Social Distancing

Chapter 5: It's Spreading

A few days later, I hadn't known that working here would be a lesson in seeing how long I could go without blinking.

Once we had sequenced the COVID-19 RNA from the Toyko samples, we dumped it into petri dishes then simply watched them. The lab had a video monitor focused on twenty five petri dishes, so we didn't have to solely stare into microscopes all day. That said, the task was simultaneously fascinating and hideously boring.  I couldn't shake an internal feeling like we hadn't taken the right approach.

"Shift change." Adam's voice called out to me as he appeared in the lab door. "Any luck with these samples?"

"COVID-19 still alive." I glanced at the monitoring screen. It was still a quite beautiful virus, on a molecular level at least. I could admit that much.

"Shit..." The screen of petri dishes reflected in his glasses. "It's spreading out there, you know. One thing if it's in China but it's getting closer. Scary stuff."

"Good luck Adam." I glanced at the clock and noticed that the time was four pm. I scooped up my books on my desk, stuffed them into my backpack, and headed out.

Most often it's good to have a good memory, but sometimes it's not. Adam's words "It's spreading out there," repeated in my brain as I stood outside and looked around the bus.

The ride home was not as crowded as in the mornings, but at this point hundreds of people had probably ridden this exact bus. My eyes shifted to the streams of people on the sidewalks, pushing children in strollers, opening store front doors, sitting across from each other at pubs, shaking hands.

It would take only one.

"Stop thirty-seven, Regents Park." At the announcement, I stood up and exited the bus, went into my apartment building, and headed up the stairs. My flat was a tiny and fairly nondescript box of an apartment, and I dropped my bag and washed my hands upon entry. The back of my neck was sore from how I'd stared up at the petri dish screens.

I need a run.

The early evening air felt wonderful as it filtered through my lungs as my feet pounded against the pavement. They followed my boring yet predictable path I always used more for being a creature of habit to ensure I got in at least a three mile run every time.

Down the street, three blocks over, loop through Regent's park, then reverse.

It was a pleasant run, something I enjoyed doing by myself every day.

Well, until today. After today my daily runs became much more enjoyable.

"Maggie!" A familiar sounding male voice called out to me. I stopped running and glanced around.

"Over here love!" My eyes looked up and saw Noah ran towards me, dressed in a long sleeved t-shirt and athletic pants. He looked sweaty and his hair was tousled across his forehead. I actually found this version of him quite a bit more attractive, more natural than when I'd seen him at the pub a few nights ago.

Wait, did I say attractive?

"Hi." I pulled the headphones out of my ears and smiled up at him.

Once he reached me, I noticed that he was a few inches, probably five and three-eights, taller than me. His breath came in out warm, quick pants and sweat dotted his hairline, but his blue eyes sparkled at me. Oddly, the same sense of comfort I'd felt in the pub came into me.

"Hi yourself, going for a run?" He glanced down at my obvious running attire.

"Yup. Was just leaving."