Virgil was glad to have Scott's company while it lasted. He would never have wished anything so horrible on anyone, much less Maria, but after watching that sickening recording, his big brother finally came around, which was a huge weight lifted. Furthermore, Scott was being extraordinarily understanding about giving him leave from International Rescue. Virgil loved his work, but he was also human, not some unfeeling robot. He couldn't be out there when he couldn't keep his head in the game and right now, he couldn't think about anything other than Maria.
Thunderbird 1 got called away, but Scott left Virgil's biohazard suit with him in case they would let him go into the biocontainment room. Virgil had no idea who he should ask to be allowed to see her, nor did anyone ever walk by to inquire what he was doing loitering around their wait area.
This institute seemed more like a research facility than a hospital and it appeared that talking to a patient's family was very low on the priority list. The longer he was there, the more he became convinced that Maria was the only patient they had at the present, and he suspected they were treating her more like a specimen to be studied than a person. Of course, it was only speculation brought on by being kept in the dark too long. He couldn't see what was going on in that white room and even if he could have heard, their language was all gibberish to him.
Finally, after what seemed days, but was probably merely hours, a woman in a red biohazard suit with the hood down walked up to him. She said what sounded like, "Vwe Virgil?" His name was pretty obvious even through her thick accent. He hit the comms button on his sash. "Virgil to Thunderbird 5. I'm going to need EOS for Russian translation."
"You got it, Virgil," John said. "Standing by."
Virgil looked back at the woman, hoping she would repeat herself. When she didn't, he said, "She said what sounds like 'vwe Virgil?'."
"Are you Virgil?" EOS's voice translated.
Virgil nodded vigorously at the woman who looked amused at all his fumbling with the translation. He said, "Yes—er—da. Da."
The next phrase was too long to repeat without mangling it, but his comms picked up her voice, so EOS could translate directly. EOS said, "Come with me."
Virgil hopped to his feet. His biohazard suit rested on the chair Scott had vacated. "EOS, ask her if I should put my biosafety gear on."
He picked up the suit to show her what he meant while EOS asked the question in Russian.
"Nyet," she said, shaking her head.
"No," EOS translated.
"Yeah, I got that one," Virgil muttered.
The woman spoke another long phrase in Russian. EOS translated, "We are going to the observation deck. It is safe without suits."
Virgil draped the suit over his arm and carried it with him. He still hoped he could get someone to let him see her. The red-suited woman led him up some stairs into a room that was like a glass-sealed theatre balcony overlooking the white room where Maria lay either asleep or comatose, but apparently breathing without artificial help. Her left forearm and both wrists had been bandaged. Her face was heavily bruised and a butterfly dressing had been applied near her right cheekbone. At least a dozen shiny red biosafety suits were milling around Maria's bed, looking at bioscan readouts and having discussions. He could hear them talking as if there were microphones down below leading to speakers in the balcony, but it was all in Russian. The multiple conversations overlapped too much for a chance at getting translated over comms.
Another string of Russian from the woman in front of him led to EOS's translation: "We are keeping her sedated because this virus is completely unknown. We think it was bioengineered with CRISPR." Virgil nodded without completely understanding, hoping John was recording what she said to relay it to Brains.
Getting the information was slow because of the language barrier, but it was better than being left clueless and ignored. The Russian woman was patient with the process, speaking small bits at a time and then pausing for EOS. "Her body's defenses will be better than any medicine, since we have no idea what the virus will do. Her immune system will be stronger if she stays sedated."
"For how long?" Virgil asked and EOS translated.
The woman shook her head. "We do not know. As long as it takes to be rid of the virus. Her other wounds are not very bad."
Virgil wanted to argue with that statement, but it was simply too hard to do it through language barriers and translators. The burns, rope abrasions, and bruises might be minor in a comparative medical sense, but they were absolutely 'very bad' in his mind because they had been purposely inflicted by a sadistic madman for no reason but to cause her pain.
Something on his face must have communicated his sentiments because she amended herself. It was translated to: "I mean the wounds will heal quickly and not require a large expenditure of immunological reserves. She will need a strong immune system to fight this virus. That is of most concern right now."
"Can I see her?"
She pointed down through the window. EOS translated: "You see her. We will save bedside visit until she is no longer sedated, yes?"
"Da," Virgil said. "Thank you," from Virgil was translated to "spah-si-bah". He repeated EOS's translation himself, both to express it personally and to try to learn the word.
She nodded and turned to go.
"Wait! What is your name?" Virgil asked and EOS translated.
"Doktor Olga Petrova."
"Virgil Tracy. Pleased to meet you." He was thankful she had given him information and led him here, where at least he could see Maria.
Petrova nodded and walked out. She didn't seem to care that he stayed behind, alone.
Virgil decided to call Grandma with the update, which he knew wasn't much new information, but he would have wanted her to call if their positions had been reversed.
"They're keeping her sedated and I can't be with her until they decide to let her wake up," he said with a little more frustration in his voice than he intended.
Brains popped in next to Grandma, "Virgil, I have b-been in conference with the virologists at the CDC. Atlanta will be sending some of their t-top doctors to Russia, along with a translator. Scott will be t-transporting them in Thunderbird 1 as soon as he finishes his p-present mission."
"That's good news, Brains," Virgil said.
Grandma spoke next. "Virgil, why don't you come home with Scott after he drops off the doctors? Maria would want you to come eat that pulled pork she made and get some sleep."
"The t-team leader from the CDC, Dr. Harrison, has p-promised to keep us updated," Brains added. "Scott will give him one of our c-communicators so we can keep in touch."
"I'll decide after I talk to this doctor myself. If he can assure me it really won't matter, I'll come home with Scott."
"F.A.B." Grandma said before closing the connection.
Virgil was able to see when the American team arrived because their biohazard suits were yellow, contrasting vividly with the Russians' red ones. He also heard English and saw a translator working busily with all the researchers to exchange information. Virgil left the observation deck to look for Scott, whom he found back in the waiting room.
Scott said, "Dr. Harrison said he'll come find us after he confers with the Russian team. How are you holding up?"
Virgil gestured to Scott to come with him back to the observation balcony. He answered as they walked. "Tired. Worried. Wish I knew more." The observation deck was still deserted, but the room below was now crowded with both yellow and red biohazard suits. "I wish I could go down there and hold her hand. I just don't want her to think she's all alone, that we left her to die with all these strangers."
"She knows you came to her rescue, Virgil. Also, I talked to Dr. Harrison a little bit on the way here. He's optimistic that she's going to recover. The Alchemist wasn't expecting her to realise she'd been infected at all, much less know where to get the best treatment. She was supposed to go back to Tracy Island, infect us all, and none of us would figure it out until too late. That didn't happen. Look at all those specialists down there from all over the world. Nobody is leaving anybody to die."
"You really think so?"
"I know so." Scott followed up with a brotherly pat on the back. They sat in the observation deck, which had a couple of rows of theatre-type seats. Virgil was content to wait in silence for Dr. Harrison, but Scott was not the quiet type. After only a few seconds, he cleared his throat lightly. "So, she admitted to being in love with you under truth serum. What do you think about that?"
Virgil smiled despite not wanting to show any sign of cheerfulness under the grim circumstances. "Well, if I can convince her that I don't see her as some tentative distraction that I'm going to discard when I get bored, or some convenient scapegoat to blame for Grandma's declining health, then I think our chances are pretty good."
"Chances for...?"
Love. Marriage. Kids. The whole shebang. He didn't voice any of his hopes. It hadn't even been 24 hours since Scott gave him a hard time for merely kissing her. Virgil was glad to have him on his side now, but he was still a little wary.
Scott didn't give up. "If I gave you truth serum right now, what would you be saying about how you feel?"
Virgil smirked. "I'd say that I think I should tell her how I feel before I tell my big brother."
"Aw, come on. You could practice on me."
"Yeah. Don't think so."
Thankfully, their discussion was cut short by someone in a yellow biosafety suit rapping on the inside of the open door. "Scott? Am I interrupting?"
Scott stood. Virgil followed his lead.
"Dr. Harrison, this is my brother, Virgil Tracy," Scott said. "Virgil, Dr. Harrison."
They exchanged a handshake. "Pleased to meet you," Virgil said. "How is Maria?"
"The Russians have been taking good care of her, watching her vitals and giving her body the support it will need, keeping up her blood pressure and electrolytes. She does have a fever, but it's only 38.4 Celsius, and that's a good general defence against viral infections, so we're not treating it unless it gets higher. The virus hasn't really had time to fully incubate yet and we have no idea what to expect when it does. The good news is this Alchemist person doesn't seem to have the background necessary to design a virus that is both highly contagious and highly lethal. It's not really that easy, regardless of his bragging. Knowledge and skill with chemical poisons doesn't really transfer to CRISPR technology and genetic engineering."
"That's somewhat comforting," Virgil said.
"So we're going to keep her sedated and hope her immune system can create antibodies to kill the virus. Because transmission was aerosol, we are concerned that there will be respiratory complications. If she develops congestion that leads to coughing, we will discontinue the sedative so she can sit up and cough to clear her lungs. I'm told if you go home, you can get here in under an hour?"
Virgil and Scott both nodded. Even Thunderbird 2 could get from Tracy Island to Russia in under an hour.
Dr. Harrison held up an International Rescue communicator disc but directed his next words to Virgil. "I promised Mr. Hackenbacker that I would call you with updates. That includes any future plans to take her off sedatives. Dr. Petrova and I agree that you should be here if we do that. She's been saying your name in her sleep."
"She's been asking for me?" Virgil was a little miffed that Dr. Petrova hadn't told him this or that the mics hadn't picked it up.
"More like dreaming about you," Dr. Harrison said in a calm, reassuring tone. "You're obviously important to her."
"We're the only family she has," Scott told him. Virgil did a double-take. Scott said 'we' and 'family' about Maria? Maybe we should make sure he doesn't have a fever.
The doctor continued, "There's really no reason you need to be here right now. In fact, it's counter-productive. Go home and sleep. If she does start coughing, it's probably going to be a marathon and you'll need to be well-rested for it."
"I don't think I can sleep right now," Virgil said.
The doctor patted his elbow. "Find a way. She's going to need your strength eventually, coughing or not."
"All right, you've convinced me. I'll go home."
"Good man," Scott said, heaving what was probably a sigh of relief.