Now, Kyle,” Mr. Parker looked at him with wide eyes. “I know what I’ve just told you sounds like there’s nothing going on it there, but I saw that couple die. Something happened to them, and it wasn’t food poisoning. They’ve already checked the food out. I’m suspicious, but I’d be a fool if I didn’t say that there just might be some kind of virus here. And if Liz and Alex have it, then maybe they‘re doing the right thing by keeping them away from everyone else.”

Kyle nodded hesitantly and Mr. Parker looked relieved enough to continue. “What I really want to know is why Jennifer Trilling isn’t in there.” The name sent an electric current of recognition through Kyle’s body. “She served the couple their food and then disappeared. But they don’t seem to be too worried about her. The same thing goes with Justin Rance. He cooked the burgers, and took off. If the CDC hadn’t already cleared the food, I’d be wondering about both of them right now. As it is, either of them could be in serious danger of contracting the disease and they need to know about it.”

Kyle shook his head. Trilling serves the old couple their food and then they choke? There was no way that could be a coincidence. “Have they been looking for her at all?”

“They won’t tell me anything, Kyle.” Mr. Parker sighed. “In fact, it’s a little too much of a happenstance that I was suddenly cleared to be released after being caught trying to sneak in to see Liz.” He shook his head. “If only Nancy were awake, I know she‘d know what to do.”

“She’s not awake?”

“No,” Mr. Parker’s voice got louder with frustration. “I gave them permission to sedate her because she was so hysterical and they’ve kept her down ever since. If I’d known they were going to knock her out, I never would have okayed it. They just keep saying that they don‘t want her to hurt herself. And I just keep asking, ‘You want her to wake up to a dead daughter, is that what you want?‘” He scrubbed a hand across his mouth, and Kyle looked away from the pain in his eyes.

After a moment of silence, an answer came to Kyle. “I know a great way to fake a fever, if you need some tips.”

Mr. Parker looked at him in surprise and then nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess that would get me back in.”

“Probably.”

“Thanks, Kyle. I may take you up on it.”

Kyle looked at his watch. 6:00. Time to call Joey.

******

Okay.

He admitted it.

He wasn’t in control.

He was now strapped to a table, with a nice, comfortable catheter jammed in his privates and an I.V. sticking in his arm. But Alex was at least grateful that he had his pants back on.

“Alright, Alex,” Clive walked back over with a new lab coat in tow. How many people worked in this place? “This is our radiation oncologist, Dr. Simpson. He’ll be beginning your treatment today.”

“Oncologist? As in cancer-fighting doctor?”

“Yes, Alex,” came the mild reply from the nearly upside-down face above him. “Except in your case, we won’t be using radiation to fight off cancer.”

“And what exactly will we be fighting?”

“Your immune system.” Dr. Simpson’s face disappeared from over Alex and Alex tried to look past the bright light to see him. He pulled against the restraints, then made himself lay still. “Okay, I thought destroying someone’s immune system was a bad thing, but that may just be me.”

“Depends on who the person is.” Great. Cliiiive was back in his face again. “I’ve already told you, Alex, you may not survive this. Dr. Simpson will be overseeing the radiation dosage that you will be given today. Tomorrow, we’ll do some chemo and finish off with a few hours of ATG.”

Alex didn’t want to ask it. He tried not to. “What’s ATG?” Damn.

“That’s antithymocyte globulin,” came the smug answer. “It’s a serum extracted from horses that will kill any remaining white cells.”

Alex’s blinked. “Oh. And that would make you what... the mad scientist?”

“Actually, this is all just your basic peripheral blood stem cell transplant, with a slight difference. We’ll be using alien stem cells to replace your human ones. That’s why we don’t want your immune system functioning.”

Alex had nothing to say. There were five or six guys in scrubs moving around him quietly, setting up trays and readying the equipment. He did not want this. But he was helpless.

“Aren’t you even going to ask what stem cells are?”

Alex ignored him.

“Oh, Alex, has this upset you? Terribly sorry about that.” Clive walked down to the I.V. stand and checked a bag that a scrub was hanging there. He smirked and wrote something on his clipboard. “Let the radiation begin.”

Alex was shutting down. He would never see Isabel again. He couldn’t help Liz. He was going to die in here.

His arm started to burn where the I.V. was plugged in. He shifted uncomfortably.

“Might burn a bit, Alex. Just get used to it. You’ve got about twelve hours of this to get through. Hope you have lots of happy memories to think through.”

Alex smiled in spite of himself.

The Goddess Isabel. Twelve hours of worshipping at her feet might not be so bad.

He swallowed hard.

If only the damn tears would stay away.

******

“Joey?”

“No. This is Mrs. Evans. Who is this?”

Kyle cursed himself silently. “This is Kyle Valenti, ma’am. I need to speak to Joey.”

“At this hour?”

Kyle shuffled his feet uneasily. Mrs. Evans had the lawyer thing down pat. It was amazing how quickly she could go from being mom to being an interrogator. No wonder Max had always been so strait-laced. “Yeah, there’s been some trouble at the Crashdown. You might want to turn on the news.”

“Alright, Kyle. I’ll get her for you.”

Silence on the other end, then a television being turned on. Kyle turned around in phone booth and watched two film crews getting ready for their live reports. He could only guess what was going to happen when this hit the airwaves.

Two clicks on the other end. “Kyle?”

“Hey, Joey.” He heard Mrs. Evans hanging up the other end. “Listen, I’ve got some bad news.”

“O-Okay. Is it about the deaths at the Crashdown?”

Kyle felt his jaw drop. “How did you know about that?”

Was she reading his mind? Was that one of her powers?

There was a long pause on the other end. “Justin’s here.”

Kyle felt his jaw drop again, but he quickly snapped it shut in anger. “Really? And exactly what the hell is he doing there at six-”

“He’s hiding out in my bedroom because he thinks they‘ll blame him for the deaths. He just got here about twenty minutes ago.”

Kyle took a deep breath and considered her answer. The instant anger began to deflate a little. “Let me guess, he’s trying on your nightgowns.“

“No, Kyle.“

“Does he have to stay in your bedroom, Joey?”

She sighed loudly. “Kyle, just stop it.”

He waited a moment for her to explain that nothing was going on, or that Justin hadn’t tried anything, but she remained silent. Infuriating, but he already knew better than to push. She had this thing about guys trying to own her.

He shook his head and tried to focus on the current crisis. “Okay, they’ve taken eight people from the Crashdown and quarantined them at the hospital. Liz and Alex are two of those people.”

“WHAT? Have they taken any of Liz’s blood? This is...”

“I know, I know. I kept expecting the FBI to hit the fan but, so far, nothing’s happened. At least, nothing in that department. Now they’re saying that she’s got this Ebola virus, and probably Alex, too.”

“Oh my god. But I don‘t think she can get sick. Not if she‘s one of us.”

Kyle hadn‘t thought of that. “Okay, Joey, just think through this with me, alright? Let’s say you knew what Liz was and you wanted to take her, but you couldn’t get within a mile of her because of the undercover cops.” Kyle almost couldn’t get the words out fast enough. This had been brewing in his mind for hours. “So what do you do?”

“I don‘t know. What?”

Kyle paused. “You make something happen that’s so big she gets lost in the shuffle. Like an outbreak. Does that sound totally whacked?”

“Oh god, I wish it did, Kyle,” Joey whispered. “But it doesn’t. Are you saying that someone took Liz? That she’s not at the hospital?”

Kyle paused. It was like if he didn’t say it, it wouldn’t be true. “Okay, yeah. That’s what I’m saying. She’s special, ever since what happened to her a few months back. If they know about you guys, like that Christopher guy said, then why wouldn’t they know about her? Why wouldn‘t they want to know what happened to her?”

There was a commotion behind him and Kyle turned to see Dr. Garrett standing in front of the cameras again.

“Just a second, Joey, something’s happening.” Kyle pulled the receiver away from his ear and strained to listen. Cameras were rolling, microphones thrust in the doctor’s face and he was playing the part of the wearied and worn bearer of bad news.

And gee, just in time for the morning news. Kyle felt his stomach turn.

Dr. Garrett’s voice was easy to hear in the tense silence. “Unfortunately, we were unable to stop the virus from taking another life. Liz Parker was pronounced dead at 6:03 this morning.”

Kyle felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “No,” he whispered. His eyes sought out the frozen form of Mr. Parker on the couch, his head in his hands.

“Kyle? Kyle?”