“Of course I can’t let it drop,” Pia shot back. “Something had to have happened. Something out of the ordinary.”

“What about one of the technicians messing up, either by accident or design? I mean, Rothman was like a bull in the proverbial china shop. I imagine there are a lot of people who aren’t crying tonight about what happened to him.”

Pia shook her head. “There were people in the lab who found him unpleasant. But the same people admired him greatly. I can’t imagine anyone in the lab being involved in any underhanded way.”

“So what are you thinking?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Pia said. Her mind was swirling. Her first concern was whether or not Rothman would pull through. At the same time she was reconsidering the two possibilities for what had happened: Rothman contaminated himself by accident, or he did it deliberately. But then, another idea started to take shape in her mind. She realized there was a third possibility she hadn’t yet considered.

Chapter 28.

28.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
NEW YORK CITY
MARCH 24, 2011, 5:05 A.M.

Although it was only a little after five in the morning, Pia finally quit trying to go back to sleep and got out of bed. The previous night she’d returned to her dorm room from the security office exhausted mentally and physically. Before she and George went to their respective rooms, he gave her the turkey sandwich that he’d saved. It was flattened to a degree but still recognizably a sandwich. Once back in her room, she’d eaten a corner of it, then threw the rest in the trash and went to bed, hoping to get some rest. She’d not slept well, but at least she couldn’t remember her dreams.

Pia showered quickly and dressed. She understood how essential it was to her future that Rothman pull through. Despite the hour, she knew she had to go over to the hospital to check and make sure he was okay. Her hope was that the new antibiotic had worked wonders and was controlling his infection. In that case, she further hoped that his delirium had cleared up and she could have a word with him. She wanted to ask him if he had any idea what had happened in the biosafety lab the previous morning.

Emerging from the dorm onto Haven Avenue, Pia felt conspicuously lonely. It was morning although not yet light. She felt like the only person in the world as she made her way over to the hospital. Once inside, it was different as the hospital never slept. Quickly she made her way up to the infectious disease wing.