Chapter 9- Sick Princess

Sunday’s shift was not nearly as smooth a day as Saturday. Upon arriving at work, Susan found out Allison had begun to run a fever during the early morning hours of 101 degrees Fahrenheit. After washing her hands and donning a mask, Susan took Allison into her arms and sat in the rocking chair with her. Allison’s cheeks were flushed, she was coughing intermittently, and her normal good natured attitude and smile were gone; in its place was a frown with occasional tears and a little girl that did not want to be put down. 

Susan did her best to stay on top of the symptoms by giving acetaminophen as directed on the bottle. Since Allison’s ability to take in food and fluids was compromised due to a sore throat, giving extra fluids via enterostomy tube to prevent dehydration was a must. Most of the day consisted of Susan holding Allie, who slept as long as she rocked her, in an attempt to allow Tracy to rest. Tracy lost sleep last night and was expecting another rough night tonight. Luckily the boys are old enough to fend for themselves in Fred’s absence, because Tracy would likely be busy with Allison. Tracy was hoping to take Allie into the walk-in clinic first thing in the morning for a strep test. Unfortunately they had a huge copay if they utilized the emergency room, so hopefully the walk-in wasn’t too busy Monday morning. 

Susan felt bad leaving Allison when she felt so under the weather, but hopefully now that Tracy got some rest, she would be okay. Susan headed for home at 7PM and immediately took a shower to wash off all the germs from Allie. Shifters tend to get ill much less than humans, but why tempt fate? Susan pulled on comfortable pajamas and slippers for the rest of the evening before getting her clothing out for morning. 

After a quick meal, Susan spent two hours studying for college the next day. At 10PM she used the restroom, brushed her teeth, and slipped into bed for the night. Other than at meal times or if she went looking for Kyle and his family, she rarely saw them. The house was fairly large with seven people living in it, but being on the outskirts of the suburbs, they spent a lot of time outside. At times Susan heard the youngest ones whining or crying temporarily, but it rarely lasted long. Within minutes of her head hitting the pillow, Susan was asleep and remained asleep the rest of the night.