There's Always One

Three started out in contagious health. I've put No.1 first and avoided them like the plague. One woman has improved, as has a second although that's harder to tell as she also has emphysema. The third was The One, a disaster area. She coughed badly and constantly, had “tummy problems” which a couple of times caused incontinence of the worst type (calling on a nurse passenger to help in all aspects, this person herself thus having a bushman's holiday away from an invalid husband) … but when she was on her feet she'd be wanting to help with food set-up and doing the dishes. Ugh! Infection control – not! Rumblings began in the camp.
One night, having lucked out and got a sleeping spot next to her, the coughing was so bad and feeble that I thought, (a) pneumonia and (b) what do you do with a body when you're hundreds of km from anywhere in the outback. Turns out I wasn't the only one thinking that. As days progressed, I lost my irritation (that's me being too kind to myself!) and felt sad for her. It became increasingly obvious that she was in the early stages of dementia. On reaching Broome she was taken to the local hospital and admitted – yes, pneumonia, whatever it started out as. Crunch time for her family whenever she gets home. In the meantime, one woman who joined the trip in a healthy state has caught the bug. It could yet go through the company. Fingers crossed, hoping not.