Chapter 7: Ring, a ring of roses

James MacLaren and his wife arrived at his parent's house and rang the bell. James' father, David, opened the door and they could both see immediately that there was something wrong with him. They pushed past into the house, Avril fussing over her father-in-law, and found his wife, Ivy, lying on the sofa covered by a duvet. If anything she looked worse than her husband, her skin pallid and her eyes looking sunken in her face.

Avril busied herself putting on the kettle and looking in the medicine cupboard to see if there was anything that would help alleviate the symptoms the elderly couple were experiencing. When she couldn't find anything she told her husband and his parents that she was going to nip out to the local pharmacy.

James sat on the edge of the sofa, taking his mother's hand in his and stroking it gently.

"It's going to be okay mum, we'll look after you. You'll be back on your feet in no time," he said.

His mother turned her head to look at him, tears suddenly leaking from her eyes and running down her cheeks.

"Son, we've been following the news just like everyone else and we know and accept what's happening. You shouldn't really have come round and exposed yourself and Avril to what we've got, I tried to tell David not to phone you."

"Weesht mum, if he hadn't phoned I would have been really upset. I'm sure what you have isn't all that bad and Avril will soon dose you up with something that will make you feel better," James replied softly.

23:47, 25 July

Gordon Brown looked round the room and then turned to his Private Secretary.

"Derek, where's the Chief Medical Officer?"

"I'm afraid he's unwell Prime Minister and his wife advised that he can't join us tonight," the civil servant responded.

The Prime Minister was surprised. He knew the CMO was in his sixties, but hadn't considered him to be in any way weak or in the category the CMO himself had described as being most at risk. Just then the door opened and Sir Alec shuffled in.

"Forgive me for being late Prime Minister, my wife took a lot of persuading that I was fit enough to come. She's still a practising doctor and it's murder sometimes trying to get her to put her stethoscope away. I hope no one feels I am putting them at risk by being here, but I thought you might need my advice in the present circumstances."

"Not at all, I'm pleased you could join us Sir Alec," replied the Prime Minister, shocked at the change in the appearance of the CMO since only a few hours before.

The meeting got underway with the Permanent Secretary passing round a variety of papers that had been hastily prepared by the various Whitehall departments of government. There was a dizzying number of proposals put forward for actions that could be taken if it turned out that a high percentage of the population succumbed to bird flu.

Local council services, it was suggested, should use their labour to prepare mass graves that could be quickly utilised to help clear up dead bodies. Liaison officers should be appointed to work closely with the military to ensure there would be sufficient manpower to cope for as long as possible.

Pharmaceutical companies were to be urged to make the most common drugs used when people had flu available and to do so free of charge.

It was proposed that all power stations be fully stocked with fuel where necessary and they should be switched to automatic running. Simple instructions on how to keep them running at their most basic level, instructions that any man in the street could follow, should be drawn up and placed as an advert in newspapers and on the internet.

Emergency legislation would allow the government to compel building companies to provide heavy construction vehicles that would be used to ensure roads were kept open.

Another suggestion was that public service broadcasts should be recorded advising people of key things to consider. These would cover things for those who contracted flu and were likely to die - such as not unnecessarily burdening the NHS - but also for those who might survive, such as the priorities for keeping a functioning society going.

The Prime Minister was in his element. He listened to each proposal, considered its merits and didn't hesitate to take decisions.

"Yes. Yes, do that immediately. No. Yes. Definitely not. Yes, but make sure there are no inherent safety risks."

The meeting ran on for three hours leaving all the participants exhausted apart from the Prime Minister himself. The stress and pressure of the situation and the work that had to be done seemed to be acting as fuel for the man and he seemed ready to start another arduous day without any rest. The meeting broke up and most of them headed for their official cars and hopefully their beds.

The Prime Minister took a moment to draw the CMO aside. Sir Alec had lasted the meeting, visibly wilting throughout, but determined to see it through and his advice had been extremely valuable on some of the proposals.

"Alec, my heartfelt thanks for dragging yourself here for this meeting. You set an example for all of us with your fortitude," he said to the CMO.

"I'm simply doing what I can Prime Minister. There is perhaps no finer thing than being able to do something for your fellow man. What is it they say - it's better to give than receive? - a simple cold is not going to stop me doing my job."

The Prime Minister couldn't help but smile as the CMO underplayed the possibility that he had fatal bird flu by referring to it as a cold. He put his arm around the man's shoulders and gently led him out of the briefing room.

06:42, 26 July

Jamie rolled over and then flinched as he bumped up against something in his bed that shouldn't be there. His eyes opened and took in the sight of his sister's pretty face lying on the pillow next to him. They had waited up until after midnight before their father had phoned to tell them both he and their mother were going to stay with their grandparents for the night. Jamie had comforted his sister and suggested they try and get some sleep. It appeared as if Laura had been unable to sleep and she must have crawled in beside him at some point during the night.

He slipped out of bed without disturbing her and took his clothes with him into the bathroom to get washed and dressed. He thought it might be a good idea to make a full breakfast and get Laura to eat it, setting her up for the day. Most of the fixings were available in the fridge and he soon had the grill going with bacon, sausage and black pudding. He set a frying pan on the stove and began to fry potato scones and them melted some butter in a pot and sliced mushrooms into it to begin cooking.

The combined smells of the breakfast must have woken Laura because she traipsed into the kitchen not long after Jamie had began cooking. Her hair was tousled and her eyes still sleepy, as she walked up behind her brother at the stove and gave him a hug.

"Thanks for being the best brother in the whole world," she said. "Is that breakfast for me?"

"I thought it was important somehow that we both start the day right," he replied.

Laura was surprised that she actually had an appetite, but the smell of the bacon cooking had triggered her hunger and she felt her mouth watering. The phone rang and she ran to pick it up. Jamie heard her side of the conversation which was mostly just a series of 'uh huh', 'okay' and finally 'let us know what's happening'. When Laura returned to the kitchen she let him know that their parents were going to remain at their grandparents for the time being.

"I guess grandma and grandpa must be pretty sick if they're both staying there," Laura said.

"I'm sure they'll be fine with mum looking after them. You know what she's like," Jamie reassured her.

Jamie cracked a couple of eggs into the frying pan and quickly cooked them before then serving up the cooked breakfast for both of them. While he was putting the food on the plates, Laura turned on the TV on the breakfast bar and used the remote control to tune it to Sky News. Jamie smiled. Their parents were very traditional and would only watch BBC news, convinced that it was the most balanced and responsible in its reporting. Jamie and his sister preferred the livelier Sky News and would watch it when their parents weren't around.

Both the teens sat at the breakfast bar and began to eat their breakfast. Not surprisingly the news was focussing on the ongoing story of the bird flu outbreak and its consequences. They had tuned in part way through a report and now listened as the voice-over explained what they were seeing.

"... and the scenes here at this Accident and Emergency Unit are being repeated at NHS Hospitals throughout the country. Record numbers of people have been turning up through the night in the hope of being treated."

The scene showed an Accident and Emergency waiting area packed with people, the vast majority of them elderly and, as the camera panned round, a queue of people stretching out into one of the hospital's corridors... The headline that was scrolling across the bottom of the screen read: St James' Hospital, Leeds

"Mark, are all these people there for the same reason? Do they all actually have bird flu?"

"Sally, every one that I've spoken to has claimed to have flu, of course there's no way of confirming that short of having their blood analysed, but the people themselves are convinced they have it."

"What is the hospital doing for them Mark? How are they being treated?"

"Well that's causing quite a fuss Sally. I've spoken briefly to the medical team here and they tell me there's basically nothing they can do for any of these people. They're offering advice like stay in bed and keep warm, drink plenty of fluids and take paracetamol. Some people haven't reacted well to that and I can tell you that hospital security is now permanently standing by to deal with any trouble."