The Deadliest Strain

Chapter Fifty

"They should tout you as a national hero," Sally told him on the phone.

"I'll be happy if I don't end up in jail," David answered. A great weight had lifted off his shoulders when he passed on his suspicions to the Homeland Security agent who'd interviewed him though a glass partition at the hospital the day before.

"Come on, now. They would never do that," Sally protested.

"You never know. I called the White House and claimed that I was behind it all."

"You explained to them that you were only trying to get someone's attention," Sally protested.

David could tell where this was going. She already had the mother's voice on. The gloves were off and the claws were out. His wife was ready to take on the world for her family.

"I know. And I'm not too worried about it." He smiled, leaning back against the chair in the lounge area.

They'd given the run of the floor to him and Craig and Kirk. It looked as if they were done with the testing for now. So far, none of the tests had turned up anything wrong with any of them. But still, not a word had been said about when they'd be releasing them. Josh, at least, was supposed to go home tomorrow morning.

"Here it is," Sally said. 'They're running it again."

Kirk had gone back to his room to sleep and Craig was reading a magazine in one of the chairs. Craig and David had gotten sick of watching the same news, so they'd turned off the TV. David got up from the sofa and quickly switched it back on.

On the screen there was an aerial view of Reynolds Pharmaceuticals with cars and people swarming like ants around the building. A bright banner scrolling across the bottom referred to sixteen individual sites of the outbreak with 154 fatalities. The rest of the Strep-Testers were now accounted for.

"There goes my job," David said to his wife. "Reynolds Pharmaceuticals can say goodbye to any more government contracts, and I'd say it's a guarantee that they have their asses sued off for this Strep-Tester. I guess it's a safe bet that I'll be standing in the unemployment line next week."

"We'll manage," she said with all her positive attitude.

David felt that he and Josh had missed taking the bullet by inches. Still, the magnitude of how close he'd come to killing his own son with the Strep-Tester made him go ice-cold every time he thought of it. There were so many people out there who weren't so lucky.

He and Sally finished talking for now and he hung up. Of course, he knew before the hour was up, one of them would find a reason to call the other. It was strange to be in the same hospital but not be allowed to see each other.

"Are you really worried about your job?" Craig asked when David put the phone on the side table.

"I'm more than worried about it. This is going to bury the company."

"It'll be tough with Josh still going through his treatment," Craig commented.

David nodded. A national disaster had been minimized. But he hadn't given any thought yet to how to take care of the personal disaster that was brewing.

"This is one negative thing about working for the same company for so many years. You don't have your resume ready to go out."

Craig looked at him for a minute. "That's no big deal. I can help you with that."

David appreciated the thought, and he said so.

"Have you considered getting out of pharmaceuticals?" Craig asked.

"After this past week, I'd say yes. I'm more than considering it."

Craig seemed to be thinking about something, so David picked up the magazine from the table next to him. Before he found anything worth reading, though, Craig nodded to him.

"What would you think about getting into the homeopathic line? With your sales contacts, I know my wife's company would be interested."

David didn't have to hear another word.

"Do they offer health insurance?" he asked.