Make Me Better

I walked into the apartment that I share with my boyfriend and was shocked that I couldn’t find him anywhere. I knew that he was here. His car was parked outside and he wasn’t scheduled to have practice today.

“Niklas?” I called as I took off my boots and hung up my coat.

“Baby, are you home?”

I found it odd that he didn’t answer me, but then again, he could be napping in our bedroom.

Going about the rest of my day, I started to make some lunch when I realized that Nik didn’t nap every day. He only napped on game days. The boys had a few days off so I was beyond suspicious at this time. I dropped everything and ran to the bedroom where, sure enough, Nik was in bed sleeping. Noting how cute he is when he sleeps, I tiptoed next to the bed and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, immediately becoming aware that he was extremely warm to the touch.

“Niklas? Baby, wake up for a second.”

He groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

“Hi Sweetie, how are you feeling?” I questioned, pushing his sweaty hair off his forehead.

“Not good. My stomach hurts, I’m really warm, and I’ve got a massive headache,” He whispered, leaning into my touch.

“How long have you been in bed?”

“I haven’t left since I got in last night.”

“Ok, we’ve got to get you out of bed and into some clean clothes. How bout this? I’ll run a cool bath for you and after we’ll go lie down in the guest room cause it’s really cool in there. Sound good?”

Nik nodded his head and tried to get out of bed, only to pathetically fall back against the pillows.

“I don’t think I can move, Jamie”

“It’s ok Baby. Just relax here until I get the bath poured. Then we’ll worry about getting you out of bed,” I smiled, kissing his forehead once again before hopping off the bed and making my way to our ensuite.

As I began to pour the bath, I fished out my cell phone and called the Blackhawks team doctor just to make sure that Nik would be ok.

“Hello?”

“Dr. Johnson? Hi, it’s Jamie calling. I just wanted to know what I should do about Nik. He’s got a fairly high fever and he’s lethargic and finding it hard to move.”

“Ok, here’s what you do. Get him into a lukewarm bath and let him soak for about half an hour. Get him out of the tub, give him some fever reducer and take his temp again. If his temp has gone down, you’re clear and just have to keep him cool and comfortable until it goes completely.”

“But what if the bath doesn’t help get his fever down?” I asked, grabbing some towels out of the linen closet and placing them on the washstand in the corner.

“If his fever doesn’t change, still take him out and give him the medication. But, every hour or so, take his temp to see if that’s doing anything. You’ll have to put him in the bath again and just repeat the process. If his fever hasn’t gone down by tonight, or if it’s gone up past 104, you have to call me again and we’ll have to bring him to the hospital so they can place him on IV medications. But, I think he’ll be fine under your care. Give me a call in a few hours just to check up and make sure everything’s going ok.”

“Ok, thanks Doc.” I hung up the phone and shut off the water of the tub. I grabbed the thermometer out of the medicine cabinet and walked back into the bedroom and sat down next to Nik.

“Babe, I just got off the phone with Dr. Johnson. He wants me to do a few things to help get your fever down. If they don’t work, we’re gonna have to go to the hospital.”

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. You know how I hate hospitals,” He smiled, grabbing the thermometer out of my hands and placing it under his tongue, waiting for the beep.

He took it out of his mouth and looked at the temp. “102.5, is that bad?”

“It’s not good, but it’s better than I thought it was. Now, come on, let’s get you up and in the tub for a little bit.”

Once Nik was in the tub, I puttered around the apartment gathering the things that I would need to keep him comfortable for the few hours we would need to get his fever down. I placed everything in the guest room and walked back into our ensuite to get Nik out of the tub.

After Nik was dried off and in a clean pair of pyjamas, we slowly made our way to our guest bedroom. As soon as he was comfortable in bed, I handed him the Tylenol and got in beside him. We turned on a movie and just lay together in bed, waiting for the moment that we would have to check his temperature again.

I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up again, it was 6 o’clock in the evening. Rolling over, I placed my hand on Niklas’s forehead, only to be relieved that his fever had completely left his body.

“Nik, your fever’s gone!” I smiled, leaning up and placing a quick kiss on his lips.

“Haha, it’s all because of you, Jamie. You make me better.” He smiled, pulling me down on the bed and hauling the covers above our heads.