"Family Means No One's Left Behind"~ A Greenflame and Children Story

Chapter Nine: Sick

Sker's Point of View~
Me and the others were anxious about Lari's return home. Then, I heard something at the door. Lloyd walked in and in his arms shivering, was our little brother, Lari. "Lari! You're home! Are you alright?" All of us were saying at once. "Don't crowd around him, he's got a fever and I don't think that he'll want everyone surrounding him. May, could you get a cold washcloth please?" Lloyd said. "Okay." Said May. She went off to grab that cloth. Lari was breathing shakily and shivering. Then, my mom and dad came inside. "Lari!" Dad said. He rushed over to Lloyd. "Is he alright?" Mom asked. "He's got a fever, but he should be fine," Lloyd responded. "That's all? There's nothing else that's wrong?" Dad asked. "At least, that's all I know. He hasn't said anything about why he ran off or what happened." Said Lloyd. "Well, we should let him get some rest and see if he's feeling any better, then we can have a talk with him about it." Said mom. Lloyd nodded and brought Lari to our room. "I hope Lari will be okay," Akidah said. "Yeah, me too," I said.

Lari's Point of View~
I was shivering in dad's arms as he brought me to the room and handed me my t-shirt and sweatpants. I changed into them and then pulled the covers up past my shoulders. "Here's the cloth dad," May said as she walked in and handed it to him. "Thank you May," Dad said. May nodded and left the room. Dad folded the cloth and placed it on my forehead. It felt good, having my warm head embrace the cool feeling of the cloth. "That better?" Dad asked. I nodded slowly. "Okay, now I want you to get some rest and if you want, I'll make you some tea to help relax. And if need anything, don't hesitate to give a little shout okay. If you still don't feel too well later, I'll run you over to the doctor's office to see for anything." Dad said. I nodded and said, "Okay dad. Thank you." He gave me a small smile and went over to the door. He walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I was exhausted, so I almost instantly fell asleep. The next morning, I still felt uneasy and I didn't want to get out of bed. There was a knock at the door and I said, "Come in." Kai walked in with a new cloth in his hand. "How are you feeling today?" Dad asked. "I still feel pretty uneasy," I responded. "Well, let me take your temperature to see if that fever went down while you were sleeping." Said dad. I nodded and he placed the cloth on the desktop. He turned on the thermometer and handed it to me. I put it in my mouth and under my tongue. It sat there for a few seconds before beeping and I took it out and handed it back to dad. "You've still got a fever, but it's not as high as it was last night," Dad said. When he said 'last night', I felt guilt begin to linger over me and I looked down. "You okay Lari? You look at little down. Is there something that's bothering you?" Dad said. I shook my head no and said, "No, I'm fine. I just wish I wasn't sick, that's all." Dad handed me the cloth and I gave him the one from last night. "Well, there's not much that I can do to change that. But you should know better than to run off into the woods at late night, and in the cold too." He said. "I'm sorry, it was a stupid idea. I didn't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry." I said. Dad patted my leg and said, "It's okay, just don't do that again." I nodded. "Here, if you want to watch tv," Dad said as he gave me the remote to the tv in the room. "Thanks, Dad," I said. "No problem Lari." He replied. Then he walked out the door. When he left, I turned on the tv and lucky for me, my favorite show, 'Humans and Hybrids' was on. As I was trying to relax and enjoy the episode, the thought of what I did to May, Kabaz, and Akidah kept flashing in my mind, I couldn't shake those thoughts away. No matter how much I tried to distract myself from thinking about it, it was no use, the thought always managed to come back. Then suddenly, a wave of nausea hit me, and I felt my face heat up. My breathing picked up and I was shaking. I used the strength that I had in my aching body, but I only managed to get off of my bunk and barley in front of the door before I began to vomit.

May's Point of View~
Me and the others were in the living room, eating breakfast, and from down the hall, I heard coughing and gagging. "Huh? Lari?" I questioned. The coughing and gagging continued, and I became concerned. "Lari?" I questioned once again as I got up and made my way down the hall, to his room. I knocked on the door and asked, "Lari, are you alright?" There was no response but labored breathing. I opened the door and right before my eyes, was Lari on the floor, heavily breathing. His eyes were closed and there was a small puddle of vomit in front of him. "Lari!" I shouted as I rushed to him. "Dad! Come quick! It's Lari!" I called. Then, Akidah, Kabaz, Sker, and Lloyd rushed in. "Lari!" Dad shouted as he picked up Lari and brought him to the bathroom. Kabaz and Sker grabbed rubber gloves, a spray bottle of a disinfectant substance, and paper towels to clean up the mess with. I hope that Lari will be okay. First a fever, now an upset stomach. I don't want him to be sick for the whole break. I thought as we were cleaning.

Lloyd's Point of View~
I brought Lari to the bathroom to get him washed up since there was a little bit of what was left on his cheek. He sat down in front of the toilet while I grabbed a cold rag and a small cup of water for him to wash his face and rinse out his mouth. I handed them to Lari and he wiped his face and swished the water in his mouth before spitting it out in the sink. "Feeling any better now that that's all out?" I asked as I rubbed his back. Lari nodded slowly and said, "Uh-huh." He slowly got up and went to the door. "Do you want to lay down in the living room, it's closer to the bathroom just in case of anything?" I asked him. "Sure, I guess," Lari said. "Okay, well, let's get you need and bring them to the living room," I said. I grabbed a pillow and blanket from Lari's room and brought them to the empty couch. I made a little make-shift bed and Lari laid back down and smiled a bit. "Hey Lari, how're you feeling?" Asked Kabaz as he sat down next to the couch. "I'm fine, just a little stomach ache, that's all," Lari replied to his brother. "Well, we hope that you'll feel better soon," Kabaz said. "Mm-hmm. Me too." Lari said. I smiled and ruffled Lari's hair before heading into the kitchen to make something that will help with his stomach, a slice of toast and a glass of ginger ale.

Lari's Point of View~
I was laying on the couch, watching tv and playing games on my phone when dad brought me a slice of toast and a glass of ginger ale. "Here, you haven't eaten anything yet today, you must be at least a little hungry." He said. And dad was right, I was pretty hungry. "Thanks, Dad," I said. Dad smiled and ruffled my with my hair again before leaving. I tore off small pieces of the toast and took small sips of the ginger ale. I wasn't a really big fan of carbonated drinks, but I still drank it. After eating, my stomach was feeling a bit better than it was before. "I think I'm getting better. My stomach doesn't feel as bad as it was earlier. And I don't feel as warm." I said. "That's good, but let's see if you are actually better first," Akidah said. "Okay," I replied. I called Lloyd and he came over with a thermometer in his hand. He put the thermometer in my mouth and let it sit there a few seconds before it beeped and he took it out. "You still have a fever, but it should go down in a short period of time," Dad said. I groaned. I didn't want to be sick, I wanted to do anything than just stay stuck in bed or on a couch with a fever. "Aw man, I don't wanna be sick anymore. I wanna do something than just stay lying down." I complained. "I'm sorry Lari, but you're still sick, and I can't just force your fever to go down. You're just going to have to be patient." Dad said in response to my complaint. "Hmph." I sighed. "Is there anything else that's bothering you besides a fever?" He asked. My stomach felt fine, along with most of the rest of my body, but my lower back was sore and felt uncomfortable. "Well, my stomach is okay, but my lower back is kinda hurting," I said. "Hm, well, do you want me to give you a small back rub to try and help it?" Dad asked. I nodded and he came and got down on his knees in front of the couch. Dad told me to lie down on my stomach, and I did. He told me to relax and if anything began to hurt, tell him right away. Then, I felt his hands begin to massage my lower back in a soothing manner. It felt relieving, having my back rubbed. "That feel better?" Dad asked. I nodded and responded, "Uh-huh, it does. Thanks." Dad chuckled and continued on.

{Time Skip~}

It's been a few hours since dad gave me that back rub and I was still feeling perfectly fine. I haven't been feeling nauseous at all, but I don't know if my fever has gone down at all. I decided that since it's been a while, I'd check to see if the fever did go down at all during the long period of time. "Dad?" I called out. Kai came from down the hall and asked, "Yeah? What's up Lari?" I turned around and replied, "I was wondering if you could take my temperature and see if my fever's gone down at all." He nodded and went to the bathroom to grab the thermometer. Soon he came back and took my temperature. "It looks like your fever has finally gone down, and it's back at a normal and healthy temp. I'd say that you're not sick anymore." Dad said with a smile on his face. I was overwhelmed with excitement.