The smell of the room, mostly antiseptic and reminiscent of strong artemether lumefantrine, was still not enough to overshadow the smell of smoke that clung to Elise’s hair.

The single fluorescent light overhead buzzed, flickering now and then as if even it, too, carried the strain of the night.

On the bed, Elise lay unnervingly still. Her lips were parted around the clear mask that fed oxygen into her body. Her skin, usually so full of warmth, looked drained of color against the thin sheets.

The monitor, perched on a shaky stand beside her, beeped at slow, irregular intervals while measuring her oxygen saturation, pulse rate, temperature, and blood pressure....