Free The Virus by Steven Spellman Page B

the complete and total annihilation of all life on our
planet.”

Chapter 9
    “I need a heart monitor in here right
now!” the doctor yelled.
    “And get me an oxygen machine!”
another demanded.
    The scene was chaotic, nurses and
assistants rushing in every direction, struggling to gather
machines and medical materials that were being screamed for much
more quickly than they could be produced. Meanwhile, Delilah gazed
on at the entire scene with an unusual mixture of pleasure and
panic. She was well-used to being fussed over. Her father always
made sure that she had a virtual army of chefs, beauticians, maids,
and even surrogate shoppers to do just that, but the chaos that was
ensuing over her now—the only thing she had done was alerted the
doctor that she was feeling a little out of breath—was quite
alarming. Just outside her monotonously white room, she saw white
suited professionals stumbling over each other to retrieve the
things that were being yelled for.
    In her room, three male doctors were
doing the yelling. One stood beside her bed checking her pulse,
another stood at two large windows that faced the hall in the front
of the room, from which she watched an intermittent haze of white
uniforms rush to and fro. A third stood at a large mirror recessed
into a side wall of the room. He was mouthing something to the
mirror, but in the blur of bodies and voices surrounding her,
Delilah didn’t think too much of it. One of the scrambling white
suited people rushed in with a machine that had been yelled
for.
    “Get the hell out of here!”
the doctor near the window yelled savagely. “ No one is
to enter this room except us!”
    The bewildered orderly,
looked as if he was about to ask where the doctor wanted the
machine then, but he didn’t get a chance, because the doctor
interrupted by roaring, “I said, get the hell out of here, now ! And tell the others
to leave whatever we call for out in the hallway! No one is to enter this room except us!” Once the
unfortunate, and confused, intruder backed out of the room, the
doctor turned to Delilah. The smile on his face looked forced. “I’m
sincerely sorry about that, Ms. Hanson.” The doctor said. He spread
his hands in exasperation. “Help. I’m sure you can
relate.”
    Delilah didn’t open her
mouth to answer. The only thing that was going through her head
was, What the hell is going on? Meanwhile, the first doctor continued to check
her pulse. The second, the one who was talking to the mirror,
walked over as well. He looked at the first doctor questioningly.
“Pulse is slightly higher than normal.” The other answered the
silent inquiry.
    “I thought so,” said the mirror
whispering doctor. “I think we should step outside for a
moment.”
    “But…” the other began to
reply.
    “I think we should step
outside for a moment .” Interrupted the
first, through bared teeth. The pulse checking doctor finally got
the hint and all three headed to the door. Neither of them bothered
to answer a single question plaguing Delilah’s mind, as they did
so. The door didn’t shut all the way after they exited and Delilah
heard them talking just outside. “We cannot upset this patient in any
way, form, or fashion. We all know that, so what the hell is going
on here?” Delilah listened on, excited at the prospect of getting
some questions answered. “We need machines and supplies, but I’ve
already told these damned orderlies a hundred times to never
enter…”
    “Well, first of all,” returned the
first voice. Delilah felt dreamy and slightly tired and couldn’t
tell who was talking to whom, “they’re not orderlies, they’re
government certified security clearance worthy nurses.” Delilah
couldn’t tell which of the doctors was talking, but she could tell
by the thick, insubordinate tone, that this latest bit of
information was fodder that the doctors had been reminded of
countless times. Delilah could all but see eyes rolling in disgust
even as