"Dead!"
"They were found in a changing room. Kayleigh, Alex's friend, raised the alarm. There was some sort of biological contamination. Everyone who had any contact with it has been brought here."
"What in hell happened?"
"They've quarantined the school, no one is allowed on site. Some sort of specialist unit has been brought in to deal with it all. The doctor came by half an hour ago and told us that they were doing everything they can to save Alex, but it's touch and go."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know, Niall. That's all they would say. The doctor said they were specialists, the best in the country, and they were doing everything they could."
I held my hand up to pause her, then went back to the nurses' station.
"Excuse me. I would like to see my daughter, please?"
"It's Mr Petersen. Is that right?"
"Yes." She knew perfectly well who I was.
"I've asked the consultant to come and see you. He asked me to notify him when you arrived."
"Fine. I'd like to see my daughter."
"I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment, Mr Petersen."
"Why not?"
"I don't know if you're aware, but this is a specialist isolation unit. We treat everything here from the ebola virus to smallpox. We have very strict protocols which must be followed absolutely to the letter for public health reasons. I'm afraid you will only be able to see your daughter when the consultant gives the all-clear. I'm really sorry, I know this must be hard for you, but that is the way it has to be."
"I want to see whoever's in charge."
"The consultant is on his way."
"Good."
I turned away, angry at being thwarted but anxious not to show my anger. It would get me nowhere in this environment. I walked slowly back to where Katherine and Barry waited. They were holding hands, but dropped them guiltily as I turned towards them. In a moment of clarity I could see that the only reason Katherine wasn't throwing herself at the walls was because Barry was being her rock.
I went to stand with them.
"They won't let me see her either; it was worth a try, I suppose. Barry, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you being with us. I know Alex would want you here." I offered my hand and he took it, pressing it long and slow.
"I couldn't bear to be anywhere else. You know she means a lot to me."
I nodded, conscious of the relief on Katherine's face.
"It's the same for all of us," I lied, and pressed Barry's hand into mine, offering what little comfort I could, knowing that his pain was so much less than my own.
"What else do we know?" I asked him.
"A consultant came to see us, but he wanted you to be here."
"So we wait?"
"We wait."
Katherine went back into the waiting room and sat on the edge of the vinyl-covered armchair biting her nails. Barry and I sat in the corridor, watching the hallway for signs of movement. It occurred to me that I could break into the area where Alex was, if I wanted to, but that I had no idea what awaited me there. This was unknown territory for me and my training had taught me caution.
We didn't have long to wait. A man in a dark suit appeared at the nursing station. He glanced at us and then turned away, speaking at length with the nurse in quiet assured tones. Then he nodded to her and came to meet us. I stood, as did Barry. Katherine appeared, warned by our movement.
She spoke first. "Is there any news?"
"I'm Mr Phillips." He offered his hand to me and answered Katherine's question. "No, I'm afraid there's no change."
"I'm Alex's father," I told him.
"I'm glad you're here. I need to explain what's happening and obtain your consent."
I noticed the sheaf of papers in his hand. The close, tight printing spoke of indemnity clauses.
"Consent for what?" Katherine beat me to the question.
"I'll explain it all. Shall we sit in here?" He glanced at Barry. "I… ah… only need Alexandra's genetic parents' consent."
"Barry is staying with me." Katherine caught his hand as he turned away and drew him into the room with us.
The doctor caught my eye.
"It's OK," I told him. "Barry should hear this too."
"As long as you're comfortable with that."
We sat on unsuitable chairs around a table that was too low.
The consultant adopted an official tone, presumably reserved for moments like this. "Your daughter has been involved in an incident at her school, as you know. This type of incident is very unusual, but fortunately we have protocols in place that can be applied. There has been some degree of biological contamination…"
"What does that mean?" I interrupted him. "What is biological contamination?"
"It's a term used to describe a range of incidents, but in this case it means that your daughter has been affected by a dangerous pathological contaminant. I don't want to get too technical, but you must understand that this is a most serious situation. We were unable to save three of the girls involved and I have had the unpleasant duty of informing their families earlier. Your daughter's condition is… uncertain at best. In cases like this we have been most successful when we have intervened, but we need your consent to do that."
There was something in his tone. My Fey senses told me that he was telling the truth as he saw it, but there were undercurrents in his words that left me uneasy.
"Why won't you tell us what's wrong with her?" I asked him outright.
"Mr Petersen, I have a duty to your daughter and to some extent also to you. I also have a duty to the public not to cause unnecessary panic. We have the situation contained and there is no cause for public concern, but I am unwilling to divulge the exact nature of the contamination as it might draw unnecessary and unwanted attention. It is difficult enough for the families concerned without the press becoming involved. Believe me, there is nothing worse at a time like this than having reporters camped out on your lawn. So far, the nationals have been satisfied with the press release. They have been offered an explanation that there was a hazardous build-up of pressure in the sewers and that the resulting explosion caused the fatalities. This isn't the whole truth, but it is sufficient for their purposes. They are concentrating on the human interest aspects of the story."
"Is this the school's fault?" I asked him. "Did they do the proper maintenance?"
"I can assure you, Mr Petersen, that there will be a formal investigation but our initial findings indicate that there is no way that the school could have prevented what happened. Thankfully, this is a highly unusual occurrence involving a rare form of biological contamination and quite beyond their capacity to prevent or predict."
"But you won't tell us what."
"You understand my position. My priority is with your daughter."
"Just give us the damn forms." Katherine's voice cut across us both.
Mr Phillips spread the forms out on the coffee table. The print was tiny and I guessed that even if we were legally trained we would be there until dawn if we truly wanted to understand the implications of what we were signing.
"Where do we sign?" I asked him.
"Let me explain firstly that you are giving your consent for us to take whatever action we deem necessary to save your daughter. I am not asking for this lightly. Once we intervene things could move quite quickly and we can't keep running back to you to ask if it's OK to proceed. I am asking for this in the knowledge that we were unable to save the other three girls."
He paused, letting the words sink in. I nodded, accepting his case.
"If you would sign this general release here and here and initial it there," he marked the points with an X, "and these specific releases here and here." He offered me his ballpoint.
I took the pen and signed the forms. Katherine waited until I had signed all of them and then took the ballpoint from me and signed them too.