As Nate watched Juan deal with patient after patient, he developed a better sense of who the doctor was. The man seemed to genuinely care about each and every person he examined. He listened patiently to their complaints and ultimately assured them that everything would be fine.

Of course, in most cases, it wouldn’t be fine. Out of the first forty patients, Juan eliminated only two of them. In both cases, he told Nate after they had left, he probably hadn’t even needed his device to clear them. Both patients had had a fever when they were brought in, but had had normal temperature readings ever since.

When the next patient walked in, the doctor stiffened, his eyes going wide. The patient halted and stared with a surprised expression. An obvious look of recognition flashed between the two.

“Juan!” the woman said, her voice trembling. “How did you know I was here?”

Nate recognized the woman as well. She was in her mid-twenties and pretty. Her shock of red hair and pale skin made Nate think of a matchstick. It was the O’Reilly kid, the same girl he’d collected at Georgetown.

But how the hell did she know the doctor?

“I—I didn’t,” Juan stammered. He was clearly as shocked to see her as she was to see him. “Oh my God. Kathy… how did you end up here?”

Kathy’s eyes welled with tears. “Because of the trial, Juan. I accidentally drank some of my dad’s medicine, and I—” Her voice broke, and she sobbed.

Juan’s face flushed red. “I’m so sorry. I had absolutely no idea…” He shut his mouth and glanced at Nate nervously. Then he composed himself, checked her over just like he had done with the other patients, and finally handed her the pipette.

She blew into it. Both Nate and Juan watched closely as the LED flashed with its results.

She’d tested positive.

As Juan wrote down her results, his face was a storm of emotions. It was clear to Nate that not only did the doctor know this young woman, he felt something for her.

As soon as she had departed, Nate asked the airman outside the door to give them a few minutes. Then he turned to Juan.

“How do you know her?”

Juan’s eyes were bloodshot. He was visibly upset. “It’s complicated. I guess I mostly met her at a speaking engagement. And then we saw each other a bit at Georgetown.” He took a deep breath. “And it’s my fault she’s here. Her father was dying of cancer, and so I told her about a trial. If I hadn’t passed on information about that trial I knew nothing about, she wouldn’t be here. She wouldn’t be here. She wouldn’t be infected!”