BEGINNING CHAPTER

November 30, 2050 - Richforte Memorial Hospital, Philadelphia, United States

  Noise. Mess. Crowd.

  The cries of pain intensified and if a regular person is standing where I am right now, that person would probably wish to be deaf. The sound coming from the patients are depressing, so is the sight.

  People wearing all white as if they are astronauts, patients crying and screaming in pain while trying to break free from their restraints and the never-ending chaos. I've been witnessing this scene for the past few days, yet I am still not used to it, and I think I will never be.

  Currently, the whole world is facing another catastrophe that started a few weeks ago. A new virus rose, and it was so sudden, we weren't prepared that in just a short time, it affected half of the world's population. Now, we are having a hard time with the situation.

  Although they managed to track the first victim for testing, they couldn't still determine if the virus is an airborne one or not, despite the improved and newest equipments that we have nowadays. They always end up at a dead-end in every way, making everyone confused. We don't even know how it is being passed from person to person and its origin, that's why strict safety precautions were advised.

  Each country in the whole world announces lockdown, wearing of face masks, face shields and if available, personal protective gears are ordered, and we are advised to do sanitation every hour, or if we can, every thirty minutes.

  We could not understand why we couldn't find anything about the virus except that it attacks the person's nervous system and the virus does something on the patient's brain, hence their aggressiveness. Over the years, Science has been developed to its finest, so are the medical equipments we use, that's why we couldn't understand why we couldn't find anything more about the virus.

  My sight caught the commotion at the entrance of the emergency room. Our security guard and some of my co-doctors are trying to explain to the newcomers that we could not accept any more patients because the emergency room is full and soon, we will run out of rooms if we will continue to accept patients.

  Richforte Memorial Hospital managed to accommodate more patients for the last few days even when the other hospitals around the country announce their unavailability to accept more patients. The hospital where I am working is one of the biggest hospitals in the United States, and now, we are full, and yet, there are still patients outside that need to be admitted.

  I turn my gaze away at them as I don't want the scene to intensify my collapsing mental health. My stomach grumbles and I feel like vomiting, I haven't eaten breakfast and it's now lunchtime. I spent the rest of my morning in the emergency room and my rounds.

  Our infected patients from the last few weeks are now in coma, the consequences of the virus, and the sedatives we injected to them to stop their aggressiveness. It's how their infected body would react once they've been injected sedatives, they'll fall into comatose.

  I walk away from the chaotic emergency room and head into the Medical Team's Quarters. Before I enter, I stand by on the man-sized sanitizer for a while and wait until my personal protective gear is fully sanitized. Once it's done, I slip it off from my body, hang it on the PPG closet on the side where another automated sanitizer sanitizes it again. I was left with my light blue uniform on and sashays in our quarters. Some of my co-doctors who are on break nod at me, and I wave at some of them.

  Since RMH is one of the biggest private hospitals in Canada, MTQ is spacious enough too to accommodate all of the doctors in the hospital. The quarters serve as our place to hang out and rest when we are not on duty, and if some of those doctors who have their own offices don't want to stay in their office, they can stay here too. We also have our own cafeteria, so we won't dwell with the patients in the cafeteria outside, and because this is the Medical Team's Quarter, our lockers and restrooms are in here too.

  I head into the cafeteria and I was just at the entrance when I heard someone calls my name.

  "Rosella!"

  My eyes search the place and there, I saw my best friend on one of the tables. I see that she's alone so I hurried in her direction and sits on the other chair.

  "Georgina,"

  "Rosie, lunchtime break! Come on, let's eat and let out our stress in the food!"

  I chuckle before I head to the counter to order my lunch. White pasta and creamed beef. Once my order is served, I walk back to our table and eat with my best friend, and spent the rest of our break time catching up.

  Just like me and everyone else, she is exhausted too and needs sleep. All of us does not have enough rest since the virus outbreak starts. We were too busy with the patients who never stop coming in. We are also making rounds to inject another sedative to infected patients once they wake up and become aggressive again. Once we're done with our lunch, we went to the restroom for a retouch.

  "Because of the virus outbreak, we lost time to take care of ourselves. Look!"

  As she stares at herself in the mirror, she rants how her blonde hair looks dry and how she skips her skincare routine just to attend to patients. I told her that we can't do anything about that since it's our job to attend to our patients first before ourselves.

  She rolls her eyes, "You say that because you are beautiful even without make-up because of your royal blood. But Rosie, how about me? Loooookkkkk, I look haggard!"

  I shake my head and let her rant off as I apply a small amount of lip tint. It's true that unlike her, I don't need much retouching because of my royal blood. I am half American from my father and Spanish from my mother.

  My hair is brunette and naturally curly, hazel brown eyes, proud nose, and thin reddish lips, and my skin tone is fair white. Since Georgina and I met way back in high school, she always talks about my royal blood, and how she wishes she's half-European too.

  "No matter how we retouch, we will end up with sweat and looking haggard too," I said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  Her hand that is holding her lipstick falls. I chuckle when I see the shade of her lipstick which did not change over the years, cranberry red.

  "Urgh, just let me, okay? At least, I look fresh even just for a while."

  I shrugged and mouthed okay before I fix my bunned hair. We exited the restroom at the same time and went to our duties. And again, before we make rounds, Georgina makes a fuss about how sweaty we could be with these PPGs.

  "Stop that, Georgina. It's a duty, it's a protocol. We could not do anything about it."

  The emergency room is not as busy as a while ago when we pass through it, and I know it's because the hospital couldn't accept more patients. The doctors are still injecting sedatives to some of the patients, one shot is not enough to tame their aggressiveness.

  As I am making my rounds with the patients, I saw Doctor Sean Gabriel Richforte in the hallway with some of the doctors who are also part of the board member. They are walking faster than usual like they are in a rush or something urgent. None of them even bothered to give me even just a glance which is unusual.

  Board members are usually friendly despite their position, and no matter how urgent the matter is, they greet their co-medical workers when they see one, or if they don't greet them, they nod or sometimes smile.

  However, doctor Sean Gabriel Richforte, a general surgeon and the chairman of the hospital is an exception to this one. Everyone knows how aloof he is, and how anti-social he is despite his profession. Doctors should be socially engaged for they always talk to patients, but doctor Richforte is just the complete opposite.

  Well, based from the gossips from my co-doctors, he wasn't really supposed to be a doctor. Sean Gabriel Richforte aspired to be a businessman, he was planning to build his own empire but was told by his father to take medicine and take-over when the time comes as the new chairman of the hospital they own, which is Richforte Memorial Hospital.

  As they walk nearer to me, I happen to overhear their whispered conversation, and my brows furrow as I heard the World Health Organization and the word 'meeting'.

  Meeting? World Health Organization?

  I blink for a couple of times before I shake my head and continue to my duty, doing rounds and checking up on patients. When I am back in the MTQ, I remain silent and did not mention anything about what I heard, but even if I don't do that, my co-doctors who also saw the board members on rush start gossiping, as they always do.

  This kind of moment makes me smile because although we are already professionals when it's just us, we still act like those school guys who make gossips and talk like we are some kind of students who's in the same circle of friends. Or like we are just a group of individuals in the society, gossiping over a subject that somehow, does not do anything with us. This moment reminds us that despite our profession as doctors when we are off duty, we could still do the usual things that a normal person does.

  "Perhaps the World Health Organization called for another meeting regarding the virus." one of them voices out a theory. "And perhaps this time, they have something good to tell us. Maybe they've found something about the virus that will help us deal with it."

  Some agree, and some voice out their own theories. While they are busy talking, I head out of our quarters and went to my office. Yes, I am one of those doctors who have their own offices. I spent my time here mostly rather than the quarters. Somehow, I like being alone, studying, doing research regarding the human body.

  Closing the door behind me, I roam my gaze around. The interior of my office is just the normal one, with folders neatly compiled on the steel cabinets on the side, the set of sofa in the middle of the room, my high-tech desk with in-command buttons. There's the button for the virtual computer, a button for my virtual writing pad, and other buttons that I rarely use. They are not actually necessary, well, not for me.

  I sit on my dark swivel chair and press a button on my desk. The virtual computer shows and I immediately open my files and rummage through them until I found myself re-reading the file which is labeled important and has the file name UVirus.

  Yes, UVirus.

  Because we could not determine what type of virus it is and how it is being passed from person to person despite our advanced technology, we could not also name it, so the medical workers call it UVirus, which means 'Unknown Virus'.

  I didn't know that I've fallen asleep while reading. I woke by a frantic shake in me and I have to grunt as I feel pain on my back and neck because of my position. Georgina is standing in front of me when my senses are fully awake, and she looks frantic. She's obviously the one who's shaking me.

  "Georgina Weltz, what gives?" I ask as I massage the back of my neck.

  "Rosie, get up! Hurry! The board members called an emergency meeting for all the neurologists in the hospital."

  "Huh?" I stand as my brows ffurrow "Emergency meeting? About what?"

  "I don't know, but we need to go now. Chairman Richforte is in charge to lead the meeting!"

  "What? Oh, you're right, we have to hurry. Come on!"

  Without checking myself if I look presentable enough for the meeting or not, I pull Georgina out of my office and we dashed to the staff elevator that will bring us to the highest floor of the building where the other offices and the board room is located.