DECEMBER TWENTY-FIRST
NUMBER OF CASES: 8,004
NUMBER OF DEATHS: 41
Helen Morales’s first order of business after returning from lunch was to place a call to the surgeon general. For the better part of an hour, she briefed Brickell on the medical and political state of things at Southeastern State and their probable impact on the rest of the country.
When she was finished, she called Jack and Madison and asked them to join her in Tess’s room.
“How’s she doing?” Helen asked
“About the same,” Madison answered. “No signs at all of improvement as yet, I’m afraid. But’s it’s only been twenty-four hours.”
She turned to Jack. “How’s Mike holding up?”
“Poorly.”
Helen pressed her palms together. “Needless to say, Hollis Sinclair is still pretty angry.”
“What a surprise,” Madison said.
“He’s made sure all the hospital board members know that he will be the one directing the national program of Vitracide treatment and that Southeastern State University School of Medicine would be recognized as the key player in the cure of GNS. He’s certainly intimated that he will be closely involved in deciding where and when the drug will be distributed.”
“Is there a specific reason that Jack and I haven’t been asked to attend any of these meetings that seem to be taking place every two hours?”
“There are several,” Helen answered flatly without further explanation. As far as Jack was concerned, none was needed. “Let me fill you in on where we are now. At least through Christmas, we’ll be making no changes in the treatment plan. If Tess fails to show any signs of recovery, we will officially endorse a program of Vitracide therapy under the direction of Dr. Sinclair.”
“I’m not sure another few days is enough time to start seeing improvement,” Jack said.
“Unfortunately, that’s all the time we’ve got,” Helen stated again. “A little while ago, I called the surgeon general. She’s on board with the plan. She’s going to speak with the president later, but she thinks he’ll be comfortable waiting as well.”
“Did she have a sense of what the rest of the medical community in the country is thinking?” Jack asked.
“There’s still controversy, but there’s no question that most hospitals and physicians are feeling the pressure to start Vitracide. As much as I hate to say it, Hollis has done a yeoman’s job of rallying support for his parvovirus theory.” She looked down at her watch. “I’ve got to get going. Please call me immediately if there are any changes in Tess’s condition.”
Jack shuffled his feet and then rubbed his temple. He still believed the key to curing GNS was removing the thyroid. But he had dealt with enough neurologic diseases in his career to realize the recovery time for many of them took weeks and sometimes even months. Originally, he’d hoped for at least a week following surgery to see if Tess would show signs of recovery. At the moment, it didn’t seem like Helen thought that was going to happen.
Jack reminded himself to cling to a positive outlook, but he couldn’t deny the obvious—the clock was ticking, and before long Dr. Hollis Sinclair would get his way.