Lost Immunity by Daniel Kalla (free reads TXT) 📕

nervous as she is excited. She’s always liked Lisa’s easygoing and informal style, but she’s never been called into her office before. And Tyra’s presence reinforces how important the meeting must be.

“Please, sit,” Lisa says with a welcoming smile.

Yolanda lowers herself into the chair beside Tyra, flattening the hem of her dress to ensure it doesn’t ride up or lie funny.

“Thanks for coming, Yolanda,” Tyra says.

Their smiles are almost too bright for this early in the morning. Yolanda’s discomfort rises. She doesn’t know what to say, so she just nods.

“You’ve been putting in a lot of long hours at the vaccination clinics,” Lisa says. “Thank you for your dedication.”

“No more than anyone else on the team,” Yolanda mumbles. “And now that we’ve suspended the program…”

“It’s been a moving target for all of us,” Lisa says sympathetically.

“We’re considering relaunching the campaign, Yolanda,” Tyra says.

“With Neissovax? After all that’s happened? With the rashes and all?”

Nothing is decided,” Lisa says. “But since you’ve worked so many of those clinics, we wanted to get your impression.”

“My impression?”

“Yeah, like a debrief,” Tyra says. “How’d you find them compared to any of the other vaccine clinics you’ve run in the past.”

Relaxing slightly, Yolanda considers the question. “They’re different.”

“How so?”

“You know, with those very detailed consent forms. All the questions from the families. And the staff from the drug company… observing over your shoulder. To be honest, it’s kind of intimidating.”

“Like you’re being watched all the time?”

“Exactly.” Yolanda giggles. “Like being in a fishbowl.”

“But it’s only our own staff who handle the vials, right?” Lisa says. “I mean once they’re open.”

Yolanda eyes her swiftly, alarmed again. Lisa should know all of this. “Yeah, just the nurses. We crack the vials, draw up the doses, and give the shots.”

“So they’d never be out of your sight between opening the vials and disposing the syringes into the sharps container?”

“Never.”

Tyra gives Yolanda’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “After what’s happened, we’re just covering all our bases, Yolanda. You understand? We’ll be debriefing everyone on the team.”

Lisa smiles again. “Before we even consider relaunching the campaign.”

“So aside from the fishbowl thing,” Tyra says. “You never saw anything else that concerned you about the clinics?”

“Honestly, no,” Yolanda says. “After a couple of days, we were really getting the hang of them. The flow was good. I thought we were really efficient.”

“We did, too,” Lisa says.

Tyra nods. “Proud of you all.”

“Thanks for this feedback,” Lisa says. “And if anything else occurs to you, please let us know.”

“Will do,” Yolanda says, confused but also relieved that the interview is ending.

As Yolanda begins to stand up, Tyra asks, “You’re still with Max, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Things good? Haven’t heard you mention him in a while.”

“Absolutely,” Yolanda says, although she hasn’t spoken to Max in almost two days. Not since their heated discussion at her condo. He didn’t reply to her phone calls or respond to the multiple texts that she can’t stop herself from continuing to send.

Tyra seems to pick up on her doubt. “Can’t always be easy, huh?”

“Are relationships ever easy?” Yolanda asks with a nervous laugh.

“True enough.” Tyra laughs, too. “Although, after twenty years, I finally got my husband trained. Almost, anyway.”

Uncertain how to respond, Yolanda only nods.

“We hear that Max has some pretty strong views on vaccines,” Lisa says.

Yolanda freezes. She’s always been embarrassed to discuss his anti-vax position at work and has only ever mentioned it to her closest friends on the team, Katerina and Stacy. “Yeah. At first, we argued a lot over that. Tried to persuade each other. Nowadays, we mainly agree to disagree.”

“I bet,” Lisa says. “I see Max has become a bit of a spokesperson for the anti-vax movement. He publishes a lot online. I’ve even heard him on the radio.”

I knew this would get back to me! “I’m not proud of his views or anything. And it doesn’t affect my work at all. Not at all.”

“It’s your own business.” Lisa extends a hand in her direction. “One hundred percent!”

“But Max has taken an interest in Neissovax, hasn’t he?” Tyra says.

“He’s obsessed with all vaccines,” Yolanda blurts.

“I got that feeling when I ran into him at one of our clinics,” Lisa says.

Yolanda gawks at her. “Ran into him?”

“He told me he was considering getting his son vaccinated. Said he wanted to check the clinic out for himself.”

“Does that sound like something he’d do?” Tyra asks.

Not in a million years! “It would kind of surprise me,” Yolanda says.

“Why do you think Max went, then?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“It’s not possible he was spying on the clinics, is it?”

“Spying? No, he wouldn’t.”

“But Max wanted to know all about Neissovax, didn’t he?”

“I guess. He’s so focused on his cause and all.”

Lisa nods, her expression understanding. “What sort of questions did he ask?”

“I don’t know,” Yolanda says, trying to tamp down her rising panic. “Like about the clinics and how well attended they are.”

“And how you run them?”

“Maybe. He just seemed super curious about everything.”

“Did Max ever ask you to bring vials home for him?” Tyra asks.

Yolanda feels her jaw drop. “I… I’d never!”

“What is it, Yolanda?” Lisa asks, sensing Tyra’s hit on something.

“He kept pestering me to show him what the vaccine looked like.”

“You mean the vials?”

Yolanda can’t make eye contact with either of them. Chin down, she nods slightly.

“And did you?” Lisa asks.

“I… I took a few photos on my phone,” she mumbles. “And I sent him those.”

CHAPTER 56

Nathan finds Fiona in front of her computer in her cubicle in the warehouse, her face as blank as the screen, her gaze miles away.

“I came directly from the airport,” he says, pulling her out of her trance. “What’s going on?”

“Not here.” Fiona motions to the gaping space above the temporary walls. “Let’s take a walk.”

“OK.”

She calls a car on her ride-share app, and they head out to meet it. As they pass the bank of refrigerators lining the near wall, Nathan asks, “Still full?”

“Sixty thousand doses.”

He shakes his head. “To think, only a few days ago we were worried about