[Tina's hotel room - asymptomatic]
If she'd had the benefit of the knowledge that a few days would bring, it would have seemed obvious what was going on. But she didn't. What Tina had to work with was that she and Bill had eaten some pudding and shared part of a drink, that they had hugged, and that Bill had behaved in a way that could be described as odd.
None of these things were unusual or remarkable. Eating was eating. She and Bill were both naturally huggy people. And Bill was kind of an oddball.
The next few developments didn't strike her as strange, either. She felt hot (of course she did). She felt restless (she'd been filled with strange bursts of energy at unpredictable times for weeks). She was aroused (well. She was young, pumped full of hormones, no longer actively sick on a regular basis, bored, and hadn't had sex since that ill-fated date with James).
It never occurred to her that she might be experiencing the symptoms of some kind of strange, mood-altering contagion. They weren't actually markedly different from how she'd been feeling almost all the time, lately.
She flopped down on the couch with a glass of ice water and a romance novel. It was just another exciting, fun-filled day in the life of Tina Chapel.
None of these things were unusual or remarkable. Eating was eating. She and Bill were both naturally huggy people. And Bill was kind of an oddball.
The next few developments didn't strike her as strange, either. She felt hot (of course she did). She felt restless (she'd been filled with strange bursts of energy at unpredictable times for weeks). She was aroused (well. She was young, pumped full of hormones, no longer actively sick on a regular basis, bored, and hadn't had sex since that ill-fated date with James).
It never occurred to her that she might be experiencing the symptoms of some kind of strange, mood-altering contagion. They weren't actually markedly different from how she'd been feeling almost all the time, lately.
She flopped down on the couch with a glass of ice water and a romance novel. It was just another exciting, fun-filled day in the life of Tina Chapel.