Hospital

The hospital is one of the short story's primary settings. This is the location where Dan is located throughout the entirety of the short story. Because the story is set during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, the narrator and her sisters are unable to enter this setting. They therefore only have access to the space by way of the telephone and the computer.

Throughout the story, the narrator communicates with her father while he is held at the hospital. Although he was admitted solely for a hip surgery, he has been unable to return home since, as he has contracted the coronavirus. The narrator and her older sister Livvy are particularly worried about his isolation and his well-being. They try to control his circumstances by talking to the nurses. However, because they are physically precluded from entering the hospital, the sisters are in fact powerless to help Dan. This is...