This is a little story that has been kicking around in my head. Probably a three-shot, but who knows... No, I have not abandoned Hemlock! I had three fresh chapters ready to go when Apple decided to update to BigSur, crashed my laptop and had all of my files from July of 2020 on disappear! I will be re-writing those chapters and maybe they will be better than they were before, but in the meanwhile I thought you might like a little something new.

In other news... On a personal note, this past year and a half have been a total shit-show! There has been death and disaster and isolation and depression and general pandemic and non-pandemic chaos! Although I have yet to catch Covid-19 and am now fully vaxed, others in my immediate family were not as lucky. I hope you are all ok and doing better and better as things seem to be opening back up! Please let me know what you think of this and also how you are doing!

She stood for a moment, watching the snow falling as she caught her breath, and waited for the world to stop spinning. Stupid virus! She gritted her teeth and cursed at how it had been over five months, and she was still moving slowly. Gone were the days when she thought a ten kilometer jog was fun. Just going to the mailbox at the end of her driveway and back was exhausting, and standing up too quickly took her breath away. Looking longingly at her cross-country skis that still stood by the boot rack by the door, she sighed. Someday, she promised herself.

She had been working on an autopsy in the beginning of February, when the CDC and the Health Department of San Francisco had swooped into her lab, shutting it down and throwing her, and all of her staff into quarantine faster than she could say influenza. Within a week, she was spiking a high fever. She wasn't sure how she got to the hospital, or remember most of her stay there, but she could remember the terror, and exhaustion in the faces of the doctors and nurses who took care of her, and the way they all cheered when she was released six weeks later. She had been one of the lucky ones.

Since then, everything had changed. In - spite of, or maybe because of her family's vigorous objections, she had not moved back into her old three bedroom townhouse in Cabbage Town that she had rented out to her sister and her budding family when she had moved to San Francisco and Laurel had become pregnant with her niece. She couldn't stand to see the pity and fear that she might still be contagious in their eyes, or hear the careful patients in their voices as she struggled to regain her health and her strength. She couldn't hear them say one more time that she wouldn't be a burden, or that she wouldn't be in their way, when of course she would be.

The dog curled up at the end of her bed snorted and rolled over. Getting up from her desk, she absentmindedly reached out to scratch his head as she passed by on her way to get another log for the fire burning in her wood stove, and put the kettle on for tea. He groaned with pleasure, thrusting his shaggy, black snout into her hand for more. She laughed.

"I know Ziggy, you just want love and attention." She murmured, as he looked adoringly up at her with a yawn and a stretch. "You think I'm just here for your entertainment" she continued, rubbing his ears, "but I have work to do!"

He inched closer, whining and butting her hand with his head as her fingers stilled.

Although her expertise was not in infectious diseases, her year in Africa working with the U.N. during an Ebola outbreak just after graduating from medical school had put her on a short list of scientists in high demand, and a position with the University of Toronto's infectious disease lab had called her home. Ziggy had been Larry's dog. But her funny, sweet, colleague with the razor sharp whit and inquisitive nature who had survived the last pandemic, living with HIV for years, would not be coming home from the hospital this time. So she brought Ziggy home with her, and now she was glad for his company. His ears pricked suddenly forward, and his head snapped in the direction of the door as he rose with a bark and sprang from the bed.

"What is it?" She laughed at him, "Surely there's nobody out there!" She said, peering out the window into the twilight.

She could hear the rumble of an engine before headlights cut through the curtain of falling snow. The white pick - up truck pulled up, clearing the driveway of her tiny cabin with its plow blade, and stopped. She hadn't thought about hiring a snow removal service yet, and she wondered her father had arranged for one when she moved out here in the spring. Honestly, she hadn't expected a storm like this one so early in the fall, just past Thanksgiving, and not even Halloween yet. Not that it had been much of a Thanksgiving with just her and Ziggy, she mused as she watched the truck door open and a heavily bundled figure hop out. She wasn't expecting anyone. Groceries had been delivered last week, as had the three cords of wood for her stove, and she hadn't ordered anything from Amazon in a while. She sighed and reached for her mask as the small man stepped onto her porch and knocked on her front door. She couldn't see his face behind his mask and under the watch cap he was wearing, but she pondered there was something familiar about him as she opened the door.

Ziggy barked and rushed outside to circle the man, who froze as Ziggy sniffed him suspiciously before trotting off to pee on the front tire of the man's truck.

"Nice doggy…" The man said cautiously as Ziggy returned to continue to inspect his legs.

"Ziggy! Enough!" She called out.

Ziggy huffed at the man, before walking back inside to stand protectively beside her.

"Sorry about my dog." She apologized, "We are pretty much locked down out here and don't get many visitors."

The man looked sharply up from watching Ziggy to her as she spoke.

"Holly? Um… I mean, um, Dr. Stewart? I didn't know you were back here!" He began.

She felt a shock and a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as he spoke. The more closely she looked at him, the more she was beginning to dread who she was pretty sure this man might be. She reached down to place her hand on Ziggy's head, as he moved closer, pressing against her leg. It steadied her. The man was still talking excitedly.

"Anyway, I hope you are coming back to work with us! That guy, Dr. Jefferson, the one who replaced you isn't nearly as detail oriented as you… if you don't mind me saying so…", He continued.

Ugh. This had to be Dov, one of Gail's friends. And if her memory was correct, Gail's roommate. Great.

" I remember you." She said slowly, "You are…"

"Dov, Dov Epstein." He said, as he extended his hand and then quickly retracted it.

Damn it! Of course he was.

"Sorry," he sounded chagrinned, "I still forget sometimes and do that out of reflex."

She sighed.

"Research shows that the virus doesn't survive well outside of the human body. The most effective means of transmission are through moist airborne emissions, such as the spittle particles that create an aerosol like mist when a person sneezes or even speaks emphatically, and when this particulate is directly inhaled by other humans. While it is possible to become infected by touching another human being, soap and hand sanitizer are quite effective in stopping the spread of infection." She stated, tilting her head and looking expectantly at him as he seemed to ponder her words. "And we are both wearing masks, so we should be ok."

Just because the therapist she went to in San Francisco had suggested that almost over-explaining science to non-scientists might be a nervous, somewhat defensive habit, didn't mean she didn't just really love science!

"That's good." He said, stuffing his hands deep into the pockets of his pants. "Anyway, I came out here to do wellness checks on people in these cabins, and to make sure you still had heat. The temperatures are going to keep dropping and the storm has already knocked out the electricity on the Bear Hill Road and Dry Creek Lane areas."

She smiled mostly to herself. Gail was right. He really was a Boy Scout.

"Thank you Dov." She replied, "As you can see, I just got a full order of wood, and my phone and my internet work well. I should be fine."

"That's good!" He said, handing her his business card, "If you need anything at all, just give me a shout."

"I will do that!" She lied knowing that she wouldn't.

He turned to go, and changed his mind. As he turned back to face her, she could tell he seemed excited about something. "You know what Holly," He began, "I know you must be mostly telecommuting and working from home as much as possible if you are living out here, and with you being so isolated and all it must get lonely."

"It can be." She answered cautiously unsure if she was ready for what might come next, "But Ziggy really is great company!"

He looked adoringly up at her and his tail thumped rapidly on the floor at the mention of his name.

She murmured softly, "See what a good boy he is?" And then she spoke louder, "I'm sorry, what are you asking me?"

"Well, some of us are starting up a Zoom Trivia game on Friday nights, and Gail always said you were the smartest person she ever met, I mean, it would be great if you would join us!" Dov earnestly continued.

She laughed and shook her head, "Honestly, I'm not sure how much of a benefit I would be to your team."

"Ok, wait!" He exclaimed, as he pulled a short stack of white cards out of his pocket and proceeded to read from the one on top, "What is the softest mineral in the world?"

"Talc." She responded

"How many ribs are in a human body?" He read the next one.

She laughed, "Really? Twenty Four."

"What country won the very first FIFA World Cup in 1930?" He asked looking doubtfully at her.

"Uruguay."

He fist-pumped and cheered "Yes!" as she spoke.

"What?" She said, tilting her head at him

"You know about sports?" He asked, and he seemed genuinely surprised.

"Of course!" She scoffed. "I am a huge Blue Jays fan! And I played a forward wing position in the TGHA league, until I went to San Francisco!"

"Awesome!" He exclaimed, "I'll send you a zoom invitation, we start at eight!"

"But…" She started to complain, but who was she kidding? It's not like she had anywhere else to be. She sighed. "Ok. Ill text you my email address."

"Great! See you then!" He smugly stated.

As she watched him drive away, she wondered just what had she gotten herself into this time?