Chapter 2017

“I was taking notes,” Austin answered again patiently. He saw Dominic’s puzzled look, then fetched his notebook and showed it to him.

Dominic stretched but was too weak to hold the notebook, so Austin crouched by the bed and held the notebook for him. He said, “I’ll hold it for you.”

The older man narrowed his eyes and started to read. Austin had filled the book densely with neat handwriting. His notes were detailed, too. He included dates, wrist pulse results, analysis, pathological speculations, and thoughts about various possibilities.

He also marked personal speculations as references only.

Dominic was surprised by what his grandnephew wrote.

As he read on, Austin explained, “I took your pulse once every two hours for the past two days and then jotted down my notes. I know the pulse doesn’t change much over a short period, but I wanted to see the difference.

“After all, the virus is unlike any we’ve encountered before. Since I have nothing else to do here and can’t help much,