Sick Day
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
In which OLeif becomes sick…
OLeif was feeling ill that morning. Collette had spent the night on the couch, just in the chance that he should be contagious. So because pneumonia could not be completely ruled out via his symptoms, Collette and Puck dropped him off at the Walgreen’s clinic, while they went shopping for groceries.
When they entered the store, a kind granny gave Puck a sticker.
“Take that to the bakery and they’ll give you a cookie,” she said.
So while Puck munched his sugar cookie, they quickly collected the necessary items of the week.
And back to Walgreen’s where Puck immediately struck up conversation with a woman in a Cardinals sweatshirt who had fifteen grandchildren, and hardly looked old enough to have one, by giving her his full name.
“Wow. That’s a long name,” she replied. “Do you have a nickname?”
“It’s not Nick,” he answered.
And she laughed.
Shortly after the pharmacist was telling her co-worker about her recently ordered four-tier cheesecake wedding cake and white chocolate sheet cake… OLeif emerged with the diagnosis.
“Leprosy,” he said.
So they picked up his medication for acute sinusitus, and…
“Let’s get you a snack, Puck,” said OLeif.
Cheese dippers for Puck. Mixed nuts for OLeif. Cashews for Collette.
For the afternoon, Collette commanded OLeif to rest. She packed him off to the basement couch and television to relax with a heavy blanket and Carnivale, a series from the library that he had been recently wanting to watch.
While reading later in the afternoon, Collette and Puck discussed Heaven together.
“But I don’t have a flying car or a flying Ruckus,” he said, a little concerned.
“That’s alright,” Collette replied. “God will bring you to Heaven without a Ruckus.”
“And he will bring Trooper and all of my other friends to Heaven.”
Then they looked at booster seats for the car for his fourth birthday, including a pricy line called ‘Oobr’, which included color schemes entitled: ‘Snowberry’, ‘Shadow’, ‘Milk and Cookies’, and ‘Blue Moon’.
Driscoll.
Piper.
By four o’clock, OLeif felt well enough to grill the pork steaks on the patio. This was accompanied with red potatoes.
At dinner, Puck thought carefully over some previous strips of Calvin & Hobbes.
“I should never worship the television. Like Calvin did,” he said quite seriously. “Never worship to a laptop. Never worship to a television. Never worship to a baker. Never worship to a plant and wheels. Never worship to bananas. Never worship to plates or cups. Never worship to a fireplace. Never worship to a mom. Or a dad. Or a mom. Never worship to anything but God.”
Into the early evening, OLeif was wiped out again with the chills and a possible fever, so he returned to bed to allow the effects of the infection to begin disbanding.
Poor old chap…
And Collette spent another night on the couch… just in case… watching the pilot of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, because she had never seen the series growing up.