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Except for nurses coming in to check Chance's vitals every few hours, I was left alone. I was exhausted and hyped-up at the same time. It wasn't pretty. The boredom is what had pushed me to call Agent Driscoll and then my sister. I guess it was a good thing that I called Gracie Layne, but now I had to wonder why she was able to hand the phone over to Dr. Wainwright.
A text from Laurie told me Tom was on his way with dinner from Hairy's. Gracie Layne texted that she'd explain everything soon. Agent Driscoll texted that he'd see me in the morning.
I was making another circuit of the small room, when my phone rang. "This is Everly," I said.
"Hi, Em. It's Cassie. How's Chance doing?"
"He's been out for hours and his fever was nearly 105 the last time the nurse checked it. How's Jared doing?"
"Pretty much the same. I didn't know if you'd talked to Wainwright or not. I got a message that said he'd be here soon."
"That's good. I did talk to him briefly. He was somewhere in Tennessee I think, so closer to you than me. Hopefully, once he can examine Jared, he'll be able to figure something out that will help Chance too."
"It sure seems like they're both reacting to the medication he gave them."
"How well do you know Dr. Wainwright?" I asked.
"Not well at all. It's sort of the same as it was with Dr. Bellamy. I've only really had any contact with him during the same ops that you were involved with. Why?"
"I just keep looking at that tube of medicine and wondering if he was experimenting and decided to skip that whole pesky clinical trials requirement."
"You're thinking maybe he concocted the medication based on the medicine used on our wounds and decided to use it on the guys. I can't believe he'd be that unprofessional."
"If I find out that's what happened, he'll regret the role he played in returning me to good health."
"I'll be right there with you, if that's that case. Mr. Meecham would definitely not be supportive of that sort of dangerous experimentation."
"Maybe I'm just seeing conspiracies everywhere these days. I'm sure he'll know how to treat Jared and Chance and get them back on track."
"Yeah. I'm sure that's what will happen. I'll talk to you after they sort out all the medical stuff."
Tom walked in while I was talking to Cassie. After I finished my call, he said, "I brought you a Hairy's fried Chicken dinner and Sally sent the biggest cup of sweet tea she could find. She said to call if you need a delivery."
"Thanks, Tom," I said, as I took a sip of my sweet tea. I pulled over Chance's bedside table and set the container on it. "Did you already eat?"
"I’m good. You go ahead and eat. How's Chance doing?"
"He's still running a fever, and he hasn't woken up. We finally tracked down the BITES doctor. He was in Tennessee, so he's headed to the hospital in Texas where Jared is. I'm hopeful that he'll know how to treat both of them."
We talked quietly while I ate. Tom got up and threw my trash away. "Are you sure you're doing OK?"
"I think so. I'm just worried about Chance. His wounds were pretty minor. It never should have caused this serious a problem."
"I'll stay with Chance if you want to go home and get some sleep."
"I know you would, and I appreciate the offer, but I'm not leaving him until we know what's going on. I'm hoping we'll hear from Dr. Wainwright in the next few hours."
"Is there anything I can get for you to make you more comfortable?"
I shook my head. "I packed stuff. I knew we might be here a while."
"Call when you find out what's going on or if there's any change in his condition," Tom said. "I'll be back to check on you in the morning."
I walked out to the parking lot with him. It felt good to breathe fresh air and stretch my legs. I hugged Tom and walked back to the hospital entrance as I watched him pull out of the parking lot and turn toward Wilkins' Gap.
I pulled open the door and went back to Chance's room. I bent down and kissed his forehead. He was still running a fever.