This was not the best day of the trip. The Liar got up and announced that he had to see a doctor, because he was getting worse, not better. He headed off for George Washington University Hospital, while the rest of us had a wander around downtown Washington.
 |
| As the weather cleared up, Washington became appealing. |
Soon afterwards he sent me a text saying, "I have HIV or mono." I jumped the next bus to the hospital and went to see if he was okay. We waited another hour for the results to come back. He said that the guy admitted before him had been stabbed in the arm, that the woman across the hall (who spent twenty minutes screaming) had lost the end of her finger.
 |
| The Liar having a 'little drink.' |
The results came back positive for mono. "You know what mono is, right?" I asked. "Glandular fever." He hadn't known, and he wore an expression of relief.
"Glandular fever," his doctor said, "I'll have to remember that." She gave him a list of stuff he couldn't do; "No paracetamol, no drinking, no contact sports for at least a month."
"It's been twenty-three years," I told her, "another month won't hurt."
He had to finish the saline in his bags, so we waited another hour or so for that. One of the hospital research assistants fainted next to me while we were waiting. The Liar was checked out just as she was admitted.
 |
| Aleksander Pushkin |
We walked through the GWU campus to find a pharmacist, where we learned it takes several hours to fill a prescription in the States. So I took the Liar back to the hostel for a nap.
I wondered why - but see it was a gift from Moscow to Washington and 'An inscription on the pedestal of grey granite and bronze will note in part that, “Pushkin’s genius was devoted to the values of honor, freedom and individual dignity. He gave his life for them.”'
ReplyDelete