The samples started coming in, and the first ones didn’t seem to show much change, though Elizabeth counted that as a good sign,since they had taken them off the other medications. The Interferon would slow it down, maybe, but certainly not shut it down, so that meant that the virus wasn’t spreading. Since that was the intention of the trial medication, it simply meant that they needed more time, and possibly more doses.
Lindsey continued testing each sample as they came in and tried on a couple of occasions to make small talk with Elizabeth, but eventually gave up. Elizabeth’s monosyllabic responses were not enough to keep a conversation going, but that was also all Elizabeth felt she was capable of at the moment.
The next hour passed, and the samples looked even better. Elizabeth allowed herself the possibility of hope. Ava was holding stable, and the drug was working. Elizabeth refused to allow herself too much, though. She couldn’t. If Ava didn’t make it, it would crush her, she knew that. If she allowed herself to hope and lost Ava, she would never recover. She checked the courier again: two hours out.Come on, Ava, just a little longer.
Another hour passed, and a spark of hope began to glow, both in Elizabeth’s chest, and Lindsey’s expression. The virus was receding, the numbers were going down, and fairly quickly. They had won, they had finally found something that works. Lindsey’s face broke into a smile, and Elizabeth fought to keep her expression neutral.
The door to the lab opened and Dr. Mars entered. Elizabeth kicked herself for not updating her sooner, she hadn’t even thought about it, but the grim expression on Dr. Mars’ face didn’t change even when Lindsey enthusiastically announced the drug’s success.
“That’s great news, Williams,” Doctor Mars said, but she lacked enthusiasm. Elizabeth’s heart felt as though it was going to stop dead cold in her chest when Dr. Mars turned her attention to her. “I need to speak with you.”
“Of course,” Elizabeth said and gave Lindsey a curt nod before heading toward the door behind Dr. Mars.
“It’s Ava,” Doctor Mars said as the door closed behind them.
Elizabeth flinched; she’d never heard Dr. Mars refer to her as anything other than Dr. Jackson before.
“Her vitals are falling, too quickly, how much longer until the drug arrives?” Doctor Mars asked.
“An hour,” Elizabeth said, her vocal cords tight. “Does she have that long?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, her voice almost a whisper. “You should probably go to her. We won’t be able to resuscitate her again.”
“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked, confused.
“She has a DNR on file, she doesn’t want to be shocked again.” Doctor Mars choked on the words.
“We’re so close though, she wouldn’t want that,” Elizabeth argued, though she knew there was no point. “She just needs a little bit longer, that’s it. You’re telling me we can’t keep her alive that long?”
“If she codes again we have to let her go, Doctor Grant,” Doctor Mars said, her voice becoming more firm. Elizabeth knew that there was no point arguing, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
“Things are different now,” Elizabeth said, grasping at anything.
“Doctor Grant,” she said gently as tears flooded Elizabeth’s eyes. She put a hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “Go to her, keep her here, none of us want to lose her.”
Tears streamed down Elizabeth’s face, but she lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders. Ava would fight for her, she had to. Elizabeth stepped onto the elevator behind Dr. Mars and waited as the car drifted down to the second floor. She felt as though everything was underwater as she crossed the floor to Ava’s room. Medical staff lined the walls of the room, the people Ava had spent so much time with, people who loved her. They didn’t think twice about allowing space for Elizabeth to enter.
The tears had not stopped flowing, and she hiccupped a sob as she took a place next to Ava’s bed. Her eyes immediately went to the machines around Ava. Doctor Mars had not been exaggerating. Her vitals were dangerously low, and it looked as though she would be drifting away soon. Elizabeth took her hand and leaned over to kiss Ava’s smooth forehead. A week ago, she would have never been willing to put herself on display like that, but right now she didn’t care. She needed Ava to know that she was here, that she needed to fight, just a little longer.
She also knew that was a much bigger task than anyone realized. Elizabeth could only imagine the amount of pain Ava must have gone through, or how much pain she was in even now. Her body being stuck in this position for so long, it had to be excruciating.
“Ava,” Elizabeth whispered, resting her forehead against Ava’s. “Ava, I’m here. I know it’s selfish, but I want to you stay with me, we are so close, the others are getting better, so much better, and if you can hold on for just a little longer, we can get this through you, too.”
Elizabeth could feel Ava’s forehead tense beneath her.
“It’s okay, though,” Elizabeth continued. She could hear the others in the room stifling their sobs. “If you have to go, I’ll understand, but I need you to know that we did it. We saved the rest of them.” Elizabeth heard a choked sob from somewhere in the room, but she ignored it. “We saved them,yousaved them.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “I love you, Ava.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to Ava’s. The slowing sounds of the machines around her seemed to be signaling their goodbyes. The air in the room grew heavy with grief and pain as tears slipped from Elizabeth’s eyes.
“I have it! It’s here!” Lindsey’s words rushed from her mouth as she pushed through the door and everyone’s eyes turned toward her.
13
AVA
Ava heard Elizabeth’s voice cut through the noise in her mind. Everything was dark, and everything hurt, but Elizabeth was there. She couldn’t feel anything, but there was a pressure on her, somewhere. She could feel Elizabeth’s touch, though she couldn’t explain it. She could hear Elizabeth’s voice, but didn’t understand the words, except the last ones. She wanted to scream out, she wanted more than anything to tell Elizabeth that she loved her, too, but her body would not let her. She couldn’t respond. Everything was so heavy.
She fought against the shadows with everything she had, but she was so tired. She knew that if she allowed herself to rest then that would be it, that would be the end and she would never see Elizabeth again. She just had to hold on a little longer. She begged her body to just hang on.
