Personal Narrative: Upper-Respiratory Infection

Recently, I became ill with an upper-respiratory infection. The first few days, it just felt like a simple cold, so I thought it would be okay to go over to my boyfriend’s house for dinner. He cooked us a meal, then poured two glasses of wine. Even though I was a little under the weather, I drank the glass. Previous to this, he and I had discussed that I would be spending the night there because we had not seen each other for awhile. I looked forward to this because I was sick, and wanted the comfort and care from another person. After I drank the glass, I started to feel worse. My face turned red, and I was burning up with a fever. He quickly assessed me and said: “You should go home.” This offended me. I had hoped he would want to take care of me, not throw me out because of my illness. I tried to reason with him, but he kept telling me I should leave. He offered to drive me home even though I drove, telling me he could pick me up in the morning. I became very closed off from him then. Slowly putting the pieces together, he asked me if I had ever spent the night with someone when I was sick, and I said yes. He responded saying: “I thought it was normal to want to sleep alone when you’re sick.” I had misunderstood that he was
I had expected my boyfriend to be outwardly caring in a specific way, and he did not meet that so I assumed he was not being caring toward my situation. In actuality, he was caring in his own way. I also had assumed he was similar to me in how he would feel about me staying over while sick. I envisioned myself in the opposite position. If he was sick, I would let him stay. That would show him I cared for him and I could take care of him that way. I could not understand why he would be so “harsh” as to push me away how he did. But, my boyfriend does not think the same way I do. Instead, he thought asking me to leave was a better way to take care of both of