June 4th
Diagnosed (as of today): 93
Deaths (as of today): 26
Total diagnosed: 334
Total deaths: 143
It was once again, the end of the day. Asher walked through the aisles of care beds with the help of his night light. He tiptoed around the wards, especially when he approached Wilder's care bed.
"What are you doing, Mister?"
He jumped at the sudden sound of Wilder's curious voice.
"Don't you ever go to sleep?"
Wilder blinked slowly, as if processing the question repeatedly in his mind before answering. "Not at this hour," he solemnly replied after much thought.
Asher wondered if he should kneel down so that they'd be at the same eye level, or continue standing. He awkwardly glanced over at the other few care beds around the hallway, unsure of what to do.
"Mister." Wilder smoothed out his bedsheets. "This disease isn't infectious, right?"
"Ah. Well, that's what the health team has led us to believe. Of course, we're not a hundred percent sure how the disease will possibly behave in the future." Asher mumbled.
Wilder nodded to the ground. "I was thinking… what if the disease can only affect a certain type of people?"
"What do you mean?"
"My parents got diagnosed today too. All my family members have it except for my oldest sister. Her immune system was always known to be weak, but she isn't diagnosed. Whereas my parents, on the other hand, were known to be the fittest ever." Wilder lifted his head to look at Asher. "Maybe it's not about your physical health, but something else."
"And what could that be?" Asher raised an eyebrow.
"... I'm not sure myself." Wilder sheepishly grinned, revealing his missing incisors.
A part of Asher's heart shivered. The twisting motion he felt in his chest had morphed into a type of suffocation. He did not want to get closer to this boy. He did not want to get close to anyone in this ward at all.
"This may be a little random, Mister." Wilder suddenly says. "But don't you think the adjective 'long' should not be allowed to describe the word 'time'?"
"Huh?"
"Good night Mister. See you tomorrow." And with that being said, Wilder shut his eyes tightly.
Wilder, you're a weird one, Asher thought to himself. I'll see you tomorrow.
The little boy peeked through his half shut eyes and watched the tiny glow of light float through the aisle of care beds, disappearing in darkness at the end of the hallway.