With the pandemic in full force, I cancelled Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities with my aunt and uncle. My uncle said it was the first time in 60 years that he hadn’t came home. They are in their 70’s and I didn’t want to risk their health.
It’s commonly known that this and other coronaviruses can silently spread, as some people can be infected and contagious without even knowing. I have been careful, so has my girlfriend. But my daughter’s back and forth lifestyle finally caught up to us, and her.
I had her for almost a week around Christmas, but not including the day itself. It was that day that she spent with her mother, per our divorce decree.
The day after I returned my daughter to her mom, my ex wife texted me to inform me that her husband had been admitted to the hospital with double pneumonia caused by covid.
I was floored. She went onto say that he had been sick since the 18th of December. I was enraged. I demanded our daughter get a test, as she had obviously been exposed. Her mother refused. I offered to do all of the legwork and get her tested myself, she still kept up her stonewall tactics. Instead of continuing to argue with her, I called my attorney. By the time he called me back, she gave in and scheduled her to get a test.
The results came back, positive.
My daughter hadn’t shown any signs or symptoms of infection, sans a runny nose here and there or a sore throat. After the results came back however, she apparently got sick.
Then we started showing signs and symptoms ourselves. I felt very flu-like, but had no fever. My girlfriend however got what seemed to be a full onslaught of Covid symptoms. It seemed like she could barely breathe, and would get light headed after walking ten feet. We all immediately ordered tests, with all results being negative.
Then, in the middle of the day while sleeping, I heard a scream. It was her daughter. She had fallen down half a flight of stairs in my home. I instantly called 911, with VBFD paramedics responding within a minute. I wasn’t sure if the fall had broken anything or made any of her ongoing spinal issues worse. She spent the day in the ER, where they performed a series of tests. She turned out to be okay physically, but still well in the throngs of symptoms. I was concerned.
It’s been a couple of weeks since those events happened, and while she is still healing, she is significantly better now. I still worry about her though. I still haven’t seen my daughter since the weekend after Christmas. My ex wife started texting me again, and I told her that I want her to get another test before I see her again. She didn’t give much resistance, but still refuses to test her household. I don’t understand.
I miss my daughter, but I will never miss the onslaught of ways in which we have felt due to this exposure.