"That's fast," Stone said. "Looks like they were ready for you."
My God, she thought, did they already know what kind of shape I'd be in? What else do they know? Surely Van de Vliet has heard by now that I'm aware of Kristen.
Then she saw him standing behind the nurses.
"Alexa, we need to get you downstairs as soon as possible." He was coming forward to help her settle into the wheelchair. He appeared to take no notice of Stone Aimes.
"I'm just feeling a little dizzy."
He smiled reassuringly. "There's always a small percentage chance that there may be side effects from the initial inoculation."
Huh?
"What 'initial inoculation'?" She bolted upright in the wheelchair. "I was just supposed to be giving blood."
"I thought Debra explained," he said, appearing confused. "There's always an initial . . . antibiotic dosage, just as a prophylactic." He shook his head in self‑blame. "I should have insisted you stay here, but after that . . . incident this morning I was so disoriented I let you talk me out of it. You may be having a reaction to the antibiotic, but it can't be all that serious. I didn't see anything about side effects in your file. We just have to get you horizontal for a while. Everything's going to be all right. In fact, this might be a positive development. With you here now, we can begin fine‑tuning your procedure immediately."
"Dr. Van de Vliet, this is my cousin Stone. He drove me here and I'd—"