living_history (living_history) wrote in the_colony, @ 2011-01-17 21:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 33, bridget mackenzie, louisa may smith, | bridget and louisa may |
Week 33 - Saturday
Characters: Bridget and Louisa May
Location: Bridget’s room
Summary: After seeing she missed breakfast, Louisa May finds Bridget sick in her room.
Rating: PG
Bridget stayed huddled in bed, feeling absolutely miserable and not a little scared. She’d felt the cold coming on the day before, but had just thought she was overly tired. Waking up early in the morning with a sore throat and stuffed up nose disabused her of the notion, and she didn’t even have the energy to do more than grab a box of tissues and crawl back into bed.
For a change she wasn’t even hungry.
Louisa May noticed that Bridget wasn’t around at breakfast, and had wanted to remind her about their next appointment -- with all the rush of new people and check-ups she’d been doing, she didn’t want Bridget’s needs to fall to the wayside. So she looked for Bridget in the library, and not finding her there, wondered if she was still in her room.
She knocked gently on Bridget’s door in case she was still sleeping. “Hey, you in there?” she called out softly.
Bridget woke at the sound of the knock and realized she’d fallen asleep again after getting the tissues. “Here!” She croaked, feeling thick headed and starting to have flashbacks to all her relatives back during the height of the swine flu. To her sister.
Louisa May waited for a second for Bridget to open the door, and when nothing happened, she pushed it open herself. She immediately saw Bridget’s flushed and miserable face, and hustled over to her bedside.
“Bridget, honey, you do not look well.” She put a hand on the other woman’s forehead to feel for a fever. “How long have you been like this?”
“I felt run down and a little scratchy last night,” Bridget responded as Louisa May felt on her forehead. “Then I woke up early this morning feeling like death warmed over. I’m so tired...” and scared. This was how Calliegh died.
The thought had entered Louisa May’s mind as well, and a cold spike of fear ran her through as she assessed the other woman. She wasn’t running a fever -- at least not a high one -- which was a blessing. Louisa May’s hands moved to Bridget’s jawline, feeling her lymph nodes to see how swollen they are. “Any nausea? Diarrhea?”
“I haven’t tried to eat anything,” The expectant mother didn’t really feel like talking, but needed to let Louisa May know what was going on. “No diarrhea so far.”
“Okay. Okay.” Louisa May exhaled. “It looks to me like you got yourself a case of the common cold.” She shook her head. “Must’ve got a bug from our guests.” She looked around for a chair, and finding one in the corner, pulled it up so she could sit, her hands shaking a little with relief.
Bridget breathed a long sigh of relief of her own and kept her gaze fixed on the doctor. “You’re sure?” She’d been so scared. “My sister Calliegh, she went into labor when she had the swine. The combination...it was too much for her.”
“I’m as sure as I can be, given what your symptoms are telling me. Which means that we’re gonna keep a close eye on you, and a close eye on whoever gave it to you, but I’ve seen my fair share of flu, and I’d bet my life that you don’t have it.” She reached for Bridget’s hand and squeezed it.
Bridget couldn’t help herself: a shudder passed through her and she started crying softly, feeling some of the fear that had gripped her since waking up in the predawn hours start to pass. “Thank god. It’s just the ‘new people’ bug then?”
“Looks like. They probably just think they’ve got a runny nose, and might not even think that they’re really all that sick -- it’s cold out, everyone’s got runny noses and is feeling sluggish.” She sat back in her chair, thinking of strategies. She was working her way through giving the travelers check-ups, and hadn’t seen any cold symptoms yet, but she’d keep an eye out, and in the meantime, let everyone know to start being vigilant about washing their hands.
“Okay,” Louisa May continued, now thinking aloud. “I’m gonna get one of those bottles of hand sanitizer and put it right in here. You make sure everyone sanitizes before they leave, and if you have to cough, do it into your elbow. We’ll get you set up with a regular salt water gargle, that’ll help with your throat, and some hot tea and soup to get some fluids in you.” She paused. “I’ll look at the cold meds I have in stock, see what I can find that’d be safe for you.”
Bridget nodded but didn’t trust herself to speak, and brushed a hand over her eyes to wipe away the tears. The others probably didn’t have anything beside a runny nose or a cough, but with her system so stressed with the twins it had been easy for her to succumb to the bug.
At the thought of a saltwater gargle she made a face but nodded. “Whatever you think is best Louisa,” she squeezed the other woman’s hand gratefully. “Thank you.”
“We’ll get through this thing, don’t you worry,” Louisa May replied reassuringly. “You just rest up and let yourself be pampered, okay?” She smiled a little and Bridget nodded in resignation. Colds she could handle. Colds couldn’t be given free reign, or else they’d turn into something nastier like pneumonia or bronchitis, but for now, this was something manageable, which was no end of relief.
“Not so much as a runny nose all through the end of the world and I get brought down by the common cold.” Bridget sniffled. Could there be anything more miserable than her situation right now? She was tired of being pregnant, the cold was just the icing on the cake.
“Well, it’ll give you a chance to get off your feet, and that can’t be a bad thing,” Louisa May replied firmly. “I’m sure you’ll feel lots better after a day or two of bed-rest. Now, is there anything you’d like me to get you right now, before I go off and get together all the stuff you’re gonna need? Glass of water? Something to eat?”
“I’m not hungry but I know I need to eat.” The expectant mother wasn’t looking forward to shoving food down a sore throat, but the hunger pangs would be back soon enough. “If you can bring something up or have someone else bring it if you want, that would be great.”
“Soup will go down easy, and it’ll hydrate you, so I’ll make sure you get some sent up,” Louisa May replied. “And I’ll be back with all the other goodies soon. If I wasn’t seein’ people for checkups this afternoon, I’d stay... but I’ll be sure to poke my head in, and I’ll see if someone else can’t check up on you too in case you need any help.” She paused, thinking. “If you’re feeling weak and tired, I don’t want you trying to get out of bed on your own. I don’t want you falling.”
Bridget didn’t like the restriction and it showed on her face, but she nodded in acceptance. As huge as she was these days, nimble was definitely not her middle name. “If you’re going to be pouring soup down my throat I’ll have to make that many more trips to the toilet.” If this was how it was going to be, she hoped the cold would burn itself out quickly.
“I figure as much, yeah. But I know you tend to be stubborn about doin’ things on your own.” Louisa May smiled, so that Bridget would know she meant well. “So just be careful, and don’t be afraid to call for help when you do need it.”
“I’ll be a good girl, Louisa. Promise.” Bridget forced a wan smile. “As crappy as I feel I’m not moving out of this bed unless I have to.”