‘It’s almost like a love letter’: ICU doctor paints for his colleagues treating COVID patients

CHICAGO -- Every morning, Dr. Justin Fiala rides a CTA bus along Lake Shore Drive, and it feels like going into battle. Before the pandemic, stepping onto a bus was just a commute to work. He and other Chicagoans headed into the city together, toward busy downtown offices and mask-free cubicles.

Now, he wears an N95, and his 5 a.m. bus rides are nearly always filled with other health care workers in scrubs.

“People look more and more downtrodden as the pandemic has trudged on,” he