When she arrived at the hotel restaurant, Lopez spotted Kilburn sitting at a table with the newspaper open in front of him. As she neared, he put down his coffee cup and held up the paper to show Lina a photo of herself from the press conference. He broke into a warm, crooked grin. “I had no idea what a celebrity I was dealing with. No doubt we’ll have to duck the paparazzi at any moment.”

She gently pushed the paper down to the table. “I don’t think my Chicken Little act will hold their attention too long.”

“I liked what you had to say, Lina. Time the world woke up. Maybe now people will finally get the message that we can’t toss around antibiotics like confetti without facing the consequences.”

“I wouldn’t count on that, Graham.”

“You’re probably right.” He passed her a menu. “Hungry?

“Famished,” she said. “And I can put away a good-sized breakfast.”

He grinned. “Which of course means you’ll have the small bowl of the carb-free Muslix with fat-free yogurt.”

“That’s incredibly sexist!” She feigned indignation, but couldn’t hold back the laughter. “No. My dad used to make us a mean breakfast every morning. Sausages, huevos rancheros, the works. He used to say that a hearty breakfast was the key to a hearty life.” She looked down at her menu. “Then again, no doubt those big breakfasts contributed to the heart attack that did him in at fifty-six.”

Kilburn nodded sympathetically. “That’s far too young.”

She dismissed the memory with a forced smile and studied her menu. “It hasn’t slowed me down. I can just hear the three-egg, ham, and cheese omelet calling my name.”

“I predict an extremely hearty life for you.” Kilburn laughed after she placed the order. “I spoke to Ellen Horton this morning.”

“Oh?”

“She doesn’t foresee a problem in SeptoMed releasing Oraloxin to us.” His brow furrowed. “Strange, though.”

“What was?”

“Ellen had no idea that her boss blocked my access to the drug,” he said. “She seemed taken aback when I told her.”

“I’m not surprised,” Lopez sighed. “Don’t forget, your friend is a scientist. She wouldn’t see things the same way as do the lawyers and bean counters who run those companies. To them ‘compassionate release’ equals lost money and potential lawsuits.”

Kilburn nodded. “I suppose.”

“Graham, my boss called this morning,” Lopez said. “There’s trouble in San Francisco.” She updated him on the rapid spread, the closed hospital, and the newly reported case in Portland.

Kilburn took a long sip of his coffee. “Lina, if Oraloxin doesn’t pan out in the real world as well as it has in the lab, we could be talking about millions of …”

She shook her head. Eager to redirect the conversation, she asked, “When are you heading home?”

“Wow, people usually wait until the food arrives before they start trying to get rid of me.”