Page 28 of If They Knew

“What did you say, babe?” Tyler asks.

“Oh, nothing,” Kelly answers. Tyler looks at her, puzzled, but she just smiles at him. This is the second time she’s alluded to this happening before—I’m going to have to get her alone to figure out what she meant.

Tyler looks at her for a moment longer, but doesn’t push her. Instead, he sits back in his seat and lets the situation go. I can’t stop thinking about what she said. Again? Does this mean she has killed someone in the past? I need to find out more about this woman before my brother is in too deep. I'm the only one who cares enough to protect him.

I shake the thoughts from my head and bring my attention back to Logan. “Did John mention anything to you about the inventory running low?”

Logan squints at me, and I swear for a split second, he looks puzzled that I asked. “He told me the other day that the kitchen was low on oatmeal, but that’s it. Did he tell you anything else?” He answers quickly.

I stare at him for a moment as something occurs to me: John made it seem like he hadn't said anything to Logan about the food shortage yet. So how would he know that? Instead of calling him on it, though, I try a different tactic. “No, he didn't say anything other than that.”

For a split second, again, Logan looks at me strangely. Only this time, it’s like he doesn't like my answer, then his face goes blank. It makes me wonder if he was the one who told John to keep an eye out. Logan is sneaky as hell, so I really wouldn't put it past him.

“We have another issue on our hands,” Mary says, and we all look in her direction. Oh, for fuck’s sake, we can't handle any other surprises right now.

“What is it?” I ask.

“There are a few people who’ve started to get sick, and I have no idea why.”

Everyone starts speaking over one another, all at once.

“What's going on?”

“Is it serious?”

“What kind of illness?”

“What are the symptoms?”

“Are we all going to get sick?” Tyler asks, and with that question, the entire room goes silent for a moment, then the questions start flying again. Mary puts her fingertips in her mouth and lets out a sharp whistle, and we immediately quiet again.

“I guess those years of softball have finally come in handy,” she says, shaking her head. “Okay, give me a second, and I’ll explain as best as I can.” She takes in a deep breath and exhales dramatically. “It started a few days ago…”

17

THEO

Everyone stares at Mary, standing in the center of the room. We all wait patiently for her to explain.

“About a week ago, Jerry walked in to see me,” she continues, nervously rubbing her arm back and forth.

“Jerry, the one that was helping you with patients after the explosion?” I glance over at Logan, then back to Mary. He’d been part of the original crew Mary put together.

She nods. “Anyway, he came in complaining of not feeling well. His symptoms were classic flu symptoms: fever, night sweats, cough, sore throat, and lethargy. At first, I didn't think much of it. I asked him if I could check his urine, and turns out, he was severely dehydrated. I gave him some water and told him to rest. The following day, I checked again. Nothing changed, so I set up an IV with a saline drip to rehydrate him. I only had a few of the saline bags, so I figured I’d give it a try.” I don’t realize until I hit the quick of my nail that I'm picking at them while listening to Mary, a habit I’ve had since childhood when I’m nervous or stressed.

Logan interrupts, “Okay, so he has the flu. No big deal. Just give him meds and tell him to rest. We all know how to handle that. Let's get back to⁠—”

Mary cuts him off. “Look, I don't tell you how to run the ship, so don't try to tell me how to run the medical center. Unless you want to take over?” she says, pointing a finger at him. I smile slightly, loving seeing someone puts Logan in his place.

Logan stares at her for a moment. “Okay, point taken. Continue.” Then he takes a step back.

I glance around the room, noticing I’m not the only one who's nervous: Kelly's leg is bouncing again as she sits at the table. Tyler's rubbing her hand soothingly, sitting beside her. Julie is staring at Mary like she is studying her every move. Logan, after being scolded, has his arms crossed, irritated, and I can see his masseters expanding at his jawline as he clenches his teeth. He turns and catches me staring at him.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” he snarls. I don’t say anything and refocus my attention on Mary and watch as she fidgets with her fingers, the same way I tend to do.

“As I was saying, at first it was classic flu-like symptoms. I treated him for a few days, and he seemed to be improving. I thought we were on the right track but things suddenly took a turn for the worse. Four other people came in two days ago with the same symptoms. I did the same thing, minus the IV drip, since those are extremely limited. After I got the other four people settled and resting, Jerry started complaining again in the middle of the night.

“This time, the symptoms were much more severe. He started screaming in pain, grabbing his abdomen. He rolled off the bed onto the floor, still screaming, begging for help. I tried to ask what was causing him pain, but he couldn't answer. Then, all of the sudden, he stopped screaming, and he let go of his stomach. He looked at me with a blank stare, and I asked if he was okay, but he didn't respond. A moment later, he vomited. There didn't seem to be any food in it, nothing but blood and bile. He then wiped his mouth, looked up at me, smiled, and crawled back into bed, telling me that he felt much better.