Post supplemental 2

 In the post below is an extract from The Meleke Stone, shared from my FB page. Now, here’s another extract - exclusively for my Blog readers. Enjoy!

“…

St. Antonin 2020

SAMI WAS FEELING delirious. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. His head was pounding and the bed was soaked. Every time he moved his head from the pillow, he was consumed with coughing, which wouldn’t stop.

He couldn’t ask his mother for help, as the whole family had gone down to Toulouse to visit that stupid old friend of his father’s.What the hell did his father think he was doing anyway, acting all friendly with a Jewish family?

On a whim, he grabbed his cell phone and tried to call Seth, so that they could laugh together about the stupid things old people get up to. But, Sami was surprised to hear Seth’s mother’s voice on the other end, explaining that No, Seth couldn’t answer because he wasn’t at all well. She said she’d get him to call Sami as soon as he felt better.

Flopping back on his pillow, Sami mulled over his life and how everything seemed to be going wrong.An English tune was buzzing through his head. Why does it always rain on me? It exactly matched his thoughts. Maybe friend Ali in Toulouse could cheer him up. He jabbed at his contact list, eventually reaching Seth’s friend, the one who had helped them with their project. But the call sound eventually finished, no-one having picked up.

So, in disgust, Sami threw his phone onto the bed and with difficulty struggled to the bathroom. Tugging the large wash bag towards him, which contained the cheap, generic medicines that his mother picked up from the pharmacie, he scrabbled inside until he found some paracetamol. Swallowing down a few tablets in quick succession, in the vain hope that they would make him feel better, he washed them down with a glass of cola. He never drank water from the tap anyway and the cola was at least palatable.

Hours later, Sami woke up. His bed was even more drenched before. No-one there. The family must still be in Toulouse, his fevered brain surmised. What to do? His head was hot, he felt weak and his damned cough just wouldn’t stop, making his chest hurt. No point calling his local médecine traitant doctor at that time of night, and in any case he never made house calls.

Eventually, there was no other option. He felt too ill to care, so he grabbed his cell phone and jabbed 121. His head fell back on the pillow as he put the device onto speaker phone.

“Allo.You have reached SAMU.What is your emergency?”

With an immense effort, Sami turned his head towards the phone. “Uh, I’m ill and my family are all out. Can you help?”

After establishing the nature of his call, his full name, address, and carte vitale details, they agreed to send an ambulance. “Please make sure you’re wearing a face covering,” was the last thing he remembered before falling into another deep sleep.

Hammering on the door woke him. His head feeling even worse, Sami managed to stumble towards the front door. A blue light was flashing through the window. People wearing blue PPE overalls, head coverings, face masks and visors met his startled gaze. “What on earth...?”

“Can you walk, Monsieur?” asked the alien at the front of the group…..”

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