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 The Parkers appear to be in deep shock. Max wants to go over to them, but Valenti talks to him. He's not paying attention. Max watches the doctor. He watches Mrs. Parker sit back down, still holding her husband's hand. It doesn't appear to be good news.
"Max," says Valenti, "Did you hear me?"
"I'm sorry," says Max. "I was ..."
Valenti looks in the direction Max stares. He sees the Evans and Parkers. Mrs. Evans talks to Liz's mother who nods. Jeff Parker is still talking to the doctor.
"Why don't you go and she how she's doing," says Valenti, "but you'll have to talk with Hanson later. They'll need to know what you saw."
Max turns to Valenti, head down and nods.
Max reaches the emergency room door where they had taken Isabel just as she emerges.
"Isabel," he says, surprised.
"Thinking about someone else?" says Isabel.
"I wasn't expecting you yet," he says. "I thought you'd be longer."
"Well, we have a problem."
Max stops dead and turns to Isabel.
Sheriff Hanson and several police arrive and block the exits of the emergency room. At the desk, a doctor is talking to the administration clerk where Valenti and Amy are still awaiting word on Michael and Maria.
"We need to seal off the ER."
"Is there a problem?" asks Valenti. "Can I help?"
"Sheriff Valenti, isn't it?" says the doctor. Valenti nods. "It appears that school bomb may have had a biological component to it."
"What do you mean, biological?" says Amy.
"We're seeing something in some of the blood samples and MRIs that we can't explain."
Valenti draws in his breath. He knows. Michael and Isabel.
"What are you saying," says Amy, "that my daughter was exposed to some potentially dangerous chemical?"
"I'm saying we don't know what we're dealing with. And until we do, it needs to be contained."
"How do you intend to do that?" asks Valenti.
"We have to pull blood samples on everyone here."
Valenti looks up at Max.
"Then what?"
"We isolate the infected to a quarantine area."
"Max, what do we do?" asks Isabel.
"I have no idea," says Max. "They probably have the results of the blood tests. We're all exposed."
"What do we tell mom and dad?"
"Nothing," he says.
"Nothing?" says Isabel, incredulous.
"There's nothing to do," he says. "Look, they've closed off the ER. We can't get out."
"Why are they wearing masks?"
"Maybe we should find out," says Max, walking up to their parents.
"Mom, Dad," he says, "what's going on?"
"Honey," says Mrs. Evans, "I don't want to alarm you, but we just found out that the bomb may
have contained something."
"When do you mean, something?" asks Isabel, somewhat confused.
"You may have been exposed to something," says Mrs. Evans.
"Exposed?" asks Max.
"To some kind of biological agent."
"You mean, like anthrax?" asks Max.
"Something like that," says Mr. Evans, "although they can't tell us what it is. They've never seen anything like it before. Everyone is being tested and quarantined until they know more."
Max and Isabel exchange looks. The gandarium.
"Try not to worry," says Mrs. Evans, looking from one to the other. She looks at Isabel's arm which has been bandaged and in a sling. "Oh, honey, does it hurt?"
"It's nothing," says Isabel, "It could have been so much worse. If it hadn't been for Liz Parker ..."
"How is Liz?" asks Max.
"Her condition is pretty serious, son," says Mr. Evans.
"They say she helped save some people," says Mrs. Evans.
Max winces as he remembers her pushing Michael, Maria, and Isabel out of the way.
"Max, I know you and Liz are close," says Mrs. Evans, "and there's no easy way to say this, but Liz may be paralyzed."
Paralyzed. The word hit Max hard. It was his fault this happened.
"No," he says. "I won't let that happen!"
"Max?" questions his mother, confused.
"Max!" warns Isabel.
"I have to see Liz."
"Honey, I don't think anyone can see her except her parents."
In a small room in the ER, a small group gathers to discuss strategy. The head of ER is there, but it's a dark-suited man who seems to be in charge.
"How many?" he asks.
"Four definitely identified -- three girls, one boy."
"Names?"
"Here's the medicals on all four." The suited man smiles. This is just what he had hoped. Four from Pierce's list.
"Michael Guerin, Maria DeLuca, Isabel Evans ... and Liz Parker. Are these complete?"
"All except Parker. She's still be evaluated."
"So what do we have?"
" Guerin, Evans, and DeLuca all show definite signs of some kind of foreign parasite."
"Parasite?"
"Yes, it appears to be water-based."
"Deadly?"
"Don't know. It appears to attach itself to human cells and somehow change them."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Guerin & Evans blood cells don't appear human. Perhaps this agent is spreading through their systems faster than DeLuca."
The dark-suited man thinks to himself, what an idiot. He doesn't know what he has. But he is genuinely surprised about Maria.
"What about Parker? Same thing?"
"Yes and no. There's something else going on with her. When we ran these MRIs," he continues, putting up the X-rays on the light board, "we found some traces of metal that shouldn't be there."
"Metal?"
"Here," says the doctor, pointing to Liz's stomach, two inches below the ribs.
"Have you identified the metal?"
"Well, that's just it. There seems to be two different metals -- one seems to be residue or fragments common to bullets and the other shouldn't be there at all -- it appears to be a form of Cadmium."
The dark-suited man covers his pleasure. It's everything he wanted.
"Okay, we need to move these individuals to a quarantine area."
"We can set up a temporary place in ER."
"Good, then we can easily move them to a containment area."
"In the hospital?"
"Eagle Rock."
"Eagle Rock? That's been abandoned for years," says the doctor.
"I can arrange to have everything in place in 24 hours. Keep them in ER 'til then."
"I wouldn't recommend moving the Parker girl."
"She goes too."
"You're going to increase the risk of paralysis. She has to be kept perfectly still until she's strong enough to remove that last piece of shrapnel."
"I'll take that chance. Just have her ready to move."
"Guerin and DeLuca, where are they now?"
"In recovery. But we can move them back to ER right away. We don't anticipate any problems with either of them. They're stable."
"Good. Do it."
"Parker?"
"Still in surgery. Shaky, but holding her own. She should go to ICU."
"Set up something in ER. I'll arrange whatever you need to make it happen."
When Maria wakes, the first person she sees is her mother.
"Mom?"
"Oh, Maria," she says, trying to hug her daughter, "you're awake!"
"Mom!"
"Amy, I don't think Maria is going anywhere," says Valenti.
"Oh, yeah, right," she says.
"Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital, honey," says Amy, "How are you feeling?"
"Hospital?" she says.
"You had an accident," she says.
Maria thinks back foggily. She had been at school, talking with Michael and Isabel and Liz.
"Do you remember anything?" asks Valenti.
She shakes her head.
Wait, Liz was pushing her. Why? The ticking.
"Ticking," says Maria. "There was this ticking."
Valenti nods.
"The bomb," he confirms.
Bomb, OMG, that was it! Liz was pushing them away from the lockers.
"Liz?"
"She's in surgery, honey," says Amy, "but don't you worry. Everything will be just fine. Just rest now."
Maria closes her eyes.
Michael dreams. There's a battle going on. He's up to his knees in this visceral red water. It's hard to move. There's laser fire all around him. He's at the bottom of a valley and the rock wall slides towards him and he can't move. He breaks out in a sweat. He turns and sees Max extend a hand, only it's not Max.
"Zan," he cries aloud, before he realizes he's in a hospital room.
Isabel watches the nurse take a vial of blood from her parents, then Max. Max stares at her and nods.
"Mom, Dad," she says, "We have something to tell you."
Liz Parker lays flat out on a hospital bed, on her stomach, and strapped from head to toe to prevent as little movement as possible. A blanket covers her lower body only. Great care has been taken to not disturb the piece of metal still embedded in her lower back. Her upper body is covered by a hospital gown, open at the back. There are fresh bandages along the length of her back. Her breathing is shallow, but steady and she's hooked to several monitors. A nurse checks them and makes a note on her chart. Her BP is low. Her parents are there, asleep in the chairs provided for them. The nurse leaves the Parkers undisturbed and does not notice the fluttering of Liz's eyelids as she turns away and exits the room.
"Max?" she says faintly, but loud enough for her mother to snap awake.
"Liz?"
"Mom?"
"Hi sweetie," she says, brushing the hair away from her eyes.
Liz's vision is distorted by the sedatives. She tries to say something, but her mom stops her.
"You're going to be just fine, but you have to stay very still for me. Can you do that?"
"Maria?"
"She's okay," her mom smiles.
"Michael and Isabel."
"They're all okay," she reassures, "thanks to you."
"That's good," Liz says.
"You need to think about you right now," says her mom. Her dad wakes.
"Hey," he says, "Your mom's right."
"They're going to be moving you to a new location tomorrow. ..."
"Where?" she asks.
"Eagle Rock," says her dad.
"No," says Liz, "don't let them take me there."
"Honey, you'll be safe there."
"No," she says weakly, the drugs starting to take hold again, "Max ..."`
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