Furious by Jeffrey Higgins (top 10 novels to read TXT) 📕

“How long since his first symptom?”

“He’s been sick for a couple days, but his flu-like symptoms started over a week ago.”

“And how long since the bat bite, er, the potential bite?”

“Nine days. Let me ask you, if it was a bite and if the bat was rabid, could he exhibit symptoms this fast?”

“The incubation period averages about thirty days, but I have known symptoms to appear in as few as five days. Outcomes depend on the strength of the virus strain, the health of the patient, and many other confounding variables. Predicting the disease’s behavior can be difficult, which is why treatment needs to start immediately post-exposure.”

“He could be symptomatic already?” I asked.

 “Yes. We don’t know which toxin or virus he picked up, but rabies attacks the nervous system, and symptoms occur when the virus reaches the brain. If the bat bit his head, the onset would be rapid.”

I realized I had been chewing on a nail and pulled it from my mouth. “I researched rabies online, and I’ve seen the outcomes. If he has it, what can I do?”

“Are you alone right now? Is he there with you?”

“He’s sleeping.”

Eric cleared his throat. “Rabies is treatable before the patient is symptomatic, but once the patient exhibits neurological damage, there’s no cure. Dagny, I’ll give it to you straight. If the virus has reached his brain and is causing visible symptoms, the disease has almost a one hundred percent mortality rate. I’m very sorry.”

I took another breath. “How long?”

“It’s impossible to say, but if the behavior you described is rabies, then it’s rapid onset. I would guess he would last less than ten days after the first acute symptom.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Only palliative care to make him more comfortable, ease his pain. I’m sorry. I know this is difficult to hear after all you’ve been through this year.”

“Yes.”

Something bumped in the stateroom, and I glanced at the alcove. Brad’s snoring continued.

“Based on your description, my diagnosis is Brad contracted rabies, but I haven’t examined him, and it’s possible you’re seeing symptoms of another illness. If there’s no hydrophobia, your husband may have contracted something else. My advice is to get him to a hospital as soon as possible.”

“That’s what I’m doing, but it’s easier said than done.”

“How can I help?”

“Tell me what to expect.” I said.

“Flu-like symptoms for about one week and acute symptoms for roughly ten more. That’s followed by paralysis, coma, and death. Some patients experience periods of lucidity as their impending death looms near.”

My eyes misted, and I teetered on the verge of losing it. This wasn’t another patient; it was my husband and the only person onboard who knew how to sail.

“Why didn’t we see the wound bleeding before this?” I asked.

“It’s probably a tiny puncture. When rabies become symptomatic, old wounds bleed again. Maybe it itched, and he scratched it open.”

“What a horrific disease,” I said.

“I have to ask you something, but I want to be delicate. Rabies is a highly contagious virus. The primary factor limiting the number of epidemics is the rapid progression of the virus and the high mortality rate. Have you been exposed?”

I pictured Brad on top of me, filling me with semen the day before his symptoms worsened. I had worried about him and had not considered my vulnerability. My stomach knotted.

“Brad and I were intimate, once. It’s spread through bodily fluids, right?” I held my breath.

“Rabies spreads through saliva, or through direct contact with blood or spinal fluid. You can’t get it from sexual contact alone, but an open-mouthed kiss would be an exposure.”

My mind raced to remember that night on deck. “I, uh, I think I’m fine. I haven’t kissed Brad at all. We had intercourse, but we didn’t kiss.” I blushed, wondering what Eric thought about sex without kissing.

He exhaled and sounded relieved. “You’re probably fine, but I recommend you get tested and receive treatment, just to be safe. If you’ve had an exposure, the clock is ticking for you too.”

“I will, whenever we get to land.”

“Good. I care about you.”

How should I respond to that? “To be clear, Brad’s life depends on whether these symptoms are rabies?”

“Yes. Watch for abnormal behavior, hallucinations, aggression.”

“Aggression?”

“Rabies affects people in two ways. The virus can cause paralysis, coma, and death—known as paralytic rabies—or patients can develop furious rabies.”

A lump caught in my throat and I swallowed. “That doesn’t sound pleasant.”

“It’s not. With furious rabies, patients become hyperactive, agitated, and confused. They can’t sleep and often hallucinate. The classic symptoms are excessive salivation, difficulty swallowing, and hydrophobia. The pathological aversion to water is a unique sign. Some patients experience priapism, involuntary erections and orgasms, often dozens of times per day. Certain strains of rabies make people more violent than others.”

I stopped biting my fingernail. “That’s not good news.”

“Where are you now?” Brad asked.

“We’re in the middle of the Indian Ocean.”

“Can you get to port?”

“I’m trying, but the wind . . .”

“I don’t want to scare you Dagny, but this is serious. In the acute neurological period, patients become hyperaggressive. They foam at the mouth and make high pitched groans, which sound like barks. Patients have attacked people . . . even bitten them. There’s a reason mythology surrounds the disease.”

I rocked back and forth on the bench with a sour taste in my mouth.

“You’re saying if he has rabies, he could become dangerous?”

“Extremely.”

I thanked Eric and ended the call. I stared at the bulkhead leading to the stateroom. Brad had rabies and would die. He had been sick, exhibiting prodrome symptoms for a week. His violence and hallucinations over the past two days were acute symptoms, which meant he had eight days left, maybe less. He was dangerous, and I had no one to help me.

I faced this crucible alone.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

I sat behind the helm, blinking to keep my eyes open. I had not slept more than four hours in the past three days and my arms and legs felt leaden, useless.