I remember a subtle smile I exchanged with a stranger a few years ago.

I was waiting for an elevator at the hospital. I had been diagnosed with herpetic blepharitis a few moments earlier. It caused a severe outbreak of cold sores on all over my face, especially around my eyes. A lot of ugly tiny red blisters covered my eyelids, mouth and forehead. I could barely speak. The acute pain and discomfort made it difficult for me to even blink. 

Due to a high fever and extreme inflammation, an ER doctor told me that I had to be hospitalized. A nurse put me on a wheelchair as I was unable to see things clearly. 

Feeling groggy and dizzy on the wheelchair, I was looking at the corridor vacantly in front of the elevator. Then a wheeled stretcher was pulled out from one of the wards and brought to the foyer by a couple of nurses. A young man with an IV drip stand was on it.

My wheelchair and his stretcher were put into the elevator side by side. As his head on the pillow was about the level of my eyes, I looked at him vaguely. He was wearing an oxygen inhaler and a catheter as well as the IV tube. His face was pale and lifeless. Judging by his cool-looking hair style, he must have been in his 20s. What caused this young man such a terrible condition, I wondered. 

At that moment his eyes and mine (if he could ever tell where my eyes were) met. Looking at me, he must have seen a swelling monster. He looked like a dying man to me. I think we both recognized how miserable we were, no longer fit and healthy.

In a barely noticeable way, we exchanged feeble smiles simultaneously. It was a subtle greeting gave us a sort of encouragement that only people in a severe pain are likely to perceive. 

Hey, what a hell is going on with you? We both look terrible, don’t we? What a life, huh? But we gonna survive this.

We didn’t say a word but that was felt and understood. The elevator door opened and the nurses pulled him out.

After a few days, I was discharged from the hospital. My ugly blisters lingered a little while but gradually disappeared in the following weeks. I don’t even know that young man’s name, but I hope he has recovered as well. I really hope. I really, really hope.