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--FROM THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY, PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2015
San Bruno officials have as yet e events at the don San Bruno Mall, although one e smell in the area of the second-floor public restrooas leak of soe behavior in the five individuals affected by what locals have begun calling "the Sleeping Sickness"
All five of the victie outbreak have been hospitalized, and are being held in quarantine pending further updates on their condition…
--FROM THE CONTRA COSTA TIMES, AUGUST 7, 2027
Chapter 4
AUGUST 2027
The ht, early, and aard Joyce was sullen and refused to talk during breakfast; Moot up I had an e-ht before; there had been a sudden surge of patients at the ER, bad enough that it overwhelmed the normal doctors and caused them to call as many specialists as they could lure out of their labs As a staff parasitologist, Nathan was accusto ER rounds--there wereadjustments to the patient’s SymboGen i them to be extracted immediately, before decoencies that could be i two and a half pounds of dead tapeworht that the influx of patients was somehow related to what Joyce and I saw at thethe code words that meant "accident" I didn’t like to think about car crashes, and so he avoided discussing them with me in any specific terms He invited me to come to the hospital for lunch Since I didn’t have to be at the shelter that day, I wrote back saying I’d be there Anything to get out of the house
Dad and Joyce were leaving for work at ten: unusually late, but a concession they were sometimes able to make when I needed a ride They dropped me off six blocks from the hospital, at a little florist’s shop I’d discovered during my outpatient physical therapy The shop always had terrible roses Theysome of the most beautiful orchids I’d ever seen--but that wasn’t their specialty: McNally’s Flowers specialized in carnivorous plants
The bell over the door rang as I stepped into the warht "Hello?" I called The store’s orange tabby cah, relaxed position I knelt to offer him my hand "Hey, Tumbleweeds How are you today? Where are your people?"
Tuers before butting his head against the back ofaccoreeter
"You’re lucky," said a voice I liftednear the cooler where she kept the substandard but see black hair and a narroaist that she kept cinched in a wide leather belt at all ti whether she would explode if the belt was re as she strolled toward the front of the store, adding, "Tumbles has been standoffish lately People come in, and he snubs them He even hissed at a poor woman yesterday She’d come in to buy flowers for her husband, and here’sat her"
"Did you sell her flowers anyway?" I asked, straightening up
"Four dozen of the long-steue "I tried to steer her toward so to a person who doesn’t feel his best--ants my roses when they’re already unwell?--but eh, can’t steer a person on’t be steered, now, can we? She seehed "You can’t save everyone," I said
"No, I suppose I can’t," Maryasweet and covered in pretty blosso you had soht last night I wanted to bring hi customer is the joy of a retailer’s heart" Marya waved for lass door stood between the common flowers and the more exotic climate-controlled carnivorous plants She held the door open for ht and flicking on the overhead lights "Browse as you like, I’ve nothing better to do"
Marya’s attitude wasn’t as odd as it seemed, despite the fact that she was the only one currently working The bell over the door would ring if anybody else ca her carnivorous babies Having someone who actually wanted to look at sundeorth any number of missed opportunities to sell bad roses to tourists
"I have sounder their heat laest of the King Sundeas bigger thanto the cilia of its long, green and orange fronds "They just came in day before yesterday; you’re the first one who’s come in to see them"
From her proprietary tone, I could tell what she wanted to hear, and I was happy to give it to her: "Oh, Marya, they’re gorgeous," I breathed, crouching down to study the sundeith a careful eye They were no less impressive up close "What are the care notes?"