My Covid-19 test
Ten minutes to eternity, that is how it felt. Having been chosen at random for an antibody test felt like a win, I would know if my earlier illness was Covid-19. We had all been ill and my father had almost needed help to breath. An antibody test would give us certainty. Then the test arrived, and with it the, what if? Did I really want to know? Fear paralysed me; denial gripped me. Eight hours later I requested help. We read the instructions; my brain was a fog. Everything was prepared; the testing fluid, the lance, the test, the clock. I was not concerned about the lance or the blood, I was not even fearful of the test. It was the time that got to me. Ten minutes wait, each second seemed to take forever. Tick, tick, was this a timebomb? I was praying for that second line, for certainty, but certainty never came. Ten minutes were up, no line, no certainty, just more time with Covid-19 lurking in eternity. We are all in this pandemic together, one thing we all have time.