Tech Sixam hospital
Emma: (worried)... Mike, what are you doing here?
From Petra's diary
Emma: (sad) I don't know why I could not notice it before...
Here in the dorm, we are all in shock for what happened to Mike. Who could have expected he would be infected with Selvadorian fever and not show any symptoms before fainting and dropping to the ground? He got the same illness as me after all, why is he doing so much worse?
And now our friend Mike ended up in the ER, where he is still under medical observation. It seems that in his case the parasite had managed to attack the liver, and the doctors have not yet been able to assess the severity of the damage. He is probably in for a long hospital stay, and here we're all praying he can fully recover soon.
Just like Emy, we're all wondering how we could miss any possible hint, and not notice it before it became so severe, and we're feeling guilty for it too. Emy in particular kept repeating it over and over. She noticed it so early for me, and now she's working a lot at the temporary Selvadorian fever ward at the hospital, why couldn't she help Mike too, she wonders?
Not being able to do anything for Mike is so frustrating, but maybe I could at least help Emy understand she didn't need to blame herself for what happened...
Petra: Emy, it's no one's fault. No one in the dorm, nor his classmates, noticed anything. Not even his roommate did! And then you heard the doctors too, sometimes this illness is like this, and shows up all at once, without warning.
Emma:... I know, but... but it still doesn't seem right to me, that's what.
Petra: Emy...
Petra: Don't worry, with the medical technology they have here in Tech Sixam they'll surely find a cure. Even if it means rebuilding his liver!
Emy didn't answer me, but she let out a small laugh. She certainly knows the medical practices here and the miraculous procedures they're capable of better than I do, she's the one who told us about the organ reconstruction methods after all.
So now we can't do much other than anxiously wait for the day Mike will be discharged from the hospital. Because he will be discharged, we are all convinced of this.
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College life is really harsh. Even if our motivation level went underground with all the recent changes, the lectures and assignments didn't slow down at all (actually, the more time passes, the more the amount of work to do increases). We rationally know we don't have any good reason to give up, but some days it's hard not to nonetheless.
Petra: … it seems like the number of new infections here on campus is starting to go down, they say it's because they've finally managed to eliminate most of the mosquitoes. At this rate, the emergency could be over in a few months... Yes, of course, I miss you too! See you!
And so another day began. It was time to roll up my sleeves, by now I learnt how to manage my symptoms, and even the news about Mike that Emy brings us every evening from the hospital seemed reassuring. I mean, he's already asking us to bring him some material from the lectures and assignments he's missing, this is so much like him to make it clear he's starting to do better.
Thinking about it, my dear diary, I'm better to pass to the IT department at his professor's office to get that material, so that Emy can bring it to him tomorrow... Office hours will end soon, I'm better to hurry up!
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Emma: How are you today?
Petra: A little better, don't worry. Actually, I was thinking of starting to work a little at the robotics station, I don't want to fall behind on the lab activities.
Emma: Uhm, I see. Don't overdo it though, okay?
Petra: (to herself) Uhm, I'm not sure if this is the best attire for welding...
Emma: (curious) What are you making?
Petra: I'm still reasoning on what this is actually meant to be... The entire engineering department is working on projects that combat climate change, but it's not easy to come up with a feasible idea.
Emma: You already had a lot of great ideas back in high school, like that air filter! I'm sure you'll come up with some fantastic plan, sooner or later, don't worry!
Petra: …
Petra: It’s not that easy to design something that reduces atmospheric CO2, there are so many sources of greenhouse gases that people don't even think about… And every time I try to do the math, it turns out that the conversion of CO2 would require so much energy that not even ten stellar core power plants could power the process. Not to mention the very low concentration of CO2 in the air and the time it would take to separate it. I…
I didn't want to admit it out loud, but I'm starting to think that we won't have enough time or resources to stop climate change before it stops us. The current state of emergency due to epidemic outbreaks, the lack of water and the economic crisis, certainly don't help me feel more hopeful.
If no one has managed to make a difference so far, how can I hope to succeed now, under these dire conditions?
Emma: C'mon, it's clear this isn't a problem you can solve overnight. But, with time, I'm sure things will get better, you'll see!
Emy doesn't know much about this topic, just like I don't with the medical stuff. She only says this because she trusts me, and for cheering me up. And it works every time.
Petra: Thank you, really.
Now Emy is working a shift at the hospital in the early morning and spends most of the afternoon on campus, where she can attend some classes and focus on her homework. So we often end up studying together, in fact since we've been here on campus we've never spent so much time together.
Emma: Everyone said hello when we arrived, do you come here often?
Petra: Um, quite often, yes. In particular, I'm often here on Wednesday nights.
While saying it, I indicated the poster of the next Wednesday night activity Sonia put on the wall last week. Too bad lately I'm too tired to participate as often as I would like to.
Emma: Oh, next week it's karaoke night, that sounds like a lot of fun! If just I didn't have to wake up so soon in the morning...
Petra: ...
Emma: Hey, do you want to go back to the dorm? If you want, I can bring your backpack!
Petra: I just have to sit down for a moment, don't worry...
Willing or not I'm becoming quite an expert in dizziness at this point, and that time it seemed completely manageable. So I sat down, and continued chattering as if nothing had happened.
Petra: Actually, have you heard that, in addition to the afternoon cut in the water supply, they now also talk about irregularities with the electricity. Here, in Tech Sixam, isn't that absurd?
Emma: (perplexed) A bit, yes. What happened?
Petra: They're planning to build new units in the stellar core electrical plant, and the fastest way to put it in place apparently involves cutting down the whole supply for a while.
Emma: At least the hospital won't be affected, right?
Petra: In theory, no, there should be emergency generators.
Emma: Let's hope so... Oh, speaking of hospitals, the doctors say that from tomorrow people will be allowed to go visit Mike, you could come too! The medications are finally starting to take effect, and now that the parasite is starting to recede, they can think about how to cure the rest!
Petra: Oh, that's great!
Petra: Rather, how are you doing now that you're missing so many classes? Do you need help with your homework?
Emma: Well, I didn't turn in my assignments a couple of times, but it's the same for all the other students in my class. Let's just say that my professors seem understanding, for the most part.
Petra: I see... (thoughtful) And I also guess we should find some better way to help Mike with his homework too. I bet now that he's doing slightly better he will want to catch up in time for the final exams.
Emma: I'm afraid this is the case, yes...
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Helping Mike with his homework is easier said than done. As predicted, he asked to go back to his normal studying schedule from the moment he was allowed to sit in front of his laptop again. Of course his doctors didn't allow him to study that hard immediately, but he was trying to work on his assignments as hard as he could nevertheless.
I spent whole afternoons at the hospital with him, trying to help him with his latest assignments and such. The problem is his assignments are hard as hell. Why did he choose to study computer science? All that programming and scripting it's just impossible!
The struggle went on for almost two weeks, it was so frustrating for me and Emy not to really be able to give him any real help with his homework. Then, unexpectedly, the solution showed up right at our dorm.
???: Hey, by chance do you know what happened to Mickeal? He hasn't shown up to class for ages, and he doesn't even answer his phone!
Petra: (perplexed) Who are you, a classmate of his?
???: Yes, actually I could have introduced myself first. My name is Haruka.
Petra: I'm Petra, nice to meet you. (thoughtful) Now that you make me think about it, I may have seen you at the library a few times, isn't it?
Haruka: It's possible.
Yes, thinking about it, I could recall a few times she showed up to go to class together with Mike and stuff like that. This time, instead, it looks like she took the initiative to come all the way up to his dorm and ask around what happened to him, that was quite surprising to me. Maybe they were better friends than I thought.
And it also made me think that it wasn't going to be easy to tell her what happened.
Petra: Actually... Mike is in the hospital now. He caught Selvadorian fever, the doctors say he's stable but also that it will be a while before he can be discharged.
Haruka: (Worried) Damn, that's worse than what I thought... I should have known, though, what else could make him miss so many classes?
Having said that, the girl, Haruka, shook her head disconsolately and thanked me with a wave of her hand, before leaving the building.
I later learnt from Emy that she went straight to the hospital with an exhaustive list of all their latest assignments, and remained there until the very end of the visit time to work together.
That's curious, Mike never said anything about her. When he is doing well enough to chat about silly stuff, as we always used to do, I have to remember to ask him for clarifications about this...
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Mike was discharged from the hospital three weeks before the end of the semester. In the end, my initial estimate was pretty spot on: the doctors had actually partially reconstructed his liver, and told him to return to the hospital for a few days every month for further treatment until his symptoms will be under control.
Michael: Who, Haruka? Yeah, she’s a classmate of mine, I helped her write a script once. I see, so it was you who told her I was at the hospital.
Petra: Yeah, and she seemed pretty worried too.
Michael: By the way, enough chitchat! I'm tremendously late with studying... everything.
Petra: (cautiously) I know it's probably useless to say this, however... After all you passed this semester, there wouldn't be anything wrong with ending up with a few bad grades, you know? So-
Michael: Technically you may be right... But there is nothing bad in trying either.
Petra: I guess... Please don't overdo it, though.
I'm not very good with words, but not even Emy managed to convince him to slow down a bit. He's always been this way, graduating with a good grade and finding a good job are his top priorities.
Well, if this is his choice, we cannot do anything but accommodate it. And keep a very close eye on him, too.
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The finals of this semester are now imminent, and Mike isn't the only one among us feeling exhausted.
Fitting in classes, homework, studying, work and some (always insufficient) sleep was becoming a challenge. Even I felt like I had too much to study in those last few days before the exams, but for Emy and Mike it was even worse.
This time the stress that precedes the posting of the final results was even more palpable than usual, we really feared failing some exams. And instead, somehow...
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