These fellow patients encouraged each other and fought the illness together.
Tips
memory
病 (bìng, illness) + 友 (yǒu, friend) — a 'friendship-through-shared-illness' compound, on the same model as 战友 zhànyǒu 'comrade-in-arms', 校友 xiàoyǒu 'alumnus', 室友 shìyǒu 'roommate'. Treat 友 as a productive '-mate' suffix.
