Sharjah, «Radisson Blu Resort»
Scene 4
His breath left him sooner than it normally did in the tub – it was peculiar to travel when one was ill, not to mention tedious. As a teenager, Maille had traveled to Scotland with one of his brothers. It had turned out to be a merry trip: relaxing, with lots of amusing food, with whisky and beer, shortbread and fudge, with walks in light rain and hype over every ray of sun. Light days – and this despite the fact that Maille had suffered from a heavy fever from the very first day of the vacation. In the years that followed, whenever Maille suffered from a cough or a sneezing fit or a bout of fever, he drew parallels between his current ill-health and his fever during his Scottish trip and felt a sense of serenity – complete with flashbacks to the frolicking time in Scotland. Bacteria served as a register for memories, viruses as agents for the journey through space and time.