Woke up in the morning, and was honestly feeling quite a bit better. The hallucinations were gone, the shivers and fever had mostly passed, and it was just residual stomach sketchiness. A bit off coffee and immodium and I was pretty sure I could make it back home. Pretty clear this was either food poisoning or some short-lived virus, so I was pretty fortunate. The tube ride to Heathrow (at just under 90 minutes) was barely tolerable, but no major drama, and was soon ensconced in the Star Alliance lounge and sipping water before boarding the flight back to DC.
United Flight 925
London, Heathrow to Washington, Dulles
Boeing 777, Registration N778UA, Manufactured 1996
Depart 16:20 Arrive 19:45
Seat 11B
So departure came and went, and was very uneventful. Normally, I look forward to the business class meal as a way to pass a bit of time, but…this time…no WAY. Every time the crew passed through, I was either in the lav or asking for a ginger ale. But, at least I felt a thousand times better than the day prior, so that was a huge accomplishment. I considered asking for parts of the meal a couple times, but quickly realised just how bad of an idea that would be!
However, after the meal service, there was a bit of drama. The pilot came by, and asked if he could speak with me for a moment. Seems my behaviour was “suspicious” (refusing meals, etc) and they were concerned about the amount of time I was spending in the lav – I wasn’t doing anything wrong in there, was I? So, I had to explain to the guy the details (yeah, I left out the Iraq part) and he was pretty satisfied – I think. At least he didn’t bother me again, so I can only assume everything was fine!
Arrival was on time, immigration was easy, and soon I was home and relaxing. In the end, just having the extra space in business made this flight worth it. When you never know when you’re going to have to give up, just having that extra space to not have to excuse yourself past several people makes all the difference in the world!