In Chicago, a pregnant cafeteria worker suffering nothing more than the flu like symptoms begins haemorrhaging from every part of her body. In Boston, a brilliant musician, her face disfigured by an unknown disease, rapidly descends into lethal paranoia. In West Virginia, a miner suddenly goes berserk, causing a cave-in that kills two of his co-workers. Finding the link between these events could prove Fatal. Five years ago emergency specialist Matt Rutledge returned to his West Virginia home to marry his high-school sweetheart and open a practice. Now he has identified bizarre new incidences of illness - caused he is certain, by the mines careless disposal of toxic chemicals. All he needs is proof.