SUMATRA BARAT
38
NATAGNA
Dr. VandenHeuvel awoke suddenly as someone frantically knocked on his door. Still groggy from sleep, he pushed his way through the mosquito netting. He grabbed his robe and put it on. It was Dortha, clearly upset. He hoped the previous night’s conversation wasn’t still bothering her because he was too tired to discuss it.
“Dortha, what’s going on?”
“It’s Natagna.” Tears streamed down her face. “He’s down.”
Dr. Erik didn’t bother to dress but followed the nurse as she hurried back to the clinic. He shuffled behind her, hoping his heart could handle the effort. The Al Amorta guards walking along the wall noticed the commotion and watched curiously. They trained their lights on the scene below.
The night was humid. Manu and Objadu’s voices echoed through the night as they tried to soothe the other orangutans in the enclosure. The guards swept their flashlights back and forth, disturbing them even more. Eric shook his fist in frustration at the men. They didn’t care about what he thought.
In the clinic, Natagna lay on a stretcher. His breathing was shallow. Erik quickly realized that the alpha orang was dying. Manu followed them in.
“Did anyone see him fall?”
“No doctor, the screeching woke us,” Manu said. “We ran into the yard. The guards on the wall shined their lamps onto the arbor, and we could see him, lying helpless under his favorite tree.”
“I tried to rouse him, doctor. But he was breathing funny and wouldn’t wake.” Objadu wrung his hands in dismay.
Dr. Erik lifted Natagna’s eyelids and checked his pupils. They were fixed and dilated. “Let’s start an IV and get some fluids in him. Dortha, get omadacycline, and we need to push that.”
“What are we treating?” Dortha asked as she grabbed a unit of normal saline and set up the IV.
“Anything and everything. We are aiming for a protozoan, at least until we do a few tests.” He slid the needle easily into a vein.
Hours later, after four tubes of blood and some basic tests, they took Natagna to the CAT scanner to get several views of his brain. Dr. VandenHeuvel sat in his lab, examining the slides and then looking at the view box where the films were displayed.
“There is generalized swelling, a midline shift, and some impingement of the ventricles. He has meningitis. Dr. Erik pondered the findings. “We need a spinal tap to identify the infection. It’s possible the children could catch this if it crosses the ape/human barrier.”
Dortha helped the men turn Natagna onto his side; they shaved and prepared his lower back. Dr. Erik skillfully inserted the needle into the spinal canal, removing a tube of fluid. It was tinged with blood.
“Not good.” Erik frowned.
“I’m making coffee,” Dortha said. “This has been a long night.”
“Good idea. Then send Sanctuary a message,” he said. “Just say: We have a crisis.”
Erik sat on a stool and watched over his shaggy patient. The orangutan was silent and still, with barely any movement in its breathing. The only sign of life was the irregular beeping of the heart monitor.
Erik’s eyes closed. His chin drooped to his chest. The primate’s long-fingered, leathery hand clasped his, and he drifted into sleep. The air was thick and humid. Manu and he were young and quick, the best of friends.
Erik sat down on a stump to think, and Manu plopped down next to him. They were tired and had spent the last two days searching for just the right orangutan for their project. But it seemed that each time they found good candidates, they disappeared into the rainforest as if they were psychic.
“I’m tired, Manu,” he’d said. “I want to go back and look at my slides and lie in my hammock for forty years or so.”
And it was at that moment when they heard the leaves rustling. A brazen red orangutan came out of the forest and grabbed the durian right from Erik’s hands. Then, as if they were bosom buddies, the animal sat right next to the men and ate his prize.
They had no trouble choosing this as the right animal. He came to the compound with them almost willingly.
When they arrived, they placed him in the arboreal enclosure. Although it was spacious and filled with lush trees, Erik noticed a change in the orangutan. Natagna began to dislike him, realizing that the white-coated doctor was responsible for his loss of freedom.
Erik awoke, a rough sob pulling him back to the present. Natagna’s monitor was slowing, his once strong heart beating irregularly. Within minutes, the monitor went silent.
Natagna was free once more.
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