Cruel World Read Online Free PDF Page A

the morning.”
    “Sounds good. Don’t forget what you wanted to talk about.”
    “I won’t.”
    As Quinn neared the door, James coughed, harder this time, a short wheeze accompanying the sound like there was something caught deep in his lungs parting the air.
    “Are you okay, dad?”
    “Never better. Just need some sleep, I’ll be fine in the morning.” He smiled tightly, and Quinn nodded once before closing the door.
    But in the morning he was worse.

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
    The Beginning
     
    “He’s got a fever.”
    Teresa stood outside his father’s door, one hand on the knob as if keeping him from going inside.
    “Is he okay?” Quinn asked, shifting his gaze from her to the door and back.
    “He’s going to be fine. His temp is only at a hundred. He must’ve picked a bug up while he was traveling. He had to take a public flight instead of the jet since it was being maintenanced. Those airports are cesspools of germs if you ask me.”
    A rasping cough came from behind the door that trailed off into a wheeze.
    “Should we have Graham or Foster take him in to the hospital?”
    “I already asked him and he says he won’t go. Stubborn as ever.”
    “How about having a doctor come here?”
    Teresa lowered her voice. “I was thinking the same thing. If the fever hasn’t broken or is worse by this afternoon, we’ll call the clinic and either have an ambulance come get him or we’ll call his old physician in Portland.”
    Quinn had to smile. “Doctor Kain? Dad hates him.”
    “I know, but he’s the only physician I know of that makes house calls.”
    Several bangs came from the kitchen below followed by a curse in Norwegian from Graham that never failed to make him smile.
    “Graham’s making pancakes. Go get something to eat, and I’ll check on him before I come down.”
    “Okay.” Quinn turned to move down the stairs and stopped. “I’m not leaving today.”
    Teresa nodded, placing a hand on his cheek. The thought of anyone else touching his face nearly made him flinch, but Teresa’s fingers were soft reminders of the days when she used to pull him back from the brink of depression after seeing his reflection too often.
    “Go eat and make sure you save some for me; you know how much Foster can put away.”
    The smell of frying batter and fresh blueberries wafted from the kitchen and his stomach murmured, but he stopped short of the dining room, pausing in the entry to the living room.
    Mallory stood with a pink and blue feather duster in one hand and the remote to the muted plasma TV in the other. Her back was to him, and she didn’t seem to notice when he approached and stopped beside her.
    The television was tuned to CNN, a petite, blond reporter spoke into a microphone. Behind her a busy hospital bustled with activity. Nurses and patients roamed across the screen, which abruptly changed to a middle-aged man’s worried face who spoke with exaggerated head movements, jerking with each word as if speaking was a titanic effort. Across the bottom of the screen a banner with red letters announced Outbreak of flu strain reported in four states.
    “Can you turn that up?” Quinn asked. Mallory looked at him, her eyes glassy from staring at the screen. She hit a button on the remote and the room became flooded with the reporter’s voice.
    Doctor Douglas White, the head of staff here at Northern Madison Clinic, said as of yet the strain hasn’t been identified. H1N1 has been ruled out as the virus responsible, but he stated that so far a new strain of flu is likely the cause. Over forty people have been admitted here in the last twenty-four hours, and sources report that more than a hundred are being treated throughout Minneapolis and Saint Paul. So far the symptoms include headache, nausea, vomiting, high fever, and upper respiratory congestion. The CDC has stated that so far this is not a pandemic by any means but urged the public to be as cautious as possible when in contact with