Sick

51

It was a struggle for Martina to open her eyes. When she did, the brightness of the new day made her shut them almost immediately. She could feel the congestion in her nose, and the rawness in her throat. When she’d fallen asleep, she’d felt fine. Now, not so much.

Her last morning. She was sure of it.

She worked her eyes open again, then rolled over and looked at the spot where Ben had been sleeping. He wasn’t there.

Probably decided to move when he realized I was sick,she thought.

She raised herself up on her elbows. She could hear sniffling elsewhere in the dining area, and even a couple of coughs, her friends all dying with her.

“You’re up.”

She looked over her shoulder. Ben was standing behind her. He must have been in the kitchen. Though he was smiling, she could tell by his red nose that he was sick, too. That depressed her even more. She liked him, and had been hoping that maybe he’d be the one to survive.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re all sour face.”

She lay her head back down. “I guess I was kind of hoping we wouldn’t get it.”

“Right,” he said, his smile widening. “You’ve been asleep.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on. I’ll show you.”

With more than just a bit of effort, Ben helped Martina to her feet, then led her to the front of the cafe. Most of the others were there, all but one or two showing signs of the flu. The TV on the counter was on, tuned to PCN. At the bottom of the screen was a banner that read: Quarantine Partially Lifted.

“Lifted?” Martina said. “But we’re all sick here.”

“Yeah, and we’re still in the quarantine zone, but not for long,” Ben told her.

“What are you talking about?”

“Maybe he can tell you,” he said, nodding at the next booth over.

She turned and saw Paul sitting on the end of the bench seat. He looked tired-exhausted, actually — but what other signs of the illness he’d had seemed to be gone.

“You owe me a glass of orange juice,” Ben said. “I believe that was our bet.”

“He’s all right?” she asked quietly.

“He’s recovering from the illness, but I don’t think he’d say he’s all right.”

Of course. His brother and his girlfriend.

“They’re saying on the news that there have been over five hundred new cases in the last thirty-six hours, but most haven’t resulted in death. People are being asked to voluntarily stay home until the flu has disappeared, but the quarantine is expected to be fully lifted by tomorrow night.”

“So…what? It just stopped killing people?”

“Apparently.”

She couldn’t believe it. “We’re going to live?”

Ben smiled again. “Didn’t I tell you this wasn’t going to be your last morning?”