Love Gone Viral

by Meg Napier

  On Monday morning Rosalind finally took a quick nap and a shower. Only then did she realize her phone had been turned off. Alden had called twenty times. Ashley had called twice.

  Instead of working on the experiment with the new and improved calculations, she went back to the hospital and stayed with Alden. At least one good thing happened while she was there: Ash was speaking to her again.

  Upset about Mia, she’d called and Face-Timed several times. She talked about the gala and meeting a prominent figure from the White House. “I can’t tell you who it was, but he works directly with the president. I met him through an actor who was in Wuhan when the virus was discovered.”

  Rosalind was happy for her wife. She was getting everything she dreamed of. Now, if only she could say the same for herself.

  Alden never left the hospital, even when he couldn’t be by Mia’s side. Rosalind stayed with him, keeping Ash up-to-date on their friend. On the sixth of March at four in the afternoon, Mia lost her battle against COVID-19.

  Chapter 9

  Geneva, Switzerland

  9 March 2020

  Monday 7:00 am

  The weekend had been a solemn affair. Rosalind couldn’t believe Mia was gone. Usually, a bundle of energy and excitement, all Rosalind wanted to do now was stay in bed and pull the covers over her head. Alden was off for the next several days. CERN would never be the same again.

  She would have stayed in bed if it hadn’t been for her cell phone. A number she didn’t recognize was calling. She answered it immediately.

  A deep voice was on the other end. “You need to come home.”

  “Ethan? Why are you calling me?” She asked.

  “Because no one else will. Ash is sick. Mom and Dad are scared it might be the new virus,” he said.

  She sat up, her heart pounding in her chest. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” The rock came back and stayed there.

  “And Roz?”

  “Yeah?” She asked, already booting up her laptop to buy tickets to the Oklahoma City airport.

  “Hurry.”

  Hurrying was easier said than done. Apparently, while she’d been splitting her focus between the new calculations and Alden, the world had turned crazy. The strange new virus was infecting people everywhere.

  Finally, though, she was able to get an airplane ticket. She sent a quick email to her boss and a text to Alden. She packed in record time. A car came and took her to the airport. On the way there, Alden called and said he was praying for them.

  She hadn’t known Alden was the praying type, but appreciated anything he had to offer. She was still haunted by the image of Mia coughing, gripping her chest, and collapsing.

  When she reached the ticket counter, Rosalind’s heart sank. All of her notes and calculations were still in her office. Going back and forth to the hospital, she hadn’t had time to input the information in her laptop or thumb drive. There was no time to get back. She’d gotten the earliest flight possible and it was going to leave in two hours.

  Once through security, she sent a text to Ethan. His response was chilling. Ashley was at the ER. She couldn’t stop vomiting.

  Twisting her gold wedding band around her finger, she vowed she’d never take Ashley for granted again. She would hold her and never let go. She’d drop out of the CERN program and find something closer to home.

  She didn’t even care if home meant the hot state of Oklahoma. They could vacation in colder climates. Anywhere and anything would be fine, as long as they were together. She would apologize, this time, knowing exactly what she was apologizing for. Mia had been right. They’d been in a fight. She’d been too preoccupied to understand.

  She understood now.

  Ashley knew what her work meant to her and had always given her space to grow and learn. All she had asked for in return was a family and a week-long vacation where they could both forget the outside world and focus on each other.

  Worrying her band around and around her finger, Rosalind made silent promises she hoped to make in person.

  Ethan was waiting for her at the baggage claim when the plane landed.

  She hugged and kissed his cheeks before remembering she was no longer in Switzerland.

  “Thanks for coming so quickly,” he said.

  “How is she?” Rosalind asked, dreading the answer, but hoping all would be well.

  “Not good.” He grabbed her pink suitcase. “She’s on a special floor for COVID patients. No visitors are allowed. The nurse promised he’d let Ashley know you’re coming.”

  The boulder spread to the rest of her body. Each step was heavier and heavier. She almost didn’t make it to Ethan’s rusted truck.

  He grabbed her arm when she tripped over air. “You’re not sick, too, are you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Good. It’s bad enough…” He glanced away, his square jaw tight. He opened the door and helped her up the giant step.

  The moment the truck was out of the airport parking lot, he floored it. Rosalind held her arms against the dash and clenched her teeth.

  Taylor and Sheila were waiting outside the entrance. They looked on the verge of collapse., but Sheila unwound herself from Taylor’s arms and met Rosalind on the sidewalk. She brought her arm back. Rosalind reached in to hug her. Sheila jerked away, swinging her hand to Rosalind’s face.

  Tears flowed down as Rosalind put a hand to her stinging cheek.

  “How dare you leave her! Now she’s dead! My baby girl is dead!” Sheila rocked back and forth.

  Rosalind stared at her. Her ears rang. “What?” She looked to Taylor, who nodded. The boulder cracked into a million pieces and she collapsed to her knees. It wasn’t possible.

  Ethan stood over her, his hands balled into fists.

  “I want to see her,” she said. Her voice was barely a whisper, but it sounded like she’d shouted.

  Sheila jerked away and laughed. It was a high-pitched crazed laugh. “You can’t. No one can.”

  Ethan spat on the ground beside her. His voice was cracked and rough. “She can’t be…She was two months pregnant.”

  Sheila’s hand went to her mouth.

  Taylor’s eyes widened.

  Rosalind’s chest constricted. “She never told me.” A dark void stretched endlessly before her.

  Chapter 10

  Eastman-Bayer Agro-Tech Industries

  Kingsport, TN

  17 February 2025

  Monday 8:30 am

  The drive from Watauga to Kingsport was long and allowed Rosalind time to think. Little Moirae was still broken, so she’d spent most of the weekend going over different calculations. If it wasn’t for work, she’d still be at home going over everything with a fine-tooth comb.

  Rosalind drove up to the security gate, simultaneously putting her clear mask on and holding her left wrist out the car window.

  James, a robust man who filled the tan long-sleeved shirt to near busting, wore outdated sunglasses and a long dark mustache squashed against his face by the clear mask he was forced to wear. The mask fit almost as well as the shirt. “Beautiful day, isn’t it, Ms. Ellis?”

  He was always smiling. Today, his lopsided grin irritated her. “It’s supposed to rain,” she retorted.

  His grin widened, revealing yellow, crooked teeth exaggerated by the clear mask, “Better rain than snow, unless it ices.”

  She grunted. She’d always liked snow better than rain. She wriggled her wrist. She wanted to get the day over and done with so she could go back home and work on Little Moirae.

  “Always in a hurry.” He scanned her wrist and waved, “Have a great day, Ms. Ellis!”

  Everyone had to be scanned before entering any building, even grocery stores; although, grocery store scanners weren’t as high tech as government ones. Government facility scans confirmed the person’s name, recorded the individual’s temperature, and even detected common viruses such as colds, flus, and virus mutations. Grocery store scanners only caught the individual’s t
emperature.

  The light above the gate turned green.

  She wound her way to the second checkpoint. The second security guard remained in the station. This checkpoint was a vehicle scan. She was motioned to drive into the building. A gate slammed shut behind her. The gate in front of her remained closed until another green light ensured the scan found no unauthorized personnel or objects in her car.

  The guards smiled and wished her a good day.

  Her job was unpassionate rote work. Rosalind didn’t get to work with particles or use her brain outside of her home lab. Her job was to record whether or not seeds infected by the mutated SARS-CoV-2 virus were growing.

  She spent most of her time thinking about Little Moirae. First, they had to get her running again. Alden knew what he was doing, but some of the parts had melted beyond repair. She couldn’t raid the supply closet for a while, not without raising suspicion. She also couldn’t wander around other buildings.

  Her only hope was Alden. He could come and go as he pleased. Since he could fix almost any machine known to man, he was given special clearance.

  As she fidgeted with the uncomfortable plastic mask, a woman fell in step beside her.

  “Hey, Roz.”

  Rosalind’s shoulders stiffened. No one except Ashley had ever called her Roz. “Good morning, Miss Harris,” she said.

  The woman laughed. Her red hair bobbed up and down in time with her shoulders.

  “What?” Rosalind asked.

  Wiping tears from her eyes, the short redhead said, “You called me Miss Harris. For a second, I thought you were talking to my mom. Call me Nadine.”

  She didn’t want to call the woman anything and would have said so, had she not wanted to try so hard to fly under the NHRB’s radar.

  “Then call me Rosalind,” she said.

  Nadine smiled, her face mask popping over her chin.“But Roz sounds cooler.”

  Rosalind scanned her wrist to the stairwell door. Most people took the elevator and she expected Nadine to do the same. She was shocked when Nadine followed her. “Is there something you need, Nadine?”

  “As a matter of fact, there is,” her face turned red.

  Rosalind stopped walking. Nadine was a couple of inches shorter than her and still carried the air of bubbly innocence. Freckles dotted her nose, adding to Nadine’s annoying girlish charm. “Is there something wrong with the newest batch of seeds?”

  “Always about work with you,” Nadine admonished. She smiled, but she turned redder. “I was browsing through your profile and…well…”

  Rosalind stopped breathing. Her heart beat faster, drumming in her ears. Nadine was going through her profile? Did it mean she’d connected the dots between her work at CERN and extracurricular activities?

  “Well…I thought…Oh, never mind!” Nadine dashed out the stairwell door.

  Rosalind watched her scan her wrist at the elevators. As the door swung closed, she glimpsed two men in black suits with the blue NHRB emblem.

  Thankful Nadine hadn’t gone to security, but confused about the presence of NHRB, she slowly went up the stairs. Her feet were like lead.

  When she reached the second level, she went to the equipment room leading to Lab A. She traded her winter coat for a long white lab coat and the everyday clear mask for a disposable one, then grabbed matching blue gloves.

  The sweltering room was filled with three groups of seeds planted four days ago by a different group.

  Nadine was already measuring the growth rate of Batch A with a small black sensor. The sensors measured the seeds’ growth rate by scanning them. It was more accurate than a tape measure and included the length and mass of the root system.

  When she saw Rosalind, her sensor fell from her hand. It skidded across the floor, stopping against Rosalind’s black boots. Nadine’s face turned pink again.

  Rosalind picked up the scanner and held it out. “I don’t think it’s broken, but you may want to calibrate it,” she said.

  Nadine’s fingers brushed against Rosalind’s. They were trembling and lingered longer than necessary. “Thank you.” Her face was blood red again.

  Rosalind raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?” What she wanted to ask was, “What’s on my profile and what are you doing to do with the information?”

  “Um…I’m fine. Thanks. I’ll calibrate it now.” Nadine didn’t move her hand.

  Heavy boots thudded against the floor. “Am I interrupting something?” Matt Landis asked. His glasses were askew and his mask and gloves were stuffed in his pocket. “Or is there room for one more?” He winked.

  Nadine’s blush reached her ears and plunged down her neckline. She grabbed the sensor quickly and muttered, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Did I catch you at a bad time?” Matt asked.

  Rosalind scowled, wondering what was going on with Nadine. Matt’s comments never bothered her. He was barely twenty and would eventually grow up. “Looks like you’re right on time,” she replied, pointing to the clock.

  He snorted before donning the mask and gloves.

  “I’ll get Batch C,” she said. Not only did Batch C have more seeds and plants to sensor, but it was also five rows away from Nadine and her strange behavior.

  Rosalind already had measured and recorded twenty-five of the seeds when she heard whispering.

  “Why were you talking to the ice queen?” Matt asked.

  She wanted to tune them out again, go back to her work, but her focus was broken.

  She felt, rather than saw, Nadine watching her. “I like her. I think she’s sad and could use a friend. Plus, she’s hot,” she giggled.

  “Barf,” Matt said. “Don’t you get the feeling she’s hiding something dark and sinister?”

  “We all have secrets,” Nadine said.

  “I don’t,” Matt said. “I guess you’re into old chicks.”

  “She’s not old. Shush. I’m trying to get my work done.” Nadine still stared at Rosalind.

  Rosalind worked faster than ever. She’d planned on taking her time, so she could focus on Little Moirae, but the conversation she’d overheard terrified her. She hurried through her seeds and fled to the equipment room. Her lab coat was soaked in sweat. She needed to get out of there.

  As she scanned her wrist to exit the equipment room, the red-headed nuisance popped beside her.

  “Hey,” the bubbly voice said.

  Rosalind didn’t respond.

  “Look,” Nadine grabbed her arm.

  “What is it?” Rosalind asked between gritted teeth. There was no time for games.

  Nadine took in a deep breath. “I realize this will sound weird, but will you go out with me Friday night?”

  “Um.” She needed to sit down.

  “Think about it. You don’t have to answer now,” Nadine said.

  Rosalind shook her head, but Nadine was out the door before she could say “No.”

  Nothing was going her way. Everything from Alden’s inability to get the parts for Little Moirae to Nadine’s question to the presence of NHRB agents agitated her. Her skin was too tight and she missed her ring. They weren’t allowed to wear jewelry at work.

  The moment she walked through her door and turned her alarm off, she slid the ring back on her finger.

  She stalked through the house in the near darkness, longing for Ashley.

  Chapter 11

  Eastman-Bayer Agro-Tech Industries

  Kingsport, TN

  21 February 2025

  Friday 3:00 pm

  There had been no growth in the seeds Rosalind checked. Ignoring the looks Nadine threw her way, she continued to the next set. She still couldn’t believe she’d let Alden talk her into going on a double date. Blackmailed, she corrected. He had blackmailed her into accepting the date.

  They’d finally gotten Little Moirae back to working order two days ago. However, there was a strange power surge when they started her up. It shouldn’t have happened, since she was off the power grid. But strangest of al
l was the conversation she’d had with Alden.

  His words still smarted.

  Alden insisted he was done with the experiments. He wanted to move on. If they did anything to the past it could make their future worse.

  Rosalind disagreed.

  He took her thumb drive, insisting she’d get it back after going on a double date with him. “I’m tired of all of this. I’m tired of sneaking around late at night and tired of the NHRB questioning me. I’m not as young as I used to be. I need more sleep. I need a life outside of all of this. I need to move on,” he’d said.

  She worked every waking moment to prove him wrong. The NHRB would be nothing if all went according to plan. Unfortunately, Little Moirae was not cooperating. Another surge and she almost fried Little Moirae again.

  Rosalind lingered near the seeds in Lab B. Matt had already finished and was leaving. He bragged about having three dates with three different women this weekend before heading out the door.

  Rosalind was too distracted to roll her eyes, but she managed a half-hearted, “Good luck,” as he skipped out of the lab.

  She’d hung back, hoping Nadine would leave soon, too.

  No luck.

  Her luck ran out even further when Nadine’s steps came closer. Rosalind pretended not to notice and kept her eyes on the last group of seeds, willing them to sprout. She stiffened as a hand touched her shoulder.

  “What is it, Nadine?” Rosalind asked, finally pulling her eyes away from the ungiving soil.

  “I’m excited about tonight. Where are we going?” Nadine was using her girlish voice today.

  Rosalind suppressed a shudder. She hated it when women acted like little girls. Why had she ever agreed to do this? She shook her head, already knowing the answer. The NHRB had spooked Alden. He wanted out and wanted her to follow.

  But there was no way out for her. It was do or die.

  Yet Alden was her friend and he’d sacrificed so much for her already. She thought his fate had been tied to hers, their goals the same. Maybe they still were, but he was terrified. She wondered what the agents had said to him.