Quarantine

The pager in Sakura's lab coat pocket buzzed urgently and she pulled it out to view the message flashing on the small screen: Quarantine – Floor 3. She raised a questioning brow at this alert. She had never heard of a quarantine being put into place at the hospital. Every once in a while, someone was sick enough to require isolation, but no one had ever been placed under quarantine. She glanced up as Ino, carrying stacks of lab work, walked by and waved her over.

"Did you see this?" Sakura asked, showing her friend the message.

Ino frowned. "Yeah, I saw it." Worry lines creased her forehead and she held the lab work close to her chest.

"I wonder what caused it," Sakura wondered, more to herself than to Ino. She didn't notice as Ino bit her lip and glanced down at her papers.

"Sakura," she started, "I think you're going to be more concerned with who caused it."

She looked up, suddenly on high alert. "What do you mean? Who is it?" She finally noticed the stacks of papers of papers Ino was holding onto tightly. "Whose labs are those?"

Ino chewed her lower lip thoughtfully, unable to meet her friend's gaze. Finally, she let out a long sigh. "It's Sasuke."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. "What happened to him? How did he get here? When he last checked in, he was in the Land of Rivers. That was only a week ago!"

Ino held up a hand to quiet her friend. "Sakura, listen," she reached out and placed a firm hand on her shoulder, "I don't know all the details. About an hour ago, a couple of ANBU found Sasuke unconscious just off the path heading for Konoha. He wasn't moving and had a really high fever. Obviously, they brought him here, but no one is sure what's wrong with him just yet. They put him under quarantine just to be safe."

Sakura shook her head in disbelief. "I'm going to see him. Is he still unconscious?"

"Sakura, he's under quarantine. Whatever he has, it could be really contagious," Ino warned. "Tsunade is the only one who's gone in to see him so far, and it was only to draw blood and give him an IV. She even wore full biohazard gear to do it."

"I don't care." She motioned to the stack of papers. "Are those his lab results?"

"I haven't taken the labs down yet," Ino told her. "I'm doing that right now."

"Put a rush on them," Sakura instructed and before Ino could protest further, she brushed past the blonde and headed for the stairs.

The third floor was reserved for critically sick or injured patients. With the new peaceful era upon them, it was almost empty most of the time. The quarantined space was at the very end of the hallway. It was a large room with several curtains for privacy, set up to accommodate several patients at once. In order to enter the room, one had to go through a rigorous hand washing procedure, and hazmat suits were generally required. Tsunade stood at the large glass window that provided a full view of the room with a frown.

Sakura rushed up to Tsunade's side and the former hokage gave her a slight nod. "I was wondering when you'd hear about this."

"How bad is it?" she asked breathlessly. She was almost too afraid to look through the window. Sasuke was never one to succumb to illness. Even in their genin days, he somehow always avoided whatever cold or flu was being passed around.

"We don't know anything yet," Tsunade admitted, knowing nothing she could say would help her student.

"Sasuke," Sakura whispered and dared cast a glance through the window. He lay against the pure white pillow; eyes closed, and sweat coating his forehead. He was more pale than usual, and his cheeks appeared to be sunken. She clenched her jaw and turned to Tsunade. "Have you examined him?"

She shook her head. "I only drew blood for testing and gave him the IV to keep him hydrated. Until we know what's caused this, no one goes in. Understood?"

"What about the ANBU who found him?" Sakura asked. Although she had never dealt with a real quarantine, she knew from training that the protocol was for anyone exposed without proper precautionary gear was to be placed under quarantine was well.

Tsunade shook her head. "Damn fools. They were leaving for the village on a mission when they found him. They dropped him off and ran out. I've sent a couple of men after them to try to get them back here."

Sakura sighed. The ANBU could be so cocky sometimes; she wasn't really surprised that they would do something like that. She turned her attention back to Sasuke, concerned by his stillness. She squinted slightly, wondering if she was imagining the slight tinge of yellow against his pale skin.

"Tsunade," Sakura said cautiously, "the last time Sasuke checked in, he was in the Land of Rivers. Do you know exactly which part?"

She shook her head. "You know how vague he is when – if – he decides to check in with us. Why do you ask?"

"Well…" She hesitated, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "I was reading about an outbreak of yellow fever in the east portion of the country. The mosquitoes there are running rampant and the disease sparked up so quickly they don't have enough hospital space to manage the patients. I wonder if…"

Tsunade frowned. "It could be, but we won't know until we get his blood work back. If that's the case…" She trailed off. She didn't have to tell Sakura that yellow fever came with a relatively high mortality rate.

"We don't have to wait," Sakura protested. "If we check his eyes, we can tell. If he's still in the acute stage of the disease, we can help him."

"Even if he is in the acute stage, there's not much I can do, medically speaking," Tsunade reminded her. "And if he's entering the toxic phase-."

"I'm going in there," Sakura interrupted, reaching for the door. "If I just check his eyes, I can determine the severity."

"Sakura, you are not going in there," Tsunade warned, her tone low and threatening. "The last thing we need in this village is an outbreak of a disease that has no real cure. Stay out and wait for the lab results."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her teacher. "You're really not going to help him? You're a doctor, damn it! We both are! This is our job."

"I didn't say I wasn't going to help him," Tsunade said. "But yellow fever is incredibly dangerous, especially to someone my age. I took full precaution when I went in there, and I'm not going to risk exposing myself again until we know what we're dealing with. You will not go in there until the lab results come back, understood?"

Sakura's hand clenched the doorknob as she stared her teacher down. She was shocked to hear these words coming out of her brave teacher's mouth. However, she had to remind herself that Tsunade never dealt much with infectious diseases. Her focus was more on battlefield injuries, and while Sakura's was as well, she wasn't about to leave a patient untreated, especially when that patient was Sasuke.

"I understand that you're a coward," Sakura growled and threw open the door despite her teacher's loud protests. She understood the risk she was taking, but she wasn't about to let Sasuke die. Even if there wasn't much she could do, she could at least be there for him so he wouldn't be alone. She was a doctor. This was her duty, even if her own teacher seemed to have forgotten that.

She grabbed a surgical mask from the shelf by the door and put it on before washing her hands thoroughly. The single hazmat suit that had been stored in the room was no longer there. Tsunade must have taken it to be chemically treated after she wore it. But Sakura didn't care. At the risk of exposing herself, she stepped into the room and approached Sasuke's bed with Tsunade's shouts echoing behind her.

"Don't think you're leaving that room any time soon, Haruno! You're officially under quarantine!" Tsunade smacked her hand against the glass to get Sakura's attention. "Do you hear me? This is the most reckless thing you've ever done!"

Sakura glanced behind her, taking in the sight of her teacher seething with anger. "I hear you," she said simply.

Sasuke didn't stir as Sakura placed a hand on his burning forehead. No wonder he's unconscious, she thought, biting her lip. Gently, she brushed a finger over his eyelid and pulled it up. Her heart sank when she saw the white of his eye tinged with an ugly yellow and laced with angry red veins. She let his eyelid fall back into place and looked over at Tsunade, standing at the window with her arms crossed expectantly.

"No need to wait for the results," Sakura said, her tone defeated. "It's yellow fever."

Although Tsunade was still visibly angry, her features softened slightly. "How bad does it look?"

Sakura looked down at Sasuke again and placed a hand on his chest, counting his heartbeats. She shook her head. It was far too slow for her liking. "Yellow eyes, high fever, slow heart rate," she glanced up at the window, genuinely fearful. "He's entering the toxic phase."

"Sakura," Tsunade began with a sigh.

"I need antipyretics and ice," Sakura interrupted. "Bring me plenty of towels, more IV refills, and some broth. I'm going to get this fever down and he needs his strength."

Sighing in defeat, Tsunade turned to stop a passing nurse and give her Sakura's requests. After the nurse had scurried off, she turned her attention back to her student. "Look, since you're in there you might as well care for him, but you need to take care of yourself too. If you notice that you're developing any of the symptoms-."

"Don't worry about me," Sakura cut her off. "I know how dangerous this is, but I'm not going to just stand around and do nothing like you."

"Sakura, I am trying to keep this from spreading," Tsunade scolded. "You're the one who's being reckless here."

Ino approached with the lab results, a deep frown etched on her features, but Tsunade held up a hand to stop her before she could speak.

"We already know," she informed Ino.

"How did you know?" Ino asked. She glanced through the window and gasped when she saw Sakura. "Are you crazy?! What are you doing in there?"

"I'm trying to help him," Sakura said defensively. "No one else was."

"Enough, Sakura," Tsunade said. "We're getting you your supplies. Page the nurses whenever you need something. You've won on this, okay?"

"Do you realize the danger you're putting yourself in?" Ino cried. "This is a serious disease with no cure!"

"I don't care," Sakura informed her calmly. "Someone has to at least try to take care of him. Tsunade was going to leave him in here to die."

"I most certainly was not," Tsunade growled defensively.

"Whatever," Sakura replied and looked back down at Sasuke. His breathing was shallow. She wondered how long he had been sick, how long he had stubbornly pushed though, before finally collapsing. Yellow fever could take months to recover from depending on the severity of the disease. "Where are my supplies?"

"We've got them right here," Tsunade said, taking the requested items from a worried-looking nurse. She opened a slot in the door and slid the tray through. "You've been through quarantine training, you know what to do. Don't forget to take care of yourself. I'll be by to check on you every day."

"Be careful, Sakura," Ino said worriedly.

Sakura walked up and took the tray from the slot. "I'll be fine."

"I know you love him," Ino said slowly, "but this is extreme."

"You wouldn't do the same for Sai?" Sakura asked and the question caused Ino to look down at her feet.

"I would," she said quietly after a moment's thought. "I would do it without even thinking about the consequences."

"Then you understand," Sakura said simply and turned her back to the window.

After she added the fever reducer to his IV drip, she cranked up his bed slowly until he was in a sitting position. He didn't stir despite the movement. She wet a small towel with the icy water and placed it against his forehead, eliciting a weak shiver from him. She sighed in relief. At least he was reacting to something.

She picked up the bowl of lukewarm miso broth and placed her other hand on the back of his head, helping him to hold steady as she pressed the bowl to his cracked lips. She tilted the bowl slightly, letting a small amount of liquid into his mouth. His eyes cracked open at this and he swallowed thickly.

"Good," Sakura whispered, tilting the bowl again.

His eyes moved dazedly until he caught sight of her familiar pink hair and she gave him a gentle, reassuring smile. "You're in the hospital now," she said, unsure if he was actually registering what she was saying. "Don't worry; I'm going to take care of you." His eyes closed again and she gave him another small taste of broth. "You're going to be okay, Sasuke."

/When inspiration strikes, write! I haven't done much drama writing before, so I hope this turns out okay. I really like this idea so far, and I hope you enjoy it too!