Jakarta Pandemic, The Read Online Free PDF

Jodi. How are you doing today?” he asked the receptionist.
    “Not bad, you know? It’s Friday. Got an appointment with Dr. Wright, I see?” she said.
    Alex knew Jodi from one of MCIM’s old sites in Portland. When all of the practices had merged, the receptionists had been scattered to work with different groups in the new building. Jodi was one of very few receptionists at MCIM that he recognized from his first year as a pharmaceutical representative nearly eight years before.
    “Let me ring his office. I know he’s around. I saw him roll in about fifteen minutes ago. Crazy day around here.”
    “I bet.” And I suspect you don’t know the half of it, Jodi.
    She dialed the phone and spoke into her headset.
    “Dr. Wright, Alex Fletcher is here to see you.”
    She listened. “All right, I’ll send him back,” she said and broke the connection. She looked up at Alex. “You can go on back, he’s in his office.”
    “Thanks, Jodi. Take care.”
    Alex turned to the right and walked toward an automatic door, which slid open as he approached. He enjoyed walking back to Dr. Wright’s office, especially since most of Dr. Wright’s colleagues refused to meet with him, or utilize his samples. He caught their glares and was occasionally accosted on one of these sanctioned trips through territory normally forbidden to pharmaceutical representatives.
    In most cases, Alex figured their disdain to be a smokescreen, subconsciously created to draw their own attention away from the fact that their profession’s existence was inexorably and inseparably dependent on the pharmaceutical industry. He knocked on Dr. Wright’s door, which was already open.
    “Come in, Alex, and shut the door behind you, if you would. I have a reputation to uphold around here,” he said.
    “I think that reputation is already in question,” Alex replied, shutting the door.
    Dr. Wright stood up and walked around the desk to shake Alex’s hand. He was tall and thin with dense black hair and thick eyebrows, his dark complexion suggesting a Mediterranean ancestry.
    “Damaged beyond repair. Sorry to be curt, Alex, but I’m jammed with patients this afternoon, and I have to hit Maine Med again later. I only have a minute or two.”
    “No problem, Dr. Wright, I won’t take up much of your time. I just wanted to thank you again for giving me a heads up last night,” he said.
    “Okay…” Dr. Wright said, shuffling some papers on his desk and eyeing Alex suspiciously.
    “Biosphere told us to stop sampling TerraFlu effective immediately. They’re holding all drug stock in reserve for some partnership with DHS. Pretty screwed up, if you ask me.”
    “You’ve got to be joking, Alex. Really? DHS? They couldn’t pick a worse partner. Those samples will never see effective use. Are you telling me I can’t get any more samples? Each one of those samples could save a life. What a waste,” he said, clearly angry.
    “They’re hell-bent on mismanaging this crisis at every level. I think they’re going to stop shipping to the pharmacies, and there’s even serious talk about deploying reps like the National Guard, to promote TerraFlu in hot spots hit hard by the flu. I could get relocated to Hartford to spread the good word.”
    “This is really tragic. I’m sorry things at your company have taken such a sad detour. You’re not going to be part of that deployment nonsense, are you?”
    “No. I have no intention of ever returning that call if it comes. Which brings me to my first and only agenda item.”
    “I didn’t realize that you were a man of agendas,” Dr. Wright said, raising his eyebrows.
    “There’s always an agenda,” Alex said, holding out his computer tablet.
    Dr. Wright took it from him.
    “Since I don’t anticipate working for Biosphere much longer, I don’t see any reason to assist them in making matters worse out there. So, if you will sign my tablet, I will give you all of my samples.”
    Dr. Wright sat back down in his