CHAPTER 5- MAKING IT THROUGH THE NIGHT
By the time Sandy got home with the new meds it was clear that Kirsten was worried. She had remained in Ryan's room, something the teen was unaware of since he had fallen back asleep. The boy had been tossing and turning restlessly and was still shivering an indication of a rising temperature. Coughing spurts were certainly not helping him gain his rest either.
"I'm back." Sandy whispered as he returned to the room trying not to wake the sick boy.
"Thank goodness Sandy. I'm so worried about him. Seth never had this much trouble with flu bugs." Kristen replied the wringing of her hands indicating just how worried she was.
"He'll be okay. He's a tough kid. Just look how far he has already come."
"You're right. Let me wake him so we can try the new medications." She walked over to the sleeping teen and gently began shaking his shoulder. Soon fever glazed blue eyes were locked onto her.
"Let me help you sit up sweetheart. We've got the new meds. Let's get that temp down. Looks like you have prescription strength Motrin for the fever and also Zofran for the nausea."
Together Sandy and Kirsten helped Ryan sit up. They gave him the anti-nausea med first and then let him rest for ten minutes before administering the fever reliever. When after an hour the meds had stayed down and Ryan seemed to be resting more comfortably Kirsten gently stuck the ear thermometer in to get a reading. She was relieved to see it come up as 103.1 still high but at least moving in the right direction.
"I think I'll stay in here tonight just in case." Kirsten said grabbing a quilt from the closet and a pillow and settling down in the recliner.
"Alright just yell if you need something the other monitor is still in our room."
The next hours passed uneventfully aside from Kirsten waking Ryan once more around 4am for another dose of medication. His fever remained high but had gotten no worse.
Around 6:45 Seth peered in worried about his brother as he got ready for school. He immediately noticed his mom asleep in the recliner and figured Ryan must have had a rough night. Right about the time he started to backpedal quietly out of the room Ryan's eyes opened and caught his.
"Bathroom?" He croaked looking embarrassed at the fact that he needed help.
"No problem." Seth immediately replied and soon the dark haired teen was helping his blonde counterpart much like the day before. When Ryan had finished relieving himself, Seth helped tuck him back in. Kirsten smiled at seeing her son helping Ryan.
"How are you feeling today?" Kirsten asked the sick teen.
"Not so great." The boy managed before erupting in a coughing fit that sounded worse than the night before. A slight wheeze seemed to accompany his breathing afterwards though it abated after a few minutes.
"I can imagine. You had a rough night, but at least the meds seem to be working so far. Dr. Peters will be in around 7:30am to look you over again so why don't you try and rest more till then. I can't give you any more meds till 8."
"Alright."
With that being said Kirsten and Seth slipped downstairs. Sandy had prepared bagels for everyone and was quietly reading the paper.
"Looks like rain again today; so Seth, grab your bagel and I'll drop you off at school. Can you get a ride home?"
"Yeah it's not a problem. Summer said she'd drop me by. She might want to check in on Ryan herself anyways. I'm not sure she'll trust my updates."
"We'll see how he's feeling. He may not be up for visitors. Keep your phone with you today. I'll text you if anything changes here."
"Sounds good. You guys don't have work?"
"I don't. I called off. I'm not sure about your mom."
"I'm going to stay home too. I called dad last night and let him know that would be the case. He grumbled about it, but he knows better than to get between me and my kids."
"Not that he really sees Ryan as your kid." Seth added.
"Doesn't matter I see Ryan as my kid."
"Yeah I know. I'm glad mom. It really is great having a brother. Not to say you guys aren't great, but you know it's nice to have another kid who just gets you."
"We know. Alright boys get out of here before Seth is late to school."
"Yes mam- both chorused together with mock salutes." Kirsten rolled her eyes as she watched them walk away. She really was grateful to have such a wonderful family. With that thought in mind she settled back with her coffee to wait for the doctor.