Kirsten would have been more relieved to see Ryan sound asleep when she came home if he wasn't lying on top of his bed, still completely dressed. She put her bags down, sat gently on the bed and began to untie his boots. Kirsten was surprised when Ryan barely stirred as she pulled off the first boot. He rolled over onto his side after she pulled off the second one. And then Kirsten sat there for a moment, debating with herself. She knew Ryan would be a lot more comfortable if he wasn't still wearing his jeans, but well, she knew she couldn't exactly take them off for him. Could she? No, she finally decided, no she couldn't do that. Not to Ryan. Probably not even to Seth any longer. She did reach over to feel his forehead, and she thought he felt pretty warm.

"Ryan...Ryan." She gently shook his shoulder. She wanted to take his temperature, give him some Tylenol, get him to change his clothes and pull his blankets over him, but first she needed him to wake up.

"Ryan!" she said louder as she shook him a little harder, only to hear Ryan groan and then moan, "What?"

"Sorry to bother you, sweetie." Kirsten pretended not to hear Ryan groan again, louder. "But I think you'd sleep better if you changed your clothes and took some Tylenol. Come on, sit up."

Ryan sat up, blinked a couple of times and then stared at Kirsten as she started taking things out of a bag. "You woke me up to tell me how to sleep better? Kirsten, I was already asleep. You didn't need to wake me up to tell me that."

Kirsten hesitated for a split second, trying hard to remember that Ryan didn't feel well and that the worst, according to the doctor, was yet to come. She also reminded herself that this was the first time she had ever seen Ryan sick. She would have never guessed he would be so grumpy. Kirsten figured for now, she'd have to pick her battles carefully with him, and his flip comment wasn't a battle she was going to pick, not at this time. Instead she said, "Here, stick this under your tongue," as she held the thermometer in front of his face.

Ryan stared at the thermometer and then raised his eyes to look at her before snidely saying, "You're going to drive me nuts, aren't you?"

Kirsten tried not to get annoyed. "No, I am not." Then she thought about it. "Actually, I was just thinking the same thing about you."

"Me? Why me? I'm fine. I just have a headache. All I need is two aspir... two Tylenol and some sleep, and then I'll be mmmph..." Ryan didn't get much further in his little tirade as Kirsten pushed the thermometer into his mouth and walked away to get a pair of sweats and one of his wife beaters.

She dropped both onto the bed before going over to get a bottle of water. She returned to pull the beeping thermometer out of Ryan's mouth and frowned at it. "101.9. It went up. If it goes any higher, I'll have to call the doctor again." She was talking more to herself than to Ryan, but that didn't stop Ryan from asking, "Why?"

"Dr. McPete said to call him if your fever goes over 102, or if you remain feverish for more than four days." Kirsten put the thermometer down and picked up the Tylenol. She shook two pills out and handed them to Ryan. She noticed him grimace as he swallowed them. "Throat sore?"

He shook his head before mumbling, "scratchy," and took another drink of water. Kirsten opened another package and took out two more pills that she handed to Ryan. When he looked at the pills in his hand and then looked at her, she said, "decongestant."

"Because the doctor said so," she added when she saw him open his mouth. Ryan sighed slightly but took the pills, grimacing again as he swallowed.

"Why don't you go change?" Kirsten tried to keep her tone light and yet still maintain a no-nonsense edge to her voice. Ryan looked at the clothes lying across his legs and then looked at Kirsten for a second before getting up and heading for the bathroom. He figured the sooner he let her finish doing the nurse thing, the sooner she'd leave, and the sooner he could go back to sleep.

After Kirsten heard the bathroom door shut, she pulled the blankets back on Ryan's bed and then propped a couple of his pillows up so he could sleep with his head elevated, just like Pete said. She then pulled the shades down on all the windows, and realized it might be better if Ryan moved into one of the spare rooms in the house, just while he was sick. He really didn't have any privacy out in the pool house. She quickly decided that she would discuss it with Sandy first and let Sandy talk to Ryan about it. She then collected the Tylenol and the decongestant and put them both back in the bag, but left the thermometer on the nightstand for later.

Ryan walked out of the bathroom as Kirsten was fluffing his pillows some more, and suddenly felt bad for the way he'd been acting. "Um, thanks. And sorry. About before. You really don't have to. I'm just going to lie down for a while and then I'm sure I'll be fine."

Kirsten nodded. "Look, I understand this is the first time you've been sick since you moved here, so this is sort of new for both of us. But it'll be okay. You'll be okay. Sandy and I are both here to help you. Try to go back to sleep, okay?"

Ryan looked over at the bed and then at Kirsten before looking down at his feet and shuffling over towards the bed. He waited until he was next to the bed, and next to Kirsten before he looked at her again. "It's just... I'm kind of used to being left alone when I'm sick. That way I can just sleep it off without bothering anyone."

He hoped she understood. He didn't mean to be nasty or sound unappreciative, but he just didn't need for her to bother.

Kirsten gave his back a gentle rub. "Well, I'm kind of not used to leaving Seth alone when he's sick. You can sleep all you need, but I can't just leave you out here alone until you feel better, especially not if you have the Chicken Pox."

This time it was Ryan who lifted his shirt. "Yeah, but see – nothing."

"That's good." Kirsten gave him a slight smile. "Try to get some sleep. I promise, no one will bother you for a while. I won't wake you up to tell you how to sleep, and I promise to keep Seth out of here. Either Sandy or I will let you know when dinner's ready. Okay?"

Ryan nodded as he looked down at the bed. He wanted Kirsten to leave so he could lie down, but Kirsten wasn't leaving. Since she didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave, Ryan got into bed, figuring she'd take the hint. As he rolled onto his side and reached over to grab his blankets, he felt Kirsten pull the blankets up over his shoulder and then smooth them out around him.

"Night." She quietly picked up her bags and walked out of the pool house.

Ryan lay in bed for a while wondering what was up with Kirsten. Why she was being so... he wasn't exactly sure of the word. Motherly? That wasn't exactly it. Over the past year she had gotten pretty motherly with him. Worried, maybe? But why would she be worried when all he had was a headache or a cold? Overbearing seemed a little too harsh. Maybe overprotective was a better word. Ryan dozed off still trying to figure it out, and never heard Kirsten come in an hour later to feel his forehead and straighten his covers. Nor did he hear her come in again an hour after that.

Another hour later, Ryan slowly become aware of a great deal of movement going on around him, and wondered what Kirsten was doing in the pool house again. She did promise she would leave him alone until dinner, didn't she? It couldn't be dinnertime already.

"Kirsten? I'm fine. Please?" he groaned, without opening his eyes, or rolling over, or picking his head up off the pillow.

"Nah, Ryan. It's not Mom. It's me," he heard Seth say. Ryan opened one eye. Kirsten also promised she'd keep Seth out, too, so what was he doing there?

"I just came in to see how you were doing. Um, Mom said to check on you while she was gone."

"Gone?" Ryan asked as he rolled over onto his back and closed his eyes again.

"Yeah. She went to work and then to the store. Something about ice pops for your throat." Seth flopped down on Ryan's bed.

"Work?" Ryan was surprised that he actually felt a sort of disappointment that Kirsten went to work. She seemed so concerned when she picked him up, and now she was back at work. His disappointment was short lived as Seth told him, "Yup. Went to go pick up her stuff to work from home. Told Grandpa she'd need at least the week off."

Ryan sat up in bed and stared at Seth for a minute. With being so tired and the continuous headache and just waking up, it took Ryan that long to fully understand what Seth was saying. Kirsten was going to work from home? For at least a week? "Why?" he finally asked.

"I don't know." Seth shrugged. "I guess she figured if she told Grandpa she needed more like two weeks off until you were better, he'd have a fit. I guess he can handle one week, and then she'll just take the second week if you're still sick."

"She doesn't need to do that, you know," Ryan said. "I don't need a babysitter. I can stay home alone and take care of myself."

"Yeah, well, the Kirsten doesn't work like that," Seth said. "She's going to stay home the whole time you're home, and watch over you constantly. Just don't make her mad, because trust me, you'd rather have her acting like nice, sweet Nurse Betty and not mean old Nurse Ratchet."

Ryan's expression said it all before he added, "That's just sick."

"I'm just saying. She's going to do it anyway, so you might as well sit back and take it. Heck, you might even enjoy it. She brings you stuff. Lots of stuff. Anything you ask for, she'll bring you. So what if it means she's constantly jamming a thermometer in your mouth if you get stuff out of the deal. I remember when I had the chicken pox...."

"I don't have the chicken pox. I have a cold," Ryan interrupted.

"Mom says you're getting the chicken pox."

"Yeah, well, she's wrong. Look, see." Ryan again pulled up his shirt, this time to show Seth there were no spots on his chest. Seth just shrugged and didn't answer. "Besides, even if it was chicken pox, which it's not, what's the big deal? It's only chicken pox. Why is she being so, um..."

"Nuts?" Seth finished, and when Ryan only shrugged and nodded, Seth said, "It kind of started when my grandma got sick. Everyone thought she just had a cold, but the cold never seemed to get any better. Then she got even sicker, and well, you know. So Mom gets a little crazy when one of us gets sick. And now, my friend, it's your turn."

"Seth!" Both Ryan and Seth jumped at the sound of Kirsten's voice. Neither one of them heard her come in. "I told you to peek in on Ryan, not wake him up!'

"Mom, don't say peek. Guys don't peek in on each other," Seth said, as Ryan bent down to pick up his book bag to hide his smirk.

"I told you not to wake him up. Out! Now!" Kirsten said.

Seth gave Ryan a quick wave and scurried out of the pool house. After Seth left, Kirsten turned to Ryan, ready to take his temperature when she noticed he was pulling out his books. "Ryan, what are you doing?"

"Homework. I have a lot of it, courtesy of Mr. Bendis."

"Mr. Bendis? But he sent you to the nurse during his class. How could you have a lot of homework from him if you weren't even in the class?"

"He assigned it to me before he sent me to the nurse. For falling asleep in his class."

"He punished you for being sick?"

"That's one way to put it."

"Ryan, close the book and put it away. Then give me your backpack. You're not doing homework right now. And you're certainly not doing extra homework for being sick, that I can promise you." By the tone of Kirsten's voice, it was obvious that she was annoyed. Very annoyed. And Ryan was concerned about what that tone meant exactly.

"No, Kirsten, really it's okay. I did fall asleep in his class."

"Ryan. Close the book now and give it to me. You are not doing homework right now. I will deal with Mr. Bendis."

I, uh... Here." Ryan handed over his books, deciding that arguing with her at that moment would probably not be a very bright idea.

Mean, old Nurse Ratchet, Seth's voice was echoing in Ryan's head as he watched Kirsten stuff his books back into his backpack and zip it up. She didn't say a word as she tossed his book bag towards the door and picked up the thermometer again. Ryan just opened his mouth as she put the thermometer in front of him. It was a very quiet minute or two until the thermometer beeped and she pulled it out. Kirsten sighed and then frowned as she looked at it, then looked at Ryan and felt his forehead, but still didn't say anything.

"What?" he finally asked.

"It's still over 100. I had hoped the Tylenol would bring it down." Kirsten looked at her watch before adding, "Well, it'll be four hours soon. Maybe the Tylenol is wearing off early. I'll be back in about forty-five minutes. Try to get some rest. No homework, no Seth, just rest. And drink your water, you don't want to get dehydrated."

"Kirsten, you can just leave the Tylenol, if you want. I can...." Ryan started, until he saw the look on her face. "Rest. Got it. And drink water. Got that, too."

Ryan slumped down in the bed as Kirsten once again fixed his blankets around him, and then ran her hand over his head. He rolled back over onto his side as she walked out of the pool house, taking his backpack with her as she left.

It didn't take long before Ryan started to feel really miserable again. When Seth first woke him up, he felt blah, but as the minutes ticked away on his clock, he could almost feel his fever going up again. He wished Kirsten had left the bottle of Tylenol. He was perfectly capable of taking two Tylenol on his own. He didn't need her to hand it to him. Hell, he knew first she'd stick the damn thermometer in his mouth again. Ryan finally fell into a restless, feverish sleep, annoyed again at Kirsten's overwhelming mothering...nursing... whatever.

By the time Sandy walked into the pool house less then an hour later, Ryan had kicked off his covers and was tossing and turning. Sandy sat on the side of the bed and reached over to feel Ryan's forehead. He wasn't happy at how hot Ryan felt.

"Kirsten," Ryan moaned. "Tylenol. Now. Please."

"It's not Kirsten, kid." Sandy picked up the thermometer. "Here, put this under your tongue."

"God, not you, too," Ryan again moaned. "Just Tylenol. Okay? Tylenol. Leave me the Tylenol."

"I have it. Don't worry about that. But first I need to see how high your fever is." Sandy placed the thermometer in Ryan's mouth.

Ryan didn't say anything, just waited once again for the now familiar beeping sound. At least with Sandy here, Ryan figured he could talk to him about leaving the bottle. Finally Ryan heard the beep and felt Sandy pull the thermometer out. He sat up slightly and opened his eyes, only to see Sandy frowning at him.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asked as Sandy, just like Kirsten, put his hand on Ryan's forehead.

"It's over 102 now. We're going to have to call the doctor back. Here, take these and drink some more water." Sandy handed Ryan the much-wanted Tylenol, as well as his bottle of water. Sandy noticed Ryan wince as he swallowed both the Tylenol and the water, and knew Kirsten was right that they needed to call Pete again and that they needed to move Ryan to a guest room.

"You should feel better soon." Sandy said.

Ryan closed his eyes again. "Uh huh."

"Do you need anything else? More water? Some juice?" Ryan was only half listening to Sandy as he once again sank down into the bed and waited for the Tylenol to kick in.

"Sleep," Ryan whispered. "Need sleep. And the bottle. Leave me the bottle."

"Bottle?" Sandy asked. "Bottle of water? It's right here."

"No, Tylenol. Leave me the bottle of Tylenol." Ryan was hoping Sandy would just put the bottle down and leave. Just leave him alone, with his bottles of water and Tylenol. That, however, wasn't what Sandy was going to do.

"Look, Ryan," Sandy started, "Kirsten wants me to talk to you... Kirsten and I were talking, and we feel it would be better if you moved into the house for now. Just while you're sick. Ryan? Are you listening, kid?"

"Hmm. Yeah. Kirsten wants me to move." Ryan said, already half asleep.

"No, not move. Well, yeah, move. Into the house," Sandy said. "Ryan? Ryan? Are you still with me? Guess not. Okay, well, I guess we'll have to talk about it later."

Sandy left a sleeping Ryan and headed back into the house. A fever of 102.5, Sandy knew that wasn't good. Kirsten needed to call Pete again, and Sandy needed to get the guest room ready.

They were still discussing how to get Ryan into the guest room over dinner, especially after Ryan refused to get out of bed for dinner. He only grunted "not hungry" from underneath his covers. The Tylenol did, thankfully, bring his fever back down to just over 100. Dr. McPete suggested they try Motrin next and then alternate every four hours between the Tylenol and the Motrin, and call him if that didn't do anything.

They were discussing that over dinner, too, and were shocked when the back door opened and a disheveled Ryan came shuffling into the kitchen.

"Hey, sweetie." Kirsten got up and put an arm around Ryan's shoulder. "Here to join us for dinner?"

"No, ice pop." Ryan shuffled towards the refrigerator.

"We got you some soup. Want some soup?" Kirsten asked, but all Ryan said was, "ice pop."

"How about some toast or some crackers with some soup?" Sandy opened the container of chicken noodle, but Ryan just stared at him and then turned back towards the refrigerator.

"Um, Dad," Seth finally piped in. "I think Ryan just wants an ice pop. Hey, Ry, get blue raspberry. They're the best."

"Do you want blue raspberry?" Kirsten gently moved Ryan to the side and opened the freezer for him.

"Don't care." Ryan mumbled as he accepted the blue popsicle from Kirsten. As long as it was an ice pop and not lemon, he didn't really care.

"How about something to drink, too?" Kirsten closed the freezer and opened the refrigerator.

"Soda," Ryan mumbled, but Kirsten told him, "No, not soda. How about some juice?"

"Orange," Ryan again mumbled, but Kirsten again said, "No, not orange. The doctor said nothing citric."

Ryan sighed, then looked at Kirsten and finally whined, "Then what?"

"Cranberry? Cran-apple?" Kirsten asked, but Ryan mumbled, "Cran-grape."

"Here you go. One bottle of Cran-grape. Why don't we get you back to bed?" Kirsten put her arm back around Ryan's shoulder and gently started to guide him towards the living room, to the upstairs.

"I sleep that way," Ryan said as he pointed towards the pool house.

"I know," Kirsten gently said as she continued to lead Ryan through the living room. "But for right now, we think it would be better if you slept upstairs. Okay?"

Ryan nodded. "Fine. Whatever." And then he scratched his stomach.

Kirsten didn't say or do anything at first. Not even when Ryan scratched at his stomach again on the stairs. She waited until she got him comfortable in the guest bed, waited until he finished his ice pop, drank some of his juice, and scratched at his stomach again.

She left Ryan briefly so she could go get the Benedryl and the thermometer. He didn't question her as he took the two pills and opened his mouth. He was too tired to care what she was making him take this time, and he was getting a little too used to having her stick that stupid thing in his mouth every chance she got.

Without saying anything, she gently lifted up his shirt. There still weren't any blisters or red spots or anything, but that didn't stop Ryan from scratching at his stomach again. Kirsten knew that although there weren't any marks yet, the morning would be a totally different story.