“Okay.”
Cruz and Doc took sterilized glass pitchers to the pond and filled them with the water. They carefully brought it back to the clinic and small cups were filled with tiny amounts of the liquid.
Each patient was given two ibuprofen and told that it was simply to help reduce their fever, aches, and pains.
Then, they waited and watched each patient. By midnight, the fevers were under control. By 0400, no one was vomiting, no one was experiencing abdominal pain or diarrhea. By 0700, they were sitting up in their beds and asking for food.
“Was it successful?” asked JT watching his wife sign a stack of charts. She looked up, smiling at him.
“These are discharge papers for all forty-six patients. All of them, JT. It worked,” she said standing to hug him.
He lifted her, kissing his beautiful wife who once fought for her own life due to cancer. Now, she was leading the medical teams and treating the mysterious disease everyone feared.
“I knew you’d do it, babe,” he said kissing her again.
“We’re so fortunate. We won’t be able to tell anyone how it happened but we did it,” she said confidently.
“What happens when new patients come in? Do we keep giving them the water?” he asked.
“I hadn’t really thought about that, but yes, I suppose we do.” JT frowned, nodding his head.
“Babe, is that wise? You still don’t know who patient zero is which means we still don’t know where this is coming from. It could continue to be an issue until we discover that.”
“I know, JT but I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“Honey, I know that,” he said pulling her onto his lap as he took a seat in the big desk chair. “I know that you had to do something. But this might have opened some doors that you can’t close.”
She stared at him, then looked out the window, scanning the property. The cottages in the distance were all billowing the smoke of wood burning in the fireplaces. The winds were howling, as if they knew something was coming but she did not.
“I don’t know what I’m doing, JT. Maybe I’m not ready for this role. I mean, we’re trying. Me, Jane, our new docs and nurses, we’re all trying but what if we can’t maintain the level of care that Riley and Gabi and the others did?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Cruz standing in the doorway. “Sorry. I was going to let you know the beds are all empty, the patients are gone and we’ve sanitized the rooms. For now, we have a break and you should get some sleep.
“But. Don’t be ridiculous. You’re ready for this. All of you are ready for this and you’re doing an amazing job. You did what you had to do, Kennedy. So far, it’s worked. If we get a rebound of patients, we’ll figure it out.”
She stood from JT’s lap and kissed Cruz on the cheek.
“Thank you, Cruz. I needed to hear that,” she smiled.
“Any time, honey. Now get that big idiot to take you to dinner and then take a hot bath and get some rest. I have a feeling that this isn’t over with yet.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
With the four new Legacy leaders now living in the big house, there were some minor changes being made to the interior. They were determined to not touch the actual structure of the home, just modifying some of the décor.
The challenge for the women was they really didn’t know what they wanted to change. The furniture was all antique furniture. The paintings and other artworks were priceless. So, how do you change what, in essence, is a museum?
“I can’t make any decisions on this,” said Luke shaking his head. “You have to remember that this was my first real home. When mom and dad adopted us, this place was what brought us peace, safety and security. I have memories of everything in this damn house.”
“Then we don’t change a thing,” said Hex. “It’s a beautiful home and I don’t want to change anything. I consider myself fortunate to live here.”
“Same,” said Eric. “I have the same memories as you do. Coming here from Virginia was always a blast. We used to play hide and seek in the attic.”
“I remember that,” smirked Cam. “That damn attic has hundreds of thousands, if not millions, worth of artwork, furniture and shit I don’t even know how to pronounce. I can’t believe Irene let us play up there.”
“It’s a part of growing up here,” smiled Luke.
He walked slowly from one room to the other, stopping in the kitchen. There was nothing to be done there. His grandmother had updated the kitchen a few years before with restaurant quality appliances, gorgeous countertops, and beautiful new colors.
