“Supervirus”
Feb 07, 2020So much phlegm and mucous. Where does it all come from? I spent the whole night hacking it up and sneezing it out. It fills my sinuses and ear canals. The pressure is intense. I’m surprised I’m not dizzy and spinning out of my seat.
The nurse says she’ll come check on me in an hour. I’m her favorite patient, she says. I hear her saying it to my roommate when she thinks I’m asleep. She’s still hot, though, and I’ll let her take care of me however and whenever she wants.
I’ve been in this hospital bed for the past three weeks. It started with a little sniffle. Then the news reported the end of the world. The Chinese had developed some new supervirus and it was making its rounds, and quickly. Stopping people at the U.S. border didn’t stop the virus. Viruses don’t give a shit about human rules and regulations.
It was bound to end up in NYC. We were all surprised it didn’t get here sooner. This place is a cesspool with people coming from all over the globe. Tourists and locals ride the same trains and touch the same poles. All it takes is one scrawny kid to wipe his snot all over the seat. People don’t know how to sneeze into their arms or cover their mouths when they cough. Bunch of animals. It’s a miracle we’ve made it this far.
I must have forgotten to wash my hands after getting home from work one day. Ever since coming to this city, I’ve been diligent about washing my hands. I was never a germ freak before. But in LA, you spend most of your time in a car avoiding everyone else’s germs. Here, it’s love thy neighbor. One sneeze, one cough, turned into fever and dehydration. I couldn’t keep anything down and was feeling weak after a couple days of not eating. I picked a hell of a time to not have medical insurance. The ER was nice enough to find me a bed and an IV drip; they were starting to run out. The bill will be insane. But, hey, maybe none of us will survive and I won’t have to worry about paying it.