Monday 2nd May 2022, 11am
With 6 year old Daniel at school, 2 year old Ella in the crèche and Sam and Tom working the ED it seemed like an ordinary day. However, one phone call was all about to change that...
"Sam, there's a Mrs Perry on the phone for you." Zoe stated with a hint of annoyance that the phone at the nurses station was being used for a personal call rather than an emergency.
"Er, right." Sam walked over and cautiously put the phone to her ear. "Mrs Perry?"
"Hello Mrs Kent, I'm the school nurse at Holby Primary school and I'm afraid Daniel has fallen ill at school. Would it be possible for you to come and pick him up?"
"Um..." Sam glanced around at the chaotic ED that she knew was already understaffed, especially with a lack of doctors in the department, however she decided that her son was more important than work. "Yes, sure. What are his symptoms?" Sam asked curiously.
"He's got a headache, temperature of 38.2° and his teacher noticed that he didn't eat his snack at break time so I think lack of appetite too. It's probably just a cold coming on." She replied and Sam had to bite her lip from snapping back about the fact that the nurse was being patronising because she probably presumed that the mother had no medical knowledge whatsoever.
"Alright, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes." Sam stated.
"Okay, thank you Mrs Kent."
"Bye." Sam put the phone down and then ran her hands over her face, but when she looked back up, she found Tom standing by her.
"You okay?"
"Yeah um, Daniel's ill at school; the nurse just phoned so I'm gonna go and pick him up and take him home." Sam replied.
"What like stomach bug or-"
"The nurse reckons it's 'just a cold'." Sam sighed.
"Right okay. Well if you text me then I can go to tescos quickly on the way home and get a couple of bits for him." Tom stated as he and Sam made their way to the nurses station.
"Don't forget to pick Ella up from the crèche." Sam said sternly as she began to get changed into a pair of skinny jeans, a top and a dark blue hoodie.
"Like I'd forget to pick my own daughter up!" Tom protested.
"You've done it before." Sam retorted.
"Only once."
"Twice." Sam corrected as she put her scrubs in the wash and her phone and keys in her pocket.
"Hey you. I hear you're not feeling very well." Sam said sympathetically as she crouched down to greet her 6 year old son whom the nurse had just walked to reception. His school uniform consisted of grey trousers, a white shirt and blue jumper. "Has he had any paracetamol?" Sam queried.
"Unfortunately, we're not allowed to give out painkillers in this school unless a parent provides them to us for a specific health condition." The nurse replied.
"Right, let's get you home and tucked up in bed. And you can have some of that nice strawberry medicine that you like." Sam said as she took Daniel's blue Velcro book bag off of him and slowly walked him out to the car. "What do you want to do when we get home?" Sam asked once he was sitting on his booster seat in the back with his seatbelt done up and she pulled out of the car park. "We could, watch a movie, read a book, have some icecream..." Sam listed.
"I'm not hungry." Daniel mumbled.
"Wow, you must be poorly if you don't want ice cream." Sam remarked. And the rest of the journey home was silent. Sam helped him out of the car and then as soon as they entered their house Daniel went upstairs whilst Sam grabbed the calpol and then she went upstairs to find him trying to take his blue jumper off. "Here, let me give you a hand. If you're feeling hot, do you just want to lie down in your pyjamas?" Sam suggested.
"Yes please." Daniel replied grumpily and so he got changed, reluctantly took some calpol and Sam left him to have a lie down for a little while whilst she decided to get on with some house chores.
1pm
Sam came downstairs after offering Daniel a sandwich that he only took a bite out of and then said he didn't want it, and decided to ring Tom because she knew that he would be on his lunch break.
"Hello?"
"Hi." Sam replied feebly.
"How's Daniel doing?"
"He's pretty grumpy, bless him. But I'm not sure if it's a cold or not because eyes got a headache, a fever and lack of appetite but he hasn't got a runny nose, or a sore throat."
"Maybe we'll just have to wait and see-"
"Mummy, I'm itchy." Daniel moaned as he stood in the doorway of the living room and he was scratching his back.
"Hang on Tom." Sam said as she put the phone on the armrest of the sofa. "Come here, let me have a look." Sam said worriedly as Daniel turned around and he slowly lifted Daniel's pyjama top off to reveal a couple of red patches on his back and upon further inspection, Sam found more similar red clusters behind his ears, on the back of his neck and on his arms. And that was without taking his pyjamas off. "This isn't a cold." Sam muttered to herself. "Okay Daniel, don't scratch yourself for me. I know you're itchy but just do as I say for now." Sam ordered sternly as she picked the phone back up. "Tom?"
"Yep."
"He's got chickenpox." Sam announced.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, it all adds up. He's got rashes all over him but I've only just noticed. God, why didn't I think of this earlier?"
"Calm down, there's nothing you could've done to help him." Tom stated. "Um, just do what you can at home, maybe give him a cold bath and I'll try and get away from work and get some calamine from pharmacy and bring Ella home early too." Tom stated as he knew that Sam would only get stressed by trying to deal with Daniel by herself without any help.
"But what if she gets it?"
"The younger they get it, the less severe it'll be." Tom stated. "Maybe it's worth letting her catch it now so that we can treat them both at the same time."
"But what about the Von Willebrand disease? If she scratches the spots and she bleeds then it might not stop."
"Well then we can give her a small dose of clotting factor before she starts getting spotty." Tom stated.
"I don't know Tom."
"Well, if we bring her home then we can keep her away from Daniel for now unless you change your mind. Okay?"
"Yeah. Okay." Sam agreed slowly.
"I'll see you soon."
"Bye."
3pm
Daniel was developing more and more spots every hour and Sam was struggling to stop him from scratching them. Even after she had cut his fingernails as short as she could without damaging them.
"Just sit still for me, and this should make you feel a bit better." Sam said as Daniel sat completely naked in the bathroom whilst Sam slowly began to rub the calamine lotion into Daniel's back using cotton wool balls both of which, Tom had brought home from work. Daniel had spots on his back, neck, face, chest, belly arms and a couple on his legs; they were everywhere.
"Sam..." Tom began as he poked his head around the door.
"Yes."
"Don't panic, but Ella has been a little bit grumpy. And I'm not sure if it's because she had to leave playtime early or not." Tom admitted.
"Well where is she?" Sam asked worriedly.
"She is currently having a wee on her potty but she was adamant that she wouldn't go unless I left the room." Tom stated as he kept on glancing out his bedroom doorway to check that Ella wasn't wandering and that she was still in their ensuite bathroom, or at least still in her parent's bedroom.
"Daddy I done!" Ella announced so Tom left Sam to it before he went back to the bathroom where Ella was standing next to her white and pink potty with her flowery dress tucked into her white tights at the front where she had pulled them up. And her brown wavy hair was up in a high ponytail to keep it out of her face.
"Well done, right. Let's sort your dress out." Tom stated as he did so. "And now, what do you need to do?" Tom asked.
"Wash hands." Ella stated confidently.
"Yep, you need to wash your hands." Tom said as he lifted Ella on to her step by the sink and he helped her to use the foamy soap that she loved to use before he lifted her down and she dried her hands on the towel. "Right, you know Daniel is ill? Well I need to check that you're not ill too so how about we go and get you changed into something a little bit more comfortable and then we can go and play downstairs?" Tom suggested as he tried to discreetly check if Ella had spots on her body too and he knew that she liked to be difficult when it came to her body because she wouldn't let Tom anywhere near her when she went to the toilet or have a bath but she tended to be a little less resistant when it came to getting changed because he always let her wear whatever she wanted to.
"Okay." She nodded as she put her hand up in the air and Tom smiled as he held her hand and walked her to her pink palace of a bedroom.
"Right, how about... This top and a pair of comfy jeans?" Tom suggested as he took a colourful checkered shirt and pair of stretchy waisted jeans out of her draws.
"Socks!"
"Yes, and socks." Tom grinned as he put the clothes on her bed and then got on his knees. He pulled her dress over her head, leaving her in just her white tights and as he got her shirt ready to put on, he looked in the corner of his eye to see that her chest and belly were perfectly normal with no redness at all. "There we go. One arm in... And the other arm in." Tom said as he put the shirt around her and then began to do up the buttons. He checked once more as he changed her into her jeans and then her socks, and thankfully there were no spots on her at all so maybe she was just in a grumpy mood.
"Daniel, list- listen to me." Sam ordered her screaming son who abruptly silenced. "I know you're in pain and I know you want to itch your spots but the more you scratch them, the longer they'll be there. Okay? If you don't scratch them, they'll go away quicker." Sam said pleadingly and thankfully, Daniel put his hands down by his sides. "Good boy. Look, I understand how you're feeling, honestly I do. But I'm doing all I can do to help you okay, there's nothing more I can do. Please just stay calm and don't cry." She begged.
"But it hurts." Daniel sobbed.
"I know it does Daniel." Sam said sympathetically. "Look you haven't had anything to eat since breakfast this morning, is there anything you want to eat? Or any drink that you want? I need Daddy to go to tescos for me so he can get you anything you want."
"Even chocolate cake?" Daniel asked.
"You can only have some chocolate cake, if you have a bit of pasta for your dinner yeah? Just plain pasta. Or you could have some cheese with it or something like that."
"Okay. Can I have some apple juice as well please?"
"Seeing as you asked so nicely." Sam smiled. "Now-
"Sam. I think you should take a look at this." Tom shouted from downstairs.
"What is it?" Sam asked worriedly as she arrived downstairs with Daniel wrapped in just a towel behind her.
"Um, I... I didn't notice it when I was dressing her because I didn't check her back, I was only at the front but it must've spread since then." Tom admitted as Ella stood in just her jeans, underwear and socks where Tom had removed her checkered shirt to reveal that on her back, she had half a dozen red blotches and there were a few on her sides too. "The good thing is that they don't seem to be bothering her." Tom added.
"I need to give her some clotting factor." Sam stated.
"Right well why don't you both sit down on the sofa for a minute and just watch TV so that me and mummy can sort something out?" Tom suggested because he knew that on the rare occasion that Sam let them watch TV, they were mesmerised by the screen and barely took any notice of the real world so Tom lifted Ella onto the sofa and Daniel got seated by himself whilst Sam went and got Ella's medication. She put the right amount in a syringe and then went and sat next to Ella on the sofa whilst she watched a bright, colourful TV show. Sam carefully put the needle into Ella's arm and injected the substance before she held a cotton wool pad over the puncture wound for a few minutes and through the entire process, Ella didn't even bat an eyelid.
"Good girl." Sam whispered as she made sure that Ella wasn't bleeding from where the needle went in before she got up. "Right," Sam began as she went over to Tom by the doorway. "We're gonna need more calamine lotion." Sam whispered. "And Daniel wants chocolate cake and apple juice." She added quietly.
"Do I have permission to go to tescos and get whatever I think will keep them happy? Because they're only going to get worse." Tom stated.
"Yeah." Sam nodded.
"Hey, don't look so worried. They're both gonna be fine." Tom said reassuringly.
"I know... Oh, I've been meaning to ask. You have had chickenpox, right?"
"Yeah." Tom nodded. "You?"
"Yep. When I was 21. It was absolute agony." Sam murmured as she certainly didn't what her children to go through that.
"Well they're a lot younger than you were so they won't get it nearly as bad." Tom said as he rubbed Sam's arm. "Is that why you've got the tiny white scars on behind your ears?" Tom asked curiously and Sam looked at him in pure shock. "What?"
"I didn't know you knew about them." Sam admitted shyly.
"I know, you always try to cover them with your hair." Tom smirked. "Right, are you gonna be alright if I go shopping? Or do you want to go and I can stay?" Tom asked to change the subject.
"Mummy, can it go to the toilet please?" Daniel asked.
"Go on, you go shopping. I'll stay here." Sam forced a smile before she took Daniel's hand and took him to the toilet bathroom.
Tom arrived home with four shopping bags filled with things to keep his children as happy as possible as they fought off chickenpox, though he knew perfect well that they could potentially be fighting the virus for up to two weeks. As soon as Tom opened the front door, he was met with screaming and he quickly put the shopping in the kitchen before he ran upstairs to find Ella was standing in just her underwear, in the doorway to Daniel's bedroom where Daniel was crying as Sam stood helplessly besides him and she appeared distressed.
"What happened?" Tom demanded as he put a hand on Ella's should to reassure her that it was okay.
"He's still got a fever so he wanted to take his pyjamas off, but I think when I pulled it over his head, it caught one of the spots and burst it." Sam admitted exhaustedly.
"Hey, listen to me. Listen to me." Tom ordered sternly and Daniel quietened down but he was still sniffling. "When has mummy ever hurt you on purpose? Daniel." Tom prompted.
"Never." He hiccuped.
"Well then I'm sure mummy had already said sorry but you making a big fuss is going to make her feel bad. Come on, I'm sure it didn't hurt that much, plus you're scaring your sister." Tom stated and Daniel looked up to see his mother who looked upset and his sister who was frowning as she tried to understand what was going on. Tom let out a sigh of relief as Daniel began wiping his tears away with his hands before he carefully scratched a cluster of spots on it's side with his elbow. "Right, both of you are getting spottier by the minute, so I've got a game that you can play and I think it'll make you feel better." Tom stated.
"I don't think they're in the mood for playing Tom." Sam sighed.
"They will be for this game. Both of you go to mummy and daddy's bathroom, come on." Tom ordered and Ella toddled through as did Daniel leaving just Sam and Tom. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I've just got a headache." Sam admitted.
"You feel hot at all?" Tom asked worriedly as he placed the back of his hand to her forehead, but she didn't seem to have a fever.
"No, it's just PMS." Sam stated bluntly.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, my chest is sore and I'm bloated aswell. I'm due on in a couple of days so I'm just gonna go and grab some paracetamol."
"No no, you go and keep an eye on the kids, I'll get your painkillers because I need to grab a couple of things from the shopping for their game." Tom stated before he went down the stairs and Sam padded into the ensuite bathroom where Daniel was scratching his arm again.
"Stop scratching yourself!" Sam protested.
"Why?" Daniel moaned.
"Because if you pick the scabs off, you'll give yourself a load of scars that'll never go away. And the more you scratch your skin, the itchier it'll get." Sam stated as she sat on the closed toilet lid and then she let Ella clamber onto her lap. Daniel was certainly covered in a lot more spots than Ella, and he was suffering more but because Ella was a third of his age, she dealt with pain worse and made just as much fuss as Daniel did, if not more.
Soon, Tom returned and Sam took paracetamol with some water before he explained the game that he had conjured up.
"Right, you two are going to play paint the dot with this white paint." Tom stated as he took out two soft makeup brushes that looked like paint brushed to the children, as well as another bottle of calamine lotion. "And whoever gets all of their spots covered first, wins." Tom explained to his children who were both in their underwear.
"But I've got way more spots." Daniel protested.
"Ah yes, but you're far better at painting than Ella is, so I reckon the odds are about even." Tom stated as he poured the white lotion into a cup that Ella used in the bath. "Right, both of you get in the bath and then we can start." Tom ordered and Sam lifted Ella into one end of the bath and stood her on her feet, and Daniel climbed into the other end. "Right, try not to get any outside of the bath. Ready, steady go!" Tom announced and quickly both children shoved their paintbrush into the cup of lotion and began brushing them all over their body. Sam and Tom smiled as they watched their children competitively dabbed the lotion all over them, and within seconds of it touching their skin, they felt the cooling sensation of it which encouraged them to continue the game. Tom looked behind him during the game to notice that Sam was massaging her temples with the tops of her fingers. "Why don't you go and have a lie down?" Tom suggested.
"No, I'm fine. Honestly." Sam forced a smile before she continued watching her children mess about.
Thursday 5th May 2022, 1pm
It was the fourth day after Ella and Daniel had simultaneously contracted chicken pox and thankfully, the previous day seemed to have been the very worst day (and night) of the virus as they had not been able to sleep and even several games of paint the spots hadn't made them feel any better. So Sam and Tom had had to put up with constant moaning, as well as the fact that their children had been up all night and so they weren't feeling great either. Ella and Daniel were doing one of the few things that took their mind off of the spots, watching TV, when Tom noticed that Sam had slipped away upstairs so he made sure that his children were occupied before he went upstairs too but he walked into the bedroom just as Sam was standing there with nothing on her torso whatsoever.
"Oh, sorry."
"No, it's fine." Sam replied as she pulled on a black sports bra which she had changed into rather than a usual bra because it gave her more support. Tom knew that she had started her period in the night because he noticed that she had had to change her pyjama bottoms, as well as taken painkillers and now he presumed she had sore breasts too. And he knew that combined with the lack of sleep, the persistent moaning of their children and barely having enough time to sit down, everything was taking it's toll on her.
"Listen, you've been up all night I didn't see you get to sleep once." Tom admitted. "Why don't you just lie down for a while and get some rest? The kids are alright for now while they've got a film on."
"I can't. Ella won't go to the toilet with you there." Sam sighed as she pulled a shirt on over her bra.
"Well then I can wait outside while she goes. Please? No offence but you look awful Sam."
"You're not looking to great yourself. You need a shave." Sam quipped.
"I know but, I must've gotten a few hours sleep last night and I don't think you had more than an hour so you need it." Tom stated and Sam twisted her lips as she considered it.
"I might, just put my head down for an hour or two." Sam said sheepishly.
"Feel free." Tom nodded eagerly as he pulled back the duvet on her side of the bed. "Do you want me to get you your hot water bottle?" He offered.
"Er no, I'm feeling alright at the moment. But thanks." Sam smiled feebly as she got comfortable in bed and Tom pulled the duvet up to her chin.
8:30pm
Tom was downstairs sitting on the sofa watching the TV in the dark living room with the volume on low when he suddenly heard movement upstairs. He prayed that it wasn't one of his children who were supposed to be asleep, and he smiled when he realised that Sam was awake as she came down to join him after getting a solid 7 hours of sleep.
"Hello sleeping beauty." Tom grinned as Sam sat down besides him and he put his arm around her shoulders.
"How're Ella and Daniel?" Sam asked sleepily.
"Both of them took some Benadryl which is supposed to relieve itching, plus it made them a bit drowsy so it got them off to sleep and they've both been silent up there for about half an hour." Tom stated when suddenly, Sam's stomach grumbled.
"I am starving." Sam declared.
"I'm not surprised; you skipped breakfast and had an apple for lunch, then slept right through dinner." Tom stated bluntly. "How about we order a pizza?" He suggested.
"Nah, too greasy." Sam complained. "How about a Chinese takeaway?" Sam queried.
"Oh, that's not greasy at all!" Tom chuckled. "Yeah, sure. You pick what you want and I'll order it in a minute." Tom said as he handed Sam a menu from the small pile that was on the coffee table.
"Okay." Sam nodded as she began to look down the menu. "Are you having anything?"
"Er yeah. Just get three or four dishes and we'll share them yeah?"
"Okay." Sam nodded. Soon, they ordered and shared their late evening meal together before Sam laid on the sofa with her feet on Tom's lap as they watched the TV when they were suddenly interrupted.
"Mummy?" Both parents turned around to see Ella standing there in her purple pyjamas with the spots all over what skin they could see, especially on her face.
"Hey." Sam smiled. "Hang on, how did you get past the gates?" Sam demanded; they had a baby gate at both the top, and the bottom of the stairs.
"I open 'em." Ella said disjointedly and Sam's eyes flashed open because she couldn't believe that her daughter could do that, plus she found it amusing that her daughter thought that she had done nothing wrong.
"You opened the gates, yourself?" Sam questioned out of astonishment.
"Yes." Ella nodded simply so Sam just changed the subject because she knew that Ella had meant no harm and there was no use in keeping her wrapped in bubble wrap all the time; she was going to have to start using the stairs alone sooner or later.
"Can't you sleep?" She queried.
"Hug." Ella announced as she held her arms out.
"Ella, I don't think that you should be out of-"
"No, it's fine." Sam gently interrupted Tom as she picked up Ella and lifted her on top of her. Sam laid sideways on the sofa with her knees raised and she laid Ella face down on her chest so that she could hug her daughter lightly, so she didn't cause her any unnecessary pain. However, Ella was doing that to Sam because the pressure of Ella on her abdomen was making the pain a bit worse but it was nothing that she hadn't dealt with before.
"I love you mummy." Ella mumbled into Sam's chest as she curled up.
"I love you too." Sam whispered and after a little bit of tossing and turning, Ella got comfortable and fell asleep on of top of her mother.
Coming up: The Kent Family go on holiday in their caravan in the Scottish Highlands!
Thanks for reading, please review :)