Page 46 of Viral Justice

Max pulled out six sterile swabs for collecting mucus and set them aside. He then went through all the bags and pulled out IV sets and bags of saline. Of all the symptoms the patients seemed to be experiencing, dehydration was the easiest to combat. A liter of fluid would go a long way to helping the sick survive long enough for the flu virus to run its course.

As long as there were enough trained people to set up the IVs.

If Dr. Beaulieu was dead, who was left to treat the sick?

Cornett came into the room and looked at all the stuff on the floor. He seemed only mildly curious.

“Do you have medical training?” Max asked him.

“Some,” he replied. “But not enough to put one of those into someone’s vein. I’m here to determine the needs of areas like this one. Food, shelter, and other necessities. I’ve already told my people not to send anyone else here. Until you determine what’s causing the deaths, they’re going to coordinate with the UN and the WHO to make sure no one else sends in relief teams.”

“Good. The last thing this place needs is more people. Any other doctors or nurses in the village?”

“A couple, but we’re overrun.” Cornett’s face turned bleak for a moment and he looked like he was about to be sick. “There were more, but when I went looking for them, I couldn’t find them. Their tent, yes. Them, no.”

Max sighed. “I didn’t come here with the intention of running a hospital.”

“How could anyone plan for this?”

Max considered the situation. If these people didn’t get help now, a lot of them were going to die. He had only a finite number of IV sets and when they were gone, they were gone.

Tom was standing with Bull in the doorway.

“Tom,” Max said.

The Special Forces soldier strode over and crouched next to him. “Yeah?”

“You and I are going to triage the people in this house. I need to collect samples and you’re going to set up IVs for as many as you can. Got it?”

Max turned to Cornett. “You’re going to get a cot or whatever set up in here for yourself and lie down. I need someone in this room to keep an eye on the equipment when I have to step out. Okay?”

“Yes, cousin,” Cornett said in Arabic.

Max glanced out the door. A couple of men stood there arguing with Bull about talking to a doctor. They were staring at the IV sets and bags of saline.

Cornett walked over to them. “This is my cousin, a doctor in a hospital in the city. He took some supplies with him when he left, but it wasn’t enough. So many more people are sick today than yesterday.”

One of the men said, “Give it to the children. To my son. He’s twelve years old and strong, but now he lies on the ground breathing like a winded horse. His lips are blue.”

Max paused.Rapid breathing resulting in not enough oxygen?He stood and joined them in the hallway. “Take me to your son.”

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