Disease generally begins that equality which death completes.

Illness has a way of thinning out the differences people carry between them. Rank, income, reputation: none of it changes what a fever asks of a body, or what fear feels like at three in the morning. Whatever separates you from someone else tends to matter less once you are both simply unwell. What was always true only becomes visible under strain.

Let that soften how you treat someone who is sick this week, including yourself. Ask what they need rather than what they have managed. Notice, too, that a kindness offered here costs you almost nothing and lands differently than one offered in easier weather.