EMBRACE YOU Lone(liness Book Two)(25)

"How will you practice?"

"At home. Vocal exercises, lots of water and I'll sing my songs in a different room when the baby's resting."

"Good job."

At home, I clean Lizzie up and give her a few sips of cool water, all she could tolerate, apparently. After changing to clean clothing, Marcus leaves for the apothecary and I toss our dirty clothing into the washer and start checking our stock of invalid foods. Lizzie will need sustenance so she can fight this virus. After Marcus returns, we take our doses of medication and, gently waking our daughter, give her first dose as well.

"I hate waking her, but she has to start taking this medication," I tell Marcus after she takes the liquid. Looking back at my baby in her crib, I watch her for a few seconds before closing her door.

"Just think - the combination of sleep and that antiviral will have her set to rights in no time. She'll be running around and creating her own special brand of havoc. In the meantime, we need to start increasing our own liquid and veggie intake. How about my special chicken soup for dinner?" Marcus suggests.

My stomach growls at the thought. "Ooooh, yes, please! Let me check the veggies and see what we have. I would really like some with vitamin C in our soup. Also, we need to separate out a small portion for Lizzie and spice it lightly so she can eat some tonight."

We hurry to the large kitchen and I go through the pantry and fridge, identifying the veggies for our dinner. Marcus pulls out several chicken breasts.

"With skin, I think. I'll peel it off, but I think the fat from the skin will do us all good."

I look into the distance, considering. "I think you're right. We can skim the fat off for Lizzie, but she'll get the benefits." Looking outside, I see snow beginning to fall from the gray clouds. "Marcus, look. Snow."

"Picked a good time to start falling. We aren't going anywhere. We have the medication, we have food, Lizzie has nappies, so we're all set."

While the chicken boils on the stove, I practice in a room as far from Lizzie's room as I can get. After checking on her and going to the kitchen to make a quick lunch, Tim calls me.

"Hey, how's Lizzie?"

"Knocked out. She has flu and she's started antiviral medication. The doctor gave Marcus and me the same prescription and we're taking it as a precautionary. What's up?"

"The rest of us are sick, probably also the flu. Laslow's coughing up a damn lung and Linny has a high temp. I just feel like shit. You two stay healthy. Did you just say something about antiviral medication? Don't you have to start taking that right away?" Tim asks me.

"Yeah, oh no! We're going to miss at least a week of practice! Yes, you have to start taking the medication within something like 48 hours of the first symptoms to get any real benefit from it. Call your doc and have him call the apothecary for a prescription," I suggest. "Marcus is making homemade chicken soup right now. Lizzie will drink some broth tonight, and I think it'll help all of us."

"Chicken soup. The thought of water puts me off. Okay, thanks. I'll call for the medication and get started on it. Would you do my a huge favor? Call Laslow and Linny and tell them to start taking it as well? I think I'm gonna be..." Clunk. The phone rattles to the table.

Marcus sees the look on my face.

"What? What is it?"

"The boys are all sick, probably flu. Tim just asked me to call Laslow and Linny and tell them to start the antiviral stuff, then he dropped the phone so he could go be sick. Yech!"

"I'll call Laslow. He's a right bear when he's sick. You don't want his growling in your ear."

"I'll call Linny. Sandwiches for lunch?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

After we make our calls, we make sandwiches and drink lots of hot tea. My thinking is that, the more fluids, the better.

Marcus and I continue our work after lunch. Lizzie wakes shortly after we wash our dishes and I give her some warm tea. She holds this down, so I give her more, but her appetite is way off. After changing her nappy, I put her back into her crib and she quickly nods off. The house begins smelling fragrant with chicken soup, making me hungrier and hungrier the closer dinner comes.

Marcus brings Lizzie to the dining room and he gives her small sips of chicken broth. Before he spiced it, he finished cooking the chicken, rice and veggies, then ladled out some of the broth into a small, plastic container for Lizzie.

Lizzie is still clearly under the weather, but she accepts the tasty broth - as much as she has an appetite for. She sips cool water from her sippy cup and begins dozing off in Marcus' arms.

I take her, change her nappy and put her back in her crib, so she can sleep comfortably. After cleaning up from dinner, I look outside at the snow, now accumulated to about five inches. We spend a quiet evening with each other, then my mum calls us.

"How are you? What's wrong with the baby?"

"We're fine, mum. Lizzie has the flu, and we're all on antiviral medication. Marcus made his chicken soup so we're battling this on all fronts. How about you?"

"Your dad is sick. This is a bad grippe, Jo. Don't mess around with it. Take the antivirals exactly as you're supposed to, and hopefully, it'll be lighter if you get it. How many doses has Lizzie had?"

"One, and she's supposed to get another in about an hour. I'll wake her, give her the medication and let her go back to sleep. How sick is dad?"