I arrived at the Emergency Room, wrapped in my toasty blanket. Despite it being 28° outside of my furry throw rug, it was closer to 40°C inside my body, so it felt freezing to me. I slowly moved through the doors like the walking dead emerging from a post-apocalyptic horror scene. The admin nurse took one look at me and bade me sit in the red priority chairs, whilst I waited for my triage nurse to finish her tea. I lowered myself tentatively and, unable to remain upright, lay shivering across all three chairs. The nurse arrived abruptly and suggested emphatically, before she had examined me, that I had Rhinovirus. I explained to her that, as Rhino = nose and my nasal passages were decidedly clear and my brain decidedly lucid that I begged to differ. She replied, “What do you mean by lucid?” I pretended that the roll of my eyes was due to the fever and briefly explained lucidity as the opposite of brain fog, then went on to relay my actual symptoms. Above-normal temperature, ...
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