Superman

Chapter 9

My first thoughts upon waking the next day were "Ow." And "Why is Julia touching me?" I tried to speak but my throat felt like fire; also my nose was all stuffed up so breathing through my mouth without hurting my throat even more was quite the challenge. Pippa and I were still on the porch intertwined with each other. The sun seemed to be scorching hot for so early in the day but that could have been because of my fever.

Julia was scolding Pippa as she read the thermometer that had been in her mouth. "Piper Walldridge, what have I told you about being out in the pouring rain?! Here you are sick as a dog with a hundred degree fever. Well, no matter. Get inside both of you."

"Mom, we have Drama Camp today." Pippa said in a nasally voice.

"Neither of you are going anywhere today. Lamar will just have to manage without you. Now get!"

Standing proved to be difficult as my head felt as if it was being squeezed through a tube of toothpaste. Julia had to steady me to keep me from tumbling over. I drunkenly stumbled into the house and she immediately pushed me onto the couch. Pippa slumped down beside me.

Her eyes were puffy, her nose was swollen, and her whole face was beat red; she looked awful. But I knew that I couldn't be much better. We just stared at each other as Julia busied herself getting blankets and orange juice for the both of us. After forcing us to drink two full glasses each, she said "Now Felix, honey, I have called your mother and told her that you will be staying here a couple of days until you are better. Neither of you will be leaving this house until I say it's okay, understand?"

We both nodded feebly.

"All right then. I'm going to get a few things from the store. You two stay under the covers and are to get up under no circumstances except to use the bathroom and then I want you straight back on this couch. I will be back within the hour, call me if you need anything."

We didn't even try to argue. Pippa kept wiping her nose on her sleeve and had pretty much lost her voice so we had to communicate through notes; which was fine by me because my throat was killing me. We were so weak that we just sat staring off into space and dozing for what felt like years.

At some point, a movie marathon of "Lord of the Rings" was suggested. I was in and out of consciousness as Frodo made his way to Rivendell. It began to rain outside which made me happy that I was warm and cozy inside and in such close quarters with Pippa. When Julia showed up, she shoved medicine down our throats and gave us large bowls of soup that we had to finish every last drop of. I slowly began to feel the slightest bit human again.

About noon there was a knock on the door and, to our great surprise, Lamar and the Camp kids had come to see us. They brought cards and flowers and sang for us. Floraline even sang a solo. We did our best to be enthusiastic, but honestly I was too drugged to pay attention. They said their goodbye's and Lamar ushered them back to the bus. Julia had a heart attack when she saw us up and forced us back onto the couch. Pippa curled up and laid her head on my lap and fell asleep without a word. After several more bowls of soup and another large dose of meds, Frodo was in Morder and I was in a deep sleep. I am pretty sure I slept for two days because except to pee and get more drugs, I didn't leave that couch. The next thing I knew, it was Tuesday afternoon, the sun was shining through the windows, and I was curled up by myself on the Walldridge's couch.

"Well look who finally decided to wake up." Julia said. Her hair was up in a tight bun and she looked exhausted and relieved. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I died and was then put in the microwave for too long." I whispered. My voice came out scratchy and my throat burned.

She handed me a glass of lemonade and I quickly guzzled it down. "How's Pip?"

"She's upstairs. This is the sickest I have ever seen her. You both have had a rough time of it but you're fighters. The fever seems to be staying down so with another day or two of rest you should be back on your feet."