“Were you able to eat the soup?” asked Jeremy.
“Yep. I ate the soup and finished my new puzzle that I got me off that delivery site. I love me a good puzzle. Keeps the mind sharp if you know what I mean.”
“Yes, sir. Puzzles are a great way to keep the mind sharp. Do you ever do crossword puzzles or word search puzzles?” asked Jeremy.
“I do,” he nodded. “I’m eighty-one. Like to keep my mind sharp but I gotta admit whatever this is that’s makin’ me feel like ten-day old meatloaf, is kickin’ my butt.”
“I know how you feel,” smiled Jeremy. “I’m going to start an IV on you, Mr. Rabalais. You’re dehydrated and need some electrolytes and that’s the fastest way to get it to you. You stay right here and I’ll be back.”
“Okay,” he nodded. “Hey. I’m sorry I fussed at you. Just not feelin’ like myself.”
“I understand, Mr. Rabalais,” he grinned. “It’s going to be alright.”
Jeremy walked into the nurses station, Quentin and Ajei looking at him.
“How is he?” asked Ajei.
“He’s grumpy as shit but I can understand why,” said Jeremy. “Poor old guy is just feeling crappy. Same as the others. Started with dizziness, then some low-grade fever, nausea and now here he is.”
“What in the hell is going on here?” asked Quentin. “I’ve seen a lot of viruses and pandemics in my career but this is the weirdest. It seems confined to the local area for the most part. Nothing reported in neighboring states. It attacks some more aggressively than others, and it’s completely random.”
“Like a smart virus,” frowned Ajei. She stopped, looking at her two male counterparts. “Could that be possible?”
“Jesus, if it is, we’re in real trouble,” said Quentin. “I’ll call Suzette and Riley and see if it makes sense to them.”
After seeing a full book of patients by noon, the team had a short rest as they ate their lunch. When Riley and Suzette walked in, they all turned hoping to get some good news.
“Well?” asked Quentin.
“Nothing here indicates that this is a smart virus or a curated virus designed to go after specific types of people,” said Suzette. “The patient vitals and biology are too wide. Old, young, infant, Caucasian, black, Asian, they’re all different. There is nothing in common for these people.”
“Damn,” muttered Quentin. “I’d actually hoped that we might find something.”
“What about placing each patient in quarantine?” asked Jeremy. “Perhaps it’s spreading simply by exposure.”
“No,” said Ajei. “These patients are coming in from different parts of the city and parish. If they’re all, already sick, then there’s no reason to quarantine them. Especially since we haven’t experienced any issues yet.”
“I made a list and so far we’ve had no one who traveled abroad and no one who was exposed to farm animals outside of their own,” said Quentin.
“Yes, the data guys made a spreadsheet for us to cross check all of that. It’s definitely a mystery like I’ve never seen before,” said Ajei. “Although maybe we’re asking the wrong people.”
“What do you mean?” said Jeremy.
“I mean, we have a new ghost that’s been here a very long time and was cursed by a witch. Maybe he remembers something, or Franklin, Martha, or the others.”
“It’s worth a try,” said Quentin. Ajei called for their friendly spirits to step forward into the cafeteria. They were all smiling, waving at those around them.
“How can we help you, Ajei?” asked Martha.
“This virus that’s going around is very puzzling to us. We’re losing about a fifth of our patients, and the others are sick for days. Yet we still can’t find a cause for this. Have you seen anything like this before in the area?” she asked.
“We always had malaria and of course, what you now call the flu,” said Martha. Marcel walked up to the group smiling.
“I realize I’m no longer a spirit but I do remember much of my time before becoming a ghost. The obvious responses were the outbreaks for smallpox, but it doesn’t appear that your patients are suffering from those symptoms.”
“No,” frowned Quentin, “they aren’t but what if it was a mutated version? Is that possible?”
“At this point, I won’t rule anything out,” said Suzette.
