The Coltons: Return to Wyoming

“Some more water,” Carter said.

“I’ll be right back,” Gemma said. She retrieved water from the small sink in Carter’s room. Though the patients had confirmed cases of the Dead River virus, they were confined to their rooms to prevent the spread of symptoms.

Gemma sat with Carter for a few minutes, and as he dozed off to sleep, she and Rafe slipped from the room. The Dead River virus was exhausting for patients to fight. Some slept fifteen to sixteen hours a day. Keeping them hydrated and eating enough nutrients was a challenge.

Rafe typed notes on Carter’s chart and Gemma moved to the next room.

Tammy Flynn, their youngest patient, a six-year-old girl, was watching television in her room when Gemma entered. Her parents video-conferenced with her several times a day, but the separation was taking its toll. Tammy had grown close to Gemma and Gemma had “adopted” her as her temporary daughter.

Thinking about what the virus was doing to families broke her heart. Gemma didn’t allow her patients to see her break down, but some nights, she returned home and did just that. The Dead River virus had brought so much heartache to this town.

“Hey, Tammy,” Gemma said, coming to the girl’s bedside.

“I have a gift for you,” Rafe said, entering the room behind Gemma.

He handed Tammy a shiny pink gift bag. Tammy’s eyes grew wide and she opened it, pulling out plastic beakers and tongs and a pair of goggles.

“This is awesome!” The little girl held up a plastic beaker with the tongs.

“That’s really cool,” Gemma said, surprised at Rafe’s thoughtfulness. When had he had time to acquire such a gift and how?

“I told you I would bring some lab equipment so you could help me,” Rafe said.

Was she hearing the conversation properly? As distant and cool as Rafe was with everyone in Dead River, he had certainly allowed Tammy into his heart. It was touching and Gemma wondered how detached Rafe was able to stay.

“Please show me what to do,” Tammy said, sounding excited.

“We’ll set it up,” Rafe said.

With a couple pitchers of water and some food coloring, Tammy was conducting her own study. She fell asleep with her beakers lined up on the slim table next to her bed.

After they left the room, Rafe took notes on the laptop in the hallway to update Tammy’s case. The notes would be sent electronically to their record system in the main clinic and uploaded to the CDC at the end of the week.

“That was really nice of you,” Gemma said. It wasn’t the first gift Rafe had brought Tammy or the other patients. The staff tried to think of activities to keep boredom and cabin fever at bay. Rafe had a knack for coming up with games for Tammy to play.

“Danny helped me put it together,” Rafe said. “I told him about Tammy and he thought of it.”

Danny was Rafe’s foster son. Rafe mentioned him often, though he didn’t delve into much detail about him. The few times Gemma had tried to draw him out, Rafe hadn’t taken the bait.

“I’ll take Jessica’s blood sample,” Gemma said.

Rafe’s hand on her arm stopped her. Even with layers of plastic between them, her skin prickled with desire. Rafe dripped charisma and a raw sensuality she couldn’t ignore.

“Are you planning to tell her what happened?” Rafe asked.

Jessica was Gemma’s best friend. They told each other almost everything. But Jessica was pinning her hopes on the staff at the Dead River Clinic finding a cure and if she knew how much they had lost that night, she’d be devastated. A blow to her morale was bad for her health.

“No, not today,” Gemma said.

Rafe nodded his approval. Gemma collected the supplies she needed.

Jessica had lost ten pounds since being admitted. She was a tall, slender woman and didn’t have the weight to spare. Jessica smiled when Gemma entered the room. She put the television on mute. “Tell me you have some good news.”

Gemma double-checked that her microphone was off so Rafe wouldn’t hear their conversation. “I dropped off Annabelle with Molly before I came to work. Molly was planning to meet Ellie and Amelia at the library for story time.”

“She’ll love that.” Jessica closed her eyes. Like most of their patients, she’d been chronically tired, sleeping the majority of the day. It was difficult to see Jessica, who was normally active, being so listless. “How is Tom holding up?” she asked.

Jessica’s husband Tom was struggling under the weight of his responsibilities of being a single parent while Jessica was in isolation. Gemma and her cousin Molly had stepped in to lend a hand, but he wouldn’t feel better until Jessica was home. “He’s doing the best he can.”

Jessica smiled a weak half smile. “That bad?”

Tom had confided how scared he was for Jessica and for their daughter Annabelle. He worried about his little girl becoming another of the virus’s victims. His worry wasn’t unique. Some parents had stopped sending their children to school because of that fear. “He loves you and he wants you to feel better,” Gemma said.

“I know. I love him and Annabelle too. I’m trying. But this virus is like a flu that won’t quit.”

Many of the virus’s symptoms were similar to the flu, which was how they had missed the severity with their first case. The flu wasn’t an emergency, not for someone otherwise healthy, as their first virus patient had been. This virus was new territory for them. “I uploaded new pictures for you to look at and a video of Annabelle reading a new book from school.”

“Thank you for everything that you’re doing. Talking to my family and you is getting me through this.” At Gemma’s prompting, Jessica took a sip of the drink at her bedside. “Tell me what’s new with you. You tell me about my family, but you have a lot going on too.”

Gemma rolled her eyes. “It’s a regular revolving door of men at my place. Everyone’s looking to score a date with the plague nurse who works all the time. When I can, I’ve been visiting Theo, Ellie and baby Amelia. She’s getting big so fast and I love spending time with her.”

“They do that. One minute, you’re cradling them in your arms, the next, they’re grown and rolling their eyes at you. What about that new doctor? He’s worth a second look.”

“Rafe? He’s not new exactly,” Gemma said, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks.

Jessica hadn’t attended high school with Gemma. Tom had moved to town to work on Theo’s ranch, bringing his pregnant wife with him and Gemma had hit it off with Jessica immediately. They’d been fast friends ever since. “Oh, come on, you said you thought he was cute in high school. What about now?”

Still cute, although seeing him now brought entirely different feelings. She didn’t feel like giggling and blushing when she saw him. She felt like seeing if he was as incredible a kisser as he was a doctor. “He is. I’m not blind. But I’m also not interested in an affair. He’s only here until we find a cure for the virus, then he’s heading back to New York City. His dream job awaits him.”

“His dream job, but maybe his dream girl is right here.”

Gemma laughed. “No way. I dated a doctor once and you know how that went down. Badly. Like a ten-mile-long-train-wreck badly.”

Jessica sighed. “I do. But that was one person, one time. You can’t judge the whole lot of doctors over one jerk.”

Gemma waved her hand. “I’m too busy, anyway. I’ll worry about finding a boyfriend when men can come and go freely in this town.”

“Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.”

A day Gemma didn’t like much. Being single for the majority of Valentine’s Days in her life gave her a different perspective. The perspective that she didn’t need another excuse to drink wine and eat chocolates—that she bought herself—in her home alone. “Not right around the corner. It’s not even Christmas yet.”

“You know as soon as those Christmas decorations are put away, the red hearts and boxes of chocolates come out,” Jessica said.

Gemma nodded, but she thought of the bare shelves at the grocery store and shops along Main Street. If the quarantine wasn’t lifted, nonessentials like seasonal items wouldn’t make it on the shipments into town.

She couldn’t imagine this dragging on for that many months more, but what if it did? What if every person in Dead River succumbed to the virus?

Dr. Colleen Goodhue said she had only seen rare cases where a virus obliterated an entire town, usually in third world countries. The Dead River virus was proving to have staying power. It was stronger and stealthier because it kept its human host alive long enough to infect many others.

With her grandmother and best friend sick, Gemma had plenty of reasons to devote everything she had to finding a cure. Knowing so much was on the line only drove her harder.

Chapter 2

At the end of her shift, Gemma found Dr. Goodhue and Rafe in the lab. Dr. Goodhue seemed shell-shocked as she looked through some notebooks, but as usual, Rafe worked like a man on a mission.

“It’s hard to believe someone would do this,” Dr. Goodhue said. “I called the home office and they said they’d send more supplies, but it will take time. How will our research continue without a proper lab?”

Gemma didn’t like to hear Dr. Goodhue sounding distraught. She was the most experienced in this type of work and while the break-in and fire were upsetting, they didn’t have the option to quit.

“We’ll work with what we have left,” Rafe said.

Rafe wouldn’t let time pass while they waited for a shipment and forgo possible progress. From the beginning, he had been driving them hard, urging them to work more and longer. He had good reasons, but sometimes Gemma thought breaks and time away could give them a fresh perspective.

What did Rafe do with his free time? Did he have free time? Gemma didn’t go out often, and rarely now that she worked so much. What would it be like to have a social life again and how would she feel if Rafe was part of it? Her conversation with Jessica had given her something to think about.

“What is left?” Dr. Goodhue asked, slamming closed the notebook she was reading.

Gemma had spaced out. Was Dr. Goodhue speaking to her?

“Rafe and I collected blood samples from our current patients. Those are places to start,” Gemma said.

“What about patient zero? We can’t obtain more blood from her!” Dr. Goodhue said.

Until they had evidence to prove otherwise, they believed Mimi Rand was patient zero. Mimi Rand, the ex-wife of Dr. Lucas Rand, had died in the clinic, but not before she had infected several other people in town.

“We don’t know that blood from patient zero will help,” Rafe said.

Rafe had mentioned the possibility of the virus morphing over time. Their patient information indicated that patients who had contracted the virus early on seemed to be faring better than those who had been admitted more recently.

Mimi Rand was dead. Dozens of others had died. These were facts not far from Gemma’s thoughts.

“We’ll salvage what we can and we’ll reproduce the results we need,” Gemma said. “Rafe? Our shift ended an hour ago. I’ve been waiting to speak with you.” She had decided she would reach out again, offer her friendship and see if he needed to talk.

Rafe turned in his chair. He looked at her as if he expected her to speak to him now. At least he’d faced her.

“Alone. Please,” Gemma said. Talking in their protective suits was uncomfortable and no way would Rafe open up in front of Dr. Goodhue. He might not open up at all, but the chances were better if they were alone.

Rafe stood. He looked at the clock on the wall. “All right. Let’s scrub out.”

Twenty minutes later, changed into street clothes, Gemma searched for the right words to explain what was on her mind. The latest interference in their research was a good reason to take a step back and regroup. If they were tired and run-down, they’d be ineffective and inefficient. Maybe if Dr. Rand, Anand and Felicia hadn’t been so drained, they would have heard the break-in and prevented someone from getting into the lab.

“I’m hungry. Mind grabbing a bite with me at the diner?” Gemma asked. A friendly environment would make it easier to talk. In the clinic, despite his treating her as a colleague, Gemma still felt strict professional boundaries.

“I have dinner with Danny,” he said.

She didn’t want to give up so easily. “You can grab some carry-out. This won’t take long.”

“You can’t tell me what you need now?” he asked. He used that irritated tone he sometimes had with the rest of the staff. Gemma ignored it. Some doctors thought they could strong-arm others into bending to their will.

Gemma was not one of those people. Even though she didn’t enjoy confrontation, someone needed to talk to Rafe and have him blow off some steam before his head exploded.

“No.” Gemma folded her arms across her chest.

Rafe jammed a hand through his hair. “You are persistent. You win. Let’s go.”

He’d agreed if only because he knew she wouldn’t back down. That was fine with her. When she had a problem on her mind, she needed to say it. Then she would smooth things over.

* * *

The Dead River Diner was crowded. As they searched for a free booth, Rafe felt eyes on him. He was accustomed to stares in this town. From the time he had been a young boy, he’d been given looks that made it plain he was not welcome.

Whether it was because he was now an outsider or his medical degree hadn’t covered the stench of being from the worst part of town, he wasn’t welcome in Dead River. He had never felt it more than now.

He ignored the looks, like he always had. He slid into a booth across from Gemma. Why did she need to talk here? It had been a long, bad day. He wanted to go home, have dinner with Danny and catch up on some virology articles that were waiting for him. One might spark an idea that could lead to a cure.

“Dr. Granger—”

Too formal. “When we’re not working, call me Rafe.”

He almost surprised himself, but the words had come naturally.

“Rafe,” Gemma started again, sounding unsure. “How can I help your stress level?”

Rafe inclined his head. “My stress level?”

Gemma shifted in her seat. “We’re under a tremendous amount of stress, but you most of all. You drive us hard and yourself harder—”

He felt a criticism coming from her pink mouth. “Are you saying you need a break?” Losing a member of their staff would be hard, but he wouldn’t work someone into the ground. If she needed to step back from her duties, he understood.

Green eyes narrowed. “I don’t need a break. I’m concerned about you.”

Why? He hadn’t come apart. “No reason to be. I know my limits.”

The waitress took their order. Rafe asked for his food to go and a coffee. He couldn’t feed Danny cereal or a sandwich again as a meal. They were guys, but Rafe had hit his limit on crap food and Danny was a growing teenager.

The waitress lingered at the table. “Any news?” she asked.

About the cure? The break-in? “About what?” Rafe asked. He’d been in the clinic and didn’t know if news of the break-in had hit the gossip mill. It was Dead River, so most likely it had.

The waitress looked around. “About the virus. I heard you found a cure, but it ended up making everyone sicker. Is that true?”

If they’d had a cure that made people sicker, it wouldn’t be a cure. Luckily, Gemma answered before Rafe could make any more enemies with his sarcastic response.

“We’re doing our best, but we’re still working on it,” Gemma said.

The waitress frowned. “It’s been months. Have you tried asking for outside help?”

Rafe kept his temper. It was difficult for people of the town to believe that finding a cure wasn’t a straightforward task. It wasn’t as if the clinic had a computer that would take the virus, find the antidote and print it out on paper like a recipe for them to mix. “There are a number of factors at play. We’re closing in on it,” Rafe said. He curbed the urge to say more.

The waitress nodded. “Okay, thanks. Everyone is so worried.” She bit her lip. “I’ll put your order in.”

Gemma reached across the table, and then drew her hands back into her lap. “Dr. Granger, she didn’t mean to be insulting.”

The people of Dead River wanted a cure found and they were putting their faith in the clinic to deliver. “It’s hard to explain to someone why we don’t have a cure.”

“Everyone knows you’re an exceptional doctor,” Gemma said.

He didn’t need his ego stroked. “But what?”

Gemma smiled. “But I am worried you’ll burn out. You can’t keep going at the pace you’re going and not break down.”

She had no idea what he could and could not do. Since he had gotten out of Dead River, he had worked as if the devil was chasing him and would catch him if he slowed. College, medical school, a fellowship with the CDC and his residency had led to the pinnacle of his success: a position as an ER doctor at Presbyterian University Hospital in New York.

“I will not have a breakdown. Is this about getting upset with Flint earlier today?” The Coltons had always stuck together. Rafe understood if she was sticking up for her brother.

“This isn’t about Flint. He’s a big boy and he can take it. This is about you. You’re the only doctor who works additional shifts.” Gemma pointed to the coffee the waitress had slid in front of him. “Is that the majority of your meals?”

Rafe glanced at the coffee. He wasn’t keeping track of his food. “Worried I’ll have shaky hands during a procedure?”

Gemma shook her head. “Please hear me. I am not concerned about how you treat others. I am not concerned about your patients. I am concerned about you and how you will drive us crazy if you don’t ease off.”

Gemma had struck a nerve. Ease off. Slack off. Sit around and wait for someone else to do the work. He would set Gemma straight now. “I do not expect you or anyone else to help.” The cold in his voice hit its mark. Gemma drew away and her face dropped.

“I can do this entirely on my own if that’s what it takes. I don’t need to rest. I need to find a cure to help the people of this town get better. I will not put my personal needs ahead of someone’s life.”

Gemma seemed shocked and then gathered herself. “That’s not really true is it, Dr. Granger? You want to help our patients, but you have another motive.”

He’d made no secret of his desire to escape this town. “Like everyone else here, I can’t wait to leave.”

Gemma drew back. “I don’t want to leave.”

She wouldn’t. She had a great family, people who cared about her and she’d gone with the flow and seemed happy doing what was expected of her. Even in high school, she’d been the school’s sweetheart, not popular exactly, but few had a bad word to say about her. “Then I guess that’s one reason we don’t get along. I don’t want to be here a minute longer than I have to.”

Gemma leaned in and glared at him. “You can try that bad-boy routine on me, but I see through you. You’re here because you want to be.”

He snorted. “You know nothing about me. I am here because of a promise I foolishly gave.”

“Why not break the promise if you hate it here?”

“Because breaking a promise to a dead person would make me the tyrannical, self-serving shithead you’re implying I am.”

Gemma’s mouth dropped open. “I said no such thing.”

Rafe threw several twenties on the table. “See you at work.”

He fled the diner and ignored the looks from the people around him. He didn’t need their condescension and he didn’t need this town.

* * *

Rafe opened the door to his rental, a two-story, three-bedroom colonial. It was too big for him, though somehow he thought it was too small for him and Danny. The teenager seemed to have a lot of stuff, or maybe it seemed that way because nothing was ever put away.

“Danny! Are you home?” Rafe asked.

Rafe was accustomed to some signs that Danny was inside. Muddy shoes by the door, winter jacket thrown over the chair in the living room or the sound of music pulsing from the boy’s bedroom.

It was quiet.

“Danny!”

Was he wearing headphones?

Rafe took the oak stairs to Danny’s room and found it empty. No backpack slung on the floor. Rafe picked up an empty box of cookies and tossed it in the trash. He called the cell phone he’d given to Danny, but the call went directly to voice mail.

Worry knotted in his stomach. He gave Danny his freedom and his privacy, as Danny’s grandfather had, but Rafe and Danny had an agreement. Danny would let Rafe know where he was and when he would be home and Rafe did the same for him. That morning, Danny had told him he’d come home directly after football practice. After the fire at the clinic, Rafe had texted him that he would be late tonight. Danny was usually good to his word.

Rafe called the Dead River Youth Center. It was a safe place for students to hang out after school and Danny had friends there. Maybe he’d forgotten to tell Rafe he’d changed his plans. A quick call to the director of the youth center and Rafe was again at square one. Danny wasn’t there.

His worry increased. Dead River was usually quiet, but with the virus outbreak and a murderer hiding somewhere in town, Rafe didn’t like the idea of Danny anywhere alone. He could be sick and unable to call for help. His cell phone battery could have died.

Danny wasn’t naïve or helpless, but Rafe cared about the boy. His anxiety ticked up a notch. Returning to his car, he drove the short distance Danny walked to school, checking the sidewalks.

No sign of him.

Football practice was over. The field was clear. Rafe’s phone rang and he fumbled to answer it. It wasn’t Danny. Worse still, it was Flint. If he was calling because Danny had been hurt, Rafe wouldn’t forgive himself. He should have called Danny after school or told him to text when he was home safe. He hated to place restrictions on Danny, but how else did a parent keep a son safe?

Rafe stuttered on the thought. Not that he was Danny’s father. Foster father was a big stretch from real father. Still, he’d taken Danny in without any parenting experience and he’d had no idea how hard it would be.

“Flint, what’s going on? Is it Danny?” Rafe rarely felt this panicked. Panic was an emotion he had learned to lock away in emergencies.

“No. Why? Isn’t he with you?”

At least Danny hadn’t been found hurt. “He’s late from practice,” Rafe said.

“Sounds like this is a bad time, but I need you back at the clinic.”

Another outbreak? “What’s happened?”

“Someone’s attacked Dr. Rand.”

Dr. Rand wasn’t a small man. He could handle himself. It would be ballsy for someone to openly attack him. “Is he okay?”

“Shaken, but okay.”

“What about Gemma?” Rafe asked. He had second thoughts about leaving her at the diner. Had she returned home safely? Recent events gave Rafe plenty of reasons to worry.

“I talked to her a few minutes ago. Gemma’s fine, why?” Flint asked.

“I was curious.” More than curious. Though Gemma was intrusive and pushy and seemed too eager to talk about how everyone felt, he liked her. She was good at her job and he enjoyed working with her.

If she had wanted, she could have her pick of hospitals to work in.

Rafe changed directions and drove to the clinic. He called Danny several more times on his cell phone.

He even tried calling a couple of Danny’s friends. They hadn’t seen him since football practice. He tried Danny’s brother, Matt, who hadn’t spoken to Danny recently. When Rafe arrived at the clinic, he parked in the lot. Half the spots were piled with snow and the ice underfoot was slick. In this part of Wyoming, snow and ice would stick around until the spring melt.

Rafe strode directly to Flint. It was the second incident at the clinic in twenty-four hours. “Did you find the person who did this?” Rafe asked. They had to have a lead to find and stop the person hindering the clinic’s research and attacking the staff.