I woke up to a much darker world than usual this morning. I figured the darkness was because the sun hadn’t come up yet until I felt a tightness on my right eye. Still half asleep and confused, I threw my hand onto my right eye. I was shocked when I realized my eye was sealed shut. As I began to peel my eyelids apart, I pleaded, “Don’t let me lose my eyelashes. Please don’t let me lose my lashes.” Once my eye was open, it began watering like a water tower with a hole in it. I groaned and ran into the bathroom. I couldn’t find out what was wrong with my eye, but I was at least thankful my eyelashes were still intact, except a couple that fell off with my eye crust (rest in peace, my loves). I glared into the mirror, “Geez, eyeball, why you gotta be so nasty?” Then I remembered why. Four days prior I was with my best friend who at the time had pinkeye.

I ran back into my boyfriend’s dorm room, panicked and crying. I shook him awake. “Look at my eye! Look! I think I have pinkeye.” He moved his face away from my infected eye and assured me I would be OK. I took a deep breath and accepted that I would be OK, but I realized I would probably have to cut my visit short. I visited him this weekend because next I would be heading back to school in Manhattan, 300 miles away from him. I whined like a child for a good two hours until my boyfriend thought of a way to treat my pinkeye and stay with him: CVS pharmacy’s “minute” clinic.

We pulled up to CVS, “Alright, ready?” he asked. I nodded and followed his lead. We walked in through the doors “Hi, how y’all doing?” a voice called out from the right side of me. I whipped my head around searching for the face to the voice with my gunk-filled eye. I stumbled forward after saying “Hi” to the smiling and waving man. We found the “minute” clinic at the back of CVS, next to the pharmacy. At the end of signing in at the minute clinic, the computer told me it would text me when it was my turn. I left to get some much-needed caffeine and returned about 15 minutes later, right when I received my minute clinic text. The doctor confirmed my fear: I had bacterial pinkeye. She prescribed me eye drops, which would make me non-contagious in 24 hours and clear up the infection in seven days.

If your eye touches anything the bacteria spreads onto the surface it touches, making sleeping with somebody else difficult to do without spreading the bacteria. We needed to find a way to keep pinkeye from spreading while we slept. We stared at the section for eye care after I purchased my eye drops. My boyfriend spotted a solution: an eye patch. This weekend, thanks to my boyfriend and CVS, pinkeye will not stop me from spending time with someone I love.