After Tonight

“Daddy?” I could feel the bed sink a little as Ella climbed in next to me. “Are you okay?”
I had come down with the flu several days ago and had been bed-ridden since. For some reason, Ella was fascinated. I wasn’t sure if it was just the five-year-old mind, or if she’d really taken a liking to playing Operation with her cousins. Either way, she waited on me hand and foot.
Just to clarify, I was not subjecting my daughter to child labor.
“Do you want some crackers?” Her voice was muffled. Abbey had warned her that if she got too close she would get sick as well, so whenever she came around she covered her mouth with her hands.
“Sure.” I smiled weakly and accepted her offer. The girl was going to stuff me with Saltines until I choked.
Groaning, I rested against my pillows. I rarely got sick. It was like years of a great immune system built up to one gigantic failure. My entire body ached, and I oscillated between sweating and shivering like either one was going out of style. To make matters worse, Ella’s dance recital was at the end of the week.
“Do you need me to take your teneprature?” Ella’s head popped up beside mine, her eyes wide, with a paper towel full of crackers. The list of words she had yet to pronounce correctly was dwindling, but I still laughed—to myself of course.
“Absolutely, love. Do you know where the thermometer is?”
She nodded frantically and raced into the bathroom, like leaving me without an accurate temperature reading for another second was fatal. As she rummaged through the drawers, Abbey appeared in the doorway.
“Hey you.” She gave a small waved and leaned against the door frame. I hadn’t been able to kiss her in days.
“Hey.”
“She’s not bothering you, is she?” Her brow knitted in concern as she glanced at the bathroom. Something had crashed on the floor and everything went silent.
“Not at all.” We both craned our necks to see what disaster had happened this time. Ella triumphed over whatever had fallen and quickly came out wielding the thermometer.
“I’ve got the thermopeter.” Abbey snickered in the doorway. “Just open your mouth.”
Apparently I was not allowed to do this myself because the next thing I knew, I felt an extra thirty pounds on my stomach and Ella began poking my lips with the plastic stick. I bit back the urge to yelp, mostly because I was incredibly nauseous and did not want to open my mouth.
“Oh! Ella, don’t sit on his stomach!” Abbey must have seen the weary look on my face. She rushed over and pulled a confused Ella off of me.
“I need to take his teneprature.” A worried look clouded Ella’s bright face. She sat beside me, legs folded, and tried explaining the urgency of the situation.
“Honey, you can. He just has an upset stomach.”
“Oh.” Ella turned to me. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s fine Ellie.” I ruffled her hair and she smiled again. “Do you know how to work that?” When she shook her head no, I took it from her and showed her which buttons to press. That bloody thermometer had been around for everything: colds, flues, sore throats, runny noses, ear infections—most of which did not require a thermometer.
“It’s beeping, don’t talk.” I nodded obediently and tried to keep the thermometer under my tongue as instructed. By now, Abbey was sitting on the edge of the bed with her hand on my leg.
After deciding that I would indeed survive this epidemic, Ella kissed my cheek and went to go get books. She’d recently learned how to read—not very well, but still—and wanted to read to us all the time.
“I’m exhausted.” I closed my eyes and wished to fall asleep.
“Are you feeling any better?” Abbey felt my forehead, despite the fact she knew my temperature. Her hands were cold but it felt good.
“A little, but my deadline is Friday.” Abbey nodded, smiling, and leaned over me.
“We’ll let you get some rest then.” She kissed my forehead, hands weaving into my hair. Damn this fucking flu bug.
She quietly slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. I could hear Ella’s disappointed protests and chuckled. That kid was something.