Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Genesis stood frozen as her best friend lay on the cold dirty floor unconscious. Her mind went blank, and it was hard to think. Fighting through her anxiety she bent down to check on Amanda, though with no medical training she wasn't sure she could do much for her.
"Amanda!" She forced out, slapping her friend gently in the face like she had seen people on tv do. Isn't it the stereotypical thing to do to get an unconscious person to wake up, slap them conscious? Still she wouldn't wake up. Genesis was repulsed by the puke trailing down the front of her shirt, and some on the floor surrounding her. She never had the stomach for bodily fluids, yet for her friend she gulped hard, hoping to prevent the crunchy, slightly burnt popcorn from making its way up.
Genesis gathered her bearings and searched for a pulse on her friend, completely forgetting about the fact her pants were soaked in cold water. With her arms shaking she grabbed ahold of Amanda's limp wrist and searched around for a pulse, trying to ignore her own beating through her chest. There was one. Genesis breathed a sigh of relief, at least this was good news. She slumped against the gray metal doors, which squeaked beneath her weight as if sending its own cry for help.
"What do I do?" Genesis mumbled to herself, fumbling in her purse for her phone. She decided the best thing to do would be to call an ambulance then run out to the lobby to see if anybody could help. It was a Friday night so there had to be at least one person with some medical training that could help her. Just as she pulled the smart phone out of her purse, she heard the door slam open with some voices shouting frantically, their words incoherent through the panic in their voices. They looked to be in their latter twenties, maybe early thirties, though they weren't very dressed up, their makeup was done perfectly and they both had long beautiful flowing hair, which at the moment was flying everywhere in a frenzy to get their friend to a stall.
The mystery ladies glanced her way, but barely acknowledged Genesis, they had a crisis of their own. They pulled somebody who looked just as bad as Amanda into a stall. Both of them didn't fit in the small stall they rushed into so one backed up quickly while the other gently held their friend over the toilet. The lady standing outside of the stall crossed her arms and glanced over in Genesis's direction. "You too huh?"
"What do you mean?" Genesis replied, clearly baffled, unlocking her phone.
"You didn't notice? There's a lot of people getting sick or passing out. Guess you didn't pass by the lobby." She paused, clearly as anxious as Genesis. "If you're about to call 911 you can put your phone away, several people already called."
Genesis looked at her shocked. "Wait so you're telling me this is happening to multiple people?" Gesturing toward Amanda she continued. "Just like my friend here?"
"Yes, it's almost like some kind of epidemic outbreak." She paused, turning back to the stall her friend was in. "Katie is a nurse and she's never seen anything like this at the hospital. I'm Alex by the way."
Her friend got up out of the stall, brushing her long blonde hair out of her face. "She's out like a light." Letting out a frustrated sigh she turned to Genesis. "I suppose you don't know what's happening either. I heard multiple people call 911 so there should be medical personnel responding. I hope they come soon."
"How long has your friend been like that?" Alex whispered, looking pale as if she too was going to pass out.
"Not very long. She suddenly spilled her water on me and ran out of the theater." Genesis managed to choke out, shaking as she walked slowly to the paper towel dispenser. The paper towel dispenser was the type that would cut the paper towel for you into small sheets so she grabbed a glob of them and dabbed unsuccessfully at her pants.
"Better be careful." Katie stated. "We don't know what's going on, it could spread through fluids or be contagious. It obviously spreads pretty quickly. Lucie was fine just ten minutes ago. We all need to wash our hands, that is if this old ass theater even has hot water."
Turning to the cracked basin, Genesis tested the hot water handle, water came out, but it wasn't hot. "Maybe it needs sometime to warm up." She left it running as the other women continued to talk.
"There has to be something we can do." Katie began, but drifted off into thought.
"What can we do?" Genesis asked while testing the temperature of the water, still not hot enough. She stared into the mirror above the sink, a pale tired looking face greeted her, making her turn quickly away.
"I've never seen anything like this before." Katie continued, obviously still lost in thought. "We can't just leave them in here, yet is it smart to drag them to the lobby which is over crowded with the sick?"
"Maybe we should just keep them in here and make the paramedics come get them." Alex finished for Katie.
"Okay, but if what you two are saying is true, and we have a pandemic on our hands, do you think there will even be enough ambulances for everyone, or to at least contain the situation?" The water had finally gotten hot enough so Genesis motioned the other ladies over to wash their hands as well. Though a small precaution it was the best they could do at the moment.
"Maybe we should investigate more." Alex shrugged putting her hair up in a ponytail to get it out of her face. "There's really nothing more we can do for these two."
"We can't just leave them here!" Genesis exclaimed shocked.
"Well what else do you suppose we do?" Alex countered. "Katie is a registered nurse at the hospital, and she has no idea what to do. There's something big going on here."
"I doubt the paramedics will be able to do anything for them either." Katie replied. "The best they can do is transport these poor souls to the hospital, hopefully in time for the doctors to look at them." Her voice sounded grim, giving away the fact that at this point they all knew, the chances of survival for their friends was slim. "We need to go out into the lobby and investigate more, see if there's any connection between the sickness. Any contact between animals, eating a certain food, or some other weird connection between all of the victims."
"Well." Genesis stammered, at a clear loss for words. She glanced over at Amanda who she gently laid on the floor next to the toilet. Taking care to get her out of her own pile of puke. "I guess if that's the only thing we can do at this point."
"If we don't, who will? Everybody else is probably too shook up to do anything, and it's my job as a researcher to look at all aspects of a problem." Alex said in the matter of fact tone.
"I wonder if there's a first aid kit around here somewhere that contains gloves or masks. We still don't know how this spreads and need to take precautions to keep ourselves safe. It didn't seem like there were that many noticeable symptoms. It was almost like zero to a hundred in less than a minute." Digging through her purse Katie was able to find some hand sanitizer, though Genesis suspected it wouldn't do much, but it was the kind that smelled good so she took some when offered. It was her favorite scent: Cherry blossom. She herself, had the same kind stuffed in her purse somewhere.
"Don't you think the paramedics will come soon though?" Genesis asked. "Or maybe we could transport them by car to the hospital."
"Actually." Katie began, clearly thinking about something. "That might not be a bad idea. Even if the ambulances arrive soon there's no way there would be enough to accommodate everyone. We can take my van. The seats are scotch guarded." Genesis looked at her puzzled for a second. She shrugged. "I have two young kids. They spill anything you give them, and not having a drink just isn't an option." She dug around in her purse and quickly pulled out keys. "You two stay here and look after them."
"Shouldn't you stay here?" Alex asked. "If anything were to happen we wouldn't know what to do, assuming you're not a doctor." Genesis quickly nodded her head no so Alex continued. "You would be the only one who could do anything if their condition worsens. I'll go bring your van around front." She grabbed the keys out of Katie's hand before she could say anything.
"It makes sense." Genesis agreed, glancing back at Amanda.
"Alright be quick." Katie said also agreeing that would be the best thing to do in this scenario.
Alex bolted out of the door clutching the keys tightly in her hands.
"I'm sorry, I'm not sure if I caught your name earlier."
"Oh, I'm Genesis."
"Genesis." She paused for a moment. "That's different."
Genesis sighed. "Yeah my parents used to be into drugs pretty bad. I think they were high when they came up with my name." She chuckled. "You don't even want to know my older sister's name."
"My kids don't know how good they have it." Katie also joked, trying to make the somber atmosphere better. "At least they have a normal name."
They both glanced over at their friends, too anxious to actually go over and check on them. "Do you think they'll be okay? You know in your professional opinion, not your personal one." Genesis asked, crossing her arms nervously.
"Honestly Genesis, I don't know."
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