[...]
It was on his second day of camp that he started to feel sick. His head throbbed, and his eyes ached. He thought he was going to throw up. At the infirmary, he was told he probably had a virus.
He spent most of the next two days in bed, alternating between shaking chills and drenching sweats. Though still tired, he forced himself out of bed to take part in his long-anticipated camp. He focused on playing his instruments — guitar, piano, saxophone — and by week’s end, he felt almost normal. But the day after he got to Boston, he developed a rash on his arms — a sleeve of strange-looking raised red spots. He sent his parents a picture. When it spread to his leg, they suggested he go to the infirmary.
The doctor there said that it looked like the kind of rash you could get with a virus. Maybe it was linked to the illness he had the week before, or maybe he had picked up something else. The doctor gave him antibiotics — just in case — as well as prednisone, a steroid.
Camp was everything the boy had hoped for — great teachers and great musicians. But after a couple of days, he started to feel sick again. He ached all over; his chest felt strangely tight, as if he were wearing a T-shirt a couple of sizes too small. One afternoon in class, he could barely get up from his chair and had to spend the rest of the day in bed. The next day, the last day of camp, he became painfully aware of a new problem: His right testicle was swollen and incredibly tender. But he had to meet his father at the airport to fly to London to join his mother and brother on vacation. Sitting in the car and then the plane was torture. His groin ached and throbbed no matter how he positioned himself.
The next morning, he couldn’t make himself get out of bed. His parents and brother set out for a day of exploring the city. By the end of the third day, he thought he could manage getting up. They had reservations at the fancy restaurant in the hotel that night. He put on dress clothes he brought for this occasion, but after ordering, the boy realized he couldn’t stay to eat. The very thought of food made his stomach heave. Everything hurt. His right testicle felt as if it were the size of a baseball. He went back to bed, and after dinner his mother took him to an emergency room.
[...]
