Caring comes in many forms.
King scrunched his face up as he felt the light hit it, rolling over to waking. But the the soft whine that followed had his eyes shooting open.
Gold was standing in his bedroom door, clutching his blanket. Now that King was awake, he could smell it before Gold even said it, âI threw up.â
King looked at the clock; heâd only been asleep for two hours. Oh well, time to get moving now.
First order of business, stripping Goldâs bed and pyjamas and putting them in the wash and cleaning Goldâs floor while convincing the feverish Gold to rest on the couch.
Once that was cleaned up, it was time to take his sonâs temperature. Gold whined about it, curling away from the thermometer, âCome on now, under your tongue, there you go sunshine.â
Well, that was definitely high, but not dangerously so. Not rush him to the hospital high. King shuffled his way to the medicine cabinet and pulled out the fever suppressant and something to settle Goldâs stomach.
He read and double checked both bottles before measuring out the doses, two tablets and a glass of water.
âHere you go, yes both of them, no not at the same time if you donât want to, down the hatch,â King steadied Goldâs shaking hand and helped him tilt the glass to his lips.
âThere we go, good job,â King soothed, settling Gold back onto the couch, âTry and get some more rest, alright?â
And he could hear the washer come to a stop, so off he went to move the laundry along while his son slipped in and out of fevered dreams.
At least it was first thing in the morning and not midday, making calls and getting the day off wouldnât be too much of a hassle. Of course heâd do what he could at home, so the day wouldnât be a total waste.
Not that taking care of his sick son was a wasted day.
He still hadnât had a cup of coffee yet. At least that explained the growing headache.
By the time the sun was up, Goldâs bedding was dry and King remade the bed and scooped up the now deeply asleep child - who was soon to be too big to pick up - and tucked him in.
King placed a bucket next to the bed and a glass of water on the nightstand, just in case.
Gold slept most of the morning, crawling out of bed to sit at the kitchen table, ââM hungry and out of water.â
âOkay, well, I want to check your temperature again, but youâre looking a lot better than earlier,â King got the thermometer again, and Gold was a lot better about taking it this time.
Definitely going down, but still a little warm, âHowâs your stomach doing? You said you were hungry, how about some toast and a banana?â
Gold nodded and King went to work toasting up two slices of bread and cutting up a banana, âDonât force yourself to eat it all.â
He managed to finish one slice of toast and few bites of banana, to which King nodded in approval before giving Gold another dose of medicine and sending him back to bed.
King ate the remaining toast and banana and considered that his lunch.
When King went to check up on Gold later, he found his son sitting up in bed, playing one of his video games, eyes bright and alert, âYou look like youâre feeling better.â
âA lot,â Gold nodded as King laid a hand on his forehead. No longer felt feverish, that was good.
âHow does supper sound, nothing big, maybe some fried rice?â
âGood,â King let out a breath and felt himself finally start to relax from where heâd been tense all day.
King arched an eyebrow as Purple marched from his room, bedding in arms, to the laundry room, âPurple?â
âJust a minute,â Came the all too quiet response; once the washer was going Purple joined him in the kitchen, âSorry, I was just a little bit sick this morning, donât worry Iâve got it cleaned up-â
âHave you checked your temperature yet?â King chided, already getting up to fetch the thermometer from the cupboard.
âCâmon Baba, do I have to? Itâs just a normal stomach bugâŠâ
âHumour me, please?â With a whine, Purple stuck the thermometer under his tongue.
âOkay, so itâs a little high, but itâs not dangerous ârush me to the hospitalâ high. Donât worry about it Baba, Iâve got this. Iâve been sick like this before, I know how to take care of myself,â Purple reassured, swaying as he stood up on trembling legs.
âOkay. Iâll try, but worried is one of my default states these days. I do have some medicine if you would like to take some.â
âI⊠yeah, think I would. Up in the medicine cupboard, yeah?â Purple asked swinging the cupboard door open.
âLet me get that for you, I think youâre too short to reach,â King reached up and grabbed the two bottles of medicine.
âYouâve got to stop being so tall.â
âUnfortunately, itâs a curse I must bear for the rest of my life.â
Purple measured out the pills, swallowing them dry and making King cringe, âYou should probably have some water.â
âOnce the medicine starts kicking in and Iâm sure itâll stay down,â Purple nodded, moving to go back to the laundry room since the washer stopped.
âIâve got it, you go lay down in my bed for now and get some more rest.â
âPurple, go rest. Please.â
âFine, but only because you said please.â
King hadnât really been in Purpleâs room before, he wasnât expecting it to be so sparse as he made the teenâs bed. A few purple things and a cherry blossom bonsai, no books or anything.
Heâd have to get Purple some more things to help make his room more homey.
And now that the bed was made he scooped up up Purple - who was definitely too big for him to carry like that - and tucked him in with a bucket and a glass of water for the bedside.
Purple woke up not too long afterwards and headed to the kitchen, âMaking some toast and applesauce, if you want some.â
âNo thanks, do you want any help?â
âI got it, thanks,â Purpleâs tone was a little snippy, but he caught himself pretty quick, âSorry.â
âItâs alright, youâre not feeling well.â
âI am not,â Purple agreed, munching on his single piece of toast, âGonna take some more medicine and head back to bed to ride this out.â
âSounds like a plan.â