Sick Day
Lucius hopped off of Nod's bird as he rushed over to the tree hole immediately. He turned and waved goodbye to Nod, who waved back just before he took off back for the leafmen base. Lucius rushed inside and jumped up and down, feeling like this time with Nod was the best time in his life.
"Well hello there, son! How was your day with Nod?" asked Ronin as he came out of the kitchen.
"It was awesome, daddy! We went bird-flying, swimming, and we played some games at Nim Galuu's tree! He let Nod jump up the walls with me on his back," explained Lucius.
"Really? That sounded like an adventure. Why don't we go tell mommy?" Ronin asked. Lucius nodded eagerly and ran inside the kitchen to tell Queen Tara, who was staring out the window admiring the sunny day. She turned and saw Lucius, who had a huge smile on his face and was bouncing up and down. "Hey there, sweetie. I heard all about your adventure with Nod," she said.
"It was awesome!" Lucius said excitedly.
"Well I'm glad you had a good time," said Queen Tara. Lucius looked up and saw something awfully odd about his mother. Her cheeks seemed rosier than normal and her expression was a bit more tired than the healthy expression she usually had. Ronin noticed this, too, and he started to get worried. Queen Tara tried walking over to the table, but her steps were wobbly and she almost tripped over one of the chairs.
"Mommy! Are you ok?" Lucius asked running over to his mother.
"I'm fine, Lucius. I'm probably just tired from doing all the hard work yesterday. When you're not queen anymore, it's still your job sometimes to take care of the forest," said Queen Tara with a slight smile. Ronin put a hand on her forehead and his expression confirmed something was definitely off.
"You're a lot warmer than usual. Are you sure you're ok?" Ronin wanted to make sure.
"I said I'm fine, Ronin," said Queen Tara. However, Ronin was still a little unsure. He helped his wife to her feet and told them they were taking a trip to the Doctor's. At first Queen Tara protested, but when Lucius took Ronin's side on this part, Queen Tara sighed and nodded. The family hopped on Ronin's hummingbird and took off towards the Doctor's.
Once entering the giant oak tree, an Acorn Jinn welcomed Queen Tara into his office. He was a plump fellow and he wore a white coat. He took her into the back where he performed various tests on her from checking her blood pressure, her temperature, checking her eyesight, and trying out a hearing test.
As Ronin and Lucius waited outside the doctor finally came outside with Queen Tara. He was finishing writing some stuff down on a clipboard before he turned to the family. Queen Tara sat down in one of the chairs since she felt a little lightheaded and could not stand up.
"Is she going to be ok, doctor?" Ronin asked.
"Well from the number of tests I ran, it appears your wife just has the common symptoms of the flu. However she's probably lightheaded from all the work she did in the past. Working too much tends to cause that, you know. Anyways, she does have a fever and she's very warm. I suggest you keep her home for at least three days with nothing but rest," the doctor explained.
"Three days?" Queen Tara heard this.
"I'm afraid so. If you're going to get better you need to rest." the doctor said. Ronin thanked him as he and the rest of his family headed for home. Ronin controlled his bird as Queen Tara rested her head on his shoulders, feeling very tired and warm. Lucius looked at her with a worried look on his face. Would his mom return to her old self again? He could only hope as the hummingbird pulled up to the tree.
The next morning Ronin had to go into work while Queen Tara laid in bed. She slid down beneath the covers, feeling worse than yesterday. Ronin took a compass-like thermometer out of her mouth and saw her temperature was at 102.3 degrees. He set it inside a medical kit and shoved it in a drawer before turning back to his wife. Her face was awfully pale unlike yesterday.
"I really should stay and take care of you, Tara. You need help!" Ronin objected.
"Ronin, I'll be fine. The doctor said I just need plenty of rest," Queen Tara said.
"I really should stay. I'm taking the day off," Ronin said.
"Ronin…" Queen Tara began to object back.
"No buts, Tara! I'm your husband and it's my duty to watch over you at all times. Son, keep an eye on your mother while I make a quick trip to the base," Ronin said.
"Yes sir!" Lucius said, giving his dad a military solute. Ronin chucked and ruffled a hand through his hair before taking off on his hummingbird. Lucius turned to Queen Tara who was still slumped in bed with a miserable look on her face. He climbed onto the bed and stayed right next to his mother. "Mommy, how did you get sick?" he asked.
"Oh sweetie, it just happens randomly. There's always a virus floating around in the air that gets its way to people," said Queen Tara.
"Where is this virus? I'll show him who's boss," Lucius hopped up and made two fists, looking around for the culprit.
"Honey you can't fight a virus. You can't even see it, either. It's so fast you won't even have time to notice," Queen Tara explained.
"I hope you'll get better, mommy. I hate it when you're sick," said Lucius. Queen Tara smiled at Lucius as they waited for Ronin to come home.
Once Ronin returned home his work shifted towards his wife. He was in the kitchen, looking for something that could cure a fever. Could soup do it? If it were dried berries, maybe. What about oatmeal? He could not decide. Queen Tara was usually the one who knew how to do it and he did have experience, yet he never had to take care of her when she was this sick before. Sighing he decided to get some medicine out of the cabinet and make her a soup that could cure a fever.
The doctor had given the army general a recipe for a persimmon soup with just the juice and a few shucked nuts. First thing he did was cut some small fruit up into a bowl, before adding some water to give it a taste. Next he squeezed a persimmon berry into a cup to get the juice out. He added it to the bowl and carefully placed it outside in the sun.
"Daddy, what are you doing?" Ronin turned around and saw Lucius.
"Oh I'm getting your mother some dinner. She needs to eat," said Ronin.
"What're you making her?" Lucius asked.
"Persimmon juice soup. The doctor said it'd make your mom feel better," said Ronin.
"I wanna help mommy feel better, too," said Lucius. Ronin smiled down at his son as they both headed upstairs with a fresh platter of soup.
Queen Tara looked down at the platter and looked back at Ronin and Lucius, who were hoping that she would accept it. Lucius had a nervous smile on his face. Taking the spoon Queen Tara sipped and it actually tasted really good. She then started to gulp it down like a horse. "Thanks guys. I feel a little better now," she said. Ronin took her temperature which was now at 101.4, which meant that she was slowly making progress.
"Thanks for your help, guys. I really appreciate it," Queen Tara said.
"No problem, mommy! The get-well soldiers are always here to help," Lucius said. Queen Tara and Ronin started laughing seeing how determined their son was to help out.
The next day Queen Tara told Ronin that she felt well enough so he could go to work. Ronin said goodbye to the family as he rode off on his hummingbird. After he left two of Lucius's friends, Flora and a blue daisy Jinn named Alyssa, came over. They both heard the news of his mother and they wanted to contribute. They explained that Raymond wanted to go but his mother would not let him since he was grounded for breaking a flower vase.
"Well we've gotta get to work! My mommy's up there in bed but I don't know what I can do," said Lucius.
"We can make her a nice breakfast. That's what my mommy and daddy do when I'm sick," said Alyssa.
"What about read her a story?" Flora asked.
"I like the breakfast idea. Besides she hasn't had anything to eat yet," said Lucius. The two girls agreed and they hurried into the kitchen to get started. All three friends looked around seeing what they could do. Lucius could not make any oatmeal or soup since he was not allowed near the stove. They could mash up berries but that would not have been fun enough. Finally they managed to settle on a decision after some debate.
"What about cereal? I know it isn't much but we can do it," said Alyssa.
"Yeah! It's perfect," said Lucius. He took a chair and climbed onto the counter, opening the cabinet doors. He looked around and finally saw his mom's favorite cereal, dried leaf flakes. He took the box down while Flora reached for a bowl from a shelf. Alyssa raided the fridge for milk while Lucius poured the cereal in the bowl. Flora got a tray and utensils laying out everything perfectly. Alyssa poured the milk and breakfast was finally ready.
The three friends looked on proudly at their achievement but frowned when they saw that there was cereal and milk all over the counter. It took many towels and cleaning supplies to get the counter looking good as new! Each of them carefully lifted the tray and held it over their heads as they walked up stairs since one could not carry such a long tray.
Queen Tara was laying back in bed with a bottle of medication right next to her on the drawer. She laid back in bed with her eyes closed but she could not go to sleep. Suddenly her alone time was interrupted when she saw three little kids carrying a tray into the room. She realized that they had made her breakfast in bed.
"Surprise, mommy. Breakfast time," said Lucius.
"Aw Lucius! You shouldn't have," said Queen Tara. They set the tray down on her lap as she picked up a spoon and started eating.
"We worked very hard to get it done. However we did kind of use most of the towels and cleaning stuff," said Alyssa, showing her a couple of towels and a bottle of cleaning chemicals. Queen Tara just smiled and continued to eat the surprise Lucius had spent time on. The little boy crawled onto the bed and into his mother's arm for a thank-you hug to show how much she appreciated the huge effort they have gone to make her feel better.
After work Ronin returned home and entered the home. He did not see Lucius anywhere or Queen Tara. There was obviously only one spot he could look. He walked upstairs and into the bedroom finally finding them both. The smile his wife loved came across his face when he saw Queen Tara and Lucius sleeping together in bed with their heads on their shoulders. Deciding not to disturb them he quietly crept out of the room and downstairs.
Once Queen Tara and Lucius woke up they walked downstairs to greet Ronin who was waiting for them with open arms. They both pounced on him and gave him the biggest of hugs. Queen Tara watched as Ronin tickled Lucius to death, making him crack up harder than ever.
"Ok, ok, ok! Time out," Ronin soon stopped playing and picked Lucius up in his arms and turned to his wife. "How are you feeling?" he wondered.
"I feel so much better now! I can breathe again and I'm not hot anymore," said Queen Tara.
"Well just to make sure," said Ronin. He placed Lucius on the floor and walked over towards Queen Tara, checking her temperature with a thermometer. Her temperature was now 99.3 degrees, a huge improvement from the last few days. His wife now was happily back to her old self. Lucius ran over to them both and hopped down on his mother's lap just as happy as his father was. Ronin sat down next to his wife happy to have her back.
"I'm really thankful that you guys helped me out a lot," said Queen Tara.
"We're always here to help you out, mommy. It's what we do," said Lucius.
"And I couldn't be happier!" Queen Tara scooped the little boy up in her arms and started to playfully kiss him. Lucius started laughing as his mom started tickling him like his dad. They all started laughing as they finally had one of their members back in the game.
Queen Tara certainly could have not asked for a more wonderful husband and son.
FIN
Ok, so I thought this could be a little better, but hey I like it either way! :D If it has too many original OCs, please let me know. It helps me make my writing better, but I just love creating characters. :P
Like it? Don't like it? Tell me in a review! :)