CHAPTER 21
Theresa Fly called Fred several times, but he didn't answer. She had no idea how to find him, although this was probably for the best. After waiting for the nurse to leave Laura's room, she went up to him and asked:
'Daniel, do you know Fred's phone number? You seem to be on good terms with him,' she fixated on Daniel's gaze.
'I might have it at home somewhere, but I'm not sure if I've got it here. My phone's new and I haven't downloaded my contacts from the cloud. I haven't contacted him at the clinic for a long time, which is why it isn't here anymore,' the nurse answered, scrolling through his phone. 'Anyway, if it's there, what do you want me to do? Call him or text his number?'
'Texting his number will probably be better,' Theresa replied.
'Have the police asked him?' Dannie asked. The department head simply smiled and without saying anything, soon moved down the corridor to another wing.
Following this, Dannie spent half an hour dialing both numbers for Fred that he had in his phone. It wasn't to be as he didn't answer. After his shift finished, Dannie made his way to the Central Hospital, where he had some friends, and expected to find out whether Fred worked there.
In the hospital's parking lot, he saw a lone figure heading towards the nearest car. On closer inspection, Dannie realized that it was William Lindstone. Needless to say, this was an unpleasant surprise.
At the hospital's main entrance, several journalists finished reporting on preparations for the admission of infected patients. The reporter spoke in a worried voice about how everyone was feeling, before William's name was mentioned. Dannie stopped and decided to listen more closely. It turned out that a policeman had pulled a microphone out of one of the reporter's hands and threw it at the cameraman, breaking the camera. They'd reported on this topic for so long that it soon became boring, but Dannie soon remembered the name of the reporter – Linda Wu. It was her that had reported in the parking lot when police found Woodruff dead in his car.
In the emergency room, Danny was asked to find information about Fred and within half an hour he knew that Fred had taken the lawyer's advice and had taken sick leave before the practice had been stopped altogether because of the virus.
Now there was only just one thing left – to go to Fred's apartment. However, it was worth making sure this was okay beforehand. Danny wrote a message on Threema and received a reply immediately.
'Hi, have you heard any news? I've lost Fred as the police came.'
'Hi, baby snot on hanky, Fred's screwed up, he's a wanted man. Nothing found at hospital, no address or phone number, take care.'
Danny deleted the message and drove towards the suburbs.
Fred didn't know what to do. Sofia seemed to have calmed down and even went to see Father Roger. They talked for a while and Sofia came home reassured. The next day they went to church together and helped to clean up. Fred was ready to do anything to take his mind off unpleasant thoughts, as he felt he couldn't stay in the city any longer, but he couldn't leave without clearance from Danny.
There was a timid knock at the door, causing Fred to jump up and rush to open it. At the door stood their neighbor, an elderly mestizo, who worked in a small vegetable shop in the neighboring quarter. He held his phone in his hands and smiled at Fred. As Fred opened the door, the elderly man handed him the phone.
Fred soon realized that all this was due to Danny. He must've called Fred many times, but all his phones were turned off, meaning he couldn't get through to Fred.
'Fred, is that you there?' Danny's familiar voice came from the other end.
'Yes, it's me, sorry. I didn't think you had the ability to get through, as I turned off both phones,' he hesitated. 'I'm…I'm scared,' Fred added.
'Wait, don't go yet. Give the phone back to your neighbor and go into your apartment. Call me using Threema.'
'Course I will,' Fred returned the phone to the old man who went home. Fred proceeded to call Danny again. 'Hi! Can you hear me?' he asked, 'Thank God, I can hear you too. Sorry, I'm just a little confused at what to do next.'
'Just calm down. You've got to leave now. I think it might be better, if you stayed at the Blue Sky Inn for a week, do you remember that place?'
'Yes, of course.'
'Stay there for a week – I'll find out everything and then join you. It'll take a few days to do so. Just take care of Lisa, buy her some toys to keep busy with, and make sure to keep an eye on Sofia. Does all that make sense?'
'Yes, I get it.'
'So, turn on the camera! I want to look at you.'
Without thinking, Fred quickly clicked on the camera icon and saw his own face on the screen.
'Here I am,' he muttered, smiling stupidly.
'Show me the room,' Danny asked. Fred panned around the kitchen and heard a sad sigh. 'You never watered my plants. It's a pity. They've all perished.'
'Plants?' Fred gasped in horror. How could he forget? Yes, Danny hated when his flowers died. Fred was so nervous that he'd forgotten about everything. Pots with dry stalks and brown leaves stood on the floor. Danny could've shouted at him and even hit him; after all, it had happened before.
'Wait, don't panic!' came Danny's insistent voice. 'We'll get some new ones, don't fret. There's bigger things to worry about. Throw out the SIM cards and ask the guys on the corner for some new prepaid ones. When you get them, text me the new numbers. I've got to go, need to make an urgent call.'
'Yes, of course. I'll do everything right now,' Fred nodded.
'Alright, bye then. Just go to the hotel and don't move. Buy some toys, have some fun with Lisa and make sure you look after Sofia. See you later!'