Chapter 42

During mid-November, the flu was going around at school. All it took was one sick kid, and the whole class would come down with it. Children had weak immune systems to begin with. Valeria was worried Selena might catch it. With Selena's heart condition, even a common flu could get serious. So, she took no chances and made Selena stay home for a week. However, what Valeria didn't expect was getting sick herself first. Not wanting to risk infecting Lucy or Selena, an elderly woman and a young child who were both high-risk, Valeria insisted Lucy wear a mask around her. Lucy just laughed at her, saying her constitution was probably worse than theirs combined. Valeria had taken time off work. After three days of IV drips at a clinic near her apartment, she still wasn't getting better. The fever kept coming back. … Around noon, Lucy dropped off lunch and urged her to get a blood test at a hospital. Valeria had planned to wait until tomorrow because her body felt too drained to move.