The Rabid (23 page)

December 21

"It
was late. Around midnight when we started up the stairs. Lisa was guarded about
giving any more information on whether or not Gregg would wake up without
gangrene. But the three of us spoke in length about it before turning in.

"I'm looking for signs the body has rejected the surgery. That includes
darkening of the skin farther up from the wound or visibility of the veins. Any
dark red streaks are a bad sign as well, but not as bad as the virus
spreading."

"What do the streaks mean?" Raychel asked. We were already at the top of the
stairs.

"Blood poisoning." I answered with my voice low. I knew what it meant because
Silas had showed me on his visit in the school. It seemed like years ago.

"Right." Lisa nodded. "But at least I can treat that."

The
three of us stopped outside Lisa's room.

"This is me." She seemed to be stalling.

"I'm off to bed! See you tomorrow." Raychel pranced away. I knew what she was
thinking, but it wasn't going to happen. Two grown adults can be alone together
without anything intimate happening. People did it all the time.

"Goodnight."

I turned back to Lisa as she was saying the words to Raychel. When she looked
at me, I felt an odd flutter in my chest. It was as if my heart were trying to escape.

"I suppose."

To Lisa, that simple phrase was an entire sentence.

"Thank you for doing this for us. For Gregg."

She nodded, and I leaned in to give her what I thought would just be a
goodnight peck on the cheek. But as soon as I felt how warm she was and how
good she smelled I knew I'd made a mistake.

When I pulled away, we looked into each other's eyes. And that was when I threw
away everything I'd promised myself I'd stand up for. Without a second's more
hesitation, I kissed her. I kissed her like I'd never see her again. And she
kissed me back. It was like no time had passed.

I felt the flood of emotion wash over me. I wanted to hold her forever; I
wanted to kiss her forever. I wanted to be her lover and husband. I wanted to
be the one to make her smile and laugh every day. Why had I been so stupid?

With one hand, I reached behind her and turned the doorknob. Then I pushed her
through, shutting it behind me. And yet we hand't stopped kissing. I could
think about nothing except taking all her clothes off with my teeth and tossing
her on the bed.

She threw her arms around my neck, so I slipped my hands under her skirt. But I
only got as far as hooking my thumbs into her panties to pull them off, because
she stopped and pushed away.

"What's wrong?"

For a second, she said nothing. The room was only half lit by a smoldering
candle, but I could see stress lines crease into her forehead.

"Why did you have...to leave, Jack?" As soon as she said my name, tears began
pouring down her cheeks. I was so surprised, I froze right where I stood. "Why
did you leave us?" She slid down onto floor, covering her face.

"Hey, hey, no..." I knelt down and took her into my arms. "Don't cry, baby, don't
cry."

She sobbed harder into my chest. I shushed her, smoothing her hair and planting
light kisses on her head. My heart ached. I'd had no idea how much she'd been
hurting. It wasn't obvious on the outside. While we were sitting there, a few
tears escaped me as well.

"I'm not going anywhere, Foxtrot. Never again. I promise, okay?" I held her at
arm's length. I'd never seen her as upset before and it felt like my heart
suddenly weighed a hundred pounds. Her eyes had become red and swollen. The
wrinkles between her eyebrows were deep and long.

"I've lost everyone else." She sniffed, trying to fight off more tears.

"You've got Rex and Lexi." I brushed some hair out of her eyes.

She shook her head. "That's not what I mean."

"Okay." I nodded. "I understand. I just...I didn't know me leaving affected you
this much." I stood and extended a hand to her. She took it. I pulled her to
the bed. As we lay down, she finally seemed to calm a bit.

"I want to marry you."

I thought I hand't heard her right. "What...you...you do?"

"Yes. But not now. I don't know when."

Adrenaline pumped through my entire body. My brain stopped working. I couldn't
believe what she had said.

"Oh, honey...that's...that's all I wanted." I kissed her. "You've made me so
happy."

She smiled at me through her emotion and it melted my heart. I squeezed her as
close to me as physically possible. In that moment, life could have only gotten
better if there weren't any Biters around. My life would have ended happily.

"I love you, Jack."

The pressure inside my chest increased. "I love you too, Lisa."

"I have to check on Gregg."

I sucked in a breath with a groan. "I knew it wouldn't last." Even though I was
slightly frustrated, I gave her a smile.

"I apologize." She sat up and I joined her.

"It's ok. I admire it. You're dedicated to your work."

"Yes."

"Well, get down there. Because the sooner you finish checking him out, the
sooner you can come back up here and we can take a shower."

Her eyebrows rose. "Oh. I see."

"I'd fucking rip you to pieces right now. So you'd better go." I grabbed her
hand and pretended to bite her fingers. My action was met with a sincere smile.
"Go."

She nodded, standing from the bed. At the door, she turned. "You'll know when
I'm ready."

"Got it."

From the
Desk of Dr. Lisa James

December 21

When I got back upstairs, Jack was asleep on the bed sitting up. The dark
circles under his eyes told a story of their own. He'd been through a lot while
he was gone. And seeing him comfortable enough to fall asleep caused adoration
to wash over me.

I crept up to the bed and tried not to wake him as I crawled over to the other
side. But when I laid down, he stirred.

"Hey." He stretched his arms above his head. "How long was I out?"

"I was only gone for about twenty minutes."

He nodded and pretended to fall back asleep in my lap. I ran my fingers through
his hair.

"How's Gregg?"

"His pulse is strong, but he's not awake yet."

He rolled over to look at me. "Where's the shower you promised me?"

"I thought
you
promised
me
."

He sat up. "Nope. When you were leaving you said you'd come back to shower."

I felt an amused smile spread across my face. "Okay."

Before I could add anything else to the conversation, Jack kissed me while
softly running his hands up my outer thighs. We fell into a rhythm in an
instant. He knew how and where I liked to be touched without me saying a word.
He followed my noises of pleasure. Even the simple act of removing my dress was
enough to send tingles through my entire body.

We found that I was much too ready for him as soon as we began. The sweet words
he whispered to me were enough to send me even farther over the edge.

He kissed me. "I know this should be a really soft intimate moment, but...you
feel really good."

I allowed a sigh of ecstasy to escape me. No man had ever made me crave
intimacy the way Jack had. He was everything I never understood about couples
who enjoyed sexual relationships. I wasn't even able to give myself the kind of
pleasure he did.

I adored the way he moved when we were together. The sounds he made in the heat
of the moment made me never want to get out of bed. I was with my first lover
when I was twenty. And it had taken me eleven years to find someone who I
enjoyed seeing naked.

Jack grabbed my waist, turning so I was straddling him. I liked that position.
I was able to reach my peak in less time. I felt my entire body shudder.

"You okay?"

When the moan escaped me, I didn't even realize it. All I knew was he'd given
me the best orgasm I'd ever had.

"I'll take that as a yes." He flipped me back over and continued. When he was
close, he let me know. I didn't even think I'd appreciate that kind of thing
until he said it. Because it made the blood in my veins thicken. I made sure to
kiss him as he climaxed. I could tell he enjoyed it.

When it was over, we allowed ourselves to soak in the moments until morning.
For a few hours, we pretended like nothing was wrong in the world and we were
the only two left. With that thought in our minds, we fell asleep together
again.

***

I'd
been buried in the oldest anatomy book I could find with the amputated leg next
to me. I had cut away some of the tissue around the bite so I could see the
bigger picture. But my eyes were starting to lose focus.

I
moved from the anatomy book to the bite wound on the leg. The veins within an
inch radius had turned black. And when pressed upon, they spewed a thick, opaque
substance. I just couldn't understand how it worked. I'd never seen a virus
that did that in all my medical practice years.

"Hey there."

Feeling almost blessed by the distraction, I looked up from my book to see Jack
standing in the doorway of the cleaned out freezer.

"Hi." I blinked a few times to clear the fuzziness from my vision.

"How's it going?" He approached me and began to lightly massage my shoulders.

"I can't really do much without a microscope." I sighed. "But I can tell you
that I've never seen a virus show these kinds of pathways. It's very obvious
where it was going and how fast it was travelling. That could help with
studying it."

"Didn't you say there was a doctor trying to find a cure in Colorado?"

I took a deep breath. "Yes. There supposedly is." I spun around in my chair to
look at him. "We need to go there, Jack."

He gave me a slow nod. "I know. But can it wait until next week?"

"Why?"

"Because apparently Raychel and Gregg are getting married Saturday by Pastor
Samuels."

I stood. "So he's awake? How is he doing?"

Jack ushered me out of the freezer. "He's in pain, but we're feeding him
ibuprofen."

"Good. That will reduce the swelling."

We stopped in the kitchen. No one was around and the house seemed silent. "So,
what do you say? We leave Monday?"

After a moment of thinking, I knew what we had to do. "Yes."

December 24

In
just a few short days, Gregg had learned to walk again with our help. Lisa
checked him daily for any signs of infection, but she always gave him a clean
bill of health. His color was even coming back.

The
weekend was drawing near and I could tell my sister was nervous. She had an
anxious glow around her. It was as if someone had given her a halo. And when I
told her that, she joked that it was supposed to be devil horns, but they'd
gotten it wrong.

Lisa
spent most of the days in solitude studying book after book. Getting her to eat
her meals was difficult, but getting her to come to — or should I say
in
— bed was pretty simple. While diligent in her studies, she was hellfire at
night. It was like all the stress that had built up was released when she was
with me.

And
it was incredibly difficult to pull her away on the day of the wedding.

"Lisa..."
I followed her pacing with my gaze. "Come on. Raychel needs you right now."

"I
just don't understand how this virus works." She turned around again to pace to
the other side of the room.

"But...we're
going to Braycart. The doctor there is going to help."

"But
what if I find something out between now and then? What if it's big?"

"That's
what she said." My words were met with silence. "What can I do to take your
mind off this thing so we can go help Raychel set up her wedding?"

Lisa
stopped mid-pace and looked at me. "Do we have time for sex?"

I
leaned forward. "What?"

"Do
we..." She came toward me. "Have time for sex?"

"Hmm..."
I tapped a finger on my chin. "Let me think about that. Yes."

"Okay."

Before
I had a chance to react, she was removing her clothes.

"Holy
shit, wait!" I turned around, feeling laughter bubble into my chest. "We should
probably close the doors to the parlor first."

As
soon as I turned back around, she was already on me, kissing me hard. We didn't
even get my jeans completely off before I was inside her.

"Rabies
normally travels through nerves." As she spoke, her sentences were staggered
and harsh from our actions. "But this time it's in the veins."

"This
is so not what I had in mind for sexy talk."

"Shh."
She pushed me down onto a desk in the center of the room. It was the strangest
act of intimacy I'd ever experienced. She was very much into what was going on,
but managed to think at the same time. Her enthusiasm was pretty damn exciting
too.

"There's
no way it can mutate inside an animal... It had to have mutated before or after a
bite from an infected animal."

My
grip on her hips tightened. She began to respond as well. Her sentences became
even more disjointed and breathy.

"It's
coming to me... It's coming to... I'm coming! I've got it!"

In
that moment, she leapt off me and ran over to the bay window where her books
were stacked.

"What
just happened?" I sat up in bewilderment.

"It's
prions!"

"Prions
made you come?"

She tossed me a cynical look. "No."

"What's a prion?"

She picked up a book and walked over to me while reading. "Prions are
neurodegenerative disorders. Very very rare. It's pathogenic and sporadic, but
sometimes genetic. That's why the incubation period is so much longer." She was
getting excited. The pitch of her voice had increased.

"Okay."

"And
that's
why this particular strain of rabies lasts so long once
symptoms start to show."

"What's why?"

"What?" She looked up from the book with that crease between her eyebrows.

"What's why rabies lasts so long?"

Her face scrunched up. "Oh, apologies. Prions are transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies — TSE's. Once it gets to the host's brain, it acts almost like
Alzheimer's. It causes brain damage, forgetfulness, etc. But it also fails to
induce the inflammatory response."

I kept quiet. I had no idea what the hell she was talking about, but she was
looking at me like I should have.

"It means infected tissue doesn't swell!"

This time, I pretended to understand by widening my eyes and nodding. She
seemed satisfied, so she turned to grab another book.

"Rabies causes swelling of the brain. So when these two diseases are
introduced, rabid victims will stay rabid for a far longer time since the
swelling response isn't immediately targeted."

"Oh. I get it now. So...what does that mean? In the long run?"

"Well... It simply means that someone with either Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or
fatal familial syndrome contracted rabies. Then the prion-manipulating TSE piggybacked
on the virus somehow." She looked back at me, her eyes serious. "I'm not even
sure if this is curable."

"But we have to try, right?"

The seriousness was replaced by a glimmer of what looked like hope. "Exactly."