Chapter 1: The Fever
My 18 year old son lay upon the bed, propped up by some pillows. His blond hair glistened with sweat, his face was red and his eyes sore. A thermometer hung out of his closed mouth. He looked like he was miserable. And all this just a few days after his birthday, when we had played games and goofed around in the swimming pool! Poor guy.
"Okay, let's see where you're at now," my wife said, pulling the thermometer out of his mouth. She held it up to the light, her big blue eyes scrutinizing the device. She turned back to our son and announced, "Well, Ben, your fever is getting worse. We'll have to call the doctor again." She paused a moment and pressed her lips. "And I'll have to call into work."
I reached out and took her hand. I said, "Jen, it's fine. I got it." I was due lots of PTO so I had gone ahead and taken off a few weeks. I had hoped to use the time working on my novel—but then Ben got sick, just two days into my vacation. Jen, however, had not taken any PTO. She had just started her new job and had not had the chance to accumulate any hours.
"Daniel, no," Jen replied. "You were going to try to get some work done. This will be way too much work. The doctor said that—"
"It's fine, I can wait on the book," I said, and squeezed her hand. "Plenty of time to work on that. You can go to work, and I'll take care of Ben."
"Thanks, Dad," Ben said, his lungs rattling a little in his chest as he breathed. "I'll try not to be too needy."
Jen turned to him, and placed her hand on his cheek. "No, sweetheart. You be as needy as you can be." She smiled sweetly.
"Nah, I'm okay," Ben replied, smiling back at her. He had his mother's smile, as well as her hair and her eyes. He turned towards me and nodded, "We'll be all right, won't we, Dad?"
Jen and I stepped out of the dim room and Jen picked up the phone. She called Dr. Hancock and told him that the fever had gotten worse. I could barely hear Dr. Hancock as he explained to her what had likely happened and what we would have to do to help him. He said that we would need to give him a bath, in cool water, at least twice per day for the next week or so. Dr. Hancock said that if Ben hadn't improved after 3 days we should call him back and he'll take another look at him. The doctor seemed pretty confident that this would work.
After Jen hung up I stepped towards her and put my hands on her hips. I leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. "All right babe, it's time for work, huh?" I asked. "I'll give him his first bath after you leave."
She nodded and turned her head. "Damn . . . Okay." I let go of her and she made her way down towards our room. I just sat there in the living room reading the morning newspaper.
A few moments later and Jen was back, having just touched up her make-up. She looked really pretty today. I admired her as she stepped towards me to get her farewell kiss. Our lips embraced a few seconds longer than usual. Finally, she left me alone in the house with our ill boy.
I made my way back towards Ben's bedroom. When I entered I found him flat on his back gazing up at the bare ceiling. He held his head up a little when I came in.
"Hey, Dad," he said, pushing himself up against the pillows again. "What's up?"
I sat on the side of the bed. "Well, bud, the doctor is concerned but he says it's not too out of the ordinary," I started. "He says that you need to take a bath two times a day, in cool water."
"Ugh!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, I hear ya," I said. "So we should do that now, bud."
"Okay."
I stood up and watched him as he tried to sit up all the way. He was moving slowly and groaning. As he flipped his legs over the side of the bed he let out a sharp cry. "Dad!" he whispered, breathing hard. "It hurts!"
"The doctor said your muscles would hurt, so that's normal," I said. "Do you think you can make it to the bathroom?"
He tried again, this time standing up at the side of the bed. He wore a T-shirt and boxer shorts, both of which had sweat stains. After standing there for a few seconds he plopped right down onto the bed again, moaning.
"Do you need help?" I asked. "Do you got this, bud?"
He looked up at me, his eyes filled with tears. "I don't think I can, Dad," he said, his voice cracking a little. "Can you help me?"
I nodded and stooped down to put my arm around his back. "Eh, what the hell," I said, as I put my other arm below his knees. I grunted and picked him up off the bed. He was a pretty small guy, having taken after his mother's side of the family, and so I was able to lift him up so that he lay against my chest. He wrapped his arms around my neck and placed his head against my shoulder.
We made our way down the hall towards the bathroom. There, I placed him on the toilet seat lid. He seemed pretty steady there, though he groaned again and held the side of the sink as if he would fall at any moment. I turned away from him and started preparing the tub. We exchanged a few small words as we waited for the tub to fill up—but he really didn't look like he was in the mood to talk!
Finally, the tub was full of cool water and it was time for him to go in. "Okay, bud, it's ready," I said. "Do you think you can make it inside?"
He looked at the tub and then back up at me. He said, "Um, do you think you can help me?"
"Sure, son."
He struggled to grasp the bottom of his T-shirt, so I took it myself and helped him pull it up over his head. His bare, white chest was exposed. He had fresh sweat droplets forming on his shoulders. Next, I helped him remove his boxers. This was more difficult. I had to stoop right over him as I hooked my fingers beneath the waistband and pulled them down.
Finally he was ready. He sat there nude as the day he was born. He was totally exposed since he was using both hands to steady himself on the toilet seat. His penis had recently been shaved, I noticed. A few small hairs had started to grow but it was still pretty bare. It lay there shrunk, shriveled up into itself.
"Okay, bud, let's go," I said as I stooped over and picked him up a second time. This time I brought him to the tub and slowly lowered him into the water. It was not cold—just cool, maybe even a little warm. All around just mild. I let go of him and then turned to leave.
"Stay, Dad," Ben said. He had reached up and had taken my hand. He held it for a moment and then dropped it before continuing. "Keep me company."