I was infected with the coronavirus on January 1.
I woke up many times during the night. I would have dreams and sweat, wipe my whole body with a towel, fall asleep again, and sweat again. I always slept with a bath towel by the bed, hoping my fever would go down.
Departure morning
When I woke up in the morning, it was the day of departure. Everyone else was up early, and since I had taken a shower and was packing my bag, I ended up having breakfast alone. Everyone else had already finished.
I still wasn't feeling well, so while eating bread I drank an acetaminophen drink. And cola too.
Elena came over and helped send the photos Dominic had taken. I said I wanted the pictures he took yesterday, so he would send them to me via Elena.
Everything was ready and we were prepared to leave. Because Elena had a hospital appointment, I decided to go to the hospital with her.
Before leaving the house, everyone cleaned up exactly as things had been, and I thought they were really polite. The manager was checking and was always chatting with everyone in a very friendly way. He was almost too friendly (laughs).
I shook hands with Dominic and his wife and said thank you in French. Dominic made a gesture like, "In two years your mother and grandmother will be here too!" It wasn't very clear though (laughs).
We left with me in the back seat of the car. The French winter isn't as cold as in Japan. It was so warm and mild that it hardly felt like winter. I stared blankly out the window the whole time. Maybe I wasn't feeling well or in top form; in the car I did nothing but stare and stare.
I needed to use the restroom along the way, so my mother stopped at a nearby rest area. Then we got back on the highway and arrived at the hospital near Elena's house.
French hospital
It was my first time at a French hospital. It felt very calm and relaxed, like a Japanese dentist's office. Music was playing, and I could hear French love songs. It somehow didn't feel like a hospital, which I found interesting.
The receptionist was very kind; while we waited, she was even singing along to the music. My mother wrote a check for 50 euros and handed it to Elena. In France it's common to pay by check, and I thought that was really cool. That's not mainstream in Japan.
The receptionist was like, "He's Japanese!? Amazing, cool!" or something like that. I wasn't sure of the exact words though.
In France you have a primary care doctor who examines you. Simple tests can be done there, and you have to get medicine at a pharmacy. Major tests are at another hospital. I thought it was complicated because many processes are needed. In Japan, medicines and tests can mostly be done in the same place.
First Elena went in, then I did. The doctor spoke to me with a smile. It felt like a forced smile, which bothered me a little, but I thought French people probably don't worry about that and it's just normal for them.
I told them that my condition had changed since January 1 and that I had fever, a runny nose, and a cough. We moved to another area where they listened with a stethoscope and performed a COVID test.
One minute later, the test result came back. It was positive.
I couldn't believe it. I hadn't imagined for a millisecond that I would have COVID; I thought it was probably the flu, so I really couldn't believe it. At the same time, I felt so sorry towards Elena and my whole family. I'm sorry.
We left the hospital and headed to an ATM. My mother had been infected with COVID two months earlier and apparently couldn't move for five days. Her whole body ached and she truly couldn't move, and she has been off work for two months.
Elena had been infected a year ago, but she had been vaccinated. For now, I was relieved that no one was going to die.
Having COVID since January 1 is really something.
Elena's kindness
All the pharmacies were closed, so we decided to rest at home. I stayed holed up in my room writing in my diary. I hadn't had enough time to write in my diary before, so being able to now makes me happy. But still, I really feel sorry for getting infected with COVID and causing trouble for my family.
Elena and my mother went to get the medicine for me. I stayed at home, did the dishes from what I ate, and wrote in my diary.
Elena came by from time to time, asked "Do you want anything?" and brought canelés, chocolates, and chocolatin (pain au chocolat), and brought soup. She gave me lots of medicine and tissues. She said things like, "Let me know if you like canelés."
I thought she was truly, truly a warm person. She'll definitely make a great wife someday. Of course, she doesn't want to get married and she doesn't want children and dislikes them, so she won't become a wife (laughs). But still, I thought she was really warm.
Even though I was infected with COVID and in this situation, she didn't avoid me and stayed by my side; she was unbelievably warm. I feel so fortunate to have met such a family.
Honestly, I wanted to go downstairs to watch movies together and spend a lot of time with Elena. We met for the first time in December, spent New Year's together, and on January 5 she will fly from Toulouse to Paris. I don't know when we'll see each other next. If she goes to graduate school it'll probably be in a different town, and by then she'll probably have a boyfriend, so we might not be able to see each other anymore.
So this might really be the only time we can spend together. That's why I'm going to use the time we have together to the fullest and live in the moment.
Since I'm holed up in my room because of COVID, my eyes inevitably go to the many photos stuck on the wall. Pictures of Elena as a child. They were all cute and her smile was so beautiful. It made me think again how lovely children are.
A little after 10:30, Elena came to say good night, and I decided to go to sleep too.
