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I filled a bucket from the ice machine, soaked washcloths in it, then placed them on Molly’s head. She seemed to relax more when I did that, so I swapped them out every ten minutes. The next time I took her temperature, the fever was alittlebit lower.
But by noon her breathing was labored. I put my ear to her chest and listened. Her lungs made a crumpling sound with every breath, like a paper bag being rolled into a ball.
“I can’t let you sit here any longer,” I said to her. “You’re getting worse. I don’t know if we can wait until nine o’clock tonight, Molly.”
Her eyes fluttered behind her closed lids, but she didn’t respond otherwise. She hadn’t been responsive in hours.
I got dressed and tried helping Molly out of bed. She didn’t have enough strength to sit upright, and kept clinging to me while breathing heavily. There was no way she could walk on her own.
I pulled up a map on my phone. Celio Military Hospital, the one Molly had told me about when she took the test, was half a kilometer away. That was a long way to go with Molly, but I thought I could do it.
Ihadto. For her.
It took ten minutes to pull a pair of sweatpants and a fresh shirt onto Molly, and another five minutes to put her shoes on. Then I lifted her in my arms and carried her out of my room, down the hall, and into the elevator.
When I reached the lobby, I lowered Molly into a chair and paused to catch my breath. Even though I was feeling better than the other day, I still wasn’t at a hundred percent.
“Half a kilometer,” I said out loud. “No problem.”
I checked the map on my phone to orient myself, since I wouldn’t be able to check it when I was carrying Molly. Out the plaza, around to the right, then a straight shot down the road to the hospital.
Then I unlocked the front door and propped it open with a chair. I put a mask on Molly, then on myself. Finally I collected Molly in my arms, walked out the door, and kicked the chair behind me so the door would close.
Molly wrapped her arms around my neck while I walked. Despite how weak she was, and despite being barely conscious, she clung to me fiercely. Like she trusted me.
Like I’m her only hope, I thought.
The sun was high in the sky and the air was warm and pleasant. In another context, it would have been a gorgeous day. But while carrying Molly, the woman I was quickly falling in love with, I couldn’t enjoy the weather. All I felt was fear. Fear that I should have taken her to the hospital sooner. Fear that it might be too late.
I walked steadily, putting one foot in front of the other. Molly wasn’t very heavy, but even carrying groceries was tough when you had to walk half a kilometer. My legs grew heavier with every step. Soon it felt like I was wearing lead boots.
My thighs burned painfully by the time I reached a plaza filled with tan-colored tents. This must be the testing site Molly had mentioned, which meant the hospital was the building just beyond it.
I trudged along, holding her in my arms, until a nurse or volunteer or other testing person came jogging up to me.
“Virus,” I breathed. “Lei malata. She’s sick.”
She waved for another volunteer, a grey-haired woman with a pointed chin behind her face shield. “I speak English. How long has she been this way?”
“She had a fever and cough for several days. Today her breathing got bad. Can I take her to the hospital?” I nodded across the plaza.
The grey-haired woman shook her head. “Hospital full. Closed. No beds. She must go to Ospedale Britannico.”
“How far is that?”
She pointed. “Too far. I will call for an ambulance.”
I sat on a bench outside of what used to be a coffee shop, back when things were normal. The woman spoke with another volunteer. It looked like an argument. Finally the grey-haired woman threw up her hands and returned to me.
“An ambulance… It will take some time.”
“How long?”
She shrugged. “I am not sure. Many ahead in line.”
“What about a taxi? Or an Uber? Do you guys have Uber here?”
She winced. “Yes, for some. But if she is positive for virus…” She shook her head. “One moment. We have bed we can put her on.”
