Viral
This story delves into the effects of climate change, illness, high hospital charges, and denials of coverage by health insurance companies.
A cop couple, husband and wife, leave their jobs at the NYPD elite emergency response force to start their own personal security company. Their business plan is to provide security for public events and social events for the well off. But just as they get started, the covid pandemic develops and destroys their business plan. Nobody is socializing.
To get away from it all after the shutdown ends, they rent a cottage at Cape Cod and take their 4 year old daughter. While there, the mother develops a serious viral infection from a mosquito bite. High fever, low oxygen levels, and seizures. At the hospital, it is diagnosed as EEE, eastern equine encephalitis. Usually a tropical illness, it is spreading to temperate zones as the mosquito carrier expands its habitats due to climate change.
She has a really bad case, involving encephalitis, gets put into the ICU after being treated first in the ER. Next day, the hospital business office tells her husband that the ER bill is $27,000 and their insurance company is denying coverage.
It goes downhill from there as the daughter gets sick and there is no money for the hospital bills due to covid's effect on his business.
Cook always has a social/ethical point in his books. This one is a call for a US national health system.
= new reply since forum marked as read