clipboard and swallowed hard. So many names, so much information to gather. She gave him her best smile. ‘This will be fine, Donovan. I’ll give you a shout if I run into any problems.’
He gave her a tight-lipped smile. Maybe not. Looked like she’d better deal with any problems herself. She pressed the clipboard to her chest. ‘See you soon.’ She kept the smile plastered on her face as she walked down the corridor. She could almost feel his eyes drilling a hole into her back.
She could do this. She could. Sleep was for amateurs.
* * *
He was watching her again. Watching the swing of her hips in that red dress. Darn it. He needed to tell her to change into a pair of scrubs. That way most of her curves would be hidden beneath the pale green material and he could concentrate on the things he needed to.
The Marburg Virus outbreak was much worse than first expected. One fatality already and a whole host of possibilities with a class of kindergarten kids all exposed. He’d already reported to Callum Ferguson, who was organising another team to come and assist. In the meantime, he had to try and get a handle on how to treat these patients and stop the spread of the virus. This place was a logistical nightmare. The lab facilities were basic. The staff were already run off their feet. Judging by the number of people in the ER they were going to run out of beds soon. The hospital facilities were fair, but there were no specialist facilities for any of the kids if their conditions deteriorated quickly.
Above all, he needed to communicate with the staff who were here. And he needed to do it quickly to make sure everyone was working from the same page.
John appeared at his side. ‘We need to have a briefing for staff. Can you collect all the available staff on duty and we’ll give them an overview of what we’re dealing with and how they can contain the risk and stay safe?’
John moved quickly. He was used to this, and he was a professional. Donovan could rely on him.
In around ten minutes the staff were gathered in one of the large nearby treatment rooms. There were around twenty of them—some nurses, some care assistants, two onsite doctors, admin staff and the hospital director. Most of them looked anxious and at least one woman was heavily pregnant.
Donovan stood in the doorway. ‘Hi, folks. Thanks for stopping for a few moments. I’m Donovan Reid, a team leader at the Disease Prevention Agency. David Coles is working in your lab, John here will be doing case histories and Grace Barclay, one of our doctors, will be reviewing the patients and looking at symptom control.
‘Most of you already know that we suspect we’re dealing with the Marburg virus. We’ve had two confirmed laboratory cases and we’re waiting for the results of others. Marburg virus can also be called Marburg haemorrhagic fever. We treat it the same way we treat other viral haemorrhagic fevers. Most patients are infected at source.’ He glanced over at John. ‘We’re still establishing where that it is, but at the moment we suspect it’s some bat caves in the local state park. Previous sources of infection for this virus have been African fruit bats.’ All eyes in the room were watching him. He wanted to make this brief but comprehensible.
‘The incubation period is between three and ten days, followed by a sudden onset of symptoms. These can include a rash over the trunk, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, chest pain and abdominal pain. More severe symptoms include jaundice, delirium, haemorrhaging, inflammation of the pancreas and liver failure.’ He ran his hands through his hair. It didn’t matter that there were over twenty people crammed into this room. Right now you could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was hanging on his every word.
‘There is no magic cure for the virus. We don’t have a vaccine against it. We can only treat the symptoms. Maintain fluid balances, give oxygen therapy, replace lost blood and clotting
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley