Claudio Belles was about to say something to explain himself when a sudden and urgent knock was heard at the door of the house.
Eduardo Tercero is still angry and becomes even more impatient when he is disturbed by the knocking on the door.
“What is it!”
On the other side of the door came the voice of the little soldier, “Mr. de la Corte, Doctor Aurelio says he has an urgent matter to discuss with you.”
Eduardo Tercero’s dark eyes looked sternly at the woman beneath him, with a frown so furrowed it could have killed a fly.
Damn you Aurelio, this had better be something big and important!
Eduardo Tercero stirred abruptly, got up from the bed, took off his jacket on one side, put it on nonchalantly and, with a cold, stern face, went to the door.
Claudio Belles clenched his fist, she must have been descended, Eduardo Tercero had defamed her so much, it was surprising that her reaction was not to throw Eduardo Tercero out of bed, but to think of explaining it to Eduardo Tercero, fearing that he would misunderstand.
Is she, in fact, the Claudio of ten years ago?
After recovering Claudio’s memory, somehow the way she looked at Eduardo Tercero was different.
Before Claudio regained her memory, she had no feelings for Eduardo Tercero, but her feelings were at most of interest, or affection, but nowhere near the heavy word “love”.
But now, she seemed to be increasingly concerned about what Eduardo Tercero thought of her and what she thought of her.
She didn’t want him to misinterpret her relationship with Esteban Zaragosa.
Claudio Belles looked toward the door and continued to pull the blankets over himself.
Forget it, we’ll find an opportunity to explain when she comes back from her business.
She was clean with Esteban Zaragosa, she hadn’t slept with him and Esteban Zaragosa hadn’t slept with her, except in the name of that marriage, and in the old days she wouldn’t have bothered to explain anything.
But in her head she remembered the promise Eduardo Tercero had made to Claudio ten years before, that he had not forgotten her, that she had been his wife, that it was impossible to be pure between them and that it could not end there.
…
Eduardo Tercero arrived at the place of the incident with all solemnity.
Aurelio had just cremated a body and disposed of it.
“What is it?”
Aurelio raised an eyebrow, “What’s wrong with you, you’re all hostile.”
Eduardo Tercero put a hand to his brow bone, took a deep breath, calmed his emotions and spoke in a deep voice, “I’m fine. I asked you what happened.”
Aurelio looked towards the bonfire burning not far away and frowned, “That little soldier boy now suffered an infection, the cause of which has not yet been identified, and it is not yet known how strongly the virus will spread, but to be on the safe side, I incinerated him.”
Edward the Third looked at the smoldering fire, not without a shudder, but the chances of such things happening in the borderlands were too high to lament, and he had a heavier burden to carry.
“Identified yet?”
“Sure.”
Edward the Third nodded slightly, “When the cremation is over, send someone to take him home. Talk to his family about the pension and try to honor it.”
“Yes, so I will order it.”
Eduardo Tercero asks, “What kind of virus is it, have you figured it out?”
Aurelio shook his head, his face grave, “It’s not clear yet, but the heat on the border can easily induce infection and plague, so it’s always a good idea to be extra careful. I’ll have the medical office distribute disinfectant and hand sanitizer later, and it will slightly kill the poison in the important areas of the council and consultation.”
“Just do what you say.”
Eduardo Tercero and Aurelio were about to return when a frightened young female doctor came running up.
“Dr. Aurelio, it’s no good!”
“What’s wrong, tell me right.”
The doctor took a shaky breath and said, “They just brought a child from a farming family to the border, foaming at the mouth, with a continuous high fever and significant heart, lung and liver failure; the parents went to the small clinics nearby for help, without success, before going to our doctors here …”.
Eduardo Tercero and Aurelio exchanged a glance before heading to the medical services.
When we arrived at the doctor’s office, the boy was already in a bed, connected to a respirator and a cardiac monitor.
As soon as we entered, Aurelio put on disposable sanitary gloves and, with a flashlight in one hand, lifted the boy’s eyelids with the other to observe his somewhat dilated pupils.
“Foaming at the mouth, high fever of forty degrees, marked enlargement of the lungs and multiple lymphatic enlargements.”
“Antibiotics have just been connected.”
Aurelio listened to the report from the doctor next to him and made a quick decision, “Normal antibiotics are not going to work, change the drops and hook up the superantibiotics. This must not be a normal fever infection.”
From all the phenomena, there is speculation that this child, most likely, is infected with a supervirus.
Aurelio pulled out a syringe of the child’s blood, sealed it, handed it to the other doctors, and ordered, “Get it to the lab immediately!”
“Right.”
“By the way, has the saliva been taken yet?”
“Not yet.”
Next, the nurse helped the child take the saliva, but upon taking it, it seems that the child, who had a high fever, sneezed directly, spraying white foam and saliva in the nurse’s face.
Everyone present was stunned and looked at the young nurse.
The nurse was stunned and stiffened.
Aurelio, unperturbed by the crisis, immediately shouted, “Take her to be cleaned and disinfected!”.
A half hour later, Aurelio finished processing everything and left the consultation center, ready to go to the lab.
Eduardo Tercero was outside the consultation center and, as soon as Aurelio came out, he saw him.
“Mr. de la Corte, why haven’t you returned to rest?”
Eduardo Tercero’s gaze was sharp as he fixed his eyes on Aurelio, “Is it a highly contagious infection or not?”
“I’m about to go to the lab and those medical personnel who just touched that child should be quarantined immediately.”
“Inform me immediately if there is anything.”
Aurelio nodded, “Definitely.”
…
Another half hour passes.
The results are in.
As soon as he arrived at the consultation center, Aurelio asked, “Has the nurse who just took the child’s saliva been isolated?”.
The big guy froze: “Mr. Aurelio, are the lab results superviral?”.
Aurelio’s eyes flashed, “Yes, it is the highly transmissible SA virus. I order everyone to put on isolation suits, masks and gloves right now, and everyone who has not been in contact with the child right now to leave the consultation center immediately. Everyone who has been in contact with the child, stay here and do not go out to the quarantine area.”
Panic ensued in the consultation center.
The young nurse, who had been sprayed with saliva and white foam by the child, collapsed in an instant, clutching her head and falling to her knees on the floor of the isolation area, trembling and screaming with red eyes.
“I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die … My husband is still waiting for me to come home to H-Town … We agreed that when he came back from the border, we were going to have children …. … I really don’t want to die.
Aurelio ordered, “Everyone entering the quarantine zone must be heavily armed. No one is to leave the quarantine zone until the virus is under control.”
“Yes.”
…
Eduardo Tercero, who had just arrived at the entrance to the shelter, received a call from the access center.
Aurelio said on the other end of the phone, “Your Highness, the results are in and it is the SA supervirus. I have quarantined everyone in the consultation area. It is up to you to send someone to find out the cause and origin of the disease as soon as possible.”
Eduardo Tercero’s cold face, strained into rigid lines, said, “I will get to the root cause as soon as possible, the consultation center is counting on you.”
“No problem, and by the way, remember to make sure the medical staff outside is carefully disinfected and protected against infection.”
“Right. This virus, does it have a counterpart?”
Aurelio smiled faintly and looked at the child lying in a hospital bed not far away, still alive or dead. “Do you want to hear the truth or a lie that won’t influence the troops, Your Excellency?”
“Naturally, it is true.”
“No. I have not yet found a solution. Please, Your Excellency, send someone to deliver all the packages I brought with me when I came to the border. I need to read the books.”
Edward the Third’s eyes were deep and bitter, and his thin lips exhaled only one firm word: “Yes.”