By roughly ten o'clock, the entire house was silent and still as all occupants drifted off to sleep, some more fitfully than others.
At around three in the morning, the quiet of the house was quite rudely intruded upon when Jack opened his eyes and discovered very large eyes located about an inch away from his.
Naturally this would startle anyone, but Jack had opened his eyes in the first place because of a rather unpleasant dream in which an owl had decided he was its chick and was trying to sit on his chest. And the owl was too warm and too heavy and was half smothering him and, as sometimes happened in dreams, gave off a sort of 'wrong' vibe (not at all the sort of vibe that real owls gave Jack) and unsettled him. So startling out of a dream involving a large eyed bird, to see large eyes quite close to him in the dark, did not make for a quiet awakening.
In fact he cried out, though not loudly as his voice, by that point, was almost as hoarse as Jane's, but he also startled up, banged his head against the intruder, knocked something off the nightstand with his flailing arm that responded by breaking against the floor (in fact, it later proved to be a picture frame and he felt horrible about it when he realized, but the picture inside of Michael and Kate turned out to be unharmed). This was naturally quite loud. And Jane startled awake, rolled away from the commotion in her half-awake confusion and alarm, and promptly fell out of the bed entirely with quite a loud thump. And the intruder with the large eyes was just as startled as anyone, and he fell backwards (thankfully not on the broken picture frame) and his voice when he cried out wasn't hindered by hoarseness.
So all in all, it wasn't long before pretty much every inhabitant of the house ran into the room in various states of wakefulness. Ellen, for instance, was sensible enough to don her robe and slippers and grab an electric torch but Annabel only thought to grab her robe, John was wearing Annabel's slippers, and Michael had neither robe nor even socks but was also the fastest and the quickest to understand what had happened once he got the lights on.
"Is everyone okay?" he asked, first picking up Georgie (who of course was the large-eyed intruder) and then, having seen his son standing on his feet, hurrying around the side of his bed to where Jane was pulling herself up.
"Fine, I'm fine," Jane said, her voice actually a bit improved to what it had been, but Michael, who had taken her half in his arms to help her up, frowned anyway.
"I think your fever has risen again," he said.
"'s that why the owl was so hot?" Jack whispered, then coughed roughly, and he had a definite wheeze to his breathing.
"What owl?" asked John, as he blinked his eyes a lot.
"There was an owl," Jack explained vaguely, "Was sitting on my chest. And I opened my eyes and saw it, only was Georgie."
"I dreamed you had a big wedding at the church, only after you had to go to lie in a grave because you were dead," Georgie said solemnly while absently rubbing at his forehead where Jack's head had hit it. "So I came to make sure you hadn't gone to heaven while I was sleeping."
"Oh, I knew there'd be nightmares to come of this," Ellen said. "I'll go fetch the thermometer and put the kettle on."
"You said it was only a little illness," Annabel said, just a hint of accusation in her voice. Michael opened his mouth to explain, started to yawn instead, then sneezed in the middle of the yawn. He looked so surprised by this that in most any other situation everyone would have laughed. It wasn't the sort of night for laughter though, and instead it brought frowns to everyone's faces.
"You've caught my cold now," said Georgie, sounding quite miserable. "I've given it to everyone."
"You caught our cold," Jane tried to explain again, but Ellen appeared again with remarkable alacrity and before she could say any more on the matter she had a thermometer stuffed in her mouth.
Jack, who would normally be among the first to try and reassure the children, instead sat up silently against the headboard to the bed and looked towards her with a worried sort of frown, occasionally coughing into his sleeve and still breathing all too audibly to be healthy. Michael did try to add his own opinion on the matter, then sneezed three times in a row, and desperately hoped he did just have Georgie's cold and that he wasn't about to be as sick as Jane and Jack.
"38.4," was the end result of Jane's fever, which was certainly not what anyone had hoped for, but not so high that it was necessary to call for the doctor right in that moment.
"Ugh," was what Jane said to Ellen's reading, and then, seeing as Jack didn't look much better (and sounded rather worse) Ellen threatened to try him next (after the thermometer was properly washed, of course).
"I'm fine," Jack tried to say, not liking the idea of holding the thing under his tongue when it was easiest to breathe through his mouth and he knew he'd cough and all in all, it wouldn't go well. And he didn't think he had much of a temperature; it was Jane who was the smothering hot owl.
Perhaps saying that last bit out loud was not the best idea in avoiding having his temperature taken.
"I thought it was Georgie who was the owl," John said, sounding a bit confused and still half asleep. Anabel, by that point, had noticed the broken picture frame and was distracted by trying to pick up the pieces before someone stepped on glass. And despite what every alarmed parent is convinced will happen when it comes to children around broken glass, she managed to do it without cutting herself as well.
"And don't think you're not next," Ellen threatened Michael (who had managed to stop sneezing and must be confessed to have been trying to hold in laughter watching Jack trying to evade Ellen). In fact, Jack managed to cough it out twice (on the bed, thankfully; the last thing they needed was a broken thermometer), and looked quite pleased with the 'accident', until Jane said, "Please, Jack, do try," in a worried sort of croak. So he did try…and still coughed, because there are things no one can control, but somehow he did have it long enough to get a reading.
"38.2," Ellen tutted.
"Aunt Jane wins, then," said Georgie, apparently over his upset and not quite catching onto what the temperatures meant. "Because four is higher than two."
"It's her s'made me warm," Jack tried to say, his words barely legible between the hoarseness, the wheezing, and the way his eyes looked slightly glazed.
Michael, it should be noted, turned out to not have much of a fever at all but was only 37 degrees, and neither did the children or Ellen, as it was that sort of middle of the night and everyone tried the thermometer if only to put each other at ease that they weren't sick. In fact, Annabel was slightly warmer than expected too, at 37.1, but Georgie, who was the most obviously ill among the children, didn't have a fever at all.
"I did say we'd all catch it in the end," said Michael while he stared hard at Annabel for further signs of illness.
"I'll fetch the medicine, shall I?" said Ellen, causing the children to instinctively shrink away even though they were fairly certain she meant for Aunt Jane and Uncle Jack and not for them.
Ellen was some time away this time, because she got downstairs to find the kitchen was nearly set on fire. She had forgotten about the tea she was making and was only just in time to stop the near empty kettle from boiling away completely and burning up. There was only enough left in the pot for half a mug. The kettle was boiling hot enough that she prudently added a bit more and quickly had enough hot water for all of them.
It did mean she came up with the tea, which she somehow managed not to drop on the way, and forgot the medicine.
"Oh no," moaned Jack when he saw the mugs, just as though it were medicine of the worst kind, and he hid under his covers. John went to fetch the forgotten medicine while Jane tried to coax Jack out and Michael tried not to start laughing again (and succeeded when he started sneezing instead).
All in all, it was close to four in the morning when the house settled down again. And of course Michael didn't sleep properly even then, constantly popping into his bedroom to make sure things hadn't gone worse. Which in turn left him with almost no sleep and a worse cold than he might have had. Luckily, the next day was Saturday, and there was no school or work for anyone. That also meant that, despite Michael's intention to retake temperatures first thing, and call for the doctor if they remained high, he wound up sleeping in instead.
Jack woke up first. He woke rather disorientated, saw the sunlight streaming in, and panicked that he'd overslept and left his lanterns lit all along his route.
So he jumped out of the bed, with a loud sort of thump and a bit of a cry, danced around trying to figure out where he was, and where his clothes were, and, in his half-awake confusion, thought the best way to get to the lantern he could see outside was through the window.
"Jack?" said Jane's voice just as he got it open, and then, between the cool air and Jane, Jack remembered the truth of the matter.
"Sorry," said Jack, a bit vaguely and not entirely sure what he was apologizing for. He might well still have tried to go out (though likely more sensibly through the door) except in his more awake state he noticed what he hadn't before; the lamp had already been turned down for the day. Which made him feel vaguely guilty but also suddenly exhausted and he started back to bed only to miss a step somewhere and sat down on the floor.
The thumps and bumps were enough to wake Michael, who had an ear tuned for disturbances (a trick usually used to take care of his children), and of course then he realized he'd overslept, had a bit of confusion himself from being in the guest bed, and was already composing explanations to his boss over his lateness before he remembered it was Saturday. Then of course he remembered why he was in the guest bed, and that he'd heard thumps, and he went to check on Jack and Jane.
He found them both sitting on the floor, because of course Jane wasn't going to just leave Jack there, and the window still open (and it was a rather chilly morning) and both stared up at Michael with identical lost looks of confusion, but at least Jack wasn't coughing or wheezing anymore, and Jane wasn't sniffling either.
"Let's get you back to bed, then," said Michael, deciding he didn't need to know about the window or why they were sitting on the floor. Only when he looked at the bed he found it a disgusting mess of damp sheets and crusty handkerchiefs and twisted blankets.
"On second thought," said Michael, "Let's change the sheets, and then get you to bed. Perhaps you would like to take turns with a bath as well?" Because if that was the state of their bed, then they probably weren't much better.
"That sounds lovely," said Jane. Jack sort of stared at Michael rather worryingly, as though he weren't entirely sure what a bath was, but then spoke perfectly coherently to say, "I haven't a change of clothes."
"You can borrow more of mine," said Michael, and in his head he kicked himself for not thinking to ask for Jack's clothes when he had stopped by his place.
"Oh good, you're up," said Ellen from the doorway while holding a tray with two cups of the dreaded tea and the thermometer placed ominously between. Towards Michael, she said, "You can help bring up their breakfast."
"How?" Michael muttered, not in question of how he was to bring up Jane and Jack's breakfast, but in response to how awake and put together Ellen looked that morning.
"Oh, when you get to be as old as me you get quite set in your schedule, young man," Ellen said, sounding ridiculously cheerful for the early morning hour. "Well? What are you two doing on the floor? And the window open! We'll all catch our deaths!"
Under normal circumstances, Jack was quite brave, and he would throw himself between Jane and danger. In the current circumstances, he half hid behind Jane and said, "Women and children first!"
No one, including Jack, was entirely sure what he meant by that. Jane, also under normal circumstances, would protect Jack with every fiber of her being. This time, however, she seized onto his words and used them to save herself.
"Right, I'll just take my bath first then, shall I?" And she looked entirely unrepentant in the face of Jack's betrayed, wounded look, which Michael thought quite a feat because he felt a bit guilty from that look and it had nothing to do with him.
Michael went to fetch the breakfast and so missed most of the drama that followed. In fact, it must be confessed he took his time, making sure every dish was settled just right, and added a few extra napkins before slowly and carefuly carrying it all up.
When he reentered his bedroom, he found the window closed, Jack, in an adorable sulk that could well rival Michael's children, sitting in the chair by the window with the thermometer stuffed in his mouth, and Ellen busily stripping the bed. Jane was no longer in the room, presumably making good on her desire for a bath.
"Here we go," said Michael as he settled the breakfast things on the small table by Jack. He got a grumpy sort of glare for his efforts. Michael didn't think he'd ever seen Jack look so grumpy in all the time he knew him, in fact, and had a hard time not laughing in response.
"Well, I suppose that's been long enough," Ellen decided, suddenly at their side as she plucked the thermometer from Jack. She squinted at it for a long moment.
"Well?" Michael asked at last. "Do I need to fetch the doctor or an ambulance?"
"37.3," she announced, glaring at the thermometer as though it displeased her for actually daring to suggest Jack's fever had gone down to almost nothing. Then, rather ominously, she added, "But morning temperatures are always low. It's the afternoon and nights we have to watch for."
"Told you I was better this morning," Jack said. "I should do my own lights this evening."
"We'll see," Michael said, an answer known by parents everywhere. And like children everywhere, Jack seemed to sense Michael really meant, 'absolutely not,' because he scowled darkly at him. Michael's fingers twitched to sketch that look, if only for later proof that Jack can, on occasion, be just as snappish as the rest of them.
"And how is Jane?" Michael asked, somehow feeling more cheerful, the more Jack scowled. There was something vaguely satisfying in being cheerful when others are not.
"She ran off before I could check hers," Ellen answered, clearly not pleased. "And doubtless she's taking a boiling hot bath, no matter that I warned her to use cool water, and she'll bring her fever to something dangerous!"
Michael did not take Ellen's dire pronouncement particularly seriously, but just raised an eyebrow. Jack stopped scowling at his breakfast to look towards the door with some worry.
"And you!" Ellen said, making both men jump, but it was to Jack that she spoke. "Why aren't you eating your lovely, wholesome food? How are you to get well if you don't keep strong?"
"I was waiting on Jane," Jack answered. "It's polite to wait on a lady."
"Hmph," Ellen answered, but she looked pleased by the answer and only said, "Well, it's better hot," and didn't keep at him to eat it.
"I thought 'hot' was to be avoided as it would raise their fevers to a dangerous degree?" Michael said, which he thought quite clever until it put all of Ellen's attention on him, and then he felt rather the opposite.
"Still have your sniffles, I see," she said. "And you look a bit flushed. Let's just see what sort of fever you've managed to get!"
Only she was obliged first to go and wash the thermometer, and Michael prudently ran off to check on his children. They continued to sleep. Annabel's forehead, when checked, was not particularly warm, and neither was John or Georgies'.
In the end, it turned out that no one in the house had much of a fever that morning (Jane did in fact take a scalding hot bath, but somehow this didn't have the dire consequences that Ellen had predicted) and the sheets on beds got changed, and Michael managed to find something for Jack to wear that would be comfortable to lie around in, and the children (when they finally woke) found it funny to sleep in half the morning.
It was a very quiet sort of day. Michael sketched, mostly all the sketches he'd wanted to make of Jane and Jack, and Georgie drew another get well picture, this time of an owl for Jack, and the other children drew or read and all in all behaved marvelously considering they were all made to stay quiet indoors when the weather was finally showing a bit of sunshine and it was a Saturday.
And no one had to sit on Jack when it came close to time for him to light the lamps (as Ellen had predicted, his fever actually had gone up in the afternoon, but only very slightly), but only because Jane told him that if he was well enough to go out, then so was she, and she would go to hand out flyers for SPRUCE. And Jack was so horrified by the idea of her going out when she was only just getting better that he had to concede to her point and laugh.
"But I do have to get back to work tomorrow," Jack added, with a determined sort of look in his face. "It's not fair to the others; they all have colds too and it's hard on them."
"Alright," said Michael, ignoring his the way his sister was now glaring at him with an alarmingly murderous expression. He had had that glare in his direction often enough to be near immune anyway. Then he added, "I'll just go tell the other leeries that you're almost better but you think you need to do your job. I'm sure they'll appreciate your work ethic."
To which Jack had to huff and cross his arms, because he knew perfectly well that if Michael went to his friends and said exactly that then his friends were likely to sit on Jack rather than let him do his fair share of the work.
Michael clearly knew it too, because he smiled, and Jane stopped trying to murder him with her eyes and actually looked appreciative instead. But then Michael grew more serious again and felt the need to say, "It might be just a cold, Jack, but it could get so much worse. I don't want to keep you from your job or helping out your friends but…just imagine Jane in your place. Would you want her to go out the very day after she got over being sick? All I'm asking is that you wait until you're fever is completely gone; and for a full day, mind."
And he didn't add that he was glad Jack was there sick too, and not just because that would be a horrible thing to say to someone, but he was. If it had just been Jane sick, they really would have had to sit on her to make her stay in bed until she was fully well. But Jane wouldn't go out if she thought it meant Jack would before he was ready…and Jack would stay for Jane.
They really did deserve each other.
And all in all, they actually stayed in Michael's house, warm and dry and resting, for four more days, despite being only mildly sick for the final two. Then they stayed an extra two while still going out, but that was more because they felt the need to return the favor.
"I take it all back," Michael grumbled as Jack and Jane carefully tucked him into bed. "You were fine to go to work and so am I."
"It's only until your fever has been gone for a full day," Jack said, far too cheerfully. "Now, drink your tea."
And because Michael was a sensible grown man and father, he did not throw his tea at Jack but sipped it slowly, and allowed that its heat did feel rather good on his throat.