students did not have the same level of contact with the John Doe as Perry Stanton. Stanton got a slab of his skin stapled onto an open burn.”
“That still doesn’t explain Stanton’s violent explosion.
Neither of the med students reacted violently—” Scully waved her hand. “Viruses can affect different people differently—and especially a virus like this. Lethargica attacks areas of the brain, as well as the meninges, the brain’s covering. There’s no way to predict how a specific individual might react. During the 1922 outbreak, forty percent of those infected died. This time, we’re looking at a much worse percentage—but at least 97
THE X-FILES
the disease has been confined to two people who had close contact with the carrier. That means the virus hasn’t changed its mode of transmission.” Mulder pushed his feet off the side of the cot, stretching his calves. He was becoming more alert by the second.
He hoped Scully was as refreshed as he was—because in his mind, the case was nowhere near over. “You mean it’s blood-borne. Like HIV.”
Scully nodded. “That’s right. It’s transmitted only by blood-to-blood contact. The 1922 version was also sometimes carried by mosquitoes, or biting flies—but that’s extremely rare.”
Mulder reached out and touched one of Scully’s gloved hands. “Scully, both the med students were wearing gloves. How do you explain the blood-to-blood contact? A swarm of mosquitoes in the ER?”
“Latex gloves aren’t a hundred percent protection.
And a skin harvest is a messy procedure.” Mulder still thought it was remarkable that both students had become so sick—so quickly—while the plastic surgery team, which had worked invasively with the harvested skin, had remained healthy. “It doesn’t seem right, Scully. Even if the virus links the med students to the John Doe—we don’t have any proof of a link to Perry Stanton. If Dr. Bernstein was sick, maybe—but he’s not.
The only thing that connects the John Doe to Perry Stanton is the circular red rash.” Scully rose slowly from the cot and took the contact sheet out of Mulder’s hands. “We won’t know for sure 98
Skin
until we’ve got Stanton in custody. I’ve explained the precautions to Barrett—gloves, surgical masks, limited contact—and she assures me they’ll have him within the next hour. By then, the investigator from the CDC will be here to confirm the lethargica, and this tragedy will come to a close.”
Mulder ran his hands through his hair. He didn’t say what he was thinking—that this tragedy was nowhere near the final act. Likewise, he doubted even Barrett would have such an easy time bringing in a man who had shoved an IV rack a few feet into a hospital wall.
Instead, he pressed his fingers against the side of his jaw, testing the stiffness. Then he rose from the cot. “Personally, Scully, I don’t think the CDC is going to make this case any clearer. You can follow the lethargica angle as far as it’s going to go; in the meantime, I’m going to find out more about our John Doe.” Scully raised her eyebrows. “Mulder, we’ve already gone through his chart a half dozen times. The interns didn’t know what was wrong with him—and until we’ve got a body and an autopsy, there isn’t much more we can discover about his death.”
Mulder headed toward the door. “I’m not interested in how he died, Scully. I want to know how he ended up in a medical chart in the first place.” Mulder arrived in the ER just as the trauma team crashed through the double doors. He counted at least six people crowded around the stretcher: the burly chief resident, a 99
THE X-FILES
surgical consult in green scrubs, two nurses—and at the tail end of the stretcher, two thickset men in dark blue paramedic uniforms. The smaller of the two was holding a bottle of blood above his shoulder as he raced to keep up with an IV tube attached to the patient’s right thigh.
The larger
“That still doesn’t explain Stanton’s violent explosion.
Neither of the med students reacted violently—” Scully waved her hand. “Viruses can affect different people differently—and especially a virus like this. Lethargica attacks areas of the brain, as well as the meninges, the brain’s covering. There’s no way to predict how a specific individual might react. During the 1922 outbreak, forty percent of those infected died. This time, we’re looking at a much worse percentage—but at least 97
THE X-FILES
the disease has been confined to two people who had close contact with the carrier. That means the virus hasn’t changed its mode of transmission.” Mulder pushed his feet off the side of the cot, stretching his calves. He was becoming more alert by the second.
He hoped Scully was as refreshed as he was—because in his mind, the case was nowhere near over. “You mean it’s blood-borne. Like HIV.”
Scully nodded. “That’s right. It’s transmitted only by blood-to-blood contact. The 1922 version was also sometimes carried by mosquitoes, or biting flies—but that’s extremely rare.”
Mulder reached out and touched one of Scully’s gloved hands. “Scully, both the med students were wearing gloves. How do you explain the blood-to-blood contact? A swarm of mosquitoes in the ER?”
“Latex gloves aren’t a hundred percent protection.
And a skin harvest is a messy procedure.” Mulder still thought it was remarkable that both students had become so sick—so quickly—while the plastic surgery team, which had worked invasively with the harvested skin, had remained healthy. “It doesn’t seem right, Scully. Even if the virus links the med students to the John Doe—we don’t have any proof of a link to Perry Stanton. If Dr. Bernstein was sick, maybe—but he’s not.
The only thing that connects the John Doe to Perry Stanton is the circular red rash.” Scully rose slowly from the cot and took the contact sheet out of Mulder’s hands. “We won’t know for sure 98
Skin
until we’ve got Stanton in custody. I’ve explained the precautions to Barrett—gloves, surgical masks, limited contact—and she assures me they’ll have him within the next hour. By then, the investigator from the CDC will be here to confirm the lethargica, and this tragedy will come to a close.”
Mulder ran his hands through his hair. He didn’t say what he was thinking—that this tragedy was nowhere near the final act. Likewise, he doubted even Barrett would have such an easy time bringing in a man who had shoved an IV rack a few feet into a hospital wall.
Instead, he pressed his fingers against the side of his jaw, testing the stiffness. Then he rose from the cot. “Personally, Scully, I don’t think the CDC is going to make this case any clearer. You can follow the lethargica angle as far as it’s going to go; in the meantime, I’m going to find out more about our John Doe.” Scully raised her eyebrows. “Mulder, we’ve already gone through his chart a half dozen times. The interns didn’t know what was wrong with him—and until we’ve got a body and an autopsy, there isn’t much more we can discover about his death.”
Mulder headed toward the door. “I’m not interested in how he died, Scully. I want to know how he ended up in a medical chart in the first place.” Mulder arrived in the ER just as the trauma team crashed through the double doors. He counted at least six people crowded around the stretcher: the burly chief resident, a 99
THE X-FILES
surgical consult in green scrubs, two nurses—and at the tail end of the stretcher, two thickset men in dark blue paramedic uniforms. The smaller of the two was holding a bottle of blood above his shoulder as he raced to keep up with an IV tube attached to the patient’s right thigh.
The larger
Similar Books
