AM13 Outbreak Shorts

Quarantine - Two

As I get home that day, a new positivity races through my brain. My apartment is filled to the brim with all the medical books and journals that I needed to get me through my education and I'm sure that I'll be able to find something useful to help me. Okay, so this virus is new, it's unlike anything we've ever seen before, but I'm sure there must be similar to go by. There has to be some useful information.

I am going to do this, I have to. I just need to figure out where to start, that's all.

For a moment, I remember my mom's proud face when I told her that I got accepted into the medical school I wanted to go to. She always had high hopes for me, she pushed me from a very young age—against my will sometimes—always stating that she knew I'd go far.

I wonder what she'd think of me if she knew I saved the whole damn world! It's a shame that I'll never be to share that news with her, even if I do achieve it. She died last year from a terrible case of pneumonia, a fact that still breaks my heart even now. She was always my best friend, the one I wanted to share everything with first. She helped with through heartbreak and bad times, she celebrated all the good stuff with me...my world is a much darker place without her in it.

With a deep sigh, I pick up the picture I have of her on my mantelpiece and I run my finger down her cheek. There's so much about my mom that I share; the same dirty blonde hair and high cheekbones. The same top-heavy frame and long legs. The blue of my eyes I get from my father...apparently. I haven't met him, so I guess I'll never know.

Mom, I wish more than ever that I could pick up the phone to speak to you today, I think gravely as a wet sheen covers my eyes. I'm still sorry that you aren't here. Still, I'm going to make you proud, just you wait and see.

I know she isn't really replying to me, yet sometimes I have conversations with her in my mind as a comfort blanket, and in this one she's pushing me again, telling me that I need to do this, that's it my purpose in life.

With an excitable, skipping heart, I put her picture back down where I found it and I make my way over to my bookshelf ready to get started somewhere. I just need to use some logic, that's all. Since we already know this thing is a virus, I guess virology would be the best place to start. I can recall doing a large module based all around that in my education, so I must have all kinds of documents. It's just lucky that my brain is so wired, that I'm not completely shattered after my long day of work because this might be an all-nighter.

Well, it isn't my first one, and I'm certain it won't be my last. Here goes nothing!