Dr. Arnold stared at the phone on his desk, contemplating exactly how he was going to explain the disappearance of Jack Cook's body to his parents, particularly since the scene in the morgue had called to mind more horror movies than he cared to count. Dr. Arnold was a man of science, not usually one to believe in the paranormal. But after witnessing firsthand what appeared to be a corpse without a drop of blood left inside, with sharp fang marks over the heart, and with no earthly explanation as to how Jack Cook's body just seemed to walk out of the hospital, the only conclusion he could draw was that, in fact, Mr. Cook had done just that.
Of course, he could hardly pick up the phone and say, "I believe your son is missing because he's transformed into a Vampire." Obviously, that would not do. As he sat contemplating exactly what to say to the Cooks, there was a light rapping on his door. He looked up to see the head nurse, Ms. Bailey, standing at the door, holding it open just a crack, the outline of a rather large man behind her.
"Dr. Arnold," she began, "I hate to interrupt, but Dr. Elliott Sanderson from the Center for Disease Control is here to see you. He said that you were expecting him."
Before Dr. Arnold could reply, Elliott pushed his way past the slight nurse and flashed credentials in Dr. Arnold's general direction. "Dr. Arnold," he said, thrusting his hand forward and vigorously shaking the hand of the confused medical director. "It's nice to see you again. How have you been since I saw you early this morning?"
Though Dr. Arnold was confused at first, as soon as Elliott reminded him that he had seen him earlier, all of the confusion was swept away. Of course, he had seen Dr. Sanderson, from the CDC, this morning. Here, in the hospital. "I'm well, Dr. Sanderson," he replied, offering a seat to his guest. "How have you been?"
"I'm also doing well," Elliott replied, squeezing his large form into one of the seats across from Dr. Arnold's desk. "I just wanted to update you on the status of Jack Cook's body--the body the CDC confiscated early this morning in order to determine the nature of the illness that caused his death. You do remember that the CDC took possession of the body of Jack Cook, don't you?"
Dr. Arnold paused for a moment, letting those words sink into his mind, before replying, "Yes, yes, of course. I remember that. The CDC took the body of Jack Cook. Of course."
"I have returned to inform you that we had to have the body destroyed. I have the ashes of Mr. Cook here, in an urn in my attaché case. I will be giving them to you to return to the family. I have a few other questions for you first. We were able to determine the disease that Mr. Cook suffered from is highly contagious even after death, and that it is possible that the disease spread to other bodies in the morgue. Were there other bodies that turned extremely pale and looked as if they had been drained of blood?" Elliott's voice was slow and calm, and he held Dr. Arnold's gaze the entire time that he spoke.
Arnold was unable to pull his eyes off of Dr. Sanderson. "Yes, there was one other body," he replied, considering the appearance of Mr. Wester's corpse.
"I see," Elliott replied. "And, is that body still in your possession?"
"It is," Arnold confirmed. "Mr. Wester is just awaiting identification from his next of kin. He was killed in a car wreck on his way home to Des Moines, and his wife has yet to arrive."
"Oh, dear," Elliott said, calmly. "I'm afraid that won't do. She won't be able to identify the body because we do not want her to be contaminated by the illness. You will confirm to her that you have already identified his body via fingerprinting, and then you will have the body cremated and the ashes returned to Mrs. Wester."
Dr. Arnold paused for a moment. "Yes, of course. We don't want to expose Mrs. Wester to the disease. We will have the body cremated and return the ashes to her."
"Now, what about the staff members?" Elliott inquired. "Are any of them feeling ill?"
"No," Dr. Arnold replied, confidently. "None of them are feeling ill at all."
"Very good," Elliott affirmed. "That is because you took the necessary precautions, and no one else was exposed to the disease; isn't that correct, Dr. Arnold?" Elliott asked in his slow, patient voice.
Again, Dr. Arnold considered the statement only briefly before replying, "That is correct. Dr. Sanderson. We took every necessary precaution."
Elliott seemed to smile in relief. "Very good, Dr. Arnold. Very good. Now, I will need to meet with anyone who worked on the patient, Mr. Cook, and anyone who may have handled his body after his death. Can you assemble those people, quickly, sir?"
"Most of the staff is available," Dr. Arnold said, picking up the phone to dial Nurse Bailey. "If there is anyone who is not available, I will pass on the information to them."
"I will need to meet with them in person," Elliott replied, calmly but firmly. “You will need to call them in."
Dr. Arnold paused, phone in mid-air. "I will call them all in to meet with you," he replied, as if it were his idea.
As Arnold made the phone call to Nurse Bailey, requesting that she assemble anyone and everyone who had contact with Jack Cook, Elliott opened up the attaché bag he was carrying and carefully drew out a medium-sized glass urn, setting it gently on Dr. Arnold's desk. Once Dr. Arnold had replaced the receiver, Elliott said, "There you are, Dr. Arnold. The remains of Jack Cook."
Looking at the urn with a bit of sadness, Dr. Arnold confirmed, "The remains of Jack Cook. I will hand these over to his parents."
Half an hour later, Dr. Elliott Sanderson addressed the hospital staff. Everyone who had made contact with Jack Cook listened to his announcement regarding Jack's contagious disease, how the CDC confiscated his body, and how it had been cremated. He also relayed that each of them would be just fine, as the hospital had taken the necessary precautions against contamination. The body of Mr. Wester had not been so lucky, and it would also need to be incinerated. The hospital staff would see to that. Each staff member left, fully understanding what had happened to the body of Jack Cook, thinking nothing unusual regarding his death or the momentary apparent disappearance of his body. Dr. Arnold would contact the parents of Mr. Cook and ask them to come in to the hospital to meet with him and Dr. Sanderson so that they could also fully understand precisely what had happened with Jack's remains.
A few miles away, Juan Arriaga was placing the last box of household goods into the back of his mother's minivan. He had seen enough. In fact, he hadn't even mentioned to the hospital that he would not be returning to his position as custodian. Juan was determined to leave Lincoln, Nebraska, before Mr. Cook returned, looking for him.
