The Rabid (20 page)

"Ms.
Huntington keeps boxes of Dawn dish soap in the shed on the other side of the
house. If you stop up a tub and put him in the water with some of it, it'll
kill the fleas."

He
finally looked at me. I thought I saw a sparkle of humor in his eye, but it
vanished as quickly as it had come. "Let me guess... You studied veterinary
science in college?"

I
took a deep breath. "Yes. For a semester." If I wanted answers as to who this
mystery woman was, I'd have to ask difficult questions. "So how long have you
two been seeing each other?"

Both
of them snapped their gazes to me at the same time. They were silent for a
second or two before Raychel burst into almost hysterical laughter. Jack rolled
his eyes.

"You
can stop now."

Raychel
put her hands to her mouth and tried to control it. "I'm sorry. I'm just...I'm not
done laughing yet." She wiped a tear form her eye while quelling one last
chuckle. "Jack is my brother."

I
felt instantly stupid. "Oh."

"I'm
involved with Gregg in there, actually."

"Oh!
I apologize. I don't have a fountain of information for you yet. The next
twelve hours is very critical. I've cleaned the bite as best I can. The good
news is it's as far away from the brain as it can possibly be, so it could take
quite a few days to spread. I should know more by tomorrow morning, and
hopefully we won't need to amputate."

"Thank
you." The words emerged quietly from her mouth.

"Of course."

"So, does he have a leg to stand on?" Jack asked.

Raychel
groaned. "Grow up."

Jack
lifted his shoulders in response. "It's a legitimate question! Gregg might have
to learn partial arts."

"Are
you serious right now?" Raychel stared at him, but he just kept a straight
face.

"Completely.
He'll at least get half off on pedicures."

"Oh,
my God!" Raychel sounded exasperated, but the two of them had small smiles on
their faces.

"Once
he can walk again, he'll be having problems with stares."

She
was silent for a moment. "Oh...that one took me a minute."

Jack
ran a hand through his hair. "I'm trying to think of another amputee joke, but
I'm stumped."

"That's
it!" Raychel stood up with her hands in front of her. "I can't take any more of
this. How do you put up with it?" She was speaking to me.

"He
has good timing."

"Someone
thinks I'm funny." He smiled at his sister.

"Oh,
you're funny, all right. So funny that I can't take it anymore. I'm going to
check on Gregg. You two have a nice chat!"

Jack watched her walk back into the house. When she was gone, he made a move to
stand.

"Wait!
Gregg will make a fortune as a Bell Hop!" He waited for a moment. "Damn. She didn't
hear me." He sat and watched the raccoon hunt around in the garden.

Once the humor inside me died to a tolerable level, I spoke. "So, how have you
been doing?"

He
still didn't look at me, but shrugged one shoulder. "As good as can be expected."

I nodded. "You never mentioned Raychel by name before."

"I never even knew if she was still alive. We were both pretty stubborn about
contact."

The French door slammed open, startling the raccoon and causing it to squeak
then run to hide behind a bush.

"Uncle Jack!" Alex ran to him.

"Juliet!" He smiled for the first time since he'd gotten in. It was warming to
see. He picked up Alex and spun her in a circle. "How you been?"

She giggled. "You know how."

His expression seemed impressed. "This is true."

Rex had also come out when Alex had, but he instinctively hid behind my legs.
He didn't remember Jack right away. I patted his head, but he whimpered.

Jack set Alex down. "Hey, Romeo. How about you? How you doing?"

Rex cowered away, but I caught him, pulling him in front of me. "You remember,
Jack, honey. Don't you?" Our gazes met and a wave of heat washed over me. One
corner of Jack's mouth twitched upward.

I cleared my throat and turned back to Rex. "Jaggy?"

That resonated with my son. "Jaggy!" He cried as Jack lifted him up.

"I knew you just needed a reminder. Way to go, mom," Jack said. His smile
seemed genuine.

"Way go, momma!" Rex imitated him.

"What do we do next, Aunt Lisa?" Alex sat down in the chair Raychel had
previously occupied.

"Yeah." Jack turned back to me with my son still in his arms. "What do we do
now, Aunt Lisa?"

I sucked in a breath. "Well, dinner is being put out soon. Would you like to
join everyone? How long are you staying?"

Jack looked at Rex and bounced him once. "Dunno. That's up to Raychel."

"I see."

"But I see no reason why we can have dinner together. Do you?"

Rex shook his head. "Dinner."

"Do you, Juliet?"

"Nope!"

He turned back to me. "Then it's a yes."

***

"It certainly has been some time since you left, Jack." Ms. Huntington smiled
proudly at her guests. We'd gained some new faces and lost a few, but the house
still felt like a family. Jack had already begun eating — it seemed he was
famished — so he abruptly put his fork down and gestured a "thank you" with his
mouth full.

"And it's lovely to have you here, Raychel, dear."

"Thanks!"

I found Raychel's zeal incredibly sweet. She was bubbly and happy. She made
jokes all the time. She was the female version of Jack. I felt like nothing
could bring her down.

"All right, everyone. let's eat!"

The table erupted in a cacophony of conversation and clinking silverware. There
were smiles and laughs. People were happy.

"When is the last time you had a decently cooked meal?" I watched Jack hungrily
devour his food.

He paused to swallow. "When I was here."

"Oh."

"Who are they?" He nodded toward a couple who were cuddling together.

"They're Sam and Jennifer. They came here shortly after you left."

"What happened to Cheree and Ben?"

I glanced down at my plate. "They aren't together anymore."

"What?" Jack gave me a skeptical glare while he chewed.

"Ben left about a week ago and Cheree went shortly after."

Jack swallowed. "What happened?"

"I don't know."

Scott swung over and asked me if I'd like more bread. I tossed him a polite
smile and accepted. Then he bent down.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"A more appropriate time would be tomorrow morning. Would that be all right?"

He nodded and whisked away to offer others more bread.

"And who's
that
?" There was a tiny hint of malice in Jack's voice. I
turned to him in surprise.

"that's Scott. He's the new chef."

"What happened to Jeffrey?"

"He left."

"Hmm."

"What is it?" I managed to maintain a patient tone.

"Does he talk to everyone the way he talks to you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"He's like a lost puppy. I notice him following you around and taking every
opportunity to speak to you."

I blinked a few times. "He's nineteen-years-old, Jack."

He squared his shoulders. "So?"

"He just lost his parents." I lowered my voice even more. "I talked him through
it when he first got here. He was suicidal. It wasn't healthy."

Jack seemed to want to say something, but he kept silent. I couldn't tell what
was going on inside his head.

"He's jealous."

We both looked up to see Raychel smiling at us.

"I am not."

She laughed. "Yep, you are. it's super obvious, bro. When are you going to stop
being mad?"

"I am
not
mad."

"Yes you are." I chimed in, keeping as calm as I could. The truth of the matter
was that heat I'd felt hand't stopped coursing through my veins. Every time he
looked at me my entire body craved him.

"See?" Raychel stuck her tongue out at him. "Even she knows you're mad."

"That's because she studied psychology for a semester in college." He glanced
at me, making my heart hammer in my chest.

"So you admit you're mad!" Raychel continued to egg him on.

"Okay, how long is this going to go on? Is this like an initiation thing or are
you two girls going to say things about me to each other until I crack and put
you in the brig?"

"Oh, God. The brig." Raychel put a hand to her head and leaned back.

"The brig?" I was curious.

"We used to have this stupid tee-pee thing when we were kids." She smiled at
the memory.

"It was a wigwam." Jack cut in. "It was made out of sticks and some ripped up
jeans or something. Whenever one of us would get in trouble, we'd get sent to
it. We called it the brig."

"Eventually we started stapling things to the inside so we wouldn't get bored."

"Remember the posters?"

Raychel laughed again. "Oh, God. I'd put up posters of James Bond and then he'd
tear them down and replace them with Raquel Welch. It was like a cold war."

They continued discussing their childhood while I listened. It was a very sweet
conversation. I knew they'd had some issues between one another and it was
comforting to see them remembering good times and not bad.

The dinner lasted quite some time as the guests were enjoying the
conversations. I'd taken a break to put the children to bed, but they wouldn't
sleep without a Goodnight from Jack. When I came back down, we enjoyed a round
of desserts before everyone decided to turn in.

From the
Desk of Dr. Lisa James

December 20

It
was 1:30 in the morning when I ventured downstairs for the final time. The
house was eerily quiet. But the silence was thick. It was as if all ears were
trained; waiting for something to happen.

"How's
it going?" I checked the straps on each of Gregg's arms. They were still
secure.

"So
far, so good. It's throbbing, but I don't feel sick or anything."

"Did Scott
give you some water an hour ago like I asked?"

"Yes."

"Did
you drink it?"

"Yes."

"Without
issue?"

"Yeah.
It was a Godsend."

I
nodded. He was safe for now. But the timing was critical. I needed to know how
the wound was progressing and if it seemed to be healing or spreading. I
rounded the table, ready for the worst but hoping for the best.

I'd
kept the lights off in case the virus took him during the night. But I made
sure to carry a Maglite with me. I clicked it on to study the wound.

Each
tooth mark was individually apparent. They were swollen and puffy. That was
normal. What wasn't normal were deep purple veins visibly sprouting from all
sides. I moved the restraint away from his foot to see they had reached the
heel already.

"Shit."

"You're
going to have to take my leg."

I
looked at him and he gave me a weak smile. He smelled a bit like liquor, but I
couldn't have blamed him at that point.

"Yes.
The virus is poisoning your blood. It's reached your foot already, but not your
knee. If we can change that, we can save the rest of you."

"All
right, so...what do we gotta do?"

I
inhaled and held it for a moment. "I need medical supplies."

Gregg
sighed as his head fell back onto the pillow I'd given him.

"For
now I'll move the tourniquet up to your knee. That should keep it from
spreading any more the rest of the night." I put the restraint back in place
and moved the towel to tie around his knee. "Now, since we're going to
anesthetize you in the morning, you shouldn't eat anything else. Water is fine,
but try to limit your intake. The last thing you want after major surgery is to
be nauseous."

"Okay."

I
placed a hand on his shoulder. "This is a lot better than losing your life."

"I
know... I just hope Raychel still wants to marry me when I only have one leg."

December 20

Lisa
was super impressive the next day. She scrambled around giving orders to
everyone who offered to help. For most of it, I held onto Rex while Alex
followed on our heels. From what I could gather, Lisa had told two people to
clean out one of the industrial size freezers and sterilize it from top to
bottom. Scott was instructed to turn it off and wheel a steel table inside.
People were running everywhere gathering towels and boiling water on the stove.

Ms. Huntington had told us there was a Dr. Brown who lived in the house.
Neither of us had ever seen him because he apparently kept to himself. His room
was at the end of the hall of the East Wing, so that was our first stop.

"I have a question."

Lisa was in the process of knocking on the door, but her closed fist stopped an
inch away when I spoke. "Yes?"

"Why didn't this doctor guy come out and help you with Gregg?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I'm not sure. But my impression is that he prefers
solitude." She knocked three times.

"A doctor who prefers not to treat patients. Interesting."

The door opened a crack. "What is it?" A raspy voice met us.

"Dr. Brown?"

"Yes."

"My name is Dr. James. We have a patient downstairs in need of an amputation
and—"

The door opened all the way to reveal a short old man in a brown tweed jacket.
His spectacles were slipping halfway down his nose. "Yes. I heard last night.
You need supplies, I assume."

"Yes, sir."

"Then come in." He waved Lisa inside. She disappeared and I started to go after
her, but Dr. Brown held his hand out. "Only one guest in my room at a time."
Then he shut the door in my face.

"Old Man River."

Waiting
outside was no easy ordeal. At first, I watched the door for about five
minutes, hoping it wouldn't take much longer than that. Then I began humming to
myself. I had no idea what song I had in my head, but it was catchy.

When that still proved fruitless, I began to run
Die Hard
in my head.
Man, that was a good movie. I found myself wondering if Bruce Willis was still
alive. About fifteen minutes after that, I checked my watch. Then I realized I
didn't have a watch.

"Huh..." I tapped my wrist. "I should draw a new battery for this thing..."

The door swung open. To my surprise, Lisa stormed out in a huff. Well, to Lisa,
a huff is slightly lowered eyebrows and a deep frown.

"No, thank you, Dr. Brown. we're fine." When she shut the door, I noticed a few
tools in her hand. But they didn't look right. And when she turned to face me,
I could tell she was upset.

"What happened?"

"Dr. Brown"s name ends in DDS."

"Oh, shit."

"Exactly. All he had was lidocaine. We need to knock Gregg out not numb his
tongue!" She inhaled and shut her eyes. She was calming herself.

"But you got something from him?"

"Yes. Suction, latex gloves and a syringe." She opened her eyes. "What are we
going to do?"

The
entire way back to the kitchen Lisa was silent. I could tell she was working
things out in her head. She'd told me that if we couldn't knock Gregg out for
the procedure it was likely he'd go into shock.

No one could give her any advice as to where to find medical supplies. She
handed over the tools she'd received from Dr. Brown and instructed someone to
sterilize them in boiling water. Then she sat heavily into a kitchen chair and
sighed. Raychel came out of Gregg's room and immediately knew something was not
right.

"What's going on?"

"We don't have drugs to put Gregg to sleep," I said.

My sister looked from Lisa, to me, to the ground and back at Lisa. "What does
that mean?"

"I'm not sure yet." Lisa looked up, putting her chin in her hands.

"Hey, you should probably eat. Want me to get you something?"

She nodded. "Sure."

I looked for Scott to find him in the kitchen slicing what looked like fish. I
had no idea where he'd gotten any from, but I figured I was better not asking.

"Hey, Scott. Lisa needs some brain food. Whatcha got?"

At the mention of her name, Scott stopped what he was doing and turned to face
me. "She's hungry?" There was a hint of urgency in his voice. It caught me off
guard.

"Yeah... But don't have a heart attack, man."

Scott's eyes darted around, searching the countertops. He spotted something
behind me and lunged to get it. I almost didn't move in time. He pulled out a
platter of bagels and rushed out of the kitchen.

"All right." I followed him back to the dining room.

Lisa was still sitting at the table staring into space. Raychel gave me a weak
smile. She was scared. She'd always hug herself when she got scared. That
hand't changed a bit.

"Lisa..." Scott was too close to her in my opinion, but I didn't say a word. "I
brought you something to eat." He placed the platter on the table next to her
and handed her a bagel.

She took it with a tight, polite smile. She was totally in another world when
she bit into the bagel. "I just don't know where we're going to find any
medical supplies."

"Medical supplies?" Scott asked.

She looked up at him.

"I
passed a hospital five miles east on my way here."

Lisa paused, her eyes lighting up as much as they could. "What are we waiting
for?"