The Flubug
Chapter 4
Unpleasant Surprise

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That night, a pestilence was quickly at work as Amy's favorite teddybear spent time sawing major logs. I was to find that out in the morning as my head gave protest with a throbbing headache that hammered away on my eyes and squeezed my brains out. I felt as if something was trying to literally force my brain through my nose, and the intensity of it was nothing subtle.

Accompanying the headache was my throat, which had become terribly dry and sore. It blatantly refused to cease making me cough again and again, only seeming to make it feel worse as my nose dripped, dripped, dripped down my throat, inciting another barrage of coughing. I forced myself to get up because I needed to go to the restroom, after going overnight uninterrupted as my health unknowingly went down the drain. With a lift of the covers and a rubbing of my eyes, I slinked to the toilet as I struggled to stay upright in my lousy condition. The sight that welcomed me wasn't pleasant. In the mirror I was greeted by tired, bloodshot eyes, a burning red face and disheveled fur and quills pointing every which way. I moaned in disgust and cursed the tissue that smacked my face the previous evening as I looked closer at my face. One word summed up my thoughts as I examined myself further. Yuck.

My muscles and my chest ached without remorse. With a sniffle, I finished and washed my hands before returning to bed and burying myself completely in the covers, much more than I had previously. A box of tissues and a wastebasket were conveniently at the bedside, so I busied myself with the attempt of clearing my nostrils. In spite of my head inflating like a balloon as I blew into the soft tissue and the great amount of crap that came out, I still felt congested and the headache didn't lessen even in the least.

Moments after I finished the third tissue, the door opened as confused emerald orbs studied me in shock, noting my unkempt appearance. With a rush to the nightstand, she turned the lamp on, sending a flare of warm golden light through the room in order to see me better.

"Oh my God! Shadow, what happened?" I wanted to sound better than I looked -and felt- in my answer, but all I could manage was a tormented moan as I grasped my head. In the blink of an eye, the Rose bolted up to me and placed her hand on my forehead to feel my temperature before alerting her parents.

"Amy, don't wake them up. Please." My plea was ignored as the thumping of footsteps traveled down the hallway and beyond reach. I sighed in frustration. She shouldn't bother her parents on the weekend just because I'm sick! I waited in the bed, sitting up to watch them when they returned. In a moment, two women, one very young and the other of middle-age, rushed to my bedside with a bottle of painkillers and a thermometer in tow.

"Amy, you don't have to do all this for..." I started before I was hushed.

"I'll do it anyway! You're my baby, Fuzzy and I'll take care of you. Open your mouth and lift your tongue, please," Rose answered as she poised her hand in the air, aiming the device like a sword to my face. I sighed in defeat and opened up as I felt the cold metal probe slip under my tongue, tickling my gums with its chilling presence. Since I was sitting up with my body mostly exposed, I started to feel frozen stiff in spite of my cold sweat.

The thermometer warmed up before announcing its final measurement with a beep and Rose pulled it out with concern in her eyes, her mom continuing to study my reddened face. "Shadow, your temp is through the roof. You are at 104F. (That's 40C.) If you were three degrees hotter, you'd have to go to the hospital. You must have the flu, no doubt. The cold doesn't cause such a fever..."

"Amy! What if you get it, too? And what if I bother you with this? What if..." I was gently pushed down into the bed and tucked in like a baby. In spite of my fever, I was shivering since I felt so cold. Apparently my body was still getting warmer as we spoke. "You need to rest, Shadow. Lie down. Mom and I will take care of you."

Within the next five minutes, Rose fetched a glass of grape juice and her mom was preparing something hot. I could barely smell it through my nose, and Amy returned with painkillers and a large glass full of the wine-red liquid, offering them to me in earnest. "Shadow, red grape juice is a dark fruit product. Dark fruits such as grapes, cranberries, and blackberries are full of stuff that will boost your body and help you fight back."

In spite of my miserable discomfort, I managed a warm grin and thanked her before I downed the entire sweet, cold glass in no time, to the last drop. "Wow. Thirsty, Shadow?" Rose grinned with amusement.

"Shadow, don't you have a super immune system or something?" I had to fight through the wall of pain from my headache to answer with clarity.

"Yes, Amy. The professor told me I take half the time to heal or get well as anyone else." Amy paused momentarily as she considered my statement.

"If that flu knocked you out like this, it could have landed someone else in the ER. It must have been a nasty one."

"Amy, why did you tuck me in?" I wondered aloud as emerald eyes studied me.

"Because you are shivering. Even though you have a fever, your body needs to reach the new temperature it reset to. I want to make that as easy as possible for you, so you can save your energy to fight back."

In moments, a bowl of the hot item that was cooking downstairs was brought right up by Mrs. Rose to my room and placed beside my bed. In my exhausted state I wasn't very hungry, but it aroused my attention regardless.

"This is hot chicken broth, Shadow. This also will help you get well. Eat it up." For a moment I stared at the bowl after it was placed in my lap and felt the hot moisture warm my face.

"But I'm not very hungry, Mrs. Rose," I replied honestly.

"Of course not, Shadow. You're sick." Slowly, a spoon full at a time, I drank the sustenance that was barely at a tolerable heat, and it almost burned my throat and filled my heart with warmth, soothing my body as it trickled into my belly. The hot steam relaxed my nose somehow and it provided welcome relief to my discomfort.

"That soup was so good. It made me feel better." Amy and Mrs. Rose looked at each other before returning their eyes on me. Amy spoke to me in a gentle tone, as her sweet voice completely filled my ears and echoed in my mind like a lullaby.

"Get some sleep, my sweet hedgehog."

"I'll... I'll try..." The bowl was removed from my lap as I slid once more beneath the covers, wrapping myself up to my neck in the soft sheets before I closed my eyes. With a click, the light was turned off and the door closed. The painkillers were doing their work, and the warm stew in my belly was completed with the warming cocoon of covers, helping me forget my turmoil and sending my mind back into doing what I needed the most; rest...