Superstitions

Chapter 7 - Contagion

So I know it has been a long time since my last post but I had study for my exams and after that to pass my exams. And to be honest I lost the impulse to write but it's back !!! I can't tell you when the suite will be available because I'm in internship and I have exams to take in August. But the good news is that I have ideas again (too many ideas). And as always I encourage you to give me your opinion (good or bad). I hope you will appreciate this suite.

PS: Colin Donnell and Norma Kuhling are back for one episode to end their story.

Enjoy !!!

CHAPTER 7 - Contagion

Months have passed since the day Ava figured out for her PTSD problem. She was much better and had concluded with Dr. Charles that she could stop the sessions. But she absolutely had to tell him if she had any new anxiety episodes. Everything was finally back to normal, or almost. They hadn't really thought about the situation, Ava had offered Connor to keep some clothes at home so he could be more comfortable and he finally moved in. They had never asked themselves what their relationship was exactly. One night when Ava was really not well, Connor kissed her and she kissed him back. Since that day, they had been living their little love at home like an old couple who never showed love in public. Not that they were trying to hide but at work, when they worked together they were constantly arguing.

"Connor ... Connor! We are going to be late." She said kicking him gently.

"Again five minutes please," he answered, taking her with him to the bed, "I bet it's quiet today."

"Connor Rhodes who says the Q word, you're sure you didn't steal hours of therapy with Dr. Charles from me?"

"Shower?"

"If it can make you move your little ass from my bed"

They had only been in the hospital for a few minutes that Dr. Rhodes had already been called urgently to the operating room for a man who had been stabbed in the chest.

"And you said it was going to be a quiet day..."

Goodwin informed Ava that she would have to pick up the VIP at the airport instead of Connor. His name was Travis Scott, he was one of the hospital investors. Six months ago, he had been operated on by Dr. Rhodes for a valve replacement. He was in South Africa when he felt ill and decided to come back early to check on his heart.

Ava didn't particularly like helicopters. For her it was like a small, noisy and unstable flying box. Fortunately, Dr. Charles had given her tips on how to overcome this kind of situation. These consultations helps her a lot in general, even though there were still some shadow areas that the doctor would have liked to explore before ending their interviews. But after some consideration, he was convinced that it was better not to dig too deep in this direction. He didn't know what she was hiding, but he had figured out that for the moment Ava was still too psychologically fragile to deal with it.

Once at the airport, Dr. Bekker was taken to Mr. Scott's private jet. He was sitting in his seat sipping a glass of Scotch. He scanned her from head to toe and gave her a look of contempt before staring at the entrance. His assistant seemed surprised, she stared at her for a few seconds before falling back on her tablet.

"I'm Dr. Bekker, I ..." She didn't have time to finish her sentence as the man interrupted her. "You're late, tell Dr. Rhodes to hurry up, I'm starting to lose patience."

"Dr. Rhodes has had an impediment, I'm the one who's going to be in charge of you."

The man pouted and looked at her with a kind of disgust and superiority. "Don't you think I'm going to let Dr. Rhodes' assistant grope me?"

"Actually I'm not this assistant, as I was introducing me, I'm Dr. Bekker and I'm a cardiothoracic surgeon"

"I know that accent, you're from South Africa, if they sent you to sweeten me up, you're missing it. I'm not going to let a stranger with a bush diploma, who is also a woman, take care of my health. "

Ava was shocked she had already suffered racist and misogynistic insults but she had not seen so much disgust and madness in a man's eyes. She felt such anger inside her that she almost wished that this man's valve was indeed leaking and that he would die on the way. She took a deep breath and regained her self-control, it was going to be a long day...

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear anything and you're going to listen to me. Dr. Rhodes won't be able to come before at least 5 hours. If your valve is actually leaking as we expected, by the time we wait for him and get to the hospital it will be too late. In addition, we're gonna have to wait 5 hours together and I know that neither you nor I want to. So if you'll let me examine you so we can get this over with as soon as possible."

The man looked furious, maybe Ava had just played her career. He put down his glass, opened his shirt and looked through the window. Dr. Bekker took out her stethoscope and listened to the heart. She noticed a slight murmur that was not present at Mr. Scott's checkup. She took his blood pressure, which was slightly low. And his temperature was high. She took out the portable ultrasound and looked carefully at each valve. There was a small leak but it was not due to a complication it must have had another origin. Mr. Scott being stable, she had him transported to the Chicago Med.

The travel was quite long, so Ava tried to find out where his fever could have come from, but the man didn't say a word. His assistant was trying to lighten the mood. It was strange because she seemed to fade visibly. Ava asked her if everything was fine and she replied that she probably had eaten something not fresh. For safety, Ava took her vitals. Her heart was beating fast, her blood pressure was low and she had a fever just like Mr. Scott. They also had the same symptoms, cough, fatigue, fever but have different timings. Asking more questions, she began to worry, they didn't eat the same thing, didn't have the same activities and didn't share the same room. The idea of a contagious disease crossed Ava's mind. She couldn't take any risks. Fortunately, at the airport no one had been in contact with them. She contacted the Chicago Med by radio. "This is Dr. Ava Bekker arriving with two patients from South Africa, it could be a contagious disease, please activate the containment protocol as soon as we arrive."

"What does that mean?" Asked the man.

"It means we're gonna have to stay together for a while longer..."