Positive

6

Sometimes certain people blame us for the tiniest mistake we made. Sometimes it takes a huge mistake to make them blame us. Some other times, we interact with people who can't be mad us, no matter how unforgivable our fault is. Even so, oftentimes it is us who blame ourselves the most. Mainly because the guilt in our chest is eating us alive.

That is what's happening to some of the people in the Positive group chat. Or at least just Kyle. And me.

The vivacious private party that later turned into a catastrophe. That evening, everyone was having fun. It was nearing the end of our time of service in the council, so why not go crazy for a bit? We were all so certain that we were fit and healthy. Much to everyone's oblivion, Kyle had already been exposed to the virus.

It wasn't until the next day when Kyle had been traced, someone he'd been in close contact with was confirmed with Covid-19. His result came out to be positive. It was shocking, because he didn't show any symptoms.

To say it caused panic is an understatement.

John, who still kind of lives with his parents, was a chaotic pile of flesh when Kyle broke the news. His parents were out of town when he threw the party and came back the day after. He has always been close with them, and he has always known that they are included as people with huge risks if they ever got infected. They gave his son permission to hold the 'small gathering' as he pointed it out as a 'casual hang out'.

Little did he knew that 'small gathering' was the start of his family's downfall.

The night when our PCR test results came out, John's result was like mine and Kiara's, along with five other people. His parents were traced and tested right after. Their results were no different than their son.

Earlier this morning John's parents were brought to the hospital, both of them had breathing difficulties. Both their oxygen saturation was below 75%, not to mention the father has some heart disease and the mother has type-2 diabetes. Even though their diseases were controlled, this little prick called SARS-CoV-2 has it's own cunning ways to infiltrate our body and make our immune system overwhelmed.

Kyle, who hasn't stopped apologizing to us in the group chat, has to endure another guilt. Like Chester told me the other day, Kyle is the one who blames himself the most. I wish he wasn't too hard on himself.

The guilt I have to live with, is somehow different... I hope.

The boss from my work place announced that the café was temporarily closed. Apparently there are many workers whose results came out to be positive with Covid-19, and I am one of the people to blame. Other than me, there is one other worker who got infected and he is the full-time cook. I am only a part-time waitress, but that doesn't mean I feel less or more guilty. Apart from that, the spread could come from anywhere. Maybe from me and the cook, maybe there are other workers who were symptomless, or maybe it came from the patrons. We can never be sure.

Still, I won't be getting a raise and bonus soon.

A groan is heard. "This is so freaking frustrating!" yelled Kiara.

This morning we agreed to eat at the same time so she eats on the kitchen counter and I do on the far end of the dining table. None of us have touched our food.

Massaging my temples, I say, "It's not like we can do anything at this point." My head hurts, because of the Cov obviously, but it gets more terrible now that there are bad news.

Kiara exhales loudly. Eyeing me, she says, "Chester will do something right? I mean, I feel like we're all responsible, but given our condition, we can't."

I shrug. "He always feels responsible for anything. He wasn't chosen the council president for nothing." I take the first spoon to my mouth and chew it, trying to ignore the blandness.