Pestilence: A Medical Thriller Read Online Free

almost, as if she were just going through the motions rather than experiencing the moment. The jump felt futile.
    Whatever it was, she felt the same as she had before she’d jumped out of the plane.
    After a change of clothing, she headed back into Atlanta , to Clifton Road, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were headquartered.
    M ultiple buildings dotted the landscape, and most of them were rectangular and made of blue glass. A blue-and-white sign marked the white CDC emblem of a bird that she guessed was a hawk, but looked like a pigeon, and it sat at the forefront of the building.
    After p arking in her reserved stall, she tried her sister again and left a message, probably her fifth one, stating she was worried and would like a call back. Jane usually called her immediately. Going black for long periods of time was definitely out of character for her.
    The metal detectors didn’t buzz when Samantha passed security. She went up to her office on the fourth floor, which overlooked the grassy knoll across the street, and collapsed in her chair. Her hair was a mess, and she took out a hair elastic and pulled it back. Several papers were scattered over the desk and piled in two boxes in the corner. She pushed the papers aside and then turned on her Mac.
    Her inbox said she had ninety-six unread e -mails. The number was so overwhelming that she turned on Pandora and sat there for a good fifteen minutes, unable to open even one. Then she stood up, stretched her arms above her head, sat back down, and began going through them. She scanned them quickly for anything important, anything about California. But she saw nothing relevant.
    Someone knocked on her glass wall , and she glanced up and saw Frederick Hess, assistant director over Infectious Diseases, who waved to her. She waved back, and Fredrick came to the door. He leaned against it but didn’t come in.
    “How was it?” he said.
    “Hot and terrifying. How was everything here?”
    “Pretty much the same.”
    She grinned and leaned back in her chair. “The outbreak was contained. I think the final nineteen patients will probably pass , and that’ll be it as long as the doctors from the WHO treat the bodies with care.”
    “Why wouldn’t they?”
    “Some of them are poorly trained on hot viruses. They’re not common enough for someone from Thailand or Peru to deal with. They don’t recognize how deadly they are.” She paused. “There was a doctor there that became infected because he refused to leave patients untreated. I’d like to write an article about him. Maybe a blurb on the CDC website, if that’s okay.”
    “He didn’t run out the door like everyone else?”
    “No. He knew he would probably die, and it was worth it for him.”
    “I didn’t think doctors like that existed anymore. I’m on the admissions committee over at UMD medical school. You should see some of the reasons people put for wanting to become doctors. They think it’s prestigious or they’re going to make a lot of money. I tell them for the hours they’re going to put in, they’d make more money managing a restaurant. And nothing’s more prestigious than doing rounds, asking patients how much they pooped the night before.”
    “It has its moments. My uncle was a doctor as well , and he worked for Doctors Without Borders. I don’t know of any other professions that let you travel to any country in the world and do good. I don’t think lawyers and politicians can do that.”
    “Yeah, well, maybe actors adopting kids from countries nobody’s ever heard of.”
    She hesitated. “Can I ask you something, Freddy?”
    “Sure.”
    “Do you know anything about California?”
    “Their taxes on small business is killing their economy.”
    “I meant have you heard anything a bout military involvement there?”
    He glanced away. The movement was quick, but she caught it.
    “It’s classified, Sam.”
    “Classified? Since when is anything at the CDC