Free The Gemini Virus by Wil Mara Page A

believed in a supreme being, but he felt organized religion had become too much of a business to be trusted. Now he was fearful that he would be punished for his position. If so, punish me and not her, he pleaded.
    They packed Chelsea and Billy into their minivan and sped two hours south to see Dennis’s sister, Elaine. She was a nurse at Point Pleasant Hospital and knew exactly what to do and whom to see. The doctor was a friend of hers, a large and jovial Russian man in his mid-fifties. Wearing rubber gloves and a cotton mask, he took a vial of blood from a fat vein in the crook of Chelsea’s right arm and promised to get back to them as soon as possible. On the way home, Chelsea asked if she was sick, which caused Andi to start crying. Dennis said no, it was just a checkup, and they wanted to see her aunt.
    The night that followed was the worst of their lives. They held each other and cried until there were no tears left. They drifted in and out of sleep and felt even worse in the morning. They both took off work and played with Chelsea and Billy in their “messy room” upstairs—a controlled disaster zone where the kids were allowed to do as they pleased. The cordless phone was kept nearby. It rang once around ten thirty and turned out to be a window-treatment salesman. Andi, unable to maintain her usually civil demeanor under the circumstances, went into Billy’s bedroom and tore the guy a new one. It rang again a half hour later—it was Elaine calling to tell them that Chelsea was fine. Andi wiped tears away and laughed as she thanked her. Dennis sat on the floor with his legs crossed and pulled Chelsea into his lap, then wrapped his arms around her and gently rocked back and forth as she read her favorite book to him. It was one of the most joyous moments of their lives.
    But that was yesterday.
    *   *   *
    “We can work from home until the whole thing blows over,” Andi said from the driver’s seat of the van a few hours later. It was late afternoon, and the bright blue day had evolved into one of the sunniest and prettiest of the season. “I can do most of my stuff on the laptop. You can, too, right?”
    Dennis nodded as they cruised through the center of town. “I guess so.”
    “Okay, then it’s a plan.”
    She now seemed to be harboring a peculiar kind of optimism, Dennis decided—a Pollyanna belief that the outbreak would evaporate in the not-too-distant future, as if simply regarding it in an offhanded manner were the key. He wished he could share the sentiment, but something held him back: a “certain uncertainty,” as he sometimes called it. He subscribed to the common adage that preparing for the worst was always best. Something bigger is going on. We’re not seeing the whole picture, and we may not for some time. This is far from over . He noticed that many of the stores were shuttered, their shades drawn and the signs in the windows turned around to read CLOSED . There was no one on the sidewalks, which was unnerving in itself—he had never seen this thoroughfare devoid of pedestrians before. Certainly there was life out there, somewhere. But what kind of life was it when every moment was colored by fear? When you were too afraid to perform an act as simple as stepping outside and taking a deep breath?
    “… brought the list along?”
    “Hmm? What?”
    “Did you bring the list along?”
    “Oh, yeah.” He took it from the pocket of his shirt and unfolded it. “Got it right here.”
    “Is there anything else you can think of?”
    He scanned it— bananas, cereal, milk, whole wheat bread … All the normal stuff. That appeared to be the operative word at the moment— normal . He thought, That’s what she’s trying to get back to—some sense of normalcy. She thinks if we act like everything’s okay, then everything will be okay . They had been together too long for him not to know what was going on in her head. The moment Chelsea received a clean bill of health, Andi saw an