Fever Season by Eric Zweig Page A

mother ran to her and placed a hand on Alice’s forehead.
    â€œOh, my God! She’s burning up with fever!”

C HAPTER 9
    David didn’t remember very much after that. He recalled his mother telling him to get back to bed. Her voice was calm, but he could see the fear in her eyes. The last thing he could remember for sure was his mother phoning for a doctor.
    After that David felt a strange sensation in his chest.
    It was as if a hand were pressing down on him. The feeling passed quickly. Perhaps it was nothing more than his nerves, but by the next morning he couldn’t even lift his head off the pillow. His muscles ached and his body felt weak. Like his sister, he was burning up with fever.
    All he wanted to do was sleep. Even to call out to his mother for help seemed like too much effort. He must have eaten sometimes, but he couldn’t remember. When he did sleep, the pain and high fever caused terrible nightmares. One night he had a dream that he was falling. Down and down he went, as if he were tumbling down a long flight of stairs.
    A week went by before David felt strong enough to sit up on the edge of his bed. But when he did, he realized he didn’t know where he was. Although the room was dark, he could tell that it wasn’t his bedroom at home. There was a light on nearby and a woman working under it. She was wearing a mask, but David could see she wasn’t his mother. He couldn’t make sense of it.
    â€œWhere am I?” he asked, but the sound barely came out. It sounded like something between a squeak and a croak.
    The woman heard him and rushed over with a glass of water. David sipped at it slowly until it eased his scratchy throat.
    â€œAre you hungry?” the woman asked.
    David hadn’t realized that he was until she said it. He nodded.
    â€œI’ll see if I can find you something to eat.” She returned a few minutes later carrying a tray with a bowl of soup. Chicken with noodles. The woman put it down on David’s lap. “Are you okay with it there?”
    David nodded again and started eating. The soup was a little watery, but it was hot and delicious. Hungry as he was, he could only eat slowly. As he did, he glanced around the room. Sheets had been hung up like curtains between the beds, so it was hard to see much. He seemed to be in a small hospital room with a few other beds in it. There were sleeping children in some of them.
    â€œWhat time is it?” David asked between slurps of soup.
    â€œAlmost midnight,” the woman told him.
    Standing over him, the woman appeared tall and skinny. With her mask on David couldn’t see all of her face, but she had light brown hair and blue eyes that seemed kind. “Are you a nurse?” he asked.
    â€œNot really, but I’ve had some training, so some nights I help out.”
    â€œIs this a hospital?”
    â€œNot exactly. You’re in the infirmary at the Montefiore Home. We’re a Jewish charity.”
    â€œBut I don’t think I’m Jewish.”
    Her mask shifted slightly as she smiled. “In times like these that’s not so important. We’ve had to take in several new children during the epidemic.”
    â€œI caught the flu, didn’t I?”
    The woman nodded.
    â€œAm I going to die?”
    â€œYou’re fine now, but you were in pretty rough shape when you came here. It’ll still take some time before you get your strength back.”
    â€œWhat about my sister? Is she here, too? Is she all right?”
    â€œFinish your soup,” the woman said. “Then I want you to go back to sleep. Someone will talk to you tomorrow.”

    David was still too weak to get out of bed in the morning. An old woman was in the infirmary now, and she brought him a bowl of oatmeal. By lunchtime he was feeling strong enough to get up and walk around a little. Just a few steps, though, and he was exhausted. The old woman helped him get back into