See you, Laurent.

v

Day nth of hospitalization, and we were both not healing. It was getting worse. Everything was getting worse.

I nearly lost my mind trying to calm my system down because every time I tried to breathe, it was like a massive hurdle of air from my lungs that wanted to come out, torturing me.

My chest throbbed painfully, and it felt like a giant elephant was sitting atop me. I couldn't breathe or speak. The lump in my throat felt like a spindle of needles that pierced through my chest, wounding my soul and everything that I was. 

We were isolated from our families, like immigrants deployed in an unknown land. We had no communication with them.

It almost felt like dying – trying to suck in air, but my lungs were too frail to respond. It was the worst moment – but I had you, Laurent.

We were placed in two adjacent cubicles, and I could see how you also struggled. Your eyes were swollen like they hadn't caught much sleep for months. Yet you still carried a be-dimpled smile, mouthing your encouragements at me through the transparent glass walls.

You were still playing the role of my best friend, trying to cheer me up on my sullen days. I was tired. But you were there. Fighting. With me. 

And so I fought.

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