The Safe House

Chapter 17

Kenna was sick for two days. I think it was just a little flu bug. But yesterday, Jason, Carter, and Theo started to show symptoms. I told them to rest and I have been making soup for them. Carter puked yesterday afternoon, Theo puked at three this morning, and Jason puked shortly after Theo. I feel like I have four children and I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off functioning on three hours of sleep. I was up making breakfast for everyone when I heard someone getting sick. I assumed it was one of the boys, but when I went to check on them, it was Caleb. Great, now all four of them are sick. I got them all situated in the living room so they could watch TV and that way I didn't have to run from room to room. Each one of them was on a couch with a bowl next to them in case they get sick.

I got each of them a bowl of soup for dinner.

"Not hungry" They moaned.

"You guys haven't eaten all day." I started. "You need to eat. It will put something in your stomach to puke up and you have got to keep something in your system. You have to build your strength back up." I replied

"I'm fine" Caleb pushed his bowl away.

"Please eat." I said starting to get frustrated. "Just please try to eat." I left to find Kenna. She was in the dining room playing on the floor.

"Hey, can you come help me load the dishwasher?" I asked. She loves to help clean up. She smiled at me and came to the kitchen. By the time we got done cleaning the kitchen, it was time for her to take a bath and go to bed.

Once she was ready to be laid down, we went downstairs to say goodnight to the boys. We walked into the living room and ran over to Jason. She tried to give him a kiss goodnight, but I picked her up before she could.

"Kenna, Jason is sick remember? You can't give him kisses" I told her. She lowered her head as if she was in trouble. She's just being emotional because she is so tired.

"That goes for you too." Carter chimed in. I shot him a death glare.

"Tell the boys goodnight. We are going to bed." I told Kenna.

"Goo night" She mumbled in her little voice.

"Goodnight." They replied. I loved watching them with her. It was like she had four older brothers. They loved her so much and they would do anything to protect her. I rocked with her for a while and it didn't take her long to fall asleep. I almost fell asleep with her. I laid her down and went downstairs to check on the boys.

They were arguing about what show to watch. I walked into the living room, took the remote out of Carter's hand and shut the TV off. "Time for bed boys."

"What? It's only 8:30." They complained.

"I don't care! You need lots of rest to get over this crap. So, go to sleep." I replied. They were silent for a moment.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jason asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just please try to get some sleep so we can all get back to normal." I picked up their soup bowls from dinner and put them in the dishwasher. I went up to my room and went to bed. I tossed and turned for hours. I tried everything, but I couldn't go to sleep. At three a.m. I finally fell asleep.

The next day, the boys felt a lot better and I was so glad. Hopefully, they will be even better tomorrow. I decided to do laundry today. I made the boys get up, take showers and give me all their bedding and dirty clothes. It took me all day just to do their laundry. That night they all slept in their rooms and luckily I didn't hear any of them get up during the night to get sick. I think they are finally over it.

The next morning, everything was back to normal. Everyone ate breakfast and the boys were messing around and wrestling with each other again. I felt like crap, but I wasn't going to let anyone know that. My stomach had been churning since I ate breakfast. By the time lunch rolled around I still didn't feel good, so I skipped it. I laid Kenna down for her afternoon nap and I was in the living room watching TV with the boys. All of a sudden, I knew I was going to puke. I got up and ran to the bathroom.

After I got sick, I laid on the bathroom floor. I was so weak, I felt like I couldn't even stand. Theo knocked on the door.

"Hey, Mads are you okay in there?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." I replied.

"I'm coming in." He said as he opened the door. He ran over to me. "Hey! You're not okay. Come on. Let's get you to bed."

"I'm fine. Something just didn't sit right." I replied.

"No, you're not. You caught the flu that all of us had and now it's time for you to get some rest." He said. I didn't respond. He helped me off the floor and up to my room. I got in my bed and Theo turned to leave.

"Thank you." I said.

"Hey, you took care of me and three others while we were sick while also taking care of a toddler. You should win an award for that." he chuckled. "It's our turn to take care of you."

I gave him a smile before he walked out and closed my door. I slept for two hours and felt a lot better so I got up and made my way to the kitchen.

"Oh no no no" Jason said. "You need your rest go back to your room."

"I'm fine" I replied.

"Nope, get out of here." Carter chimed in.

"Take the next couple of days to rest. Don't worry about us or Kenna we can handle it. You focus on getting better." Jason said. All the boys were staring at me like a kid who got in trouble by their parents.

"Go!" Caleb said.

"Alright, fine." I replied as I left the kitchen and went back to my room.

I woke up to my door being creaked open.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Jason said.

"Like crap." I said with a chuckle.

"I brought you some leftover soup." He said as he sat down next to me. He turned on my lamp and handed me the soup. It smelled so good.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Eight." He replied.

"At night?" I asked. He nodded. "Oh my gosh, I slept all day."

"You needed it." He replied. I ate about half the bowl of soup before I started to feel like I was going to get sick. I stopped eating and handed him my bowl.

"Are you ok?' He asked. I shook my head. "Are you going to puke?' he asked. I nodded as I got out of bed and ran to the bathroom. This is terrible. I hate getting sick.

After I was done, I went back to my room. Jason was gone. I immediately snuggled back into my bed and fell asleep.

"Here" Theo handed me a piece of toast.

"No" I said and rolled over in bed.

"You need to eat." He pushed.

"No, I'm fine. I'm getting better. I promise. Can you please just leave me alone so I can sleep?" I said.

"Alright fine." He gave up with a sigh.

About three minutes later I heard my door open.

"What now?" I asked. Then Jason came into my view.

"Why aren't you eating?" he asked.

"I'm not hungry." I replied

"Maddie, you have to eat. To use your exact words, you need to build up your strength." He quoted me. I didn't respond so he continued, "When you got sick at six a.m. You were so weak and dehydrated that you couldn't even walk back to your room. I found you lying on the bathroom floor. Now sit up and eat your damn piece of toast" Wow, I did not expect that. I slowly sat up and took the piece of toast from him.

After I ate it, he sighed and said, " I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell at you."

"It's okay." I whispered.