Dark Coup Read Online Free PDF Page B

midnight oil?”
    “I’m fine,” Joel said, “but I really think Ty could use a hand.”
    Dan made a ‘humph’ noise and rolled his eyes.
    “No, seriously,” Joel said.  “I think the new group may have brought some kind of bug in with them and Ty’s already got a lot on his plate just dealing with the everyday stuff around camp.”
    “Yeah,” Dan said.  “Ty loves it when I offer to help.  Gives him a chance to lord it over me that he’s a doctor and I’m just a medic.  I don’t even bother asking anymore, Joel.  A man’s ego can only take so much.”
    “Well,” Joel said, “he really does look like he’s running himself ragged.  Would you be willing to give it one more try…for me?”
    Dan laughed.  “Ok,” he said, “for you.  But seriously, unless there’s someone who needs a splinter removed, or maybe an enema, he’s not going to let me help out with anything.”
    …
    “Dan,” Ty said, “I appreciate the offer, I really do, but this isn’t that big of a deal.”
    Dan was trying to remain calm.  He could already tell how this was going to play out by Ty’s condescending attitude.  Still, he’d promised Joel he’d try, and now that he’d seen what was actually going around…he felt he had to try for his own sake.
    “Ty,” Dan said, “Dr. Novak, please listen to me.  We had something just like this back in our neighborhood.  It killed my only son.  Only eighteen-months old.  One day he was with us, the next he was gone . It didn’t spread like this at first, but a couple of months later it came back, and it started with the kids both times.  These are the same symptoms, Ty.  I know they are.”
    “Dan, listen…I’m deeply sorry for your loss.  I can’t even imagine what that would be like, but you have got to calm down.  These symptoms you’re so worried about are also the symptoms of a lot of other mostly harmless illnesses.  Which you’d know…if you were a doctor.”
    Dan quietly fumed as Ty continued, oblivious.
    “I’ve got this under control.  You didn’t see these folks when they first arrived.  At the very least they all had somewhat compromised immune systems. Children get hit the hardest with that.”
    “Ty,” Dan started.
    “Look,” Ty interrupted, “I know you mean well, but I think I’ve been exposed to more of these things than you have.  Go back to town and I’ll let you know if anything comes up and I need your help, okay?”
    “Right,” Dan thought.  “Just like you let me know we were letting sickpeople into the community in the first place?”
    …
    “April, honey, I really want you to take a nap,” her mother, Jean Oliver, said.  “The doctor said you need to get some rest to kick this thing.  You’ve been out with the other children every day since we got here.”
    “But I’m already feeling better,” April whined.  “There’s a bunch of kids here.  I’m not tired, and lying in bed is so-o-o boring.”
    Jean reached out to check her daughter’s forehead for a fever.  She didn’t feel warm right now, so she gave in.  “Ok, but take it easy.  Don’t run around too much, and if you start coughing I want you to come right back to the tent and lay down. Understood?”
    April sighed, but nodded.  “Okay, Mom.”
    “I love you, honey, now go make some friends.”
    …
    “How’s Derek handling the transition,” Jean asked Stan Bryant, one of the fathers from the neighborhood that had come in with her, while they were starting what little laundry they had.
    “He was hoping to meet some of the older kids here in camp since it’s the weekend,” Stan said.  “But he wasn’t feeling well this morning.  He had a headache and I couldn’t get him to eat any breakfast.”
    Jean shook her head.  “April swore up and down she was feeling better, so I let her go out to make some friends.  It’s probably just that everything’s finally catching up with him.”
    “Probably,” Stan said.  “He would