Louis swiveled around in the passengers seat as the backdoor opened and our son clambered into the back, throwing his bag onto the floor and plopping down into his car seat, "hey little man, how was school?"
"Hiya, Jakey!" I smiled at him in the mirror. He grinned back, waving a bit.
Jake shrugged as he struggled to clip in his seat belt. His little arms didn't quite reach the buckle unless he leaned right over the edge and I laughed as he tried to pull himself back up, "school was okay, Hayden wasn't there today so I was a bit lonely."
Louis snorted, "do ya need a hand, bud?"
"No, I got it Papa. . ." Jake said in a strained voice and then with one final burst of energy yanked himself upright, letting out a dramatic 'whew.'
"Why wasn't Hayden there?" I asked as I pulled out of the primary school car park and out onto the road, waving thankfully at the women who let me in.
"I don't know."
Jake rested his chin out the open window and Louis smiled, spinning the volume dial until the car was thumping.
Once we got home Louis and I helped Jake with his homework. I found it all pretty scary to be honest. It felt we'd only brought him home a few weeks ago but now he was learning how to read and solve addition equations. It seemed impossible.
Louis cooked pasta for dinner a couple of hours later and we all sat down and watched cartoons while we ate, laughing loudly and dropping food on the odd occasion. It happened, the sad thing was that it wasn't really the five year old who made a mess.
I put Jake to bed at seven and then went back to the couch to cuddle with Lou, stretching out along the cushions and moving around a bit to get comfortable.
"Haz, you're elbow is murdering my hip."
Louis shifted with a chuckle. I apologised, tucking it down away from him.
"Are going to change the channel?" I asked. Usually we didn't, the cartoons were a good way to unwind after a long day but it was Friday and on Fridays they always played a movie on the channel below.
"Oh yeah, that's right! Transformers is on!" Louis burst out excitedly, struggling to reach past me and get to the remote on the floor.
I snorted as I grabbed the remote, "geek."
"Shut up, you were the one who made me watch it the first time, dweeb!" He shot back as I flicked the button and the TV screen changed to the opening credits of the first Transformers movie.
After about ten minutes I got up and put a bag of popcorn in the microwave after catching myself munching on the inside of my cheek. The two minute wait felt like forever and I tapped my fingers on the counter top impatiently as the bag spun around on the plate, popping noises echoing around the kitchen.
The microwave screeched after what felt like a lifetime and I eagerly grabbed the bag out, burning my fingers as I tipped the insides into a bowl and ran off back to the lounge.
Louis was sitting forward now, literally on the edge of his seat. I laughed and plopped down next to him, spilling a few bits of popcorn into the couches creases. Oh well, I guess they're lost now.
***
An hour later I glanced over at Louis when the movie hit a blank point. He was blinking harshly, as if trying to keep himself awake and in the dull lighting I noticed the bags beneath his eyes. He had been working pretty hard recently, harder than I had, and I wasn't surprised to see that it was all finally catching up.
"Lou, you look exhausted, love."
I laid a hand on his shoulder and he just about jumped out of his skin, a quiet squeak slipping from between his lips.
I smiled apologetically and began rubbing his shoulder, "sorry, didn't mean to give you a fright."
He shrugged, rubbing at his eyes, "s'okay, I'm a bit jumpy."
"Are you alright?"
This is how it goes, week after week.
One of us always gets run down. Between working all day and Jake, things were a bit hectic and tiredness was unavoidable. We just had to look out for each other.
"I'm just tired H, I'm fine," Louis replied, grinning with droopy eyes.
"Do you want to head off to bed now? I'll come with you," I offered, not wanting him to be even more tired in the morning. Some people get cranky or grumpy when they're tired but Louis just gets into this freaky calm, nothing fazes him even a little. Last time he cut himself across the thumb while he was trying to prepare lunch and instead of wrapping it up and calling me he just stared at the growing puddle of blood and the gaping hole in his hand for ten minutes before I came in a quickly took charge.
He was dangerous when he was tired.
"I wanna finish the movie Harry, then we'll go to bed. It only has about quarter of an hour left anyway."
Louis yawned into his hand. He leaned over and fell on top of me, burrowing into my chest.
"Don't try too hard to stay awake then, babe," I sighed, curling a tuft of his hair in between my fingers.
Barely five minutes later his breathing had slowed down completely and he was dead still. I looked down at him, expecting him to be sleeping but his eyes were still open, shining in the glare from the TV.
"Are you sure you-"
"Ten minutes," he whispered.
Stubborn, as always. It was useless.
"Dad?"
I looked to the doorway to see Jake pressed up against the frame. It was still pretty early for Louis and I, but he definitely shouldn't be up still.
"What are you doing out of bed, little man?" I asked. Before I could finish the sentence he was crawling over Louis and tucking himself between us gingerly, dark hair loose over his forehead.
"Hey, hey, what's the matter?" I questioned, getting worried as he wrapped his little arms around my neck and buried his face in the gap under my chin.
Louis rolled over to see what was going on, "what's wrong, Jakey?"
"My tummy feels sick," he whined, warm breath fanning my skin. I rubbed his small back comfortingly, "like you might be sick?"
"I dunno Daddy, it just hurts," came a the soft reply.
"Let's sit up yeah, and papa will go find the thermometer so we can see how hot you are okay?"
Louis nodded and rolled up onto his feet as I moved into a sitting position, tugging Jake up with me. He hadn't been sick, as in tummy troubles, in a couple of years and I doubted he really remembered that much. If he did vomit without warning then at least he wouldn't choke on it or something equally scary and gross.
I couldn't help but think about how typical this was though. Louis' run down and exhausted, then Jake gets sick, of course. It sounded exactly like the kind of thing that would happen to us.
Louis came back with the thermometer a minute or so later, glassy eyes even glassier with worry.
"Alright Jakey, arm up. . ."
Once it beeped I took it out and read the number. It was 101.2, which was high, but not awfully high thankfully.
"Aw, bud you've definitelygot a fever."
I ruffled his slightly sweaty hair sympathetically and he whined again. I pitied the little guy, I could remember all the stomach viruses I'd survived throughout my lifetime and I knew how much harder it was when you were barely a metre tall.
"Did your tummy feel bad at dinner time?" Louis asked gently.
"No. . ." Jake replied, "just in bed."
Lou bent over with arms out stretched and I let him pick Jake up off my lap, watching as he sat him on his hip. 'You good?' I mouthed. Louis nodded, trying to be reassuring but his feet were dragging slightly as he carried Jake off into the kitchen and I got up and followed after in case he needed a hand.
Louis put Jake down on top of the bench and the little one immediately wrapped his arm around his middle. I winced at the low gurgling sound it made then and Jake whimpered.
"Kid's stomach relaxer's in the top cupboard Lou," I directed after seeing the lost look on his face. He wasn't a regular in the kitchen, the pasta he'd made fore dinner tonight was the only thing he knew how to cook and really the only thing that he knew where it was were the sweets and chocolate.
I rested a hand on top of Jake's leg as Louis measured the dark liquid out. He spilled a few drops on the bench but got there in the end and handed Jake the medicine with an encouraging look.
"Drink up bud, it'll help your tummy feel better," I urged after watching Jake stare at the little plastic cup for a few seconds.
He shuffled away from Louis' hand slightly, "I don't feel well. . ."
Louis jiggled the concoction a bit, as if the movement made the liquid seem more appetizing, "we know little man, this will help. I promise."
"Papa..." Jake said warningly, trying to get down off the bench. His feet hit the ground and then he doubled over and vomited on the tiles with a dreadful heaving sound. It was almost as bad as the sound his insides made when they splattered onto the tiles.
"Take him to the bathroom Lou, I'll clean up."
I gently pushed Jake in Louis' direction as he burped, tears leaking from his eyes. Poor kid.
"Gotcha, come on love, it's okay, you'll feel better soon," Louis whispered as he lead Jake to the bathroom.
I grimaced at the mess on the floor, wanting to do anything but clean it up. It smelt like rotten tomatoes. I reluctantly grabbed the bucket from under the sink and fulled it up with hot water and bubbles, retrieving a cloth from another cupboard and then getting to work cleaning the floor.
Maybe this was the reason Hayden wasn't at school today. He must've been sick with this same bug, and managed to pass it on to Jake before symptoms started to show. It made sense, Jake couldn't have picked it up from anywhere else.
I finished up and went to go see how my two favourite boys were doing. The bathroom door was closed but it was silent and even when I knocked there was no answer. The door creaked a bit as I opened it and a small smile crept across my face as I took in the sight in front of me.
Louis had brought a duvet in, and they were both tucked up underneath it on the the bathroom floor sound asleep. It was absolutely adorable, but I couldn't let Louis sleep on the floor. He needed a bed tonight.
I could understand why Jake was in here, he probably still felt nauseous and wanted to stay near the toilet. However, Louis needed some proper rest. I would stay in here with Jake.
I crouched down and shook Louis shoulder gently until his blue eyes opened wearily.
"Hello," I greeted quietly, not wanting to wake up Jake.
"Hi, Louis murmured back sleepily.
"Thought you might want to go to the bedroom. I'll take the night shift," I said, already helping him up onto his feet.
"Are you sure H? I'm okay, I want to h-"
"I'm sure Lou, I'll be fine with Jake," I said, "I'll wake you if I need help with anything."
"Okay, if you're sure. I'll see you soon then babe, night." He kissed me and slowly went off towards our bedroom.
I stared down at my bed for the night. A checkered duvet on hard, cold tiles. At least I had a pillow.
***
"Daddy, Dad! Please wake up!"
My eyes shot open and after a few moments they came into focus and I realised that Jake was shaking me. Natural light was streaming in through the window which meant that he'd slept through the night which was good but he was panicking now so I hurriedly sat up.
"I'm gonna get sick again, I feel it," he said in a choked, sad version of his usually hyper and carefree voice.
"It's alright Jakey, I'm right here. It'll be over soon," I hushed him, my voice rough.
he groaned miserably, almost crying, "I don't want to be sick, Dad. . ."
"You'll feel a lot better once the nasty is out of your tummy."
I helped him over the toilet. Thankfully his skin didn't feel any warmer than it had last night, so that was good, but the state he was in now, not so much.
Pretty much the same second I got him in front of the bowl he coughed up a heavy stream of vomit. And then another. It was hard to watch. I just wanted to take all the pain from his tiny, fragile, little body. He didn't deserve it in the slightest.
All I could do was rub his back and whisper sweet words of encouragement as some weak form of comfort. I felt useless, there was really nothing more I could do.
He fell back into me breathlessly and I wrapped my arms around his shaking body, "shh, it's done now, bud. . ."
The firm hold I had on him lasted all of about ten minutes before he was scrambling from my grip to lean back over the loo, spewing up another load of half digested food.
And it wasn't stopping for some reason. The time between each episode grew shorter and shorter and soon he was retching every couple of minutes. He was crying now, sobbing.
I didn't know what to do.
"Louis! Lou!" I screamed out, hoping he would hear and rush in. If he didn't know how to stop this merciless cycle then there was only one option left.
Luckily, Louis must've heard me because a few minutes later he stumbled in, eyes wide and awake.
Instantly his gaze went to Jake, who was still heaving over the toilet, "Oh, sweetheart. Why are you yelling, Haz?"
"He w-won't stop Lou, I d-don't know wh-what to do!"
I was surprised by how scared and shaky my voice was, usually I had pretty good control over my emotions. Not this time though, my thoughts were racing through my head at a such a pace that I couldn't take hold of a single one, nothing was making any sense.
"How long has he been like this?"
Louis grabbed a cloth from the draw and ran it under the cold water before laying it on the back of Jake's neck. He shivered beneath the coolness as he drew in a quick couple of breaths and gagged forcefully.
"Please, s-stop!" he cried.
"Twenty five minutes," I replied. It mightn't have been that long, it felt like years had passed really. I wiped a tear off my cheek and peered up at Louis.
His eyes shot around frantically. "I've got nothing, Harry. I don't know what to do either," he admitted, shaking his head in fright.
Jake threw up again. I wasn't sure how he had anything left in his tiny system to be honest but something was still hitting the water.
I locked eyes with Louis and I knew that we were thinking the same thing.
"I'll go get the car ready." Louis stated.
I nodded, " I'll meet you there in two."
***
I managed to drive to the hospital in a record of eight minutes and sixteen seconds. Within the next week there would probably be multiple tickets sent to us in the mail but I couldn't care less. Considering the stressed state I was in I doubted I was fit for the road anyway and the whole way Jake was crying and gagging in the back while Louis told me to step on the gas.
I think I ran three red lights.
Thankfully they saw what state Jake was in the second we rushed him through the door and got him into a room straight away, private because of his relation to us. They had to sedate him to stop the dry heaving and although it was scary to watch him slowly get disorientated and then just pass out completely, it was easier to watch than the scene I'd seen in the back of the car and in the bathroom this morning.
And it was just a stomach bug. Apparently his stomach was in some sort of shock which was causing the convulsions and unstoppable vomiting. When he woke up a few hours later he was okay. Pasty white, looking even more tired than Louis had looked last night and his hair still wet with sweat, but okay.
They let us take him home later in the afternoon, deciding that what happened most likely would not happen again. He was still ill, we had to pull over once on the way home, but he was far better than he was before.
Sunday he was still throwing up and then Monday we thought he could do with a day of school as he was still a bit feverish and lethargic but by Tuesday he was practically back to his usual bouncy self and we couldn't be more pleased.
Again, sorry about the wait! More exams coming up unfortunately...
Did you like it though? Please tell me what you think, I love hearing from you!