Smile Within A Smile

She sat up in her hospital bed to get a better look at the marigolds he had brought. She smiled. He cringed as he caught a glimpse of the isopod in her mouth. How long had it been now that the tongue-eating sea lice had mutated to cross species from the rose snapper to humans? Too long.

Still, the way they stopped it was to cut off all of the host’s tongue. So archaic! He backed away even though he knew it was transmitted through the water. Seeing the sadness in her eyes as she watched him back away, he quickly reached out for her hands.

“It will be over soon,” he said in an attempt to comfort her.

She had lost weight in the short time since the terror parasite had attacked her tongue. She thought she was being careful; but obviously not diligent enough. The lice were now a global problem—a pandemic. The last recent pandemic had been Covid. The human race had survived that, they would survive this too.

A nurse came in to check her vitals. Everything was stable. She would be heading off for surgery shortly.

Since the tongue-eating sea louse did just that, it latched onto a tongue while it was still microscopic and began to eat. It began its life deep in the sea and found its way to rivers, lakes, wells, and anyone it found along the way. It could be transmitted to other humans through sharing of saliva, and could survive in water for an indeterminate amount of time. If caught early, it could be surgically removed with minimal tongue loss. People somehow couldn’t tell they were infected until the louse was large enough to be a difficult surgery. They, like all the others that had become hosts, were filled with terror. It didn’t seem real, more like an alien movie on a science fiction channel.

It had taken a lot of convincing to get her to come to the hospital. She could be so bull-headed, especially with her fears.

She was given the green light for surgery. He watched her get wheeled off, her eyes wide with fear. At least they would give her something to calm her down.

He overheard them explaining what she should expect as a consequence of the surgery. The parasite would be gone, but so would her tongue. She would not be able to speak nor taste. Even her sense of smell could suffer. This wasn’t the first time they had shared this information with her. He waited.

He took a peek outside of the room. There were many rooms in this ward. He walked past one with an old man in it, and another with a child. No one was safe. The louse was surviving in all ages, genders, and ethnicities. It truly was a pandemic. He sighed and returned to her room and waited some more.

Finally, she was wheeled back into the room. She was sleeping. They said everything went well. He sighed with relief. They would be keeping the louse to study. Now would begin the difficult part of recuperation, adapting to her new limitations.

Her eyes opened. They had placed a whiteboard on her side table. He reached and handed it to her.

“The doctor said everything went well,” he said, looking into her eyes. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine, just hurts,” she wrote, “and I’m tired.” Her head fell back on the pillow and she was asleep in an instant.

He sat back waiting for her eyes to open again. Time passed. Finally she moved, and her eyes opened. He handed her the whiteboard. “Did you get a good rest?” he asked.

“Yes.” Her head was wrapped in bandages, especially her mouth. She would have to drink through a straw in the tiny hole left open for that purpose. She would be on a liquid diet for awhile. Right now she could only take sips of cool water. He explained to her again what the doctor had said. She nodded. How well she adapted emotionally would have a big bearing on when she could go home.

The doctor walked by and saw her eyes open, so he knocked and came in. He went over everything, including going home and what to expect after being home. The doctor left, leaving her with a lot of information to digest.

“Please open blinds,” she wrote.

He opened them, allowing the beautiful sunshine in. It brought with it a feeling of hope.

She relaxed, soaking in the warmth of the sunshine.

She had been thinking about it for awhile, but finally gathered the courage to ask for a mirror. She needed to cross this bridge. With a big, loving smile he reached for the hand mirror and passed it to her. Out of his peripheral view he caught a glimpse of himself, his smile,, and a little face in his mouth. The mirror went crashing to the floor as he yelled, “Nooooo!”