The Bronca Virus 5

I am not a medical professional, but I could tell that her blood pressure was dropping. I got scared, and my knees were losing strength. The beeping of the monitor sounded like a call to the grave, and it drove me crazy.

I looked at the doctor and saw he spoke to the nurses. I could not hear anything, but I knew he was giving orders. The nurses moved like bolts of lightning. My eyes couldn't follow them all. One of them picked up a vial, aspirated the content out of it through a syringe, then infused it in the bigger bottle. I guessed it was the medicine to address her dropping blood pressure. Soon, I saw it hanging on an IV stand, followed by other bottles.

Someone approached me and took Red's history. Looking at the pin on her left upper chest, I understood that she was a post-graduate intern. I may not have known Red too well, but I was able to answer all her questions because I had Red's personal data even before I met her. The intern asked what happened, and I told her a bug bit her.

"What kind of a bug? And where does it happen?"

"Red and I were on my farm when she got bitten by a Bronca bug," I calmly replied, but her eyes got wide. She raised the mask from her chin to cover her nose and mouth.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but perhaps you are aware that the Bronca bugs are the host of these Bronc X viruses."

"I heard so," I lied, and I was dying deep inside to tell her that its not a virus but the venom of the cultured Bronca bug.

"For a while," she said and disappeared before I took my next breath. She was back anyway after a couple of minutes, but this time, she was already wearing a protective gown, a mask, and a face shield. She also handed another set for me, and I obediently complied. I didn't want them to get infected, either.

She asked me to follow her, and I did. She opened the next door to the ICU, where the medical team attended Red. I gazed at the glass window where the curtains obstructed my sight from Red. The intern must have understood me because he moved the curtains aside.

"Sir, you also need to be observed and isolated because you were with her."

I nodded. "As long as you place me here where I can watch my patient, I'll be alright."

"Okay. I'll inform the staff of your request."

She asked me further about the bug and about what did I do after I knew that Red was bitten "I sterilized a knife, cut her bite area, then squeezed the venom out of her skin."

"Where did you get that idea?" Her eyes were as wide as the incandescent lamp above us.

"When I was young, my parents did that to me whenever I got bites." Of course, I was careful not to mention Patrick's name.

My eyes did not leave the monitor, and after a while, I took a deep breath and dropped a sigh when I saw that her blood pressure climbed higher and stayed at 90/60 mmHg. My anxiety did not end there, yet because the attending physician came in to see me. His domineering aura was frightening, and it gave me the impression that he would not be saying something heartwarming.

"Sir, I will refer Dr. Red to a nephrologist. The toxin should be removed from her system. After a few hemodialysis sessions, I am hoping she'll be able to recover.

Though Patrick had already informed me about this, goosebumps still crept all over me, and my lips quivered. I have seen in movies how awful those patients' blood looked on pipes that are connecting to a machine and a catheter in their necks.

Hemodialysis is a medical procedure to remove fluids and waste products from the blood. The patient is hooked to a dialysis machine and a special filter that cleans the blood before it is returned to the body. To do it, the patient undergoes a minor surgical procedure to insert a catheter at the side of the neck called an intrajugular catheter, or in the arm called an arteriovenous fistula. These are the access used in connecting the patient to the dialysis machine.

"Whatever is best for her," I gave out a hoarse voice, reflecting the anguish I felt inside.

I was no longer allowed to follow her in the operating room and in the Hemodialysis Unit since I was isolated. They also aspirated samples of blood from me to test for Bronc X virus infection. Just before the Hemodialysis staff wheeled Red back to the isolation unit, the laboratory unit released my results.

Negative. And I wondered if it was because of Dina's concoction. What I noticed while I was drinking it was that I had frequent trips to the bathroom. I sighed and whispered a silent prayer that may this concoction works.

Since I was not allowed to enter Red's unit anymore, I send her notes and cards. I did not send her some get-well-soon letters but simple words that tell how much I care for her. I also sent pictures of her wedding gown and the places I wanted us to go during our honeymoon—most of all, pictures of her grandfather, Sir Thomas Grey.

I went to see the chairman after I got discharged from the hospital. His greyish hair was what I glimpsed first while I was still on the doorframe. A lump formed in my throat as I saw Sir Thomas in that greyish hair on top of his wrinkled forehead. I wanted to cry and talked to him like I was talking to my old man. I wanted to apologize because I failed him.

"Chairman, after the turnover ceremony, please give these papers to Dr. Red."

He looked at the papers, then scanned all the pages. After a long while, he leaned his back at the cushion of his backrest and gazed at me with furrowed brows.

"Mr. Sean Grey, why?"