"Morgan?"

"Hm?" Distractedly, she turned to face him. Her ebony hair a messy pile above her head, and one of the legs on her glasses was held captive between straight teeth.

The blue in her irises shone brightly, taking his breath away. They always did. As if each time he saw them was the first, in his life.

"We got the call." Javier couldn't contain the excitement in his voice while a smile slowly spread wide on his face.

"The, call?! Patient X?"

"Hmhm." The fair curls on his head bounced youthfully as he nodded.

"When do we leave?"

"We fly out tonight!"

She jumped out of the office chair as if a spring had broken and catapulted her body forward.

"Oh, Babe!" 

Hugging her to him, he took the time to passionately kiss her. His hand loosened the tie on her hair and his fingers tangled in her tresses instead.

"I can imagine it now Morgan! Husband and wife scientist team discover the cure for an unknown, deadly disease." Imagining the newspaper headline, Javier waved a hand in the air high above their heads, for her to envision as well.

Her body trembled under his touch, and his respiration quickened. Goosebumps covered his skin. "This is it, my love."

Morgan kissed the sensitive spot on his neck. "We've worked so hard for this Javier," her smile disarmed him. 

"This is the beginning baby."

She covered her mouth with both hands and nodded.

"I love you, Morgan. You inspire me to be a better man. A better father to our son and a better human."

Her eyes misted and they made love then, excited about their growing career and their future.

*o*o*

"That's him."

Dr. Olivias, a middle-aged man with, kind, brown eyes, smiled tiredly at the pair. He pointed through a one-way mirror at the moribund man laying on a hospital bed. 

"Patient X has many of the characteristics of someone who is dead, yet he is alive," the doctor explained. "He won't eat, his sight has grown sensitive to light and his skin has become cold to the touch. It's thinned out."

Morgan squeezed her husband's hand in excitement. "Why patient X?"

"We have been requested to keep him anonymous."

"By him? Or his family?"

"Neither."

Javier frowned his brow, "Then who?"

Dr. Olivias whispered, "The government." In a normal tone, he continued, "He was brought in by Military soldiers. During an assignment, he collapsed. Everything came to a complete stop and immediate triage of the situation was assessed. At camp, they couldn't hear his heartbeat. They thought he was dead. Imagine their surprise when his eyes flew open and he started talking?" Olivias laughed puzzled, scratching his head. "Every sort of specialist has been brought from all over the country, but doctors haven't been able to figure out what is wrong with him. So he was brought here."

Morgan took a deep breath. "How did you hear about us?"

"Yes. We're curious to know how we came into the picture. Why send us, blood samples?" Javier looked from his wife to the doctor.

"We learned of your research and recent discoveries regarding the Blue-Winged Teal after that horrid outburst almost wiped them into extinction. Congratulations on that by the way."

The pair beamed proudly. "Thank you," they replied in unison.

"Anyway, you practically brought them back to life Dr. Felix. You both as a team are exquisite. We don't know if this is the first human case or the only case. What we know is, we don't want it to spread."

"As you know, just like humans, birds have the capacity in their cells to neutralize viruses."

"Yes, of course. My team believes, that one specific study should be used as the base for our vaccine. Just in case things get out of hand and a few thousand people contract the disease."

"Oh?!" Javier exclaimed surprised. "We are flattered. Can we meet him?"

"He is sedated at the time. He ..." Olivias cleared his throat. "Went into some kind of spasm when the nurse was here earlier and brought him dinner and also got a few more blood samples."

"Spasms?"

"Not to worry, we were able to control him by sedation. Luckily his body still responds to it. He's tied with retrains now. So you needn't worry."

Their eyes grew large. Concern, difficult to hide on their paled faces.

"Let me walk you to the lab, where you will be working your magic."

*o*o*

For days they ran study after study, barely able to sleep. 

Soon they found an abnormality in the blood samples. They also ran a DNA test and compared it to those of family members. They didn't match. No longer did Patient X have the DNA he'd been born with. He was no longer who he'd been before becoming whatever it was, he was becoming.

Patient X was growing frantic. Not able to eat the hospital food, he was hungry and enraged. Weeks passed and the team had but a few samples to work with. Nothing yet they felt secure enough to test on the ailing patient. 

"I feel we're close, Javier. I feel it in my bones."

"In your bones?" He smiled.

"Yes, or perhaps ... it's- our baby letting me know."

"Baby?!" His jaw opened. "We're pregnant?"

With a leap, Javier knelt beside Morgan hugging her by the waist and rested his head on her lap.

"I'm the happiest man alive! Everything is falling into place, Love."

A loud crack disrupted them. They turned their heads when they heard the raucous again, only louder. Thump! went the rumbling, hollow sound shaking the walls of the room they were in. 

"What's happening!" Morgan screamed. "What is that?"

Another loud smack and the metal door cracked under the strong pressure of two human fists banging on it. It was one of the nurses. His skin looked grayish in color, his eyes hollowed with deep dark circles surrounding them as if from lack of sleep.

"I need you to give me what you got!" He shouted.

Unable to speak, they both looked at the nurse terrified. His bloodshot eyes reminded them of horror movies they used to laugh at. Javier began to sweat. Cold beads gathered above his lip and behind the nape of his hair. He hadn't noticed a change in the nurse's physical appearance before this very moment.

He stood between him and his wife. His right hand up as a sign of surrender. A peace offering. "Stop!"

"I need a vaccine. NOW!"

"We don't have one yet." His voice trembled in fear. 

"Then fucking make one already or I-I..." The corpse-looking man glanced around the lab, grabbed a metal shelf full of empty glassware and beakers and pushed it to the floor. The wreck was so loud, Javier thought he might go deaf. Glass flew all over the room and he turned his head to shield his eyes from it. 

"Why-why is there blood on your mouth?" Javier had to ask, even though he knew he shouldn't.

Wiping it off with the back of his hand he looked at the sleeve of his sweater. "I-I found out what Patient X should eat," he admitted.

Morgan and Javier silent, afraid to ask.

"It's not what you think! I didn't kill anyone ... I went to the morgue."

"We-we- didn't think anything-"

"Morgan!" Javier shooshed her. He wanted to attract as little attention to her as possible.

"I know you've been working on something. Actually, I heard one of the doctors mention, you have something already. So give, it. To. Me!"

On shaky legs, Morgan stood. Her body trembled from head to toes. As did her voice.

"Roger- that is your name, right?"

For a moment he stared at them blankly. His unblinking eyes softened for a second at the mention of his name. 

"We are working on trying to stop the propagation of the disease. A vaccine. But we don't have one yet."

Roger became enraged, lunging at Morgan, he grabbed her by the neck. 

"Dr. Felix, if you don't hurry it up, and give us what we need-"

"Us?" Javier was trying very hard to keep calm.

"Patient X and I, goddamn it! Why are you not listening to me? Why must I repeat everything?!"

"You hadn't mentioned- Please let her go. I need her ... to help me with the cure. Roger, please."

He snickered, "Do you, now? Well, maybe you'd work faster if-" 

Pulling at her arm, with all five of his nails, he scratched her.

"Nooo!" he bellowed, piercing his own ears by the horrific sounds coming from deep within his lungs. "She's pregnant!"

Morgan began to cry. Infuriated, Javier charged at him at the same time Roger let go of her body. Javier connected a punch to his jaw before Roger was able to restrain his fists. 

"You fucking bastard! You just killed my baby! You just killed my baby!" he sobbed. 

Saliva splattered from his mouth as he shouted and wrestled with the nurse. Roger grabbed him by the wrists. Javier kneed him in the gut and when his arms were freed, he beat him over the head with his fists over and over again. With one last blow to the side of the head, the nurse lifted his hand. When he grabbed his forearm, his nails dug into his skin making them bleed. 

"Aaaah!" A frustrated yowl rose from his pursed lips.

Weeping, the nurse covered his face. He had already lost a few nails and the fingertips were covered by bloodied bandaids. "I didn't know! I swear I only wanted help. I only wanted help." He repeated numbly.  Mucus came out of his nostrils and the blood on his mouth was now smeared all over the side of his face. "I'm sorry."

Too concerned with one another, the couple did not hear him leave. His heavy footsteps not only carried his body but guilt and shame as well. 

"Baby, baby, are you okay?"

She would not respond. Her eyes glazed over and slowly she slipped away from consciousness, and his fingers.

"No, no, no, no ... Roger, I'm going to kill you!" Javier shouted gently placing his wife's head on the floor.

The hallway and nurses station was unusually empty. In search of Dr. Olivias, Javier barged into every room of the floor he was on. His blood pressure ran low. He knew because he felt the color drain from his face and cold perspiration slid down his back. A pool of sweat-soaked his shirt at the armpits.

He ran the stairs two steps at a time, tripping and busting his lip. A long stringy line of blood trickled from it. Forcing himself up and into every room he could, Javier took small breath breaks choking with the dryness in his throat. His eyes looked crazed and the weakness in his legs slowed him down.

For too long of a moment, he broke down and cried. Right in the middle of the hallway, on hands and knees, he hyperventilated believing he'd pass out from pure stress. 

A commotion grabbed his attention. Reacting to the sound, he followed it.

*o*o*

Dr. Olivias stood looking at his patient's file. 

"I'm sorry X, no improvement and no antidote yet."

The immortal-looking man could only stare back. Yellowed scleras and dull, angry eyes looked at him in hatred. 

"W-ww'tr," he whispered.

"Excuse me?"

"W-ww'tr-" he repeated meekly.

Coming closer, Olivias bent at the waist. "I'm sorry, I cannot hear you." 

"Wa-tr!"

Patient X clamped his putrid teeth on the doctor's earlobe pulling hard.

"Fuck!" 

With great force he yanked his head back, tearing the ear from its root. Scarlett, thick blood gushed over their faces trailing rapidly down the side of his cheek and neck. His arms battered around hitting a tray of medical tools, which scattered clanking, about the floor. Bringing his hands to where his ear used to be, the doctor went into shock. The patient chewed open-mouth and with pleasure.

Javier barged into the gory scene. 

Patient X's mouth welled with saliva and blood. Dr. Olivias went into shock dropping dangerously close to his expectant jaw. Licking his lips, Patient X pulled his hands once, twice, thrice, before the strains tore apart. Strong arms pulled the doctor's limp body by the shoulders and he clenched his jowls on his neck. Slurps of pure satisfaction came from his throat. 

Nausea clawed up his throat making Javier vomit all over the floor. His puke came out in a concoction of large chunks of sandwich and fries he'd consumed earlier, and stomach bile.

He turned to run and tripped on his own feet, falling and hitting his head creating a large hematoma. Quickly he got up, running out of the room.

"Nurse! Doctor! Anyone!"

The patient slammed his fist on the thick wooden door. Looking around Javier saw a mop and broom near the restroom. After a few tries, with the last ounce of strength he had left in him, Javier broke the handle against the corner of the wall. As soon as the patient burst through the door, Javier buried it deep inside his body piercing him through the stomach. 

Patient X flailed around like a fish out of water. Understanding it would take more, Javier pierced his throat with the other half of the broom ripping half of it apart exposing the cartilage and arteries. At that moment, a male nurse ran to Javier's aid.

"Where, where's everybody?"

"It's like half the hospital's gone mad, Sir!"

Javier's heart pounded hard against his ribcage. His pupils focused on the emptiness before him and with despair, he looked back at the nurse.

"We've been compromised. We cannot let anyone leave."

"But Sir, people have been in and out of the hospital all day."

"Then let's just start with who's left here." Reminded of Roger, he took a deep breath. "Have you seen Roger?"

"No. I just-"

A tumultuous clack along with a shrill scream rattled them. Running toward the sound they found a doctor attempting to pull down a limp body, from the rafters. It was, Roger. He'd hung himself. His body eerily swung, rocking back and forth like a pendulum. 

Javier broke down and wept. Cries of desperation echoed abound and people hurriedly scattered about the floor exiting through doors and elevators. Javier weakly shook his head. It was too late. Everyone's life would be ruined. His wife and he, contaminated and their baby, presumably dead inside its mother's womb.

The raucous chatter around him became secondary. It got further away from him as his thoughts grew louder. Slowly he blinked as his body gradually slipped down the wall to the floor. Morgan. He must get to her. He only needed a second ... They needed to monitor the baby and keep working on the vaccine until their brains and bodies corrupted inside their malfunctioning bodies. They must resist, had to. But for now, he needed to sleep.