Contagion Read Online Free

accelerated standing up until he reached a speed equal to the traffic. Then he settled onto the seat while his legs pumped furiously.
         Eventually he caught up with the offending cabdriver, but Jack ignored him. In fact, he whisked past him, squeezing between the taxi and a delivery van.
         At Thirtieth Street Jack turned east, crossed First Avenue, and abruptly turned into the loading bay of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the City of New York. Jack had been working there for five months, having been offered a position as an associate medical examiner after finishing his pathology residency and a year’s fellowship in forensics.
         Jack wheeled his bike past the security office and waved at the uniformed guard. Turning left, he passed the mortuary office and entered the morgue itself. Turning left again, he passed a bank of the refrigerated compartments used to store bodies prior to autopsy. In a corner where simple pine coffins were stored for unclaimed bodies heading for Hart Island, Jack parked his bike and secured it with several Kryptonite locks.
         The elevator took Jack up to the first floor. It was well before eight in the morning and few of the daytime employees had arrived. Even Sergeant Murphy wasn’t in the office assigned to the police.
         Passing through the communications room, Jack entered the ID area. He said hello to Vinnie Amendola, who returned the greeting without looking up from his newspaper. Vinnie was one of the mortuary techs who worked with Jack frequently.
         Jack also said hello to Laurie Montgomery, one of the board-certified forensic pathologists. It was her turn in the rotation to be in charge of assigning the cases that had come in during the night. She’d been at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for four and a half years. Like Jack, she was usually one of the first to arrive in the morning.
         “I see you made t into the office once again without having to come in feet first,” Laurie said teasingly. She was referring to Jack’s dangerous bike ride. “Coming in feet first” was office vernacular for arriving dead.
         “Only one brush with a taxi,” Jack said. “I’m accustomed to three or four. It was like a ride in the country this morning.”
         “I’m sure,” Laurie said without belief. “Personally I think you are foolhardy to ride your bike in this city. I’ve autopsied several of those daredevil bicycle messengers. Every time I see one in traffic I wonder when I’ll be seeing him in the pit.” The “pit” was office vernacular for the autopsy room.
         Jack helped himself to coffee, then wandered over to the desk where Laurie was working.
         “Anything particularly interesting?” Jack asked, looking over her shoulder.
         “The usual gunshot wounds,” Laurie said. “Also a drug overdose.”
         “Ugh,” Jack said.
         “You don’t like overdoses?”
         “Nah,” Jack said. “They’re all the same. I like surprises and a challenge.”
         “I had a few overdoses that fit into that category during my first year,” Laurie said.
         “How so?”
         “It’s a long story,” Laurie said evasively. Then she pointed to one of the names on her list. “Here’s a case you might find interesting: Donald Nodelman. The diagnosis is unknown infectious disease.”
         “That would certainly be better than an overdose,” Jack said.
         “Not in my book,” Laurie said. “But it’s yours if you want it. Personally I don’t care for infectious disease cases, never have and never will. When I did the external exam earlier, it gave me the creeps. Whatever it was, it was an aggressive bug. He’s got extensive subcutaneous bleeding.”
         “Unknowns can be a challenge,” Jack said. He picked up the Folder. “I’ll be glad to do the case. Did he die at home or in an institution?”
         “He was