Laura Burns - Quarantine

Her father smiled back. "Well, I guess we'd better get going," he said.

"Yeah, I have to get over to Meta-chem to pick up my mom." Maria turned to Sadie and opened her arms.

"I'm gonna miss you," Sadie said with a sniffle as she threw herself into Maria's embrace.

"You have my e-mail," Maria told her little sister. "We might not see each other for a while, but you can keep in touch that way."

Sadie looked up into Maria's eyes. "And we'll always be friends, right?"

"Right," Maria told her. She felt a pricking at the back of her own eyes. It's amazing how attached I've gotten to her in just a jew days, she thought. She kissed Sadie's cheek and pulled open the passenger door. Sadie climbed into the car and shut the door.

Maria turned to her father, knowing that they couldn't keep pretending nothing was wrong.

"Maria," he said. "I know we're not exactly on good terms… "

"Dad, listen," Maria said. "I can hardly believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad that I know where you are and that you're okay. And I'm glad you had Sadie, because she's amazing."

"I sense a 'but' coming," Richard said sadly.

"But I'm just not ready to say everything is okay between us," Maria went on. "Because of you, I've spent my whole life feeling worthless. I can't get over that so eas-ily."

"Okay," her father said quietly.

"Mom has been my mother and my father for ten years now," Maria said. "And I take her for granted. I'm going to try to make my relationship with her better. Then maybe

I'll want to make a new relationship with you. I just can't do them both right now. I've given this a lot of thought, and I'm not trying to punish you."

"I understand that, Maria," Richard said. "For the record, I'd like to be involved in your life. But I'll leave the time frame up to you. Please promise me you'll at least think about it."

Maria took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll think about it."

Her father gave her a long, serious look. "I do love you, Maria," he said. Then he turned and climbed into the car.

Maria watched them pull away from the house. Half of her wanted to run after the car, and the other half of her hoped she would never see him again.

"You okay?"

She turned to see Michael standing in the doorway of her house. Maria let out a little sob, and instantly Michael rushed over to hold her.

Maria buried her face in his chest and let the tears flow for a minute. Then she took a deep breath. "I'll be all right," she said shakily.

"Good." Michael released her.

"When did you get here?" she asked.

"A few minutes ago. I came in the back; I didn't want to interrupt you guys. I don't think your father likes me."

Maria laughed.

"You know, your mother doesn't like me either," Michael joked.

"Who cares?" Maria said. "I like you just fine."

Liz walked slowly down the stairs to the Crashdown. She'd been home for a full day, but this was the first time

her father was letting her get out of bed. She hadn't minded the rest, actually. The strange symptoms of her sickness were completely gone, but her body still felt exhausted. She pushed open the swinging door to the dining room.

"Surprise!"

Liz gasped and jumped. A little crowd of people had gathered in the Crashdown: Max and Michael, Maria and her mom, Kyle and Valenti, and her own parents. "Hey, everyone," she said.

"Here's the girl with the magic genes," Amy teased, giving Liz a hug. "Are you as happy to be out of Metachem as I am?"

"You know it," Liz replied. "I'm never going back there, scholarship or not."

"Me either," Kyle put in. "I called my boss and quit this morning. I've seen enough of that place to last forever."

"And I won't mind having you home where I can see you for a while," Valenti said, punching his son on the arm.

"I'll second that," Maria joked, punching her mother on the arm.

"Who wants brunch?" Jeff Parker asked, heading toward the kitchen. "It may be a while before the Board of Health lets us reopen, but I can serve you all cold cereal."

"That's just what I'm here to talk to you about," Maris Wheeler said from the doorway.

Liz jumped. She hadn't even heard the bell ring. Maris made her way over to the counter. "I hope you don't mind the intrusion," she said. "I wanted to make sure Liz was feeling better."

"I am. Thanks, Ms. Wheeler," Liz told her.

"I keep telling you, call me Maris," she corrected with a smile. "Liz, I have some news. The CDC's investigation has determined that the chemical spill in Dr. Sosa's lab was responsible for creating a mutation in your DNA that led to the virus. Somehow you must have infected the water you were carrying, and then the water spread it to everyone else."

"That's just what you thought it was," Max said, smiling at Liz.

"Well, there's a reason she's going to be a brilliant scientist," Maris said. "They still haven't figured out exactly what was in that substance you touched. Dr. Sosa didn't turn it over to the CDC, unfortunately. We were clearly very wrong to trust him with such sensitive research… he was using our labs to conduct his own studies on who knows what."

"I never did quite trust him," Liz admitted.

"He's been fired, needless to say," Maris told her. "So I'm afraid we won't have a job for you this summer, Liz. The scholarship money is still yours, of course."

"That's a relief," Jeff said.

"Oh, Mr. Parker, I have news for you, too," Maris went on, turning to him. "Since this virus was created at Meta-chem, I've spoken to the CDC on your behalf. We take full responsibility for what happened; your restaurant can hardly be blamed for Liz spreading a disease she didn't know she had. The Board of Health will want to do a routine inspection, but after that you should be free to open again."

Liz watched her father's face break into a huge grin.

"Thank you, Ms. Wheeler," he said. "I can't tell you how happy that makes me."

"It's the least I can do," Maris said. "I'll let you all get back to your celebration."

"Wow." Liz watched her go with a smile. "She must be the most honest CEO ever."

Isabel locked the front door behind her and started down the sidewalk. She was supposed to meet up with her friends at the Crashdown. It was a show of support for the Parkers, because everyone was blaming them for the recent epidemic. It was common knowledge that the virus had been spread through the Crashdown.

Just another example of our human friends having to take the blame for something alien, she thought guiltily.

A car slowed down in the street next to her. Isabel ignored it.

Someone whistled at her from the car. She ignored that, too. Why were men always such pigs?

"Hey, Isabel!"

She stopped and turned toward the car. Jesse was at the wheel. "Jesse!" she cried. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"One hundred percent," he replied. "Get in before someone sees us together."

She got in. "Thank God you're feeling better," Isabel said as Jesse drove around the block. "When I saw you at the hospital… "

"I know, it was freaky," he said. "I mean, I knew heart disease ran in my family, but I'm too young to have a heart attack!"

Isabel looked down at her hands. "But you're too old to be with me. Right?"

"That's why I came to find you," Jesse said. He pulled over to the curb and parked. Then he turned in his seat to look at Isabel. "Being sick like that got me thinking. Life's too short to care about stupid things like a little age difference."

Isabel smiled hopefully. "You mean… "

"I mean I think I'm falling in love with you, Isabel," he said, taking her hand. "And if you want to take things slow and not tell your family about us yet, that's fine with me. In fact, I think it's kind of fun sneaking around with you."

Isabel felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, Jesse, I was so miserable. You were sick and I couldn't even comfort you."