"Actually, Jackie, I'm feeling much better," Kerry says. An athletic-looking woman in her early twenties, right now she looks pale and wan. "I think I can stand watch with Jan tonight, if I take it easy."

Jackie places her hand behind Kerry's left ear, then smiles. "You are such a liar," she says. "You still have a high fever." She turns to you. "They are all like this. I must struggle to keep them in the bed." She shrugs. "Of course, I myself am exactly the same way, when I am sick."

"Tell me how you got sick," you say to Kerry.

"It hit me like a freight train," Kerry says. "Chills, fever, a runny nose, muscle ache, headache, the works. Fever of 104 Fahrenheit. I felt awful." She grimaces. "But honest, Jackie, I do feel a little bit better today."