Frank was lying on his back with Denise curled into his side. Anytime he was home they would sleep this way, he couldn't get enough of having her in her arms, even if it did cost him some nights of solid sleep. Frank was a light sleeper; he had to be in order to remain safe in the field. Denise slept much deeper and constantly moved about in bed often keeping Frank awake or if not keeping him awake, waking him up.
Tonight was no exception. Denise was cuddled next to him moving this way and that, that was nothing out of the ordinary, but her incoherent mumblings were definitely alarming.
"No, Frank. Stay with me. Don't leave me," Denise mumbled with a look of sheer terror on her face. Frank sat up and gently began to try and console his obviously distraught wife.
"Dee, honey. Wake up! It's okay. Your fine and I'm right here. I'm right here beside you," Frank soothed but Denise continued to mumble and move about in the bed. Her movements went from intermittent jerking to violent thrashing and Frank was getting scared. He reached over and felt her forehead, not surprised to realize she was burning up with fever. "Of course," he thought. That was why she was having this nightmare; she had a terribly high fever. He'd tend that in a minute, first he had to wake her. He shook her gently a second time, then a third, before she finally bolted upright with a look of fear in her eyes.
Frank smiled at her, "Hey, Sweetie. It's okay. It was just a dream. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here," he said placing his arm around her. "How do you feel?" he asked already half knowing the answer.
"Horrible," she answered, her voice weak. She dropped back down onto their bed and pulled the covers up to her neck shivering.
"I know, Baby," Frank offered in comfort. "You've got a really high fever. Can you tell me what else hurts?"
"My throat is burning and my body aches all over," she admitted quietly keeping her eyes closed. "Cold."
"Okay," Frank replied sliding away from her and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
He walked quickly the kitchen to get some of the HALLS cough drops Denise had made him suck on the last time he had a cold then stopped by the bathroom to get a cup of water and two Tylenol. He sat beside her and administered the medication.
"Thanks," Denise whispered offering him a small smile that rapidly disappeared when she swallowed the pills. Her smile was replaced by a wince of pain as the pills went down her raw throat.
Instead of getting back into bed, Frank went back to the bathroom and filled the sink with cold water. He moistened a wash rag and rang it out just enough to avoid it dripping on the carpeting before carrying it back to Denise. He sat down beside her and placed the cloth on her forehead.
She felt the cold rag on her skin and immediately tried to escape by scooting away from it only to have it follow her. "I know this is cold, Baby, and I'm sorry but I have to get your fever down," Frank said continuing to wipe her burning skin with the ice cold cloth. Denise continued to whimper and shiver as he did that, but she'd stopped fighting him.
For the next half hour Frank continued to bathe Denise's forehead and finally he thought it had done the trick. She seemed to be sleeping more peacefully for the moment. He took the rag and put it in the hamper, only to discover in the short time it had taken to do that Denise had gotten much paler than he thought was humanly possible except for her cheeks which were as red as beets and was shaking again, even worse than she had been before. He sat beside her again and put his hand on her forehead. She was so much warmer than she was before he started the fever baths, it made him nervous. "Oh, Lord. Sweetie, hand on just a sec," Frank said not sure if she even heard him but wanted to tell her where he was going incase. She didn't need to be upset right now. He dashed to the bathroom and got the thermometer from their First Aid kit then brought it to Denise and slipped it under her tongue. He waited until it beeped. "103!" Denise told him once when Jeremy was sick babies often ran high fevers, but this was way too high for a grown woman.
Frank took a deep breath, "Okay, I'm obviously doing something wrong. We need to get you to the ER, baby," he told her scooping her and the blankets into his arms.
Denise was far too weak to argue and content to let Frank tend to her, so she let him pick her up and carry her from the house in his strong arms.