It took a full day to clean up everything from the rendezvous and almost everyone pitched in, some with more enthusiasm than others. At the end of the day, we found ourselves sitting around, discussing the clinic. Someone pulled out a gallon milk jug of moonshine and someone else, I actually think it was Tonya, pulled out some weed. The only ones who didn’t imbibe were Sarah and myself. Even Kelly and Justin had joined in. It got everyone good and loosened up and there was a lot of smiling and laughing.
The bad side of it was, what started out as a thoughtful conversation about the clinic slowly but steadily devolved into a lot of silly arguing. Rachel found a partner in crime with Kelly. They drank some moonshine, smoked some of Tonya’s weed, and they soon began mimicking everyone and laughing uncontrollably. Sarah had been sitting quietly across from me, and when she saw me looking she rolled her eyes. I smiled in agreement.
“You’re not saying much,” she remarked. I closed my notepad and set it down.
“I was hoping to get some constructive input. You know, maybe somebody would have thought of something innovative, but in the end, Grant, Mike and Mary are going to build their clinic however they want it built.” Kelly, sitting beside me and giggling and who knew what, suddenly focused on us.
“What are you two talking about, pumping your weights?” she asked and started giggling again.
“Naked weightlifting,” Rachel added, which caused more giggling from the two of them.
The endless opinions about the clinic became background noise and I amused myself by watching the kids playing with each other. Well, except for Sammy. He was listening attentively to the adults acting like children. I felt a light pinch on my earlobe and turned quickly to see one of Rhonda’s little girls running away, screaming.
“Brittany likes you,” Kelly said with a grin. I frowned, Kelly noticed it, and began giggling. “He still doesn’t know their names,” she said to Rachel.
“Uh, well, I always get them mixed up.” Rhonda, who had walked up, heard my response and looked pointedly at me. I shrugged apologetically.
“Okay, busted.”
“The one who is sweet on you is Brittany. The other two are Clair and Emma. Clair is the one in the pink shirt.” The kids were running around the cafeteria playing tag or something, with Callahan and Zoe happily joining in. Clair ran up and tagged Frederick, and as I watched, she chose that particular moment to sneeze all over him. Great, I thought.
By the time we got home, both kids were fussy and complaining of not feeling well. Kelly was having a hard time keeping her eyes open and as soon as we got home, she went straight to the bedroom. Janet tended to the kids while I hurried through some of the chores.
“They’re both running a fever,” she said as soon as I walked inside. She’d found the thermometer in our first aid kit. “Both of them are reading a hundred.”
“Where’s Kelly?” I asked.
“Passed out, she drank too much of that moonshine.” Damn, I thought.
“Alright, you’re a mom, what do you think?”
"They’ve definitely come down with something. Let's get them in bed and put some wet rags on their foreheads.” I agreed and grabbed a bottle of baby aspiring.
“They’re expired, but it’s all we’ve got.” Janet nodded in agreement and got each child to swallow one with some sips of water.
“I’ll sit here with them, I think you need to go get Grant.” The worry on her face was obvious and I no doubt looked the same. I nodded.
“Good idea.”
I drove as quickly as I dared over the rough roads. By the time I’d arrived back at the school, all of the kids were showing symptoms.
“We’re going to quarantine them,” Grant said. He had a look of genuine worry and for a moment it made me forget my disdain for him. “I strongly suggest you do the same.”
“What is it?” I asked. “Do you know?” He looked at me grimly.
“Could be anything. A common cold, a childhood disease one of the visitors was carrying, or it could be worse.” I understood what he was implying.
“We’re going to put them in the radio house,” he continued. “Justin and Ruth agreed to stay at the school until it’s over.”
“Okay,” I replied. “We can keep them in their bedroom.”
“Nobody else should come into contact with them,” Grant added. “I myself will be wearing protective gear, but even that may not be enough.” I think my face may have paled when he said that last statement. Grant put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder.
“We’ll try to come by in the morning, that’s all I can do for now.”
I sped back to the house in a somber mood. Once I got the gate secured, I knew what I had to do.
“Quarantine,” I said to Janet and related my conversation with Grant. “We’ll keep the kids in the bedroom. I’ve got respirators and nitrile gloves we can use when we check on them. I think we’re going to need to sterilize everything we can. It’ll be a precautionary measure, if nothing else.” I heard the sound of retching and hurried into the master bathroom. Kelly was bent over the toilet bowl.
“The next time I take a drink of moonshine, I want you to bend me over and whip my ass.”
“That bad?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah.” She straightened slowly, a little unsteadily and moved to the sink to rinse her mouth.
“Did Janet say anything?” Kelly nodded and then grabbed her mouth again and bent back over the toilet.
“Grant isn’t sure what it is?” Kelly asked. I shook my head. “Could it be…?”
“The plague? It could be. I don’t know.” Kelly’s lower lip started quivering. I didn’t know what to say to calm her.
“You know, it could be something else, like, I don’t know, the mumps or something.” It didn’t help.
“I’m sorry, Zach.” she said weakly.
“Don’t worry,” I replied. “Why don’t you get back in bed, Janet and I will take care of them.” Kelly started to argue, but she realized she was worthless at the moment. I got her tucked in and quietly closed the door.
“It may be a case of drinking too much, or it may be something more,” I whispered to Janet. She looked at me steadily and then handed me the thermometer.
“If she has a temperature…”
Kelly protested when I woke her back up, and even went back to sleep while the thermometer was still in her mouth, but thankfully she didn’t have a temperature.
We spent the rest of the day fervidly cleaning everything and worrying over the kids. Janet finally drifted off to sleep around midnight. I couldn’t. I checked on them throughout the night, making sure they stayed hydrated, cleaning them up when they soiled themselves, and keeping a cold compress on their foreheads. Their temperatures were up to a hundred and two and by morning their sheets were soaked with sweat.
I can’t begin to express the torment in my soul, watching my two kids, too exhausted to cry, their bodies being wracked with painful sobs. Kelly peeked in the door as the sun was coming up. I waved her off and came out a moment later.
“Okay, don’t come near me,” I said when I took off the respirator, headed toward the bathroom and washed up. Kelly watched from a distance.
“They’ve gotten worse,” I said. No need mincing words. “They both have temperatures and they’re having a hard time keeping anything down. How are you feeling?”
“Like shit,” she said. “I’m sorry, Zach. I shouldn’t have gotten drunk.”
“No need to be sorry. We had no way of knowing this was going to happen. You were enjoying yourself, that’s all.”
I sat down and realized I was absolutely exhausted. Kelly began pacing, much like I would do when I was thinking deeply about something. I would have laughed under any other circumstances. When I saw something change in her expression, it didn’t register.
“I think they have the flu,” she said.
“It’s possible,” I replied.
“I think I’ll try to fix them something to eat, maybe some broth or soup.”
“Good idea,” I said and then my tired brain finally remembered I had a few books on illnesses sitting on the shelf. I took one and began thumbing through it. I walked into the kitchen and plopped down in a chair.
“This book lists, fever, chills, nausea, and diarrhea as some of the symptoms, as if I didn’t know that already.”
“You’re exhausted, get some sleep.”
“I’m too keyed up,” I said and watched as Kelly opened the refrigerator for some milk.
“Shit,” she muttered.
“What?”
“The milk is warm.” She stuck her hand in the fridge. “It’s warm.”
“Shit,” I said a little more indignantly as I realized what I’d done.
“I turned on the water heater and well pump last night and forgot to turn them off. It drained off the batteries, so now we don’t have any electricity.” I smelled the milk, it was spoiled. I muttered a few more expletives, hurried outside, turned off the circuit breakers and checked the gauges. As I suspected, my error had drained the batteries and they were going to need a full day to recharge. Kelly and Janet met me at the door as I walked back inside.
“I think you’re right,” Janet added. “They’re not the first sick kids I’ve seen over the years.” Our conversation was cut short by the sound of a horn honking.
“Someone’s at the gate,” I said. “I’ll get it.” I hurried outside before either woman objected.
I jumped on one of the bicycles and headed for the gate. For the first time, I was actually glad when I saw it was Grant. One of the nurses was accompanying him.
“We tried calling on the radio,” Grant said as I unlocked the gate. I nodded, not bothering telling them about how I stupidly allowed the batteries to run down.
“You look as tired as I feel,” I said to Grant and looked at the nurse, a handsome, fit-looking man. “It’s Mike, correct?” I asked him. He nodded. “How’re the rest of the kids?”
“They’re all doing about the same. Clair’s temperature is higher than the rest of them and she’s breaking out in a rash, but we’re doing what we can. How’re your kids?”
“We think it’s a case of the flu,” I said and explained the symptoms. Both Grant and Mike nodded.
“Yeah, that’s what we think too,” Grant replied. “Would you like us to check on them?” I nodded eagerly, closed the gate and followed them on the bike. The cool morning air woke me up and I even broke a sweat. It felt good and my anxiety subsided for ten, maybe twenty seconds. The sun was glowing bright in the east as I parked the bike, telling me it was going to be a hot one today.
“At least the batteries will get recharged,” I muttered to myself.
“It’s definitely the flu,” Grant said. As Kelly, Janet, and I had watched anxiously, he and Mike had given our kids a thorough examination. They used hand sanitizer liberally before putting on gloves and masks. I was grateful for their precautionary measures.
“Keep them in bed and isolated for the next five or six days. Now, it’s important to watch for complications such as pneumonia or encephalitis. Mike has volunteered to stay here and help out, if you like.”
“Yeah, I’d appreciate it,” I replied. Grant nodded and patted me on the shoulder again. It irritated me when he did that, but I didn’t say anything.
“I’ll check back later.”
“I should have the radio back up and running by this evening if you need to talk to us. If you don’t mind, lock the gate behind you.”
“Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I nodded to him gratefully. He responded with a tired smile before leaving.
“I’ve made a decision,” I said to them. “I’m going to start the generator. It’s going to be a hot day and we’ve got to have cool air for them.” I thought mentally of how much power the air conditioner was going to pull and the fuel it was going to consume. Kelly must have read my thoughts.
“Are you sure?” Kelly asked. “That’s going to burn a lot of gas.”
“Yes it will, but that’s the least of my worries.” I caught a glimpse of Mike’s expression. I imagine we all looked like hell, but he was gracious enough not to say anything.
“Mike, we haven’t eaten yet, would you like to join us?”
“I never turn down a meal,” he replied with a friendly smile.
We had a late breakfast, but Mike was the only one who had an appetite. After some subdued conversation, I stood. It felt like I was trying to lift a freight train and I think I actually wobbled a little bit.
“I’m going to check on them,” I told them.
“I’ll take care of it,” Mike said as he stood. “You’re about to pass out on your feet. You need some sleep, that’s an order.” I started to protest, but Mike held up a hand. “If anything happens, I’ll wake you. I give you my word.”
“I’ll be right there beside him,” Janet added. Kelly was giving me a stern look and I was just plain too tired to argue. I don’t think I remembered my head hitting the pillow.
They were miserable for two days, which meant that Kelly and I, and even Janet, were considerably stressed. It goes without saying that our anxiety caused a few cross words passed among us. Mike unwittingly found himself acting as both a nurse, peacemaker and therapist.
On the third day, they seemed to feel better and neither one of them had diarrhea anymore. And on the early morning of the fourth day, we awoke to Frederick sitting on the porta-potty I’d put in their room with his head in his little hands and Macie sitting on the floor watching him. When she saw me, she immediately held out her arms.