Kathy handed Sophie a fresh shirt. Together, they moved Michael back to his bed.
“He pulled everything out.” Anjali held up the urinary catheter in disbelief. Kathy and Anjali rethreaded the lines and connected the monitors back up. “His temp is down to about 103. Definitely moving in the right direction. We’re going to need a lot more of both of these meds. I’ll get Meha on that when she gets up. We’ve got a camp to medicate.”
She turned back to Sophie to order her back to bed, but she had vanished. Anjali did a quick spin in a circle. No Sophie. Kathy gestured back to the other bed where Sophie lay, already asleep. Anjali smiled and shook her head.
“Maybe now they’ll both stay in their own beds.”
Chapter 9
February 12, 2014
Sophie woke when the sun rose, exhausted, disoriented, and suffering from a pounding headache. None of which mattered when she rolled over in bed and saw Michael’s sleeping form just a few feet away. She climbed out of her bed and padded over to his.
“Good morning, Mikael.” She softly touched the side of his face. “You are safe. I am here.” The last thing she wanted to do was leave him – even for an hour – but she had work to do before the coalition departed for Parnaas for the day. She would not be joining them, not today, not ever again.
“Sophie?” She looked up to see the nurse from last night, Kathy, watching her with curious eyes. “Dr. Shah has prescribed IV antibiotics for you.”
“Which you can administer later,” Sophie replied. “I have work to do first.” She stepped into the hallway and found her two Soviet soldiers standing near the door. They looked about as well rested as she felt. Both regarded her with caution. She broke the watchful silence.
“Let us talk.”
-
When she returned to the infirmary after briefing the Rev on how to handle the Commandant, Anjali was waiting for her.
“That had better not be your whole breakfast,” the doctor said, gesturing to the half-eaten protein bar in Sophie’s hand. “And what are we going to do with those two?” Anjali jerked her thumb at the guards sitting outside the infirmary.
“They’re going to hang out here today. They promise not to bring the guns anywhere near you or Michael, and they’ll smoke outside. I’ve told them to help themselves to food. The kid with the dark hair is Sevastian, and the blond one is Sergei. They’re terrified of you, so take it easy on them.”
“These guys work for Der Kommissar himself. Aren’t they a security risk?”
“Not in my opinion.” Sophie sat down and opened her laptop. “If anyone is concerned, just send them around. I’ll talk to them.”
Anjali stared at her in astonishment, then shook her head and called for a nurse to hook Sophie up to an intravenous line to receive her meds. “Fine,” the doctor said. “But tell them if either of them puts a toe out of line, I’ll carve something on their foreheads.”
-
The Rev and the medical team headed into Parnaas at first light to start administering the antibiotics to the pneumonia cases. Sophie had given the Rev a number of suggestions on how he could play up the discovery of their “illicit” vaccine with the Commandant. They needed time, time to get Vanguard well enough to travel, time to figure out how to get him to freedom. Anjali stayed behind to scrounge more supplies and keep an eye on Michael.
Sophie worked on her computer in the infirmary until she couldn’t keep her eyes open. She lay back in her hospital bed wishing she could remove the annoying IV. Just a quick nap…
After what felt like two minutes of sleep, she awoke to the sound of people trying and failing to be quiet. She attempted to roll over to find the source of the noise, but couldn’t move. Something very hot and heavy held her in place.
“Sorry, Sophie,” Anjali’s voice sounded above her. “Just bear with us for a minute here.”