Contagious (25 page)

<><><><>

There was no instruction manual. No CDC pamphlet entitled, ‘So you have the Flu’. Nothing to give Ava any indication as to what was happening with Calvin.

She knew one thing. The boy was sick. He was so sick.

He wanted to cough so badly and his body fought to do so. But the only thing he could do was wheeze air in and getting it back out was a struggle. It was a high pitched squeal sound that shot into his lungs and a snap and choke was his exhale.

Each cycle was worse. She doubted he was even conscious enough to be aware, or at least she prayed that was the case. But his body reacted and panicked. His body convulsed as he fought to breathe, to expel whatever it was that blocked his lungs....to get one good gasp of air.

No human being should suffer like that.

She thought of the parents who had held their children in plagues of the past.

Bubonic, Spanish Flu. She supposed they had felt as helpless as she did now.

Calvin’s eyes opened as he went into a last fight to breathe. His arms extended, grabbing for something. She could see his eyes fought to focus.

“Calvin, it’s okay. I’m here.”

Wheeze. Wheeze. Wheeze. Gasp.

She didn’t know what to do, how to help him. There wasn’t anything she could do for him but be there and comfort him.

When Calvin vomited, and it wasn’t a lot, Ava knew.

The bloody regurgitation was a sign. Ava didn’t need to be a doctor or have a pamphlet to know Calvin was going to die. There was no turning back. No saving him. His body had battled but was losing the fight.

In the best comfort move she could, after cleaning up Calvin and making him comfortable, Ava climbed into bed and braced the teenage boy against her. His back to her chest, holding him upright, cradling him. Hoping he could breathe.

He rested.

How long were they like that?

It had to have been after midnight, when Ava heard the knock on the door.

Joel called out. “It’s me.” The
n he stepped into the room. “I came to change his IV. I’m still not good at it.”

Ava’s voice cracked, she kissed Calvin’s head and glanced up to Joel as he approached the bed. “You don’t need to.”

“Yeah, it’s important, Ava. We have to keep him hydrated.”

“He’s gone, Joel. He just passed away a few minutes ago.”

Joel’s head immediately lowered. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry.”

Ava closed her eyes tightly. “Me, too. But he’s done suffering. I’m gonna hold him for a little more. Then Rayne can come for him. How .
.. how is Landon?”

Joel cleared his throat. “He’s sleeping.”

Ava nodded. “When he wakes up and is awake fully. I need to see him.”

“Maybe you should go down and see him.”

Ava shook her head and wiped her eyes. “No. I can’t do that. He needs to come. Figure out a way I can see him. Hear him. Tell him I love him.”

“Ava, if you disinfect and …”

“It’s not that,” Ava said with a squeak to her voice. “I can’t, Joel. I can’t.” She coughed, then coughed again. “Because I’m sick now too.”

It was cold all night at Scooter’s Motor Mart. Cold and dark. Amita found an old suit jacket in the closet, one that smelled like dust and cigarette smoke, but it would keep her warm. She made a bed in the back of the small trailer office building and slept deeply.

During her dream, just before she woke up, she dreamed of someone coughing.

They were coughing horribly and then as she teetered in between that sleep and waking state, she knew it wasn’t a dream someone was coughing, loud long and continuous.

They were in close proximity to her; close enough for Amita to hear. As she woke up, just before she opened her eyes, she worried someone else had slipped into Scooter’s Motor Mart. Someone ill.

She opened her eyes and sat up.

Her eyes hurt.

And at that moment she realized it wasn’t a dream, there was someone coughing … her.

Sitting up straight, she started to cough and choke. Her throat was raw and a continuous tickle streamed down the back of her throat causing her to cough some more.

She shivered out of control, more than likely the fever.

Amita, without a doubt, had the virus.

Her bottle of water, sat on the desk, she grabbed it and took a drink. It barely passed down her throat.

Coat wrapped around her, Amita grabbed the keys to the blue Honda. With her water in hand, she stepped outside.

There was an eerie quiet to the predawn morning. No cars, no movement, no lights.

There was just a feeling of ‘final’ that hung over the town.

Staggering, Amita walked to the blue car. She had prepped it the night before.

Even if the sun wasn’t up, it was time to go. Time to drive. No matter how much of a task it was. Sick or not, she had to try. She had to see her family, even if at a distance, one more time, before Amita, like the rest of the infected … died.

<><><><>

“Stop it, Rayne, stop it.” Bianca scolded as Rayne moved recently deceased. He was pushing the cots hard to the corner of the room. “This isn’t helping matters, and it’s disrespectful to the people that just passed away.”

“I can’t do this.” Rayne shook his head. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Then don’t. Stop. It’ll be over soon.”

A moan of pain escaped Rayne.

Bianca walked to him. “I know this hurts. You of all people have done so much. Take a break, Rayne. Stop.”

“It’s not fair.”

“No, it’s not. It’s not fair to anyone. To him…” Bianca pointed to a body, “or to her.” She pointed to a woman who was sick. “What about him?” She pointed to the man who was recovering. “He’s gonna wake up to everyone being gone. It’s not fair.”

“Ava didn’t even look at me. She walked out of the room and went into another.”

“She’s sick.”

Rayne’s head lowered. “What do I tell Landon?”

“You tell him nothing. You hear. Nothing. You do as she requested. When he wakes up, when he gets his wits about him, you take him to see her. You let his mother tell him.”

“How are you being so strong?”

“I’m not.” Bianca reached out and grabbed Rayne’s wrist. “Trust me I’m not. The only thing that keeps me strong is Joel. I thank God, every day that my husband was spared.”

“He was pretty upset last night
,” Rayne said.

“Yes, he was.” Bianca stated. “My heart broke for him. Like you, he thought Ava was spared. Speaking of which …” Bianca looked down to her watch. “I’m gonna go wake him. He’ll be upset if I let him sleep too long. Do you mind?”

“No. I’ll start taking the bodies out.”

“You don’t have to.”

Rayne glanced around. “Yeah, I do.”

Bianca squeezed his wrist one more time. “This will be done soon.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know.” Bianca spoke honestly, then turned and walked from the
ballroom.

<><><><>

The empty tube of Ben Gay was on the night stand, Joel had used the last of it a few hours earlier when he tried to get some sleep. He had the worst migraine he had in a long time. One so bad it throbbed pain with every beat of his heart.

What little sleep he got was interrupted by the horrendous headache. He wanted to go back to sleep but he couldn’t. When he decided to go to bed, people were passing away quickly. He could only imagine what occurred in the few hours he was away.

He tried the healthy person in room 424. Knocking on their door asking for them to help. They declined, simply stating, “Go away, I’m not coming out until this is done.”

Fair enough.

A part of Joel didn’t blame him.

He sat on the side of the bed, rubbing his temples wishing the Ben Gay would work. The headache was so bad it caused a knot in his stomach. He grabbed his bottle of water as he stood.

He was dizzy. Joel didn’t think much about taking that gulp of water, until it stuck somewhere mid esophagus and his body rejected it.

He felt it coming back and Joel flew to the dimly lit bathroom, slid in some, dropped to his knees, hovered
over the commode and vomited.

The humongous regurgitation erupted from his gut and poured from his mouth violently. It was one long upheaval that took forever to stop.

Eyes watering, gasping and gagging, Joel reached blindly for the toilet paper roll and pulled a long strand of sheets.

In a wad he brought it to his mouth and wiped.

Something was wrong.

Slowly Joel brought the wad to his scope of vision. When he looked down at the toilet paper, his heart sank, his hand shook and his head throbbed worse.

Blood.

There was blood smeared on the toilet paper.

No. No-no.

Fearful, but knowing he had to, Joel looked down to the bowl.

The entire bowl was filled with nothing but blood.

Suddenly, the headache made sense. It was that bad, he felt … that bad.

“Joel, honey?” Bianca called out softly. “Honey are you awake?”

Hearing her voice made Joel panic. He shook uncontrollably and Joel closed his eyes tighter.

“Joel.” Her voice grew closer.

“Stay away!” Joel yelled, choking on the words, fighting to say them.

“What?” She asked, then gasped as she reached the bathroom door. “Joel. Oh my God.”

Joel swung back his hand. “Stay away. Stay back. Please. Stay away!” He grabbed hold of the bowl, his voice buried in the depths of the toilet. Uncontrolled, his body heaved forward and Joel violently vomited again. Gasping and weak, he held on to the rim. “I’m sick.” He raised his dark eyes to her. “I’m so sick.”

Amita expected traffic to be all going south. She expected the highway to be jammed packed. It wasn’t. There were cars, hundreds of them that had pulled over. Amita slowed down enough to see people in the cars. Most were not moving. They probably had become too sick to drive any longer.

Amita was pushing that point. Her head pounded, her eyes lost focus and so many times, she had to slow down to cough. The coughing spells were violent and long.

Two positive things occurred on the way down there.

The first was the radio. The Emergency Broadcasting system was up and running. There was more news being delivered than just ‘the following cities will be bombed in an attempt to control the virus’.

The President stated, “While my own wife is ill, I can sympathize with all of you. I implore you all to stay home, stay inside. Have no contact. This virus will pass. It will weaken. Rest assured they are working around the clock to find a viable cure. I know, there are many who believe the clean sweep and burning out of our own cities was extreme. I believe though, history will view it differently. Our future generations will thank us for going to any measure to ensure the continuity of mankind.”

The message from the President angered her. Amita was supposed to be working on it. Maybe in a sense she was responsible. Perhaps she dismissed the Bangladesh virus too soon or as a level three and not a five. Was she not thorough enough? Apparently not if the virus broke borders and now was global. And it wasn’t just a global pandemic, it was a global nightmare.

The second positive thing that occurred was she got a signal on the phone.

She powered it up one last time, knowing her battery was near dead. The flashing red icon reiterated that and then she noticed a signal.

There had been signals before but all circuits were busy. This time, she didn’t get that message. She heard ringing.

“Amita,” Tony gushed as he answered.

She whimpered a cry and then against what she wanted to do, she coughed.

“Oh my God, are you sick?” he asked.

“Yes.” She sobbed once then coughed again.

“I’m so sorry, baby.”

“I’m on my way.”

Silence.

“Tony? Tony are you there?”

“What do you mean you’re on your way?”

“I’m almost in West Virginia. I need to see you and the baby and my mother.”

“Amita, listen to me …”

“I’m not going to beat this. I need to see you one more time.”

“Amita, you can not come.”

“What?” she gaped out in shock.

“Listen to me. For as much as I love you, I love our son.”

“I’m not going to come near you. Just pull close enough ….”

“You can’t.” He cut her off. “Amita, it’s irresponsible. You of all people know this. The virus … it’s not here. It’s not on the mountain, it’s not on the camp grounds anywhere around here. You can
not
, even remotely bring that germ here.”

“How can you say this to me?” She cried. “I’m sick.”

“I know. But right now, our son is fine. I can’t take that chance. You won’t even make it up Holly Road.”

“What do you mean?”

“They have volunteers at the end of the road. It’s the only way up here. They’re keeping watch. It pains me, it breaks my heart, but I have to protect our child.”

“No, Tony. I’m gonna try.”

“Amita …”

Dead. The line went dead.

She smashed the phone in frustration against the steering wheel as she bellowed out a cry. He was being heartless. She was sick, how could he ask her not to come?

A few more miles down the road, Amita’s senses kicked in. They clicked in sometime after she saw the ‘Welcome to West Virginia’ sign.

She heard his voice.
‘The virus is not here. It’s not on the mountain.’

He was right.

She was wrong in her determination.

Amita then, against what her heart wanted, slowed down, and like hundreds of other motorists in I-77, she pulled over to the side of the road to await her death.

<><><><>

Before Landon was awake, Ava gathered her things, said her final goodbye to Calvin, covered him and then just after Rayne arrived to get him, she moved to an empty suite on the second floor.

Before Joel had gone to bed, he dropped off the items she asked for.

Water, ibuprofen, and a fifth.

She used a bottle of water to wash her face and to try not to look so scary. But she knew by her reflection that she was far off. Her eyes were as red as Calvin’s were.

Ava was not a drinker, yet she sipped from the bottle of whiskey as if she were a pro. She wanted to get numb, both physically and emotionally.

What she had to do was hard.

Although as it pushed late morning, and Landon had not made an appearance, she worried that he was sick. She prayed he wasn’t.

She stayed in the front room of the suite, looking constantly to the window next to the door. Her body jolted with each hard cough, and taking deep breaths was hard. She felt as if she had half her lungs.

More than anything, Ava wanted to ask how it crept up on her so fast. The truth was it didn’t. She was getting sick for over a day and she just ignored it. She was around Landon and that scared her.

Sitting on the chair, coughing into a cloth and sipping from the bottle, Ava saw them walking toward the room.

Her heart sank and she wanted to cry. She watched her precious son, holding Rayne’s hand. He looked so small, so innocent and young.

It was killing her … killing her that she was sick and would have to say goodbye. Landon would have lost everything. His mother, his father, his siblings. The only glimmer of hope came from the fact that he was young and the memories of the pain and loss would fade.

Ava knew her time was limited. She saw how fast it took Calvin, and judging by her symptoms, she didn’t have much time.

She wanted to keep it brief, so Landon’s last thought of his mother weren’t a dying woman through the window of a hotel.

Sliding from the chair, Ava sat on the floor next to the window. She kept watching and eventually, Landon saw her.

He let go of Rayne’s hand and raced to the door. Rayne stopped him.

“Mommy.” He stood next to the window.

“Hey Sweetie.” Ava raised her hand to the glass opposite of him.

“Why can’t I come in?” he asked.

“Mommy’s sick. Mommy is very sick.”

Landon pouted, his eyes watered and he shook his head. “
No.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No.”

“Listen,” Ava inched up. “Can you hear me?”

Landon nodded.

“Good.” She sniffed. “I need you to be really strong, ok? I need you to listen to Rayne. He’s gonna be watching you.”

“What about you? I want you to watch me, Mommy.”

“Oh, I’ll always watch you. Just maybe not the way you hope or I hope. Baby listen. I’m fighting here, and I am gonna try so .
.. so hard to get better. Know that Mommy, Mommy is fighting for you.”

“You’ll get better. Right?”

“I’m gonna try.” She stared at her son for a long time and when she felt the tears build in her eyes, she lowered her head. “Rayne you have to take him.”

Rayne crouched down into her sight. “Let me come in there.”

“No. You have to stay well.” She lifted her eyes to Landon. “I love you. I love you so much. Know that. Please know that.”

“I love you, too Mommy
,” he said with a whimper. “Please get better.”

Ava couldn’t respond, her mouth tightened up so much, she just nodded.

Landon touched the glass one more time, and Rayne took his hand.

Ava stayed there, side pressed against the window, watching them. Landon kept looking back, peering over his shoulder at her, making eye contact.

She was saying good bye to her child. It was wrenching every part of her being.

Her heart broke.

She watched until they faded from her view and down the corridor. Then after whispering, ‘Goodbye baby.’ Ava, turned, sat there by the window, drew the curtain closed some and cried.

From the depths of her broken body and soul, she sobbed.

<><><><>

How many times did Joel vomit? Bianca lost count and she never left the doorway of the bathroom, no matter how much he yelled and begged her to leave.

He swatted her away each time she reached for him.

But she knew, eventually her husband, the love of her life, wouldn’t have a choice. The last bout of regurgitation barely made a sound as the contents hit the bowl. He had released all that he could. And Bianca was watching him wither away before her eyes.

He went from pale to pasty gray and almost white.

She crossed her arms over her body, squeezing tight to hold back the pain and tears.

Joel’s head fell to the seat of the commode and weakly, he said, “I’m done.” He sniffed. “There’s nothing left. I’m done.”

She rushed in and reached down.

“Go.” He growled. “Where is your mask?”

“I don’t care. Let me help you.”

“No.” He fought. “Get a mask and go.”

“I don’t care!” Bianca screamed her loudest. “You’re sick. I don’t care if I get sick. I just don’t care. Now fight me all you want, Joel. Like every other time, I’ll win.” She grabbed his arm. “I’m taking hold of you and I’m not letting go. I am not … letting go.”

Joel turned his head and looked up at her. “I’m sorry.”

“I am too.” She clutched tighter, then wrapped her other arm around him to help Joel to stand.

The second he rose to his feet, his legs buckled in weakness and he collapsed.

Bianca caught him before he hit the floor. Joel was such a strong man, it killed her to see him like that. “Let’s try again.” She held him more firmly and lifted.  On the edge of the sink she had a wet towel waiting, and she wiped off his face.

Joel swiped her hand. “Stop. I’m not your child.”

“How many times have you said that to me in our marriage?”

“A lot.”

“I never listened.” She set down the cloth. “We need to get you to bed.”

“No.” Joel shook his head. “No.”

“Joel, honey, you’re sick.”

He looked at her with that sideways glance. “No shit.”

Emotional, Bianca released a mixture of a sob and laugh and then kissed him on the forehead.

“Don’t ... do that.” He groaned.

“Tough. I love you. I’ll kiss you if I want. Now … bed.”

“No.” again he shook his head. “You know what I always loved about this hotel?”

“What’s that?” she asked, leading him from the bathroom.

“The sitting area. Outside by the pool. Always sunny and warm. The smokers used to go out there in the morning. I’d go out and talk.”

“You went out to sniff the smoke.”

“That too.” He stopped and wouldn’t follow her lead.

“What are you doing, Joel?”

“I’m not gonna go down on my back. I’m not gonna lay in bed until this thing kicks my ass. That’s not me. I never took anything lying down.”

“What do you wanna do?”

“Walk me to the sitting area. Let me see the sun and feel it. If I’m gonna leave this place, then I’m gonna leave with the sun on my face.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go.”

Bianca, holding tight, walked with Joel from the suite and down the corridor. They moved slowly. It wasn’t really that far of a walk, but it seemed like it. Especially when Joel’s legs kept buckling. But he was determined to get there.

It was taking everything out of him.

Once outside, he smiled widely and looked at the sky. “Rayne was right.”

“About?” Bianca led him to the bench.

“Look at the cloud. It
’s moving east.”

Bianca stared up at the sky. The dark cloud over Cleveland drifted in one direction. She helped Joel to sit, then she sat next to him. “Reminds me of pictures of New York after 9
/11.”

“Bet it looks much worse now.”

“You are determined to keep your humor.”

“Until the end.”

Bianca whimpered. A peep of hurt seeped from her, she pulled him close. “Do you want some water?”

“No. I won’t keep it in
,” Joel said. “I’m good.”

“I know you are.”

He exhaled loudly. “At least I can breathe. This thing hit fast. It kicked my ass.”

“It kicked everyone’s ass.”

“Not yours. It won’t. I believe it.”