So recently I posted stuff I wrote during the storm. This post I wrote AFTER. The stories are true and despite the stress in my writing, everything turned out fine.
October 12, 2017:
Don’t get sick. Whatever you do, don’t let yourself get sick. It’s not a good time to get sick now. Hospitals have no power. They won’t be able to treat you well. You should try not to break yourself either. Broken bones are not a good idea right now (or ever). You need to be strong. You don’t know when you’ll need to haul a 5 gallon jug of water up the stairs. No. Don’t get sick. Don’t break something. You don’t want to be in a hospital now. A hospital could be a death sentence. It’s not safe. Don’t get sick.
Doña Gloria fell and broke her hip. They had to take her to the hospital. It’s 2 towns away in Aibonito. There’s no electricity there. She’s old. It’s no good. She’s been hospitalized. This morning she is worse. They say she woke up bleeding. Nobody knows if she broke her hip or what the hell happened. The signal went dead. I think they’re moving her to another hospital. Hopefully one with power. But it doesn’t really matter. Most places that got power keep getting cut off again. It’s very unreliable. It’s not a good time to be in the hospital now.
Tío Moncho said he would find out what happened, but he left 2 hours ago and we haven’t heard from him. The neighbor said there’s traffic jams everywhere. I bet he’s stuck somewhere in a jam. Thank goodness the gas lines are not that long anymore. If he runs out, at least he can get some more. Guess, we’ll have to wait for him to get back.
I wonder how Tania is doing. She’s 8 months pregnant with twins. At least, she was a couple of weeks back. She must be due soon. Too soon. It’s not a good time to be pregnant either. Much less with twins. Not after a category 5 hurricane. Not when the entire power grid is down. Not without potable water. People are getting sick with rat piss. There’s rumors of cholera in Humacao. No. This isn’t a good time to bring a child into the world, but how was she supposed to know that eight months ago? Nobody knew. Nobody had any idea. The shit hit the fan at 150 miles per hour. It’s everywhere now. We can’t turn back the clock. All we can do is move forward. Keep going. Just make sure you don’t get sick.
Maybe tomorrow will be better. Maybe Doña Gloria will heal. Maybe Tania’s babies will be okay. Maybe… It’s all a big bunch of maybes. #NewNormal
