Random things that could happen when you're travelling around Europe

I’ll never forget that time my flatmate went missing.
I was living in Dublin, and I had just moved in this flat on the banks of the Liffey. I shared it with Sébastien, from France. Since day 1 Séb didn’t seem to be very well. Cough, fever, maybe some kind of flu. The days went by, no sign of improvement. Finally he decided to go and see a doctor. I was getting ready to spend the night in Temple Bar, so when he told me that he was going to an ER in the very same place, I offered to go with him. That was a wise move, because he was so dazed and feverish that he risked to be run over a couple of times.
We found out that there was no ER. At least, a working ER. The place seemed to be closed down since ages. So Séb took a cab to reach the closest hospital. “Don’t worry, Ilaria, you go and have your night.” “Ok, keep in touch, call me as soon as you can.” “Oh, I forgot my phone home.” Can you hear a dramatic music crescendo?
In the next couple of days I stayed in the dark. I didn’t know what to do, until I gathered every ounce of courage I had, I found a list of hospitals in the city (15, if you ask) and I started to make phone calls. Thank God I found him at the second try. Alive. Saint James’s Hospital.
“I’m looking for Sébastien Morrel...” “Oh, sure. Dr. Shalvey! She’s here for the boy.” Enter Dr. Shalvey, who gives me cap, latex gloves, plastic coat, even plastic overshoes. I start to think he got the wrong person. “Are you the nearest kin?” It sounds like a line from a police movie, when someone is required to recognize a body. “We’re flatmates. I’ve been knowing him for two weeks.” “He has meningitis”. My blood froze in my brain for a fraction of second. I was about to say “Well, we are not that close”... But it was too late to run and, I realized, probably too late to avoid contagion. So I entered the room, and I found out the poor guy didn’t even know why he was there. No one had told him, he thought it was just a very bad flu. I stuck to that version.
To make a long story short, Sébastien is very lucky, and so am I. And Ireland has an exceptional public health system. They made sure that I was fine and they did their very best to reassure me about any concern. I even got my vaccination. Séb did risk his life (“Had he waited the next morning to go to the hospital, he wouldn’t have made it to the next morning”) but he got away just with a crazy fright and a renewed love for life. I got a crazy fright myself and another tale to tell.