Daddy's still sick!

Jay woke up in the middle of the night struggling to breathe. He tried to roll over and discovered that the reason he was having trouble breathing was that there were two cats lying on his chest and stomach. Peep was on his chest, and wonder of wonders, Rudy was lying below her on his stomach. He gently dislodged them, telling them that he needed to roll over on his side. They moved off him, but stayed right on the bed with him, to make sure he was going to be okay.

As he positioned himself on his side, Jay found that he could breathe just fine. He hadn’t thought that the combined weight of Rudy and Peep would make that much difference, but perhaps in his half-asleep state it had seemed worse than it really was. He still felt horrible, but thought his temperature was normal or close to it. His head ached and it seemed like every joint in his body had a separate pain, all twinging at different times and rates.

He reached up and turned on the light, blinking at the sudden brightness. He saw Rudy and Peep sitting to one side and LT lying at his feet. All were looking at him attentively. “I’ll be okay, guys. I’m feeling better already, I think. I need to get some aspirin now, though.” He padded off to the bathroom and took the aspirin with a long drink of water. He didn’t think he’d eaten anything yesterday, but was too tired to do anything about it now. He’d deal with it in the morning.

When he woke up next it was daylight, and he was being attended to by LT and Peep. When she saw he was awake, she walked up to his face and said, “Good morning, Daddy. I hope you’re feeling better today.” She proceeded to nuzzle the side of his face and then carefully started to groom the top of his head. He didn’t smell too good, and obviously needed a bath. She’d start at the top and see how far she got. Unfortunately, his short hair tickled her tongue too much and she gave up and washed the one ear that was accessible. It tasted funny, and she abandoned the project. He’d shower when he felt better, and that would have to do.

“Well, thank you, Peep. I’m glad you’re taking care of me. You too, LT. I think I’ll get up and feed you all and get myself a little something to eat.” The Daddy slowly got up and made his way into the kitchen. He carefully set out cat food and made himself some toast. He figured that if it went down all right he’d try something a bit more substantial later. He munched the toast and drank some milk, figuring he needed some protein. LT seemed quite interested in the Daddy’s milk, so he poured some in a small dish and put it on the table, where LT was having his breakfast. “Just like always, LT. You and me together having breakfast.”

After he’d eaten, Jay decided that he’d been up long enough and headed back to bed. He crawled back under the covers and turned on his radio, figuring that he had enough energy to at least listen to a radio program or two. LT and Peep settled in by him and within fifteen minutes he was sound asleep again.

“I’m worried, LT. This is the second day he’s been in bed, and all he’s eaten is toast. Can a person live on just toast?” Peep was concerned, but didn’t know what to do about it.

“He said he’d eat some more later. He was just worried he’d throw up, I think. People don’t realize how good it is to throw up. It clears out your system. We cats know that, and even eat grass when we don’t feel good so that we do throw up. People just don’t understand their bodies. They should eat grass more.” LT shook his head.

“Do you think I should go get him some grass, LT?” Now Peep had something she could do.

“No, Peep. I was just giving that as an example. This isn’t a stomach problem. It’s a fever, but it might upset his stomach. No grass, Peep.” LT tried to tell her this without hurting her feelings.

“Oh, all right. I just wish I could do something.” Peep sat there feeling sad and helpless.

“Everyone feels helpless when someone is sick. There’s usually nothing much you can do, but you feel like there should be something, and since we’re cats, we can’t even do things that the people would do. They could make him chicken soup, or tea. The people think that chicken soup and tea are the cure-alls for just about everything. I personally think a nice raw mouse would do more for me if I was sick. And besides, Peep, the Daddy asked you to keep an eye on the house. You’ve been checking around the house every few hours to make sure everything is fine, right? So you’re doing more than Rudy and I are.” LT hit on the one thing that would make Peep feel better.

“You’re right! I better go check again. If I find Rudy, I’ll send her in,” and off Peep ran.

Later in the day the Daddy got up and made himself some chicken soup and a cup of tea. After that he did start to feel better, but he went back to bed anyway, accompanied by cats.


Photo courtesy of Adriana - http://www.flickr.com/photos/adrisnaps/2430192323/