DESTINED AFFECTION

TWENTY EIGHT

Almost a week passed before Lauren had even a moment to consider making good on her threat. During that time, she worked eighteen hours a day and admitted thirty-two more patients with acute hepatitis. Close to three hundred new cases were diagnosed in the greater Philadelphia area. Unfortunately, there were also two deaths.

At the height of the outbreak, the CDC epidemiology team interviewed patients, constructed demographic charts, and investigated dozens of potential sources of the contagion. Lauren was constantly on call, interfacing with her own emergency room physicians as well as the out-of-town consultants. She and Camila saw each other in passing at work, but by the time Lauren got home, there was barely enough time to sleep before she needed to be back at work.

By Friday evening, the number of new cases had dwindled, and it appeared that the source of the infection—a contaminated delivery of scallions from Mexico—had been identified. With the crisis waning, Laurenwas able to leave the hospital by seven p.m., and the first thing she did when she walked out the ER doors was to punch in Camila's number on her cell phone.

"Hello?" Camila said.

Lauren smiled just to hear the sound of her voice. "It's me. Are you free?"

"Well, not really."

"Oh." Lauren worked to hide her disappointment as she fumbled her keys from her briefcase and leaned to open the door of her car. "Well, then..."

"Hold on a second."

A new voice came on the line.

"Mom? Are you on your way home now?"

"Honey? What's going on? Where are you two?" Lauren slid into the front seat of her car and tossed her briefcase beside her. She hadn't seen Kyle all week, because her daughter had been asleep by the time she'd gotten home. As far as she knew, Kyle should have been with Phyllis.

"Home. Cami and I are making pizza."

"You are?" Quickly, Lauren dispelled the image of pizza sauce all over her kitchen. "Is there enough for me?"

Lauren heard a giggle followed by mumbling, but she could not make out the words. She keyed the ignition and started to drive as Kyle came back on the line.

"Cami says it'll be ready in twenty-five minutes. But we're awfully hungry."

"Well, you tell Cami that I'll be there in five, and I'm hungry, too."

Kyle laughed. '"Kay, Mom. We'll share with you."

* * * * *

Camila waited on the back stairs. When Lauren pulled into the driveway, she walked around to the driver's side door, opened it, and leaned in to kiss Lauren. "Hi. Dinner will be ready soon."

"This is a nice surprise." Lauren grasped her briefcase and slid out.

"You haven't seen the kitchen yet."

"No, but I can imagine." Lauren smiled and wrapped an arm around Camila's waist as they walked toward the house. "I'll just have to keep my eyes on you."

"The chef's upstairs getting ready for a bath," Camila informed her. "I thought that would be smart before you saw her."

"Where's Phyllis?"

"Another hot date." Camila brushed her lips over Lauren's temple. "And don't even think about thanking me. I missed Kyle this week. I missed you." Every second.

Lauren dropped her briefcase at the bottom of the back stairs, turned to Camila, and put both arms around her neck. She pressed against her and kissed her lingeringly. She kissed her until she could feel her in every cell. "I missed you, too."