Infected

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

“All right, pumpkin, I showed you where the lasagna is, didn’t I?” Sandy opened the fridge door absently and shut it again.

“Only about half a dozen times,” Carl replied. He had two overnight bags strapped over his shoulders and kept trying to make his way to the door that led to the garage.

“Well, you know we’re only going to be a few hours away. I gave you our schedule, right?”

“You printed it up and put a copy on the fridge, a copy in the bathroom, and a copy in the den. Don’t you remember?” Carl tried to adjust his pants while carrying so much luggage.

“I just want to make sure I’ve covered it all. I’m certain I’m forgetting something.”

“Like we need to check into the B&B in an hour and a half, and it’s going to take us twice that long to get there?”

Sandy shook her head and frowned. “No, that’s not it. I gave you the number for Woong’s pediatrician, didn’t I?”

Kennedy nodded, certain she’d find the number taped to the emergency contact list above the microwave if it weren’t already on the three-page handwritten note Sandy had penned in her flowing cursive that sat folded in Kennedy’s pocket.

“And I showed you where the car keys are hanging up by the garage door. Oh, that’s something I should have mentioned. Nick might stop by to borrow the Honda. Since we’re taking the van, I told him he could use the car whenever he needs.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Kennedy was just glad she wouldn’t be the one driving the church’s clunky, painted, hipster bus all over Massachusetts.

“Oh, that’s another thing,” Sandy went on. “Woong went to a birthday party last weekend, and he watched Princess Bride. It’s put all kinds of fancy ideas in his head, but the rules are no sword fighting in the house. And you’ve got to watch him because I think he learned a bad word. I’m not entirely sure. So you listen out for that and tell me if you run into any problems.”

Kennedy wondered how long ago it was that her own parents had worried about her picking up a bad word or two from a movie.

Sandy stared around the room. “So you know we won’t be home until late tomorrow night, right, love? Carl’s taking me out to a fancy dinner on the Isabella. It’s going to be so romantic.”

“If we ever make it there,” Carl grumbled.

“We’re almost ready, honey, just you wait.” She offered Kennedy an apologetic smile. “He’s upset because I’m taking him to see the opera tonight. It was the deal we made. Tonight the opera, tomorrow the new action movie with that famous guy playing in it. You know the one I mean. He’s in the movie with the lady, you know. The blonde one.”

Carl rolled his eyes. “Can we go now?” He nudged their bags a little closer to the door. “Otherwise I’ll have to stop and use the bathroom again.”

“Already? I’m serious, honey, you really need to stop drinking so much water. It can’t be good for your kidneys.”

“Actually ...” Carl began, but Sandy cut him off.

“Hold on, let me remember. There’s something I’ve got to tell Kennedy. Now what was it? You know Woong starts getting ready for bed at eight, right? It takes him quite a long time to settle down.”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Kennedy said, not feeling nearly as certain as she tried to sound.

Sandy took a step toward the door then spun around on her heel. “Oh! That’s what it was.” She bustled past and pulled a piece of paper off the top of the microwave. “This is a letter from Woong’s school. I forgot to send it with him today. It’s already signed. It needs to go back with his things tomorrow. They just want to make sure we’re all going to be careful about not sending our kids to school sick. You know how it is with that virus scare.” She turned to her husband. “What’s it called again? Napa? Something like that?”

“Napa’s wine country.” Carl opened the door to the garage. “You’re talking about Nipah. The Nipah virus.”

“No, you’re thinking about where the Dalai Lama lives, aren’t you?”

“Not Nepal, woman! Nipah. It’s the Nipah virus.” Beads of sweat coalesced on Carl’s forehead.

“Oh, that’s right. Well, that’s why the school needs the letter, hon. Be sure Woong takes that form to school tomorrow or they might send him home.”

Carl shook his head. “Government overreach,” he mumbled.

“It’s an epidemic, darling. People have been dying.” Sandy’s voice was patient, her southern drawl even more pronounced than normal.

“People die all the time,” Carl inserted. “The way I see it, when it’s my time to go, nothing here’s gonna dare hold me back, and that’s true whether it’s old age or a freak accident or Nipah virus that shoots me off to glory. Now, I’m all for basic precautions. What I’m not for is fear and paranoia. The way the media’s slanting this, I guarantee you there’ll be riots before the week’s out. And then they’ll start rounding up carriers, enforcing quarantines, it’ll be 1984. It begins when the government steps in and denies parents their basic rights. Just like that little boy whose family refused chemo, remember him? Courts get a whiff of it and ...”

“I don’t think Kennedy needs to worry about chemotherapy today. She just needs to remember to get Woong’s form to school.” She turned to Carl with a smile. “Ok, babe. You ready?”

Carl sighed, dejected. “All right. I’m off my soap box.” He looked back once at Kennedy. “You be sure to call if you have any problems, you hear? Especially if your problems start in the hour to half-hour before the curtains rise at the opera. Got that?” He winked.

“Oh, you silly thing.” Sandy swatted him playfully and followed him into the garage, where the St. Margaret youth group’s tie-dyed Volkswagon bus waited for them. Kennedy had to chuckle at the thought of the Lindgrens actually driving that thing to dinner at Isabella’s and then the opera. Since she’d never learned how to handle a stick shift, she lucked out and would keep the much more respectable Honda to take Woong to and from school.

“Have fun,” she called out after them. “And happy anniversary.”