Pandemic

Outside, London's gray skies spat a cool November drizzle. Walking to the car, Haldane wondered if he was ever going to see the sun shine again. Once they had loaded into Levine's Land Rover — Haldane in the passenger seat, and McLeod in the back — she explained the command structure of the city's public health system. "The Commission coordinates six separate government agencies under one umbrella organization," she said in her clipped, upper-crust English accent. "We are responsible for overseeing all aspects of Londoners' health, including management of infectious outbreaks and epidemics."

"Sounds incredibly busy," Haldane said. "Thanks for taking the time to pick us up."

"It's a matter of expedience," she said with a shrug of her narrow shoulders. "This is the ideal opportunity for you to describe to me your firsthand experience with the Gansu strain of the influenza virus. And more specifically, to explain how the Chinese managed to arrest its spread."

"We wouldn't be here if they had managed that!" McLeod grunted from the backseat.

"Clearly," Levine said. "What I meant is how they contained it locally. That is what I need to know from you."

"Dr. Levine, Jiayuguan is a remote community. A small city in the middle of nowhere," Haldane said. "It bears no comparison to London."

"That aside, Dr. Haldane…" Levine harrumphed.

"They put a section of the city under siege, Dr. Levine," Haldane said. "In a democracy you could never get away with the kind of cold military offensive the Chinese government used."

Levine stared ahead silently for a moment. "Are you familiar with our Emergency Health Act?"

"Not the specifics," Haldane said.

"Enacting it would be the equivalent of imposing martial law," she said. "You would be surprised by exactly what we could do."

"Martial law," McLeod echoed. "That's what you'll need, too."

Levine glanced at Haldane. "Can you please describe your clinical observations?" she said. It was a command, not a request.

Staring out the window and watching suburban London give way to the more congested metropolitan areas, Haldane painted an overview of the Gansu outbreak, coloring it with his eyewitness perspective. McLeod muttered the occasional clarification or facetious remark.

After Haldane finished, Dr. Levine asked a few pointed insightful questions. Once she had fielded her queries, she lapsed into silence. Haldane got the feeling that having exhausted her passengers' usefulness, Levine would have been pleased to pull over and let them off at the side of the road.

"Where are you taking us now?" Haldane asked.

"To the Commission's head office," she said. "The others are expecting us."

"They will have to wait," Haldane said.

"Pardon me?" she asked indignantly.

"I want to talk to the surviving victims."

"In good time, Dr. Haldane."

"No, Dr. Levine. Now."

"Dr. Haldane, this is not China," she said quietly. She kept her eyes straight ahead, but her tone could have frosted the windshield. "You are here at the WHO's request. Not ours. Ergo, you are here to observe, not lead our process."

"Welcome to friendly London, Haldane!" McLeod piped up from the backseat.

Haldane looked over at Levine with an intentionally condescending smile. "Dr. McLeod and I have spent the last few weeks in the epicenter of this epidemic. We know it inside and out. I think it's safe to assume that we have more experience with emerging pathogens and viral hot zones than the rest of your Commission combined." He let his barbs hang in the air for a few moments. "But, Dr. Levine, if you don't see the sense of listening to our advice then perhaps your director will."

Her head didn't move, but the corner of her lip twitched. "We are closest to the Royal Free Hospital where the pediatric patient is," she said evenly. "We will begin there."

* * *

Dr. Nancy Levine had already cleared their presence with the Royal Free Hospital's administrators. After she flashed her identity card at the main desk, the three physicians were directed up to the Pediatric ICU on the tenth floor.

Outside the nursing station, a matronly middle-aged woman in a white uniform and headgear, which looked to Haldane like something from a black-and-white movie, introduced herself only as "Sister."

"Sister, we're looking for the patient Alyssa Mathews."

The woman shook her. "I am sorry, Dr. Levine, but she has already gone."

"Oh," Haldane sighed, assuming the worst. "When did it happen?"

"It?" The sister's face crumpled in confusion for a moment. "Oh, no, no!" She shook her head again. "Alyssa has not died. On the contrary, she has shown signs of stabilizing this morning. Today is the first day her doctors have deemed her stable enough to go downstairs for a CT scan of her chest. She only just left ten minutes before."

By the time Haldane, Levine, and McLeod reached the Radiology Department, Alyssa was already on the procedure table having her scan performed.