Jade's headache had woken her since four a.m.
She lay on her back after the sun rose, waiting for her mother to return to her room.
The woman wheeled herself in with items on her lap. "Alrighty then. How is my little trooper doing?" She stopped next to Jade's bed and placed the medication, water and thermometer on the bedside table. A wet rag was left in her hand.
Jade's face burned not only from embarrassment but also the fever she ran. "You don't have to take care of me."
"I think I do." Her mother got the rag on Jade's forehead then picked up the thermometer. "Let's see how high it is. Your face is all red so I'm guessing it's over a hundred."
Jade let her put it between her lips to check. Shit on me. Now how had she caught the flu spreading among her school mates? She didn't even get near those losers. I shoulda known when me throat was all itchy yesterday. But why did it have to be the day after she told Perrie about it? Had she jinxed herself?
Beep.
"Let's have a look." The mother removed the thermometer. "Hmm . . . oh that's not good. Not good at all."
Jade widened her eyes. "What do you mean? How high?"
"A hundred and three but we can get it down with a bit of adjusting." Jade's mother's name was Nancy. She wheeled her way to the wall and climbed out of her chair to adjust the thermostat. "Just stay where you are and soon you'll be back to normal."
The last time Jade had been sick was two years ago. The cold had lasted two days and had been close to nothing. What was going on now? Why was she so ill? "Mam do you really think that making it chilly will bring down me temperature?" She was already shuddering. The cooler atmosphere made her tremble.
"It's been proven several times love." She walked to Jade's bed to pull her child's sheet higher to her chin. She touched the rag on Jade's forehead."This isn't cold enough. Hold on. I'm going to dunk it in some ice cold water and be right back." She walked out of the room.
"Mam be careful! Bring your chair!" Jade tried sitting up but was too weak.
"Don't you dare move out of your spot. I'll be fine pet! Just relax!" She called from the other room.
Jade sighed and tried to soak up as much warmth as she could from her covers. "Hurry back." She sounded young. For so long it had been her taking care of her mom. It was strange to have the roles reversed.
Nancy came back with thicker sheets and a colder rag. "Good. You actually listened." She went up to Jade to get the sheets on and tucked her in. The rag had been placed first. "There we go." Her legs were wobbly so she had to hurry to her chair before falling. Afterwards, she rolled herself back to her daughter. The chair had been where she left it by the wall. "Better?"
Jade moaned in her throat. "Yes."
"Aw the poor thing." She rubbed her hand against Jade's abdomen. "You can feel the cool right? I wouldn't want the fever to get any higher."
"I think that I'd be cold even if I wore twelve layers." Jade tried to snuggle. "It's good. Nice temperature. Not too hot not too cold so don't worry." She coughed in her aching hand. "Oh my God. What is this?"
"The flu." Nancy was laughing. "You haven't been sick in a hot minute have ya?"
Jade's eyes went to her slowly. "No. Me immune system is top notch."
"No it isn't. You eat crap all day. Now I'm wondering how you've managed to maintain your health this whole time." She shrugged it off. "But I guess even the luckiest can come down with a bad cold." She smiled at her daughter. Jade had been so self-reliant for such a long time that she forgot what it was like to take care of her. Yes the girl required her advice now and then but the last time she remembered physically looking after Jade was when her child had been six or five. She never voiced it but requiring Jade's attention and care for most of the girl's childhood did sometimes lead her to feel inadequate. It was a sad thought to have but sometimes she could not help it. Even if she tried to keep positive as much as possible.
