Another day had come to an end. Bob had closed and locked the restaurant; Linda had made Gene's favorite dinner to celebrate him getting an A+ on his book report. Louise was already trying to get out of school the following morning.
"This is bad. This right here is bad. I definitely need to stay home tomorrow." Louise said, massaging her elbow.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Linda asked.
"It's wrinkly." Louise whispered weakly.
"That's just how elbows are Louise. Besides tomorrow will be fun." Linda replied.
"Oh yeah dodgeball and a test on fractions. Super fun." Louise scoffed.
"Now Louise school may not seem fun right now, but you must power through. If you work hard enough. Maybe next year you will also be an honor student." Gene explained in a bad British accent.
"Isn't this your first A since kindergarten?" Louise questioned.
"Oh boo" Gene sighed.
"Tina? Are you feeling alright sweetie? You haven't said a word since dinner started and you've barely touched your dinner." Linda observed.
"I don't know. I've got this earache and my head hurts really bad." Tina replied.
"Oh, sweetie you're burning up. Go get ready for bed. I'll put your dinner in the fridge in case you feel better later." Linda explained.
"OK" Tina replied weakly.
"Boy it's probably the flu cause I feel achy too." Louise commented.
"You're fine Louise. Finish your dinner and since it was Tina's turn to help clean up downstairs. I am going to need you to step up." Bob declared.
"Aw but I did it last night. We go in order so it's Gene's turn!" Louise whined.
"No, he gets the day off because that's where we are. Making fancy dinners and giving him the day off for getting a single A." Bob explained.
"Fine but you owe me." Louise sighed.
Tina pushed her plate aside and left the kitchen. Her head was throbbing. She occasionally got migraines on the first day or two of her periods; but she had just had her period last week and this was actually worse. She wondered if Linda had finally replaced the old lightbulbs with the news LED ones because the apartment seemed ten times brighter than normal and it was driving her crazy. All she wanted to do was climb into bed, but she was hit with a sudden overwhelming nausea. She cupped her hands over her mouth knowing there was no way she was going to make it to the bathroom. Sure enough, she ended up getting sick right there in the middle of the living room.
"Tina!" Linda cried rushing to her side.
"Tried to make it to bathroom." Tina replied weakly.
"It's OK baby. I'll clean it up. Now let's get you cleaned up and then straight to bed." Linda assured.
"Really tired don't think I can shower." Tina yawned.
"It's OK I'll help clean you up." Linda replied.
Linda helped Tina to the bathroom. Which was good because as soon as she was in there, she was sick again. She helped her remove her soiled clothes by placing them in the bathtub. Linda left to get her some fresh clothes and she sat on the toilet. Linda returned with her pajamas and by that time she was so out of it that she ended up having to have Linda dress her as if she were a baby. Despite eating very little that day she was sick a third time before leaving the bathroom.
"Baby you really are sick." Linda commented as she retrieved the thermometer from the medicine cabinet.
"I've never felt this bad." Tina sighed as Linda stuck the thermometer in her mouth.
"104.5! That's it you are going to the doctor first thing in the morning and if your fever goes up anymore it's straight to the ER!" Linda cried.
"MM not so loud." Tina moaned.
"Sorry" Linda whispered.
Tina was so weak that Linda had to carry her down the hall to her room. That was worrisome. Louise had slightly lower immunity due to her premature birth. So, Linda had seen her that sick a few times, but Tina and Gene rarely ever got sick. Let alone too weak to even walk. Linda tucked Tina in and grabbed an old bucket out of the laundry room just in case. Normally the Belchers stayed quarantined in the bathroom for stomach ailments, but Tina was in far too poor condition to be expected to sleep on the hard bathroom floor.
"Do you want to go to the hospital now?" Linda offered as she tucked Tina into bed.
"No, it's just the flu." Tina replied weakly.
"What's this rash?" Linda asked.
"Maybe a reaction to those baby wipes?" Tina yawned.
"You're just having all kinds of bad luck today." Linda whispered.
"Maybe tomorrow will be better." Tina sighed.
Tina woke in the middle of the night. Believe it or not her head was hurting far worse than it had been when she first went to bed. She was freezing. She tried to turn her head to check her alarm clock, but her neck would not budge. She noticed that despite barely drinking anything all day. Her bladder was also bursting. She was also feeling sick again. It took every ounce of strength she had just to drag herself to the bathroom. She managed to get off the toilet but that was all she could do. She was freezing but knew she didn't have the strength to walk back to bed. At least not now. Desperate for any warmth. She pulled the bathmat over her body. Trying to ignore the fact that she had just been sick on it.
Louise woke in the middle of the night, annoyed by her small bladder interrupting a perfectly good dream about Logan getting eaten by a shark. She climbed down the stairs to her loft bed and slowly made her way to the bathroom. The door was ajar, and the light was on. She shoved the door the rest of the way open. This was an emergency. She would pee in the bathtub if she had to. Except lying on the floor was an even bigger emergency. Tina was curled up under the bathmat covered in her own sick. Louise collapsed against the sink initially convinced that her sister was dead. She had no idea what to do. No idea how to tell her parents. Then a small miracle happened. Tina shook slightly. At first Louise thought it was just chills, but the relief was short lived. Because soon it became something far worse. Tina began to shake violently. Her eyes rolled back, and she began to drool. Tina was having a seizure! Seizures were better than dead but probably not by much. If it wasn't something the person was used to. Louise wanted to render aide, but she could not remember what to do. Even if she could, her legs would not move. She just stood there frozen and terrified. Finally, she found enough strength to let out a blood curdling scream. Probably not good for somebody who had just had a seizure to hear such a shrill sound, but it was literally all Louise could do.
In their room Bob and Linda were not getting a wink of sleep. They knew that Tina was very sick. Her fever held at around one hundred and four. It got right around one hundred and five and Linda had begged Tina to go to the hospital, but she refused. It was down again when Linda checked, but still high. They would be going straight to the ER in the morning. They heard strange noises coming from the bathroom but initially brushed it off as Gene or Louise doing something they shouldn't. Then they heard Louise let out the most horrible scream. Bob prayed that it was just her faking a nightmare in hopes of getting out of school the next day. Something that the youngest Belcher was known for doing. Except that was genuine fear in her voice. In a flash both parents were up and following the sound of the screams. They found their youngest child standing against the sink white as a ghost, and their eldest lying on the floor completely still in a pool of vomit and blood.
"Oh My God!" Linda cried rushing to Tina's side.
"Louise? What happened?" Bob asked.
"H… had to P… Pee f… found Ti… Tina on… on th on flo… floor. Though dead but then had seizure." Louise stammered.
"She had a seizure. Do you know how long it was?" Bob questioned.
"C… couldn't mo… move. Couldn't th… think." Louise replied.
"Linda call Mort and Teddy." Bob ordered grabbing his own phone to call 911.
"I still have to pee." Louise whispered.
"Linda take Louise downstairs to use the restaurant toilet." Bob ordered.
The 911 operator picked up and Bob informed her of what he knew about the seizure and Tina's symptoms prior. An ambulance was on the way. He knelt on the floor beside Tina knowing whatever was wrong with her was serious but praying it wasn't anything too horrible. The ambulance arrived fifteen minutes later, and it was enough to wake Gene.
"What's going on?" Gene asked as the medics knelt down beside Tina.
"Her fever kept getting worse and she had a seizure." Bob explained.
"Is she going to die?" Gene questioned.
"I don't know Gene." Bob sighed.
"No, she's not! She is absolutely NOT going to die!" Louise snapped.
"Louise" Bob whispered.
"Well, she's not. She can't." Louise stammered.
"Come on Gene, Louise, I'll let you play with my power tools." Teddy offered.
"Uh any chance you can get the mortician back or maybe a drifter?" One of the medics asked.
"You are not allowed to die, Tina! You are absolutely not allowed to die!" Louise bellowed.
Naturally Linda climbed into the ambulance with Tina. Once she was loaded, Bob ran down the street and hopped into the car following as close to the ambulance as he could. The ambulance screeched to a halt outside of "Deveraux Medical Center." Bob parked in the closest spot he could find and was hot on their tail. By the time he made it inside Tina had already been rushed through the double doors.
"Lin!" Bob cried rushing over to where Linda was leaning heavily against the wall crying uncontrollably.
"She had another seizure in the ambulance. They had to give her something to stop it." Linda sobbed.
"She was fine this morning. She wasn't this sick when we put her to bed. What on Earth is happening?" Bob questioned.
"Oh, Bobby I think she's going to die!" Linda cried.
Gene was terrified when Linda was not there when he woke in the morning. He was worried about Tina of course but more than anything. He hated being apart from his mommy. He knew how sick Tina was, but he was still sure that Linda would come home to help him with their morning routine.
"Morning Gene" Teddy greeted.
"Morning" Teddy replied.
"Where is mom?" Gene questioned.
"Still at the hospital." Teddy replied.
"Any news on, Tina?" Lousie demanded.
"As of an hour ago nothing official but the doctors are pretty sure it's meningitis." Teddy explained.
"Meningitis? But that's bad. That's really bad." Louise stammered.
"It can be serious but it's also treatable." Teddy hoped.
Back at the hospital Linda was exhausted but her body would not let her sleep. She could not even think about resting until she was sure her Teeny Tina was going to be OK. Beside her Bob was hunched over running his hands through his hair and saying "Oh My God" over and over.
"Mr. and Mrs. Belcher?" A doctor called.
"That's us." Bob replied.
"I am afraid that tests confirmed our suspicions, Tina has meningococcal meningitis." Dr. Phillips announced.
"Is she going to be, OK?" Linda questioned.
"Most people will end up surviving the infection. However, there is risk for complications most commonly hearing loss, brain damage, and loss of limbs." Dr. Philps explained.
"Those all sound bad, but I mean she's not going to die, is she?" Bob demanded.
"Tina's condition has already advanced to late stage. The next forty-eight hours are going to be very critical. I'm sorry." Dr. Philips apologized.
"Oh My God, Bobby!" Linda cried.
"I know" Bob whispered.
Louise could not believe that she was expected to go to school on a day like this. Tina had been rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night, they thought she had meningitis and yet she still had to go to school. Talk about a raw deal. The worst part was having to play it cool. She was scared to death but the last thing she needed was having to deal with Mr. Frond.
"Are you OK, Louise?" Rudy asked at lunch.
"Yeah, you've been acting strange all day." Jessica added.
"I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially not Mr. Frond." Louise replied.
"Of course," Jessica vowed.
"Depends on what it is." Rudy replied.
"Tina's in the hospital." Louise whispered.
"Tina's in the hospital?!" Rudy gasped taking a hit off his inhaler.
"Not so loud." Louise hissed.
"What's wrong with her?" Jessica asked.
"I don't know she got sick at dinner last night. She went to bed, but I guess she kept getting worse and worse. I went to the bathroom this morning and saw her having a seizure on the floor." Louise explained.
"Oh My God!" Rudy cried.
"That's horrible." Jessica gasped.
"But she's going to be OK. I am sure of it." Louise replied saying the mantra she had been repeating in her head all morning aloud for the first time.
"Gene and Louise Belcher to the front office prepared to go home. Gene and Louise Belcher to the front office prepared to go home." Ms. Schnur announced over the loudspeaker.