Day One. It all started like a typical intestinal upset. Percy was inclined to blame the spicy taco he'd eaten at a nearby Mexican restaurant. After finishing it off, along with another season of a government conspiracy TV series, the junior marketer suddenly felt a sharp pain in his stomach. But this didn't cause much concern. After all, the weekend had just begun; he could easily get himself back on track within the next day, meaning nothing threatened his successful career. Thinking this way, Percy confidently took a couple of pills from his home medicine cabinet and followed it up with a large amount of water, as one should in such cases. However, this did not affect the processes already underway in his body. Soon enough, Percy was able to confirm this.
The popular pills, which had previously helped the junior marketer several times before, completely stopped working. By evening, the relentless diarrhea was accompanied by severe nausea. Between constant trips to the bathroom, the pain did not subside. Exhausted and wracked with discomfort, Percy collapsed onto the couch, wiped sweat from his forehead, and began to think about what to do. He didn't want to go to medical services. What could those quacks do? They'd take his temperature and send him to a municipal hospital, where he'd be more likely to catch something from a random homeless person than actually get cured. No way. Better not to risk it. Private clinics were unlikely to have anyone available at night—especially now. He'd have to go there himself, but not until Monday... And that meant losing a workday, tarnishing his impeccable reputation as a responsible employee, and probably delaying a long-awaited promotion. After thinking for a bit longer, Percy picked up his smartphone, scrolled through his contacts, and wrote to Maridge Flugstone. After all, she was a surgical assistant or something similar and should know what to do...
Despite the late hour, his former classmate replied fairly quickly. After listening to Percy's complaints, she remotely diagnosed a "bacterial intestinal infection" and strongly recommended going to the pharmacy for broad-spectrum antibiotics. After all, "they never hurt anyone in such cases." And "of course, plenty of fluids."
Filled with her confidence, the junior marketer gathered all his strength and headed to the nearest pharmacy. Returning half an hour later, utterly exhausted but filled with hope, he took the first dose of a five-day course. A completely useless action, considering that by this point, there was no microflora left in Percy's intestines. But it allowed him to calm down and fall asleep. In any case, this was the last time he went to the pharmacy.