Remedy 07

02

I shuffled my coat pockets for my car keys and drove to my laboratory, the radio on for company.

[97.7 FM]

Within only a few days the number of cases in New York jumped even higher! Hospitals in Syracuse are starting to get crowded with people. Most of the hospitalized people were soldiers, but civilian cases were on the rise as well. The hospital staff was already working round-the-clock to care for the sick, and the epidemic had only just begu-"

"I'm going through THE WRONG LANE!-" I quickly turn the wheel to the right, almost crashina into a pole separatina the dissection.

Sigh.

I switched the radio off, not wanting to hear more of this stress material.

I reached my laboratory and unlocked the doors, revealing my workers testing the medicines and vaccines.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Miller," exclaimed Laura as she was taking my coat off and replacing it with a lab coat. She is my assistant at the laboratory.

"Good afternoon to you as well, dear Laura," I replied, placing my hands in my pockets.

I sat at my working space and glanced at the research I was previously writing, and it had me thinking that sooner or later, I will spread what's available from my cure.

And I will make sure everyone can equally access it.

I glanced around, eying my newly written research paper and a bunch of notebooks.

I didn't know that I had zoned out, staring at one specific red book for a good while, but then I realized what book it was.

Erick had left his notebook here from yesterday, and my mind started flooding with flashbacks of a certain moment that irked me.

—
"For now, I suppose this liquid is the vaccine for the H1N1 influenza A. virus!" I beamed excitingly, pouring one solution carefully into the other.

"If there prevails any likelihood that this vaccine will work, we have to experiment the vaccine on someone," Erick said, unamused by my discovery. His brown eyes were dull and showed no interest.

"I could test it on you promptly," I suggested, a cheeky grin embracing my features as I pour the solution into a syringe.

A look of surprise flushed his face, "No!"
"You just want to save your own skin, hm?" I pondered knowingly, settling the syringe into a box and leaving it aside into a drawer.
"Well—yes, of course," he admitted, giving the air a side glance.

"Speaking of the vaccine, have you set a price for it?" Erick quickly inquired as he flipped through pages of his notebook, his facial features tensing.
"That's a great question!" I chime in, "I plan on preparing it as five dollars per shot. That way, everyone can afford it."

"Five dollars? We will hand everything to people on a silver platter and expect nothing back?" Erick snapped, making tense eye contact with me.

"Why, that's the point." I shrugged as I heard footsteps approaching behind me.

"Foster, I suppose you could quiet down, people are trying to concentrate on their work," Another voice sternly said, a security guard.

Erick scoffed and merely walked away.
-
"Dean!"

I felt someone shaking me.

"Huh?" I questioned, rubbing my eyes.

"You nodded off a bit, though you jerked awake after a couple yells." Laura placed a hand on my shoulder and nervously chuckled.

"Did I zone out?" I inquired, rubbing my temples in an attempt to relieve my pounding headache.

"Yup, not for too long though." She confessed, assuring me with a subtle smile.

"Have the workers tested the vaccine on people?" I inquired optimistically in hope for good news.

"Indeed!" She asserted, "the vaccine is performing very well, we require a few additional weeks to conduct the more time-consuming experiments."

"That is enticing news!" I cheered with a loss of words as a smile forms upon my features— the first genuine one I've had in a while.