Sensitive:
Ed's Wife was sick. Really sick with the flu. Most men would have split fast when finding out that their wife was sick. Gone to work, or over to a friend or relative's house. Anywhere to not be exposed to the gerns. Not Ed. He called Greg at work.
"Yeah, Greg here. Hey Eddie, what's up. You know you are due here in about 10 minutes right? Please tell me you are on your way. I'm looking for someone to cover an extra shift. You in?" While he waited for Ed's response he shuffled papers around, looking for a particular file. Ed sighed in the phone.
"Greg, I'm not going to be able to come into work today. Adrianna's sick. Really sick. I think that she's caught that nasty flu bug that has been going around, that Wordy had a couple weeks ago, that his wife and kids all got from him. She needs me here to look after things. Can you put me down for a sick day?" Greg sighed.
"I hope she's ok. Yeah I can put you down for a sick day. Do you need anything? You have plenty of medicine, plenty of liquids besides water? I'll stop by in a bit unless we get a hot call. ok?" Ed replied that it was fine and they hung up. Ed took a look at the really dirty kitchen and house and decided that it could wait. His wife, could not.
First thing Ed did was check on his wife. When he had left to go call Greg, his wife had been hovering over the toilet throwing up. She was only throwing up but to Ed it sounded like she was throwing up her lungs as well as merely throwing up. He made his way up the stairs to the bathroon and found his wife sitting on the floor leaning her head against the tiled wall. He squatted down next to her, stroking her hair back from her face gently.
"Adrianna? Hey baby. How are you feeling? Do you think you can handle some kind of food or liquid?" She clapped her hand over her mouth and violently shook her head, starting to tear up. Ed chuckled, which definitely earned him a poke in the side from his wife. He threw his hands up in surrender.
"Ok Honey, I'm sorry. I shouldn't joke with you like this when you don't feel that great. How about if I help you back to our bed? Get you tucked in, get you some water, some medicine for you. Ok?" His wife nodded and attempted to stand up without success. Ed shook his head and stooped, picking her up.
"You are light as a feather. I have no trouble picking you up. Never have anyway. Never will. You've always been tiny. I love you. Besides I love picking you up. I would prefer though, that you were feeling better so I could take advantage of your lovely body." His wife smiled and laid her head against his chest, then frowned.
"I love you too. What about Clark? I need to look after him. He needs to go to his hockey practice. You have to be at work. I can't afford to be sick. Just help me find some clothes to wear. I'll be just fine. You need to jump in the shower if you are going to make it to work. And what about-" Ed stopped her with a finger on her lips.
"I have everything under control. You miss, are going to get into bed and not get out again unless you need to pee. Understood? I will check on you in a little bit." He stared her down smiling when she giggled. By this time, they had made it to the bedroom and Ed sat her down on the chair in the room, taking care to quickly strip the bed of the soiled sheets.
After he had remade the bed with fresh sheets, he picked her up and carried her over to the bed and tucked her in gently. He brought her a glass of water and some tylenol and watched as she took them and lay back down. He kissed her on the forehead and walked out of the room, carrying the basket of soiled clothes and bedding to drop it off at the laundryroom and closed the door behind him.
"Hey Dad. Where's mom? I need to ask her something about later today. And aren't you usually at work by now? Should I call Uncle Greg?" Ed turned and looked at his 16 year old son, Clark, standing on the last step of the staircase looking a little bit perturbed. He smiled.
"Your mother is sick. Ask me. Actually I could really use your help in cleaning up the house for your mother. I need to get the dishes and the kitchen cleaned up, the floor scrubbed, the laundry done, and I need to shop for groceries. Would you like to help me? I called Uncle Greg and told him your mother was sick and that I wouldn't be in." Clark nodded and moved into the kitchen.
"I can do the dishes if you want to do laundry Dad. Mom makes me do the dishes three days a week, so I know how she likes them done. What else do we have to do?" They sat down and made up a list and divided it. In addition to dishes, Clark was going to vacuum the rugs and mop the kitchen floor as well as feed the dog. Ed would clean the bathroom, do the laundry and mow the lawn. They decided to do the grocery shopping together. The agreed to take a break in three hours and check progress.
3 hours later
"Laundry? Finished. Dishes? Finished. Vacumming, and mopping? Finished. Dog has been fed, and the bathroom cleaned and scrubbed. Lawn is mowed. Great. The only thing left to do is go grocery shopping. Your mother also said that you have Hockey practice today. Are you going to that today?" Clark shook his head.
"That's what I wanted to ask mom. She and I have conversations about hockey practice. She usually watches me practice. I am thinking about giving it up." He shut up and refused to say anything else about it. Ed nodded.
"Ok. Do you want to talk to me about it? I know, I'm not always around to be up on things, but I'd like to know what you are doing. If you want to talk, I'm here." Clark shrugged and put his shoes on.
"I just disagree with the coach is all. His twin sons are on the team as well. He puts them in alot at practices and I get benched. I don't think that it's very fair to me or any of the other guys that get benched. I tried to talk to the coach but he just brushed me off." Ed nodded.
"I agree that it doesn't seem all that fair. If you want, we can try to talking to the coach together next week. It's your call." Clerk shrugged.
"Uncle Greg said he would be over shortly to check on your mother while we go to the grocery store. You coming with me to the store? Ok then. I am going to go upstairs to check on your mother. And see how she's feeling. Keep an ear out for the door." Clark Nodded.
A few minutes after Ed had headed upstairs, There was a knock at the door. Clark ran to answer it. After checking the window to see who it was, he pulled the door open enthusiastically, launching himself at the three visitors.
"Hi Uncle Greg, Uncle Wordy. Hi Uncle Spike. When are we going to do more experiments? The last one was AWESOME. Especially when the volcano went BOOM!" Clark demonstrated with his hands. The guys laughed.
"Hey there Clark. We're here to see your father. Where's the old guy at anyway?"
"He went to check on mom. She's sick today. Come on in. Dad would be mad if I didn't invite you all in." Greg nodded.
Ed came down the stairs and picked up his jacket that was hanging on the banister. He stopped when he saw Greg, Wordy and Spike standing there talking to his son. He shook hands with them all and put his hand on Clark's shoulder.
"Thank you for coming Greg. Adrianna's asleep still, I just checked on her. She seems to do feeling a little better. Still got a fever though. I helped her to the bathroom and back to bed. So I guess the only thing is keep an ear out in case she calls out. I will be back as soon as possible. I'm picking pizza up for dinner. Stick around after we get back and you can have some. Are you ready Clark?"
Two hours later:
Juggling plastic bags, and pizza boxes, Ed unlocked the front door, and heard his wife's voice, along with Greg, Wordy, and Spike's voices. He was curious and shut the door after Clark walked past calling out that he was home. His wife got up from the table and hugged him, kissing him on the cheek.
"Thank you Honey, for taking such good care of me. I feel so much better. Greg said I don't have that much of a fever now. Hi Clark honey." Ed smiled and hugged her tightly but gently. He was glad that she was feeling better.
"I guess I'm just sensitive to the needs of my wife."
