By Carolyn Bick

In the second week, Jane Pauw found herself wrapped in darkness, her brain empty in a way she had never before experienced. Minutes, hours –– days, even –– slipped by as afterthoughts, while her body, wracked with fever, worked to preserve her life. But, really, she wasn’t worried –– and she couldn’t have concentrated on being worried, even if she wanted to. She was just too sick with COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

The illness meant that even little movements were taxing. At one point during the worst week, the week of relentless fever, she remembers crawling to get herself water. Sometimes, she went downstairs, pausing to rest and sit down every few steps. She blacked out a few times.

Once, she had walked across England.