The email came when I was watching Bridgerton with my boyfriend two weeks ago. It was a lazy Saturday night with hot chocolate and sniffles from a cold that had snuck up on me. As we were watching the elegant gowns and scandal, my phone buzzed. The email wasn’t a rejection from any of the opportunities I had been applying for—it was much worse. As I read the first line of my results, my stomach dropped:
“Result: Positive.”
When I first scheduled my coronavirus test, I was nervous because I had been staying at my boyfriend’s house since he was getting over being sick as well. However, once I got the results, all my symptoms made sense. The fever, chills, coughing and chest pain weren’t a normal cold after all. We locked ourselves in his room and prepared for the 10 days of isolation.
At first, I was worried to stay at his house for that long, especially considering that we would be locked in the same room for over a week. While we had been together for over a year, being sick and couped up in a single room for a prolonged period seems like a gauntlet for a relationship. However, I didn’t want to further spread it to my roommates or any more people than I had already exposed. Thus, my boyfriend and I took on the 10-day relationship gauntlet.
Days one & two
Honestly, these days sucked. It was the height of my symptoms, and I was ridiculously tired, but I did feel very grateful to have my boyfriend there to take care of me since he was at the later stages of it. Besides watching Bob’s Burgers and trying to keep my eyes open for classwork, I slept the rest. My boyfriend made sure that I had soup and was overall the best I could’ve asked for, which made me appreciate him more. It’s easy sometimes to get busy and take your partner for granted, so these days were a nice reminder to be more appreciative.
Days three & four
We finally finished Bridgerton and attended class on Zoom. While it was a little tough studying for a test on the bed, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. However, the fatigue from the virus made it harder to focus. Although, my boyfriend’s kind encouragement kept me going until I was finally done studying for the day. At this point, the gauntlet hadn’t gotten to us yet, but it soon would.
Days five & six
At this point, I was out of clean clothes, so I had to improvise. Another step of conquering the gauntlet became wearing his boxers and old high school t-shirts. At this point, I was a little cranky that I hadn’t thought ahead and packed more clothes. That rubbed off a little bit on my boyfriend, and the days were filled with bickering and sitting on opposite sides of the room so he could play video games. After reflecting, this was definitely a case of me being grumpy cause I didn’t have any clothes. There was no need for us to be so sour, but it was the first side effect of being cooped up in a single room.
Days seven & eight
These were grumpier days for us. We were both sick of being inside, and I couldn’t stop coughing, which meant neither of us got to sleep. While in Zoom lectures, the Wi-Fi went out and we couldn’t get back into any of our classes for the rest of the day (that took attendance). The stress of losing points and still feeling like trash did not help the mood of the room. It got so bad that we started to fight over the littlest details, including the sock I accidentally left on the floor. We were letting the situation have way too much sway over our moods and actions.
Days nine & ten
The final days of the gauntlet brought peace. We both woke up on day nine and laughed at how ridiculous we were being. After all, we were in this situation together—not enemies. During these days, we realized how much we could rely on each other. It isn’t until the moments that really stink you realize how much a person cares about you to stick through thick and thin.
After the 10 days were up, we continued to stay in the room for a couple more days to make sure we were no longer contagious. And, in part, because we knew it would be weird to not be around each other 24/7, which was supposed to be a “relationship gauntlet” but turned out not to be so bad after all. If anything, it was a good lesson. I learned a lot about being a caring and compassionate partner for my boyfriend in his time of need—and just how lucky I am to have someone that cares for me at the same level. Especially now when things are so uncertain and crazy—it’s nice to know that he has my back.
However, I also learned a very important lesson about staying still during the pandemic. This experience wasn’t much of a gauntlet considering that it is an everyday reality for most Americans. With 26 million cases in the US and a devastating death toll, everyone has been affected by the virus—whether it be through direct infection, a family member or losing their job.
For so long, I had a false notion that I wouldn’t get the virus. I wore my mask, kept up with sanitizing everything and avoided crowded places as much as possible. I only knew of a couple of people that had had it, and they all quarantined properly to prevent the spread. As long as I took precautions, I wouldn’t get it, right?
Wrong.
I honestly couldn’t have been more wrong. My naivete resulted in my boyfriend and I getting sick and contributing to the number of cases. Over the 10 days, I realized there were more ways that we could be safer and prevent the spread.
So, the takeaway message? Don’t put yourselves through the relationship gauntlet—stay home as much as possible, wash your hands and wear a mask.