“Even at first glance, I can tell the density of the parasite has definitely increased from the sample we were looking at before. She’s getting worse.” Margo nodded to Paulie to come look for himself.
“Evan’s right, though we haven’t definitively determined the species; this is beyond doubt a kind of malaria. Her fragile condition demands a presumptive treatment.” Paulie nodded to the other doctors in the room.
“Okay, now to create the cocktail,” Evan said. He accessed a member’s only medical research site and began peeling through the cyber pages for what he was looking for.
“Both this site and the Center for Disease Control recommend either the combination atovaquone-proguanil or artemether-lumefantrine. They are both considered very effective in treating P. falciparum or Species Not Identified.” Evan jotted down those names and their common brand names as well on a piece of paper and looked up at his mother.
“Great, so let’s get the stuff and get it started,” Cole mumbled from the corner of the lab. They turned and looked in surprise at the patient everyone thought was sound asleep.
Theo hurried to his son, smiling widely. “You’re awake! Wow, Cole, you sure gave us a scare!” His father held his right hand and squeezed gently.
“Sorry ‘bout that dad. I’ll try to never get shot again,” he grinned weakly up at his father. Redirecting the conversation he called across the room to Evan, “Is that medicine hard to get?”
“Well, it certainly isn’t over the counter.” Evan looked over at Paulie. “Any ideas how we can get this stuff immediately?”
“I’m sure I can make a phone call, but the problem isn’t going to be finding the medicine. It’s going to be getting it here, safely.”
“I’ll go get it,” Creed said casually, as though he just offered to go pick up a pizza.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Creed Young. You’ve been shot twice and are sedated!” Margo shooed her hand at him dismissively.
“No sedative necessary,” Creed said and sat up effortlessly.
“I really don’t recommend you do anything active for at least five days, Creed. I know you’re a meta and heal faster than humans, but you still have to give your body time to recover.” Theo had just finished stitching the last hole and was trying to put a sterile dressing on the site, but his patient kept moving. Creed was already reaching for his T-shirt.
“We don’t have time to argue about this mom,” Alik was saying. “Paulie, can you get on the phone to a pharmacy and have that medicine put together for us?”
Paulie nodded and grabbed the phone from his pocket. Moments later, he was talking smoothly into the receiver sounding very convincing and matter-of-fact about needing to place an order for these medicines. He added some other meds and supplies to the list. He charged the order to the credit card they had on file and sweetly negotiated an earlier pickup time than the standard one hour.
He hung up the phone with a grin and said, “Okay, the meds will be waiting for pickup at the hospital’s pharmacy. They’ll be expecting my ‘courier’ to come by in half an hour.”
“Smooth,” Cole said. “I like how you ordered the malaria medicine buried inside an entire list of other stuff so as not to draw suspicion. Clever.” He smiled and closed his eyes. His energy was already depleted and though he wanted to stay awake and be a part of what was going on, his body had other plans. He drifted to sleep thinking how frustrating it was to be a human.
“Excellent,” Alik said looking at his watch. “We’ll be back in about one hour. I’ve got my cell, but I’d rather maintain silence in case she’s listening.” Alik gestured toward outside.
“Be careful, boys,” Margo said hugging Alik first then Creed just as though he were one of her sons.
Creed blushed deeply at her obvious display of affection. He couldn’t remember being hugged before. Ever. The burst of joy he felt because of Dr. Winter’s simple hug gave him wings.
“Sooner we go, the sooner we’ll be back,” Creed said determinedly.
Alik, Creed and Margo headed out of the lab and back through the house. It was already dark outside. “Are you going to be okay, mom?” Alik asked realizing his mother was still a primary target.
She turned to face her sixteen-year-old who stood towering above her. “You listen to me, Alik Winter. All you think about right now is getting your sister’s medicine and getting home safely. That’s it. Focus. There’s just one meta out there, and I’m hunkered down in here. I’ll be fine. Without this medicine, your sister will die.”
“Yes ma’am,” Alik said meekly.
And though she wasn’t even talking to him, hearing Margo’s sheer determination and spirit when she spoke brought out a “yes, ma’am,” from Creed, too.
“Do you want me to provide cover fire, again?” Margo had turned back to the window to peer into the darkness.
“I was hoping to just sneak out to the ambulance this time, but if she starts shooting, you go ahead and return fire,” Alik said calmly.