Ranma's Flu
7
In Tendo dojo there was no spare room for Nodoka. The best solution would be that she'd share a room with someone. They chose Kasumi. That was okay for both of them.
"I hope you don't mind sleeping on the floor on a futon this tonight", Kasumi apologized.
"No, no..." Nodoka shook her head with a smile.
"But you will go buy you are now bed with mr. Saotome right tomorrow", Kasumi nodded.
"How generous", the woman still smiled.
"HCHI!" Ranma sneezed. And it wasn't the first time today. Strangely, he had started feeling a bit unwell. Well, more unwell than at the pancake party in the afternoon. He had chest pains and his cough was returning. He had a headache. But he didn't feel ill really. And besides, his mom had said he would be all fine by tomorrow. So it was normal that he was still a bit down today. Tomorrow everything would be like before, and he could carry on his training with his father.
But now he couldn't take his headache anymore. He wanted some medicine. Right now. He walked to the bathroom, took the first aid kit from the cupboard, and a jar of Tylenol from it. He poured two pills, filled a mug with water and took the pills. Then...
Genma came in.
"Ran-?" he wondered, making Ranma almost choke on his pills. "What are you holding?" the man asked and took the jar from him. "...Tylenol. Why? You shouldn't take these unless you need them!"
"Ehh... Sorry..." Ranma mumbled.
"Did you swallow these?"
"No, no..." the boy lied. His father just nodded, putting the jar in the box.
It was getting late. Nodoka and Kasumi cooked some porridge for supper, and everyone gathered around the table in living room.
One by one everyone sat down, Ranma being the last one. He wobbled into the room and practically crashed on floor next to his mom. Everyone stared at him, all quiet.
"Uh... Ranma?" Akane mumbled with a spoon in her mouth.
"Is everything okay?" Nodoka asked. Ranma nodded ja grabbed a bowl of porridge. Everyone started eating in silence. Suddenly Ranma started inhaling, put the bowl down on the table and...
"Uh-TSHII!" the boy sneezed and wiped his nose in his shirt sleeve. Now his mom got worried.
"Is your fever back...?" she touched the boy's forehead, held her hand against it for a while, sighing. "Well, you don't have a fever... Let's hope your cold symptoms are gone by tomorrow."
"I'll be fine", Ranma mumbled.
Ranma pulled himself together and carried on eating, when again:
"ATCHOO!"
"Hm... I'm getting your Tamiflu. What if I bring you some Tylenol also? Just in case?" Nodoka suggested. Ranma stretched and nodded.
"...So that's why you were at the cabinet", Genma sighed, looking at his son. "Why didn't you say so? Are you still feeling too proud?" Ranma seemed a bit frustrated, quilty, maybe a bit embarrassed.
After the porridge was eaten and medicine down Ranma's throat, everyone went to sleep. Nabiki, Akane and Soun in their own rooms, Kasumi and Nodoka sharing a one, and Genma and Ranma in their room.
Ranma had laid on his futon, was just about to curl up in his blanket, when his father came in with a tissue box.
"Let's hope this is the last night we need these", he said and put the box down in front of his son's face.
"Thanks dad", the boy mumbled.
Ranma fell asleep very fast, and so did Genma. It was all quiet for hours and hours. Night fell. Then suddenly...
"...Dad..." a whisper said.
"M...mmh...?" Genma murmured.
"...Daa-aad..." said Ranma's raspy breath. That's when the man started hearing harsh coughing. He sat up and saw Ranma, standin on all fours next to his bed – face red and soaked in sweat. He was panting and looked simply pitiful.
"Yaawn! Now what?"
"I'm feeling really sick..." Ranma mumbled, shaking, starting to cough harsh.
For a while Genma just stared at his son, but finally reached out to his forehead...
"My Lord!" he flinced. Quickly he got up from his bed. "Wait! I'll be back!" the man ran out of the room. Ranma panted and finally crashed on floor.
Soon Genma returned to the room with a thermometer.
"Boy!" he shouted as he saw his son laying on floor in between the futons. He put the thermometer in the boy's mouth, but, not surprisinlgy, the boy started coughing, and the thermometer fell on floor. Without a word, Genma took the thermometer and put it in the boy's armpit. He watched the numbers on the digital screen rise.
"No, no..." he mumbled. Finally it beeped. Genma stared at it his eyes wide from horror. "Oh hell..." The man moved Ranma back to his own bed and covered him.
"You stay in bed! Right there!" he shouted and ran out of the room. He seemed insane of worry.
Genma circled the whole dojo, waking everyone up.
"Up! Up! Everyone to the living room!" the man shouted at every door.
"Mmmh.." Akane mumbled and looked at the clock. "Yea right... A bit over 2 AM..."
Everyone got up and and gathered up in the living room, without changing their pajamas.
"Why did you call us here?" Nodoka asked. "Where's Ranma?"
"Soon in hospital!" Genma pointed at his phone in his hand. "I'm calling the ambulance right away!"
"W...what?" everyone flinched.
"What are you talking about?" Soun wondered his eyes wide.
"Ranma has a fever of over 106, is panting, coughing up mucus, can't stay up...", Genma tried to calm down, but he had trouble typing the ambulance number in his phone, as his hands were shaking. Nodoka rushed out of the room to the Saotomes' room, where Ranma was, laying in his bed.
"Ranma dear..." she whispered, sad. She sat down beside him and stroke his hair. She felt his cheeks and forehead. "Don't worry, the ambulance is on it's way. Just a few minutes..."
Genma jogged in.
"They're almost here", he said. "Come.." he lift his son on his back and carried him out of the room. The Saotomes walked to the living room, and Genma put Ranma down on the sofa.
"We will go with him to the hospital", Nodoka said, pointing at her husband, who nodded. "It's clear he won't be coming home with us. So we will be returning when the biggest hassle in over and he's taken in the ward, ready to sleep."
"Which ward will it be?" Kasumi wondered.
"I'm quite sure the children's infection ward. And yes, I don't think we will be gone for long, since they don't really need to take any more tests of him – it IS already clear he has bad influenza. It just came back", Genma nodded, calming down a bit.
Then they heard a car drive to the yard.
"Alright then..." Genma carried his son to the dojo main doors, opened it, and saw two paramedics with a stretcher.
"Good evening, eh, night..." one of them greeted. "Ranma Saotome, hm?" he pointed at the boy, who's father nodded. No other words were needed. Genma put Ranma down on the stretcher , and he was tied up with black belts.
"I'm afraid we cannot take you with us", the other paramedic apologized.
"...Fine then. We'll come after you", Genma nodded.
Ranma was getting pushed in to the ambulance, his parents by his sides. He was coughing hard.
"It's okay, dear", Nodoka calmed her son, on the verge of tears. "We'll meet again soon."
Genma stayed calm. He knew everything would be fine. The ambulance's doors closed, and it drew away fast, sirens not ringing though.
"Great. Do we have to call a taxi? It will get quite expensive going to the hospital and back..." Genma thought out lound. Then Soun walked to them.
"I'll take you there and bring you back. As you said, your journey won't be very long. We will be back here by 4 AM
It didn't take many minutes until all three parents of the dojo were ready to go after the ambulance. For a while they had had an arguement with Akane about would she come with them or stay, and finally it was decided she would stay home.
The trio got into the car. Soun started the car and so they got on their way.
"Why did the influenza return like this?" Nodoka wondered, sitting in the back seat. "I was so sure... So sure he would be fine by morning... He was so well back at the pancake party..."
"It's okay", Genma said, quite calm. "He will most probably stay in the hospital for the night. He already beat the illness once – why not twice?"
Soun stopped the car in front of the ER. The Saotomes got out of the car and started going towards the doors.
"I'll come to you!" Soun called to them. Genma nodded, but Nodoka already ran in from the doors.
"Hmm..." Nodoka looked around. Soon Genma came to her. "Um, sorry..." Nodoka poked a nurse on her shoulder. "Is my son Ranma Saotome here? Young, braided black hair..."
"Hmm... Saotome Ranma..."
Nodoka nodded.
"Come, I'll take you to him."
The Saotomes walked hand-in-hand through the ER, when finally the nurse stopped and revealed Ranma behind a curtain. He had wet cloths on his forehead and bare chest.
"O...Oh..." Nodoka sobbed, knelt down on his level and stroke his braid. Then Ranma started coughing, gagged and threw up. Everyone sighed.
"We will get you to the check in", the nurse said. "But it can take a while, because..."
"I'll do it right now!" Genma said, headstrong, and jogged away. Nodoka watched him leave, but sighed and placed her hand on Ranma's chest.
"Ranma, honey... I'll be back soon", she stroked him. "Just a minute." She walked away.
"...Mom..." Ranma whimpered, miserable.
Soon Nodoka returned with a wooden chair and a few towels with her. She sat down and started wiping vomit off his cheeks. Luckily, there wasn't much of it, barely at all on the mattress.
"Mom..." Ranma mumbled.
"Don't worry. I'm here", Nodoka shushed.
Genma had just arrived at the check in room. He knew how this gone here, after all it was only a few days when he was here the last time. He took a number... 76. He gave a look at the digital screen at the ceiling... 55. He sighed. He started looking around, trying to find a person well enough to maybe switch numbers with him.
"Excuse me", he poked one maybe 30-year-old man's back. "My son is very sick and need fast treatment... I was wondering if you could possibly switch your number with...?"
The man just raised his brow, got up and walked away.
Genma asked maybe ten people, no good. Nobody agreed. The screen showed 67. Genma decided to go see his son and wife. And he didn't like what he saw.
"Ranma-dear..." Nodoka groaned. Ranma was breathing fast and heavy, ja was so soaked in sweat you would think he had just come out of a shower.
"How are things going here?" Genma asked.
"I called a nurse a while ago... She came and just said to wait until we get checked in and gave us Tylenol... Now we just have to try to cool him down with cold compresses. But... What's going to happen now? Did you check in already?"
"My turn will be any minute now..." Genma showed his number. "It's going to be okay."
It took about 15 minutes, when finally it was Genma's turn. He sat at the counter, opposite to a nurse behind it.
"Genma Saotome", the man introduced himself. "My son Ranma Saotome is waiting out there in the acute ward."
"Okay..."
"We've been waiting for a long time. You should hurry."
"Well, I am sorry but we are having a rough day, there are many patients in critical condition, so you will have to wait."
"Excuse me? Wait? There in the other room is laying my son, MY SON, with a fever of almost 107, vomiting, coughing, barely breathing! Now you will get us a doctor RIGHT AWAY!" Genma shouted so loud the whole room went quiet.
"U-uh... Okay", the nurse behind the counter said, startled, starting to do something with the computer. "Go to him. I'll call the doctor right away."
Genma marched insanely frustrated through the ER, heading to his wife and son. But when he walked through the main lobby, he saw Soun sitting on the sofa.
"Soun, come", Genma waved at him. Without a word Soun got up and followed his friend.
"Wait, Genma..." Soun dashed after him. "W-what did they tell you? Why are you so furious?
"They take seriously only patients who ware either pierced with axes or hit by a train!" Genma snorted.
"What? Ranma is still not in the ward yet?" Soun wondered. "It's been a while..."
Soon they arrived at Ranma and his mother. Ranma was laying on his side with a kidney dish against his cheek. His mother was stroking his hair, sad, turning at the arrivals.
"Is the doctor coming?" Nodoka asked, quiet.
"He'd better..." Genma sighed.
And it took less than a minute when a man in a white gown came. And who else would it be if...
"Doctor Abei, good small hours", he introduced, but before he even managed to shake their hands, he recognised them all. "Oh, the Saotome family! How... sad to meet you here again."
"Yes. You said we should return right away if the fever rises back to over 104", Genma nodded.
"Does he have such a high fever?" the doctor asked while taking an ear thermometer from his pocket. He put it in Ranma's ear. "...Oh dear..."
"H-how much...?" Nodoka asked in distress.
"Now we have to do some tests on him. This is a lot worse than influenza. A sequela. Good that you got here fast."
"But how much does he have fever?" Genma was impatient. Soun pat his shoulder, trying to calm him.
"106.5. We are taking him in back to the children's infection ward. We will take blood- and urine samples, CRP and and lung x-rays."
Ranma was moved on an another hospital bed, and was carted through the never ending corridors of the hospital, Genma and Nodoka right beside him, Soun after them.
"Where are we going?" Nodoka asked.
"To the x-rays", the nurse pushing the bed answered. "We will see his lungs. After we get him in the right pose, it will take only a few seconds."
Soon they were there. They walked in to a room with an x-ray camera and a bed in the middle of the room. Ranma's bed was parked and his parents helped him walk towards the camera. But there was this problem – he should be standing between the camera and a board opposite it. He could barely stand for a second, not all still at least.
"I could help him stand..." Nodoka volunteered.
"I am afraid that is not possible. We want to expose to radiaction as few people as possible. He can stand for a couple of seconds."
"Okay, honey. Just until you hear a beep", Nodoka said. She walked away behind a glass wall, where the nurse, Soun and Genma stood.
"Now, still!" the nurse shouted out. They could hear a hum, then a beep. That's it.
"Good! Now..." the nurse was about to day, but then they could see Ranma collapsing off the podium he had been standing on. Everyone ran to him.
"Honey! Are you alright?" Nodoka asked in distress.
"Yea..." the boy nodded and started slowly to get up.
"Okay then, to the ward for CRP, blood- and urine samples."
What do you know. Ranma got the same room he had a few days ago, room number four. He was lifted on the bed in the middle of the room, and the nurse with the other bed walked away. Ranma was coughing his lungs out, holding his hand in front of his mouth. When he gave a look upon it, there was a lot of mucus on it – and, also, a little blood. Nodoka covered her son and pet his chest. Soon two nurses walked in. One of them was actually a laboratorian. She was carrying a bag and pushing a small metallic cart. The other nurse was carrying a red, plastic bag, obviously a blood transfusion, and also a bucket of cold water and some towels on her shoulders. As she stepped beside to Ranma's bed, she put the bucket on the night stand, reached out to the drip stand and put the blood bag hanging down. She connected a thin, plastic tube with the cannula on Ranma's left hand.
"Okay now", the laboratorian parked the cart next to the bed and put the rail down. She reached out to her bag and took out a needle with two small tubes.
"This wont hurt..." the laboratorian mumbled. Ranma reacted in the needle in no way, and in ten seconds both tubes were filled with blood. She put them into the bag and took a small, white, plastic jar from it.
"This is for the urine sample. Call a nurse when you feel like you need to pee", she said and put down the jar on the sight stand. Ranma stared at the jar for a while. He should pee in it? ...Yea, whateva.
"Then, I will take your CRP. Give me your finger."
Ranma gave the laboratorian his index finger. She stung it and filled the small tube with that just one, small drip of blood.
"Alright, that's it", she said and put the tube to that one machine on the cart she had with her. It started whirring strangely.
"Should we be going?" suggested Soun, who was standing at the end of the bed.
"Actually, you shouldn't be here in the first place", the nurse said. "We let you come now just exceptionally. The visiting hours ended at 8 PM. So we ask you to leave."
Soun nodded and walked out of the room. Genma stroke his son's chest with his thumb, sighed and followed his friend. But Nodoka had difficulties leaving her son. She held the kidney dish in front of her son's face as he gagged and hacked.
"Ranma honey, I promise I will be here in the morning. Sleep well", she kissed his burning hot forehead, stroke his hair... When Ranma opened his eyes and reached out to his mother. She hugged his head, trying to avoid the blood. The nurse didn't say anything, just took a tissue from the box on the night stand and started wiping the blood off the boy's cheeks and lips. Nodoka seemed so sad. Genma placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered:
"Come on. There's nothing we can do. Let's let him sleep."
Nodoka sighed.
"It's going to be all okay..." she said and stood up from her chair. She walked slowly to the door, looking behind her shoulder almost every step. As the woman had stepped out of the room, Genma was still standing at the doorway. He stared at his son, curled up, gagging.
"Well... See you tomorrow, boy."