Jackson's breakfast looked like slop. Grainy, brown, slop with a thin layer of milk on the surface. He'd fallen asleep with his head resting on the wooden table-top for just five minutes but by the time his Dad woke him back up his Weet-Bix had reduced to soggy slush.
"I hope you weren't up all night on that Xbox." His Dad raised a single brow and pushed Jackson's bowl closer to him.
Yawning widely, Jackson shook his head and closed his eyes, "I was asleep by eight."
"Eight?"
The heel of Jackson's hands squished his cheeks up when he rested his head in them, "I have the worst headache Dad. . . and my stomach hurts." He scrunched up his face and dropped a spoonful of Weet-Bix back into the bowl. Usually he could eat almost three breakfasts, given the time, but today he wasn't even hungry.
Harry frowned and sat down on the chair beside Jackson. It didn't seem like his son was going to be going anywhere near his breakfast any time soon so he shifted the bowl to the other side of the table where it wasn't creating a barrier between them.
"What do you want to do today then?"
Jackson looked at him in confusion, "huh?" He squinted.
"I can stay home with you if you're really not feeling good. But I'll have to take a day off work and you'll miss out on your tutoring at lunch, as well as all the class time you need up your sleeves," his dad explained, arms resting on the table-top. "You haven't thrown up or anything right?"
Jackson shook his head and groaned, he really had to stop doing that. Every movement made it hurt even more.
"We'll see what your temperature is Jack, if it's normal I think its worth you trying to go in."
Jackson almost fell asleep again in the short time his dad disappeared in the kitchen. His eyes were sore. He'd slept like a rock all through the night but he felt like he hadn't gotten a blink.
"Here Jacko, arm up."
The metal was freezing; it only took two seconds for goosebumps to spring to the surface of Jackson's arms and legs. He rubbed his thighs with his hands and waited impatiently for the beep, wanting the damn thing out of his armpit.
"You're normal Bud. What do you think?"
Jackson opened his eyes and rubbed his forehead. His dad was right, he couldn't really afford to be missing classes and he was due to meet Melissa in the library for tutoring that day. He was falling behind, he needed all the help he could get.
He groaned reluctantly, "bring me some pain killers, I'll go."
"Okay Jack, I'll cook ya piece of toast too. You're gonna need something in your tummy." Harry gave Jackson's shoulder a light touch.
Jackson stared at the plastic bowl at the end of the table listlessly while he waited for him to get back. Being sick wasn't great, but at least his body had chosen a day when the house was quiet. Mara had a teachers only day at school so their mum had taken her to her friends for a play date.
Once he'd taken the paracetamol his dad sat there and watched him eat the single piece of toast, not letting him leave until it was done. Then he went off and forced his achy body into his uniform and yanked his shoes on as he tiredly brushed his teeth. His stomach growled and cramped the entire time, making his posture awful as he slumped over the white porcelain sink.
"Are you ready?" Harry asked, peering into the bathroom with his coat over his shoulder. He hoped he was making the right decision here. Jackson didn't actually look too bad. He looked tired and maybe a tad pale but all in all okay. He'd be okay at school for the day, Harry had faith.
"Yeah. . ." Jackson spat one last time and turned the tap off. He grabbed his bag off the floor and followed his dad out to the car. His stomach didn't hurt as much with his legs tucked up so that's how he sat, knees up. He put his seat belt on but held it off himself with his hands.
Neither of his best friends were at school. Georgia had messaged him about being sick and Kade just hadn't turned up. Either he'd slept past his alarm again or he'd talked his parents into giving him another 'study' day. That guy could be persuasive when he wanted to be.
Hearing that Georgia was sick made Jackson think. It would've been easy for him to catch something off her, they hung out enough.
He put his phone face down on his desk and tried to concentrate on the questions on the paper in front of him. Identify an important symbol and blah blah blah, the words all spun together. Screw identifying a symbol, Jackson couldn't even identify a letter.
He moaned quietly, not wanting his classmates to stare. Dropping his head into his hands he decided to close his book. A break was all he needed. Five minutes.
His head continued to pound in all colours behind his closed lids. It really wasn't any worse than it had been all day but he was reaching the end of his tether. He wasn't going to be able to put up with it much longer.
Mr Renault started talking about the up coming exams and Jackson knew that he was just going to have to try last the day.
Lunch time couldn't have come slower. Jackson's head swum as he stood up and his shoulders killed from the weight of his bag. He'd been half asleep for the entire period and forgotten about his stomach ache but standing made it come back.
On his way to the lunch room he stopped and face-palmed. He had to go to the library to meet Melissa. Moving against the crowd was difficult and Jackson found himself out of breath a stumbling over his feet the rest of the way.
The warmth and silence inside the library was a pleasant surprise but he wasn't there for long. Melissa was almost two years older than him and a friend of the families. The moment she saw him she took hold of his waist and lead him straight to the nurses office.
"Why are you even here Jack?" Melissa asked worriedly as they stepped inside, joining the back of the line. Lunch time was always a busy time for the nurse, a lot of the teachers wouldn't let kids leave in the middle of a lesson so they often had to wait.
"You, tutoring, class." Jackson shrugged, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.
"Silly," Melissa grumbled to herself.
Once at the front of the line Jackson had his temperature taken again. Despite how shitty he felt it was still completely normal. The nurse frowned at him speculatively. He was totally washed out and could hardly keep his eyes open, she wasn't sure what to think of him. He looked like he had a fever.
"There's just over an hour before you get to leave anyway Jackson, how about you just sleep in here until then?"
Melissa picked up her gear and kissed his cheek, "he'd love to. Wish you better Jack. We'll meet up when you're feeling better for our session, don't worry about that."
Jackson nodded and yawned in response, already burying his face in the crisp pillow nearest to him. Laying on his stomach was out of the question, at this point his stomach had begun to bubble as well and cramp, so instead he laid on his side with a pillow over his face and his knees bent up as far as they could. It was so dark and quiet, despite feeling all kinds of terrible Jackson fell asleep even quicker than he had the night before.
After school his Dad was parked just outside the gates to pick him up. He leaned over the passenger seat and swung open the door so that Jackson could climb inside but he had to help him with his bag too because he was struggling.
Jackson closed the door and leaned against the back of the seat, eyes shut. The rest had been nice, however short it had been, but now he was awake again and wishing anything but. He sniffled and clicked his belt on, sitting the same way he had that morning.
"So, how was your day?" Harry asked cautiously. Seeing his son now made him think maybe he had been really wrong in sending him to school.
"Just drive please Dad," Jackson muttered. The car shifted into gear and they took off towards their neighbourhood just around the corner. Even with his eyes closed Jackson could feel his dad glancing over at him every three second.
Back at the house Mara was as enthusiastic as ever and there was no time to stop her from leaping onto Jackson in greeting like she always did. He let out a gruff 'oomph' and staggered backwards as if he'd just been hit by a moped rather than a nine year old girl.
"Hey Jack!"
"Mara, come here Sweetie."
Jackson peeled his eyes open to see his mum in front of him, looking sympathetic. He shrugged his bag off onto the floor.
"Dad said you weren't feeling well Bud, any better?" She followed him into the lounge where he collapsed onto the closest couch and wriggled around in an attempt to get comfortable. Jackson shook his head in response.
"You just get some rest then, call out if you need anything okay? I'll try keep Mara away."
"Thanks Mum," Jackson replied, his voice muffled in the cushions.
He felt as if all he'd done all day was sleep but it was coming so easy it felt like all he had the energy to do.
The next time he was woken it was for dinner. His Dad had made tomato soup knowing that soup would be easier to stomach than anything else and for that Jackson thanked him as he sat heavily in his usual seat. However, even the smell was making his sweat and he suddenly had a bad feeling about the whole thing, both mentally and physically.
After a few sips of water Jackson picked up his spoon in one hand and hesitantly lifted a mouthful to his lips. It went down without too much of a fight but it tasted strange and he still was not sure if it was safe to keep going. His stomach rolled and flipped nauseatingly. Thankfully the thumping in his head hand toned down a few notches though, so that was something.
His parents were watching him again so he had another bite.
Then he sat and waited, stirring the soup in a fidgeting manner. Every couple of minutes he had some more dinner but it wasn't long before his stomach lurched and an invisible force shot him forwards closer to the edge of his seat. He gulped but it was useless and before he had the proper time to catch himself he burped and hurriedly spun sideways in his chair just in time to cry out and throw up all over the floor beside his chair.
He coughed and spluttered as his parents rubbed his back soothingly and Mara squealed and shrieked, pulling as far away as she could.
After that whole incident Jackson gave up on dinner, had a hot shower, and then went to bed for the night. It was only eight a clock again but he didn't care. Now everything hurt and his bed was just about the only comfy place there was.
It might've been because of how much he'd slept during the day, but that night passed so slowly Jackson didn't know what to do with himself. His legs were cramping and aching because of how much he'd been flopping around and he couldn't keep his eyes shut. His nose had slowly clogged up and his throat only got more and more sore after the initial stomach acid scorching earlier. His blankets had been tossed around almost as much as he had, hot then cold and then hot again over and over.
By the time morning came his entire body was twitching, aching, and slick with fever sweat. He might not have had a fever yesterday but he definitely did then. The sun started creeping into the bedroom and Jackson knew that his parents had let him off with having the day away from school. If they wanted him to go he would've been woken hours earlier.
His back arched and he flinched at a spark of pain behind his eyes. The headache was back full force now, and just to make everything better he was definitely about to throw up again.
This time it wasn't just once, it was twenty minutes of heaving, both productive and unproductive. His mum had gone to work and Mara was already at school but his dad was there to wipe the sweat off his face and move his fringe out of the way.
Once Jackson had relaxed and was languidly brushing his teeth Harry called Lila. He asked here whether or not he should take Jackson into a clinic or not. He knew that the flew was migrating so there was a very high chance that everything was fairly under wraps but Jackson really seemed sick and Harry didn't want to take the risk, just in case.
Lila agreed, telling him to be gently about it. When Jackson was sick like he was it was almost impossible to get him to willingly leave the house. It had come as a shock yesterday, but she doubted it would be so easy the second time around.
Harry managed to get Jackson dressed and was just lacing up his sneakers for him before Jackson realised what was going on. He huffed and kicked one shoe off, "I don't wanna go out Dad," he rasped, rushing to catch a thick sneeze that flew from his parted lips.
Jackson's Dad handed him a tissue and locked his foot between his own knees to put the shoe back on, "we've got a doctors appointment Jack, it'll just be half an hour."
Jackson struggled weakly for a short moment, trying to dislodge his foot. It became clear that it was useless pretty quickly but he wasn't happy. He didn't feel good at all, he didn't want to go out where everyone would see how gross he could get.
His dad had him take an arrangement of medicines and pills before he tried getting Jackson out of the house. Jackson wasn't pleased with the situation at all and refused to talk to his dad in the car until he had to.
"I'm gonna be sick."
They were ten minutes late to their last minute appointment but thankfully nobody was too broken up about it.
After the whole fiasco Jackson was even less impressed with his dad, seeing as he'd dragged him all the way into town just to be told he had the flu. He could've probably told his dad himself. His grudge couldn't possibly last very long though because he couldn't stay mad at the person catching his puke in bowls and getting him endless supplies of tissues and medicine.
"Thanks Dad." Jackson coughed as he took a half full cup of tea out of his dad's larger hands.
"Your welcome Bud," his dad replied with a smile, sitting down beside him and turning the TV on.
"Are you gonna stay here tomorrow with me too?" Jackson asked quietly.
"If you want me too. I thought you kids liked Mum better when you were sick," Harry replied, surprised. Lila had always been the better care-taker, it was the usual routine of things. Harry worked while she took time to take care of the kids when they got sick. The only reason he was on Jackson duty that day was because she had a meeting she had to go to.
Jackson hummed and cuddled into his dad's chest, seeking warmth and also place to hide his reddening face. It was strange, asking his dad to stay with him.
"I'll stay tomorrow Bud, until you're back on your feet if you want me to."
"Okay."
That's another wrap! Bit shorter than the last one, but a lot quicker so that's gotta count for something :) I hope you lovelies enjoyed it, vote and comment to give me an idea of what you think if you have the time, have a great day!
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