I look across the hallway to Flora. I can’t believe how much she’s sleeping. I can’t believe how much I miss talking to her. I want to do something to help her, like she helped me on the flight when I had my panic attack. But what?

I’ve never taken care of anyone sick before. Never even taken care of a sick pet. When I see someone sneeze on the subway, I hold my breath, and whenever I see anyone puke on TV, I have to close my eyes. Blood makes me light-headed, and just hearing the word wound nauseates me.

No one I’ve ever cared about has been seriously sick. I realize Flora is someone I care about. And now she’s sick.

Flora’s hair is almost entirely swept away from her face, and I notice her ears for the first time. How have I never noticed how small and cute they are? There is one loose strand of hair across her cheek. She has one hand close to her mouth, and her fingers twitch in her sleep, like she’s trying to move the hair. I wish I could walk out my door, across the hall, and brush the hair away from her face.

Then I think about the germs, about getting sick. I think about the man from the flight. I look at my hand, run to the bathroom, and wash it under water as hot as I can stand. When I get out of the bathroom, Kelsey is on my side of the room, sitting in a chair.

“I was wondering where you were!” She smiles.

“I was out for a walk,” I say sarcastically.

The color drains from her face for a second. “Really? Is that safe?”

“Oh, I was kidding,” I say. “Lame quarantine joke.”

“Ha, right.”

There is the awkward pause that still surprises me and still makes me wonder why it exists as she looks at me.

I absentmindedly swing my arms and clap my hands, and the sound makes Kelsey jump.

“Oh, I finally remembered your candy!” She digs through a plastic bag and pulls out a box of candy. “Here you go!” she says triumphantly.

It’s a box of Mike and Ikes. “Oh, tropical!” I say. “How … exotic.”

“Right? I figured since you were coming back from the Dominican Republic and all.”

“Did you get gumdrops too?” I feel embarrassed, though I don’t know why.

“No? Didn’t you say Mike and Ikes? I think my grandmother likes gumdrops.”

“Err, yeah, I probably said the wrong thing,” I lie. “Quarantine brain and all.”

Kelsey is on her phone again. She’s really good at using it in her thick hazmat suit gloves. “Now that I gave them to you, I can finally post this picture!” she says.

“What picture?”

She doesn’t answer, so I pick up my phone, and the number of notifications that pop up still surprises me. I scroll through until I find Kelsey’s post. It’s a picture of the box of candy: Sweets for my sweets. He loves these! #mysweetquaranteen #quaranteen

#TeamKelser all the way. #quaranteen

They’re the cutest. #quaranteen

Um, can we get an update about Flora please? #quaranteen

I open the box and take out a piece of candy. It’s bright blue, and I’m not sure what flavor it’ll be. I pop it in my mouth, and I’m still not sure what flavor it actually is, but I know it’s not a gumdrop. I’m not sure why I think this, but I know that Flora would have gotten me the right kind of candy. She seems like she’s good at taking care of people. Actually, I know she’s good at taking care of people after she helped me through my panic attack.

I dig through the candy box, pull out a yellow piece, and stick it in my mouth. I’m trying to figure out if it’s mango, pineapple, or lemon when Kelsey jumps up from her chair and runs over to me, waving her phone. She’s so excited she can barely speak.

“Reddit wants to do an AMA with us!”

“A what?”

“Ask Me Anything. It’s where people ask someone famous questions on Reddit. Like anything. You should see the stuff people asked Daniel Radcliffe.”

“But we’re not famous?” I blurt out.

Kelsey looks offended for a second, then playfully jabs me. “Why do you like messing with me so much? We totally are! How many other people are dating in quarantine?”

Dating. How did that happen? I’m not sure if I’m more surprised that I’m supposedly famous or that I’m supposedly dating someone. I don’t know how to clarify either with Kelsey, so I eat another Mike and Ike. Lime? Watermelon? To be honest, I’m not sure I care anymore.