Viral Pandemic

Chapter 10 (Part V)

Dr. Austin eyes faded slowly into focus, and it took her a moment to take in her surroundings. The room was lit by a night light over her head. She slowly sat up and felt the pain sear across her head.

Dr. Austin looked around a little more. She had been snuggled up on a bed with a comfy quilt. Even though she is completely awake now, Dr. Austin still had zero ideas where she was. She unfastened the thing which looked like a seatbelt tied at her stomach and stood up, before going for the bedroom door.

Up until now, Dr. Austin had no idea that she was flying in an aircraft. When she opened the bedroom door, she started to accept that she was indeed flying in an aircraft. Feeling light-headed suddenly, she sat down on the sofa at the lounge to steady herself.

She looked around even more now, trying to imagine what kind of aircraft she was in. She had never heard of the Residence before. Upon looking at her side, she saw that her suitcase was there.

Suddenly, her saviour, Harry Jones, appeared at the doorway to the suite with another person which was the inflight supervisor. Harry discussed for a while with the supervisor, before the supervisor went back to his office. Harry turned around and saw Dr. Austin sitting on the sofa.

“Oh, you have woken up. Great. I was beginning to worry a little.” Harry said. Seeing that his companion said nothing, he continued on: “So, welcome to the Residence aboard the Etihad A380. We are headed to Geneva, Switzerland. I am Harry Jones.” Harry finished and held out his hand. Dr. Austin took his hand and shook it.

“Hi. I’m Hannah Austin. Thanks for all the help you gave me. I just want to know, what happened?” Dr. Austin said.

“Hang on. You are Dr. Austin? Wow. I’ve always been a huge fan of yours. Truly honoured to meet you. So, this is what happened. Remember the crowd at the terminal? You were attacked there. I went over and demobilized the guy who punched you in the face and lifted you all the way up here. You were out cold for quite some time.” Harry explained. Dr. Austin simply nodded and said thanks.

“May I know why we are headed to Geneva?” Dr. Austin asked.

“I’m not sure if I should tell you about that, Dr. Austin,” Harry said.

“Just call me Hannah. I know where you are headed in Geneva. I just want to know ‘why’.” Hannah said. Harry hesitated a bit.

“I’m sure it won’t hurt to tell you that. Never mind, I'll just tell you. You see I used to work at WHO. Now they want me back to collaborate and find a vaccine for the virus.” Harry explained briefly. Hannah nodded and stood up. Saying that she needed the toilet, she went out into the aisle and walked towards the opposite direction of the toilet.