Sally's Secret

Chapter 22

Virgil was glad to have Scott's company while it lasted. He would never have wished anything so horrible on anyone, much less Maria, but after watching that sickening recording, his big brother finally came around, which was a huge weight lifted. Furthermore, Scott was being extraordinarily understanding about giving him leave from International Rescue. Virgil loved his work, but he was also human, not some unfeeling robot. He couldn't be out there when he couldn't keep his head in the game and right now, he couldn't think about anything other than Maria.

Thunderbird 1 got called away, but Scott left Virgil's biohazard suit with him in case they would let him go into the biocontainment room. Virgil had no idea who he should ask to be allowed to see her, nor did anyone ever walk by to inquire what he was doing loitering around their wait area.

This institute seemed more like a research facility than a hospital and it appeared that talking to a patient's family was very low on the priority list. The longer he was there, the more he became convinced that Maria was the only patient they had at the present, and he suspected they were treating her more like a specimen to be studied than a person. Of course, it was only speculation brought on by being kept in the dark too long. He couldn't see what was going on in that white room and even if he could have heard, their language was all gibberish to him.

Finally, after what seemed days, but was probably merely hours, a woman in a red biohazard suit with the hood down walked up to him. She said what sounded like, "Vwe Virgil?"  His name was pretty obvious even through her thick accent. He hit the comms button on his sash. "Virgil to Thunderbird 5. I'm going to need EOS for Russian translation."

"You got it, Virgil," John said. "Standing by."

Virgil looked back at the woman, hoping she would repeat herself. When she didn't, he said, "She said what sounds like 'vwe Virgil?'."

"Are you Virgil?" EOS's voice translated.

Virgil nodded vigorously at the woman who looked amused at all his fumbling with the translation. He said, "Yes—er—da. Da."

The next phrase was too long to repeat without mangling it, but his comms picked up her voice, so EOS could translate directly. EOS said, "Come with me."

Virgil hopped to his feet. His biohazard suit rested on the chair Scott had vacated. "EOS, ask her if I should put my biosafety gear on."

He picked up the suit to show her what he meant while EOS asked the question in Russian.

"Nyet," she said, shaking her head.

"No," EOS translated.

"Yeah, I got that one," Virgil muttered.

The woman spoke another long phrase in Russian. EOS translated, "We are going to the observation deck. It is safe without suits."

Virgil draped the suit over his arm and carried it with him. He still hoped he could get someone to let him see her. The red-suited woman led him up some stairs into a room that was like a glass-sealed theatre balcony overlooking the white room where Maria lay either asleep or comatose, but apparently breathing without artificial help. Her left forearm and both wrists had been bandaged. Her face was heavily bruised and a butterfly dressing had been applied near her right cheekbone. At least a dozen shiny red biosafety suits were milling around Maria's bed, looking at bioscan readouts and having discussions. He could hear them talking as if there were microphones down below leading to speakers in the balcony, but it was all in Russian. The multiple conversations overlapped too much for a chance at getting translated over comms.

Another string of Russian from the woman in front of him led to EOS's translation: "We are keeping her sedated because this virus is completely unknown. We think it was bioengineered with CRISPR." Virgil nodded without completely understanding, hoping John was recording what she said to relay it to Brains.