A Home for the Sick
                                                                                 CHAPTER TWO

Over the past two months my small clinic had become a home for the sick; patients who'd been taking shelter to treat cancer had been removed to their homes and each assigned nurses to help assist them.

The mysterious illness took over, and now beds are taken and the clinic is being considered as quarantine even though the illness didn't appear to be airborne. Two months of treating these patients and neither I nor my nurses have gotten sick with this disease.

I haven't been able to successfully revitalize any of these patients. I have found that specific medicines and methods seem to increase the lifespan of some patients, but in the end they still end up dying. I've officially lost twelve patients in these cases, and it's a frustrating thing to be associated with.

Right now, I had thirty-two patients, meaning I only had three empty beds left. This was a small clinic. It was shaped into a v-turned u and only had five rooms for patients. The worst part is that we're not even a hospital, and there wasn't an actual hospital in this city at all. The closest hospital was a few hours west of the city, located just seven miles outside the city. By the time somebody realizes they've got this problem, they're far too gone to be taken all the way down there.

Was this enough to be considered an epidemic? That's what we were just discussing, and this is where our story will begin.

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"Twelve people have died, and there are many others sick with the same thing; I think it's safe to assume that this is an epidemic," nurse Jones said with a sense of hesitation.

"This is one of those situations where we don't quite know what to do about anything," said Sara. My mind raced with different things I could have said, but to find the right words was hard for me. Had I fully understood what this sickness was? Not yet, and I didn't want to say the wrong thing at this desperate time. I didnt need people jumping ship.

"We're gonna keep this in the shadows for now; we can't risk the chance of the town freaking out over this, so until further research and investigation, we keep the fact that we may be faced with an epidemic under wraps," I said, cautiously as to not worry them any more than they had already been. "As far as keeping the community safe goes - I don't know how. But one thing I do know is that someone will be assigned to watch specific patients at all times, even if that means rotating in turns."

I received a mixture of ok's and yes's, and I went on my way.

Walking down the corridor, I left the small clinic door and walked the short distance to the left side of the building where on the other side of the fence overlooked down on the small town. Like many other times in my career of working as a doctor here, I pulled my pack of marlboro cigarettes from my inside coat pocket and slide one out, lighting it up and inhaling the first puff.

The thought of how different things were then had occurred to me in my moment of ease, and as I looked out on the town I realized how depressed the sight of it had looked. In the early days of the outbreak, like almost every day in Graphite Heights, the sky had been clear of clouds with the sun shining bright along with warm weather and clear air. Now, the sky was always darker with clouds covering every inch, the air was cold and misty with fog. The small town was technically dead as all usual festivities became non-existent. The usual happy faces I'd see passing by the windows had faded away into a deep frown.

Everything changed.

I needed to find out the reason why, and I made it my mission.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please point out any mistakes because this is a rough draft!

And now a message from yours truly, Dr. Klaus. "Hello. It's Klaus again. I really hope you'll stick around to see how you can help with this situation. Stay tuned to see how I figure out the root cause of this illness."

Please vote and comment to help Klaus!