Ranma's Flu
1
Ranma held his head. And oh man, it was aching so bad. He closed his eyes, bared his teeth, and...
"A...hhh... CHOO!" he sneezed loud and wiped his nose in his shirt sleeve. He had been feeling like this since last evening. His head and throat were killing him, he kept sneezing and coughing, and was feeling cold. Maybe he had some fever, he figured.
Ranma wobbled into the living room.
"Uhh", he sighed and crashed down on the sofa on his back.
"Hi Ranma", said Akane, who just walked in.
"Achoh!" Ranma sneezed and sniffled.
"Ranma? Are you okay?"
"Yea, yea, I'm fine", Ranma mumbled, covering his face with his hands, massages his cheeks, and took a deep sigh. Akane stared at him, looking a bit worried. Slowly, she walked to him, knelt down by the sofa and placed her hand against his cheek. Her eyes widened.
"Fine, my butt! You're burning up!" she shouted out and ran out of the room to the bathroom, where the medicine box was.
"Thermometer, thermometer... Where's the thermometer..." the girl talked to herself as she was checking the medicine box.
Genma happened to walk to her.
"What are you looking for?" the man asked.
"The thermometer", Akane said, so concentrated in searching that she didn't even look at him.
"Hm? What for?"
"Ranma has a fever."
"Ranma...?"
And so Genma walked to the living room. He saw his son, laying on the couch. The man stared at him for a while and reached out to the boy's forehead... He flinched.
"Whoa!" the man cried out. "My boy, you're on fire!"
"But I feel cold..." Ranma murmured.
Finally Akane arrived with a digital thermometer in her hands. She turned the meter on and put it in Ranma's mouth.
"The numbers keep rising..." she said, worried. Genma pet his son's shoulder. And then the thermometer beeped. Akane took it and gave a look upon at the small, digital screen. Her eyes widened. "103.4... You are very sick."
"Ah...a...CHOO!" Ranma sneezed.
"Now, we'll make a bed for you here in the living room, so we can always be close to you", Genma said. "I will take care of it."
Akane nodded, turning back at Ranma. He had started sweating.
"Oh Ranma..." Akane mumbled, sad, stroking his side.
Genma arrived soon with a futon, blanket and a pillow on his shoulders. He placed them on the floor.
"Get down", Genma said. Ranma got down in the bed.
"I think you should take your shirt off to help get your fever down", Genma nodded. Ranma sat up and took off his shirt.
"I'll get some cold towels", said Akane, and dashed out of the room.
For a while father and the son were quiet, but then...
"CHOO! A-TSHOH!"
"Akane! Bring some tissues!" Genma shouted loud.
"Alright!" she shouted back. She had just filled up a plastic bucket with cold water and took a few, small towels. Now she ran to the bathroom, and took a box of tissues from the medicine box in the shelves. She walked back to the Saotomes.
"Here we go..." Akane said, quietly, as she knelt down next to Ranma on the floor and placed the bucket down. Then she handed over the tissues to him. Ranma took one and blew his nose.
Genma grabbed a towel, put it in the water... But didn't place it on Ranma's forehead.
"Hm? What is it?" Akane asked.
"Will he turn girl if we soak him with cold water?" he wondered. "Well, I guess we'll have to see..."
And so Genma twisted some water off the towel and placed it on Ranma's forehead...
Nothing happenend.
"What is this?" Akane wondered. "He should change..."
"The fever", Genma sighed. "It doesn't matter if we try to drop his body temperature with cold towels, since as long as his fever keeps his temperature high enough, he will not transform."
"...Thank God..." Ranma mumbled with a raspy breath, coughing a few times.
"I'll go brew some porridge for him", Akane said with a bit sad face, and walked away to the kitchen.
Ranma laid on the mattress on the floor, his head on his father's lap. The man held the boy's head and stroked his hair gently.
"Hhh...CHOO!" the boy sneezed and grabbed a tissue, blowing his nose and throwing the paper away.
"How are you feeling, my boy?" Genma asked.
"...It goes", Ranma started coughing.
Akane was in the kitchen, brewing porridge and some hot juice for Ranma. As she heard a few sneezes from the livingroom, she waited for the juice and porridge to be ready, and went back to the medicine box, grabbing a small box of painkillers.
Soon the girl arrived in the livingroom, a tray with porridge, juice and medicine on it.
"There you go", Akane smiled and handed over the tray to Ranma, who sat up slowly. He grabbed the spoon and sniffed the porridge.
"...Don't tell me it smells bad..." Akane mumbled with a grumpy face.
"No, no no..." Ranma sighed. "It's just that... that... ah... CHOOHH! Uhh... Whatever. I'll eat it", he said, sniffed and started eating.
While Ranma was eating, Akane took the medicine box and took two pills in her hand. She grabbed the mug of juice and handed over to Ranma.
"Here you go", she smiled gently. Ranma did blush a bit, but you couldn't tell it from his feverish face. He took the medicine and carried over drinking the juice.
As he took the final gulp and laid down, Genma grabbed the blanket and covered him up. Then he laid his arm over the boy's shoulder, petting him.
They decided to leave Ranma alone to rest. They sat at the kitchen table, having some tea and biscuits. But Ranma sure wasn't sleeping. The sneezing was never-ending and harsh.
"Poor Ranma..." Akane sighed. "How can we help him?"
"...I know!" Genma snapped his fingers. He opened the kitchen cupboard and took out an another plastic bucket, starting to fill it with steaming hot water.
Genma got himself two big towels and took them with the bucket to Ranma. There were lots of used tissues all around the bed.
"Hey, son", he said, placed the hot bucket right next to Ranma's face. "Sit up. You'll be doing some steam inhailing."
So Ranma sat up and crouched over the bucket, covering his back and head with the towels. Akane and Genma sat there, still hearing the sad sniffling , coughing and sneezing.
After maybe fifteen minutes Ranma suddenly gagged, threw the towel away and turned away from the bucket.
"Are you okay?" Akane asked her eyes huge.
"Yea, don't worry", Ranma nodded, took a tissue and blew his nose.
"Now we only need to wait for the medicine to take effect", Genma said, calm.
Ranma had fallen asleep at around 1 PM, and now, at about 6 PM, he was waking up. He turned in his bed and slowly opened his eyes.
"Uhh..." he groaned and bit his lip. "Ahhh... CHOOOOO!"
"So. Ranma must be awake", Akane said. She and Genma were sitting in the kitchen, as they had wanted to let Ranma sleep. Genma was talking on the phone.
"Mr. Saotome..." Akane mumbled. Genma hushed and held his finger in front of is lips.
"Yes, yes... Well, the thing is that Ranma is having a bad, Very Bad flu..." he was talking with Soun. "Hm, yeah, maybe Kasumi could help... Right. Come back, take your time." Genma closed the phone.
"Who was it?" Akane wondered.
"Your father Soun", Genma said as he put down the phone on the table. "He and your sisters will be returning from their cruise today."
"Kasumi maybe wants to take care of Ranma..." Akane mumbled. Genma pet her back.
"I think Ranma will prefer being cared of by you than Kasumi", he grinned.
"Y-you think so?" Akane asked eyes wide.
"Hhhhhh... ACHOOO!" Ranma sneezed. He had like hid under his blanket – all you could see was a bump on the floor. Genma stepped into the living room. After seeing his son laying under the blanket, he couldn't help but chuckle. But when the boy sneezed and coughed again, he got serious. But he had a plan.
"What do you think about having a hot shower?" the man suggested. Ranma dug up from the blanket and sat up. Genma reached his hand to him and helped him up.
"Wait a sec. I'm getting shampoos and towels. I'll come get you."
"Right..." Ranma mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
Genma dug the wardrobes, looking for some towels. Akane walked to him.
"Mr. Saotome?" she wondered. "What are you looking for?"
"Towels. Ranma is will be having a shower. Could you get the shampoos?"
"Sure", Akane nodded. As she walked through the house she also walked past the living room. She stepped in. Ranma was laying on the sofa, holding the tissue box. "How are you feeling?"
"...Been better..." Ranma mumbled with a stuffed voice.
"A shower will be good for you!"
Soon Genma marched into the living room with a towel in his hands. He waved the boy to follow him. Slowly Ranma got up from the sofa, and with heavy steps, followed his father to the bathroom. Akane was following them.
Exhausted, Ranma crashed on the toilet seat beside the shower. First, Akane looked at Ranma, then the shampoo bottles in her hands.
"A-Ahhh...CHOH!" Ranma sneezed and shivered, feeling lightheaded. Akane and Genma looked at each-other. Genma rolled his eyes, sighed and pet his son's shoulder.
"Right, I'll give you a hand."
"I guess I'll go cook some dinner, as dad and sisters are returning any minute", Akane said. When Ranma started undressing, she blushed and fast walked away.
"HHH-CHO!" Ranma stood in the shower, naked, his back towards his father. Genma undid the boy's pigtail, and put a pink apron on himself.
"Here we go..." he said and squeezed some shampoo on his son's hair. After he had lathered it he handed over a sponge with soap to Ranma.
"Oh it's been like, eight years since I last washed your hair!" Genma grinned "Take your time washing yourself. Let the shampoo take effect."
"Ya know nothin' about having hair..." Ranma mumbled.
"Haha! You still have your sense of humor! What a good sign!" the man laughed and pet Ranma's back.
"Okay", Ranma said as he handed over the sponge. He washed off the shampoo slowly. Then Genma grabbed a towel and started rubbing the boy's hair dry with it.
"Daa-aad..." Ranma mumbled, as Genma was doing it the hard way.
"There", Genma nodded as Ranma's hair was almost dry. "Just a second", the man said and walked out of the bathroom. Ranma sat on the toilet seat, looking miserable. But then the door opened...
"Da..." Ranma was about to say, but what do you know - it was Akane! Both teens screamed and Akane rushed out from the door, banging it shut.
"Now what is going on in there?" asked Genma, who just came to Akane. He had a mint-colored bathrobe in his hands.
"U-uh... It was an accident!" Akane stammered.
"What was what?"
"W-well I... I had to go to the bathroom and I thought Ranma was already out... But then I stepped in and he was there, all naked..."
Genma started laughing. Akane was not amused.
"Don't you worry", the man grinned. "Just get back to your cookings."
Genma peeked in to the bathroom. And there the boy was sitting on the toilet seat, wrapped in a towel, shivering a bit.
"Come on, my boy. Here, to warm you up", Genma handed over the bathrobe. Ranma stood up and put it on .
"Lets go. I know what to do to help you feel better", Genma nodded. They walked to the living room.
"Now what...?" Ranma asked with his nose runnny, sniffing..
"Sit on your bed."
And so Ranma crashed on the mattress on the floor, his father right behind him. First the man braided his son's hair, then reached out to the digital terhmometer on the low table in the middle of the room. He put it on and in Ranma's mouth. He grabbed him from his shoulders and started massaging him.
He kept massaging his son's shoulders, when finally the thermometer beeped.
"Hmm... This is quite bad", he mumbled, carrying on with the massaging. "Where does it hurt?" he asked, calm.
"Neck... Head... Shoulders... Everywhere, kinda..." Ranma listed. "...Hnng!" he bit his tooth while Genma massaged his shoulders.
"You're as stiff as rock", the man sighed.
The massage went on in complete silence, until...
"Ahhh... CHOOH!" Ranma sneezed. He sniffed and gulped, finally mumbled quietly:
"Thanks, daddy..."
Genma's eyes widened.
"You're welcome. My boy."