Day 27 – Uncooperative Patient

Shauna was tired of having to deal with a flu-ridden Troy by herself. He refused to stay in bed, refused to drink tea, and just simply refused to rest.

She wasn't letting it slide this time. No way. No, something had to be done.

There was a part of her that wondered if this was a little extreme, but with Troy, it seemed necessary, so she picked up the phone, and made the call. Four calls, actually. She needed all the help she could get.

Before long, Shauna answered a knock at the door. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Moffitt, Hitch, Tully, and Dietrich standing on the porch. "Thank goodness you all are here," she said.

"It's our pleasure, ma'am," Tully said. "We all have experience with Sarge when he's sick. You just relax and let us handle him."

"How can I thank you?"

"That'll depend on how much Troy resists us," Moffitt said. "Where is he?"

"Cleaning saddles."

Hitch sighed as the group followed Shauna out to the horse barn. His tone dripped with sarcasm. "Why do I get the feeling this's gonna be fun? Sarge is impossible to deal with when he's sick."

"I am pre-emptively feeling many years being taken off my life," Dietrich said.

"Keeping a 'stiff upper lip' won't be of use here," Moffitt added.

"I think this will be fun for a different reason!" Anah said cheerfully as she poked her snout from Moffitt's jacket.

"Anah?" Moffitt asked.

"Yes, dear?"

"Please, please… no attempting acupuncture on Troy again."

"I promise."

Dietrich gave Moffitt a concerned look. "Do I want to know?"

"No, you don't," Moffitt said.

They all found Troy quite weakly trying to clean one of his saddles. Shauna sighed heavily upon seeing just how pale Troy was. He's just making himself worse.

"Holy cow, Sarge," Tully said.

"Ditto," Hitch added. "You should be in bed, Sarge."

"Get back in bed before we drag you there ourselves," Dietrich said.

"No can do," Troy replied, hoarsely. "I've got too much to get done today."

"Let us do it," Moffitt said. "I'll gladly take care of all your horses. You know I love horses."

"And I will clean your garage for the…" Dietrich paused, "fifth time this year."

"I already cleaned it," Shauna said.

"Damn." Dietrich cursed in German. "Now I have nothing to do."

"You can make chicken soup. I know you're good at making soup."

"He does make good chicken soup," Moffitt said.

"Tully's chicken soup is good, too," Hitch said.

Tully sighed. "Now, hold on, before we start arguing, I'm sure Dietrich's chicken soup is as good as mine. This ain't a contest. Let's divide and conquer on this. First order of business is getting Sarge in bed."

"You leave me alone and that's an order, Tully," Troy growled.

"I'm sorry, Sarge, but for the good of your health, I'm gonna have to disregard that order. Come on. We don't have to make this difficult."

"Exactly. Let me finish this."

"No. Moffitt will finish it for you. You need to rest."

Shauna envied Tully's patient tone and demeanor.

"Troy, I will put you over my shoulder and carry you to bed myself if you do not put that saddle down and march your rear end into the house this instance," Dietrich said.

"I'd like to see you try," Troy muttered.

"I have done it twice, in case you have forgotten. Once when you were frozen in terror in a tornado, and the other when you fainted from dehydration."

Troy looked like he wanted to argue, but didn't.

Dietrich smirked. "I will consider this a victory of sorts."

Moffitt rolled his eyes. "That's… not helpful, Dietrich."

"Well, it looks like you're gonna have to put him over your shoulder, sir," Tully said. "He's made it clear he won't move."

"Just be careful when you do that," Shauna said. "He threw up last night."

"Has he eaten breakfast?" Dietrich asked.

"He had a cup of coffee and one piece of toast."

Dietrich thought for a moment.

"I'll wash your clothes if he throws up on you."

"Alright. Tully, take the saddle away from him. Give it to Moffitt."

Moffitt looked very happy about getting to work with the horses while the others carried Troy back to the house. It was surprisingly not much of a challenge to get him up, despite his arguments. Dietrich looked concerned while carrying Troy. "He is very warm, and actually a bit lighter than I was expecting."

"He barely ate anything yesterday," Shauna said. "He's been working nonstop."

"You don't just work off the flu," Hitch said. "People just weren't made for that."

"Sarge has always been bad about resting," Tully added. "And taking care of himself in general."

"Trust me, I've noticed," Shauna sighed. "But he takes care of everyone else."

"Yeah. That was one reason we stayed under his command for the whole war."

When they returned to the house, Dietrich and Tully worked together to get Troy on the couch. Hitch hung up Troy's hat on top of the coat tree, then walked over to the couch. "Alright, what should we do first?" he asked.

"Well, Moffitt's taking care of the horses," Tully said.

"I already took care of the chickens," Shauna added. "Some basic things need to be taken care of around the ranch. Hans, I know you can ride a horse, as can Jack."

"I'll cook, then." Tully looked at Hitch. "I guess you'll be the one making sure Sarge doesn't leave that couch."

"Did I do something to make you mad, Tully?" Hitch asked.

"No. You have the most important job. Keep Sarge on that couch."

"I'd rather drive through a minefield."

"You said the same thing about getting Dietrich to eat after he was starving himself a few years ago." Tully gestured to Dietrich, who had discovered the cookie jar actually had cookies in it. "Now look."

"Sarge and Dietrich are two very different people."

"Actually, they're kinda similar if you think about it."

"Still! Convincing Sarge to do something he doesn't want to do is like herding cats!"

"I believe in you, Hitch."

"So do I," Shauna said.

Dietrich grunted his support for Hitch through a mouthful of chocolate chip cookies.

Hitch sighed. "Alright. I'll… try." He sank down into a chair, and watched Troy.

"I would suggest getting a trash can if his stomach's kinda iffy," Tully said.

Hitch stood and got a small trash can from the next room. He felt Troy's forehead while putting the can next to him. "I'll get a cold washcloth, too."

The rest of the day consisted of the rest of the Rats, Anah, Dietrich, and Shauna working around the ranch and making sure Troy actually stayed put. Fortunately, Hitch wasn't the only one on guard duty, and the group rotated who was watching Troy every couple of hours. It was during Anah's turn when they sat down to a dinner of a hearty, creamy chicken soup that Tully made. They kept conversation quiet so they didn't wake Troy, but then a loud hiss broke the silence.

"Knock it off, Anah, I'm just going to the bathroom!" Troy snapped.

"Fine! But then you are coming right back to this couch, young man!" Anah said.

Troy didn't respond, and completely ignored everyone while heading upstairs.

"He must be feeling dreadfully awful to not even acknowledge us," Moffitt said when they all heard the door close.

"At least he's not trying to escape," Shauna replied.

"I don't think he's got the strength to."

"I noticed he was getting more and more lethargic as the day went on," Hitch added.

"He practically running on fumes," Tully said. "And I don't think he's got any fumes left."

"He didn't eat anything we set in front of him."

"Well, we can't force him to eat if his body can't handle it right now," Moffitt said.

They resumed their dinner. Much to everyone's surprise, Troy did return to the couch. No one could see him from where they were seated, but they heard Anah say, "Are you alright, dear?"

Shauna set down her spoon and stood to go into the living room. Troy was curled up on the couch, looking about as vulnerable as someone like him could look with both arms wrapped around his stomach. "No wonder he doesn't want to eat," Shauna said.

"Go back to your dinner, dear." Anah crawled over to the couch from the table. "I will keep an eye on him."

"I really should—"

"Finish your dinner. I have him." Anah coiled up by Troy's head, and nuzzled him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Shauna hesitated, but eventually went back into the kitchen.

"Everything alright?" Moffitt asked.

"Sam's curled up on the couch with a bad stomachache," Shauna replied. "Anah's all snuggled up with him."

Moffitt smiled. "Aww."

"It'd be a lot more cute if I wasn't so worried. I've seen Sam sick, but not like this."

"He'll be alright," Tully said. "We've seen him get pretty bad." He smiled, a reassuring twinkle in his warm brown eyes. "No need to worry. We'll stay as long as you need us, ma'am."