Disease Outbreak :: Epidemic Short Story Essays

Disease Outbreak An inhuman sound disrupted my peaceful slumber. My eyes shifted slowly toward my clock. The red numbers confirmed my suspicion. "Christ," I thought to myself. "3:30 in the morning. This is going to be a bad day of work." I pushed my blankets off of me and sat up in bed. To my left, the sheets were already pushed back and Marissa was nowhere to be seen. At first, I didn't make the connection; I was too tired from working 12-hour shifts at the hospital and thinking was not my number one priority right now. With another intense day ahead of me, I wanted every second of sleep I could possibly take. I was about to fall asleep when the noise shook my soul again. It reminded me of a chain-smoker who suffered from emphysema. Now fully awake, I walked towards the bathroom. The noise appeared to come from there and as I approached closer, my heart began to race. Marissa was doubled over on the bathroom ground, moaning in deep physical pain. I quickly lifted up her body and held her in my arms. Her skin felt like fire as I held her up. She looked at me with glassy eyes and mumbled, "Rick, I don't feel too good." "Just try to be quiet and let me take care of you. You probably have just a stomach flu, nothing else." I was trying to convince myself more than her. Cautiously, I began to [keep] a simple checkup on her. Her pulse was racing, well above any healthy level. She appeared to suffer from stomach pains and peered into the toilet and despite its soupy appearance still had the faint appearance of last night's dinner. "It's just a stomach flu, right?" That is what her symptoms told me, but something was wrong with it. Marissa was the perfect picture of health. She always liked to do nature walks, go to the gym regularly, and followed a balanced diet. Deep down, I knew that if it was the stomach flu, I would be suffering from it too. My mind jumped back to the hospital locker room wall where a notice hung in bold red letters: "WARNING! Be extra cautious with patients showing flu and stomach flu like symptoms. Disease Outbreak :: Epidemic Short Story Essays Disease Outbreak An inhuman sound disrupted my peaceful slumber. My eyes shifted slowly toward my clock. The red numbers confirmed my suspicion. "Christ," I thought to myself. "3:30 in the morning. This is going to be a bad day of work." I pushed my blankets off of me and sat up in bed. To my left, the sheets were already pushed back and Marissa was nowhere to be seen. At first, I didn't make the connection; I was too tired from working 12-hour shifts at the hospital and thinking was not my number one priority right now. With another intense day ahead of me, I wanted every second of sleep I could possibly take. I was about to fall asleep when the noise shook my soul again. It reminded me of a chain-smoker who suffered from emphysema. Now fully awake, I walked towards the bathroom. The noise appeared to come from there and as I approached closer, my heart began to race. Marissa was doubled over on the bathroom ground, moaning in deep physical pain. I quickly lifted up her body and held her in my arms. Her skin felt like fire as I held her up. She looked at me with glassy eyes and mumbled, "Rick, I don't feel too good." "Just try to be quiet and let me take care of you. You probably have just a stomach flu, nothing else." I was trying to convince myself more than her. Cautiously, I began to [keep] a simple checkup on her. Her pulse was racing, well above any healthy level. She appeared to suffer from stomach pains and peered into the toilet and despite its soupy appearance still had the faint appearance of last night's dinner. "It's just a stomach flu, right?" That is what her symptoms told me, but something was wrong with it. Marissa was the perfect picture of health. She always liked to do nature walks, go to the gym regularly, and followed a balanced diet. Deep down, I knew that if it was the stomach flu, I would be suffering from it too. My mind jumped back to the hospital locker room wall where a notice hung in bold red letters: "WARNING! Be extra cautious with patients showing flu and stomach flu like symptoms.