It was two days since their last date. Tim and Ethan had been texting nonstop since then. They’d tried talking, but with Ethan’s cold, Tim preferred he save his voice for work. So, it was a surprise when partway through Tim’s work day, halfway through Ethan’s, Tim’s phone rang.
It was Ethan’s number.
“What’s up?” Tim answered.
It wasn’t Ethan.
“Is this Tim?” An unfamiliar voice asked.
“Um, yeah. Who’s this?”
“I’m Dustin. I’m a friend of Ethan’s.” Tim relaxed. He’d heard Ethan mention Dustin.
“Ok.”
“Ethan asked me to call you.” There was a pause. “He’s ok, but he’s in the ER right now.”
“ER? What’s wrong? Blood sugar?”
“Started that way, but he’s pretty sick. They’re checking him for pneumonia. He’s asking for you. I know you’re working, but…”
“Let me talk to my boss. I’ll be there.” He heard a loud raspy sneeze in the background and winced. “Tell him I’m on my way. Thanks Dustin.”
He went and explained the situation to Alex.
“Go,” Alex told him. “You’ll be too busy worrying to be productive. I know that.”
Tim didn’t need convincing. He grabbed his backpack and headed for the hospital. He asked for Ethan O’Connell at the desk and was taken back to an exam room.
Ethan lay on the cot, looking small and pale, hooked up to an IV, saline running into his arm.
“Hi.” He rasped.
“What’s going on? Why didn’t you tell me you were this sick?” Tim crossed over to him, pulling the chair in the room with him, taking his hand.
“Didn’t want you to worry.” Ethan paused to cough into his free arm. “I felt ok until yesterday.”
“What happened?” Tim asked as the door opened, and a nurse stepped in.
The nurse looked at Tim, who stood up. “I’m Dustin. You must be Tim.” Tim nodded, shaking his hand.
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Same. And what happened is this boy sucks at taking care of himself. He passed out between patients. Blood sugar was low. They gave him a glucose injection over there, noticed he had a fever too, and sent him over here to get checked out. He’s dehydrated. And they’re questioning pneumonia since his lungs sound terrible.”
Dustin paused to let Tim process. “Of course he probably hasn’t been eating or drinking much, working too hard and not sleeping well.”
“Damn.” Tim looked at Ethan. “You managed to get a lot sicker than I did. Sure this is my cold?”
Ethan shrugged. “Hatshoo!”
“And I have no idea how he manages to sneeze that loud with no voice. He’s always done that.” Dustin said, ignoring a glare from Ethan. “He’s got an ear infection. We’re waiting on a chest x-ray. Should be back soon.” Dustin looked at Ethan. “You know the drill. Hit the button if you need anything.” He smiled.
Tim sat down next to Ethan again. “Why didn’t you tell me you felt so bad?” He fussed. “I would have come and checked on you.”
“Didn’t start to til late last night. Thought I could sleep it off, then power through work.” Ethan explained in a raspy voice. “And I didn’t want to bother you. ‘S just a cold.”
“Colds don’t put people in the ER.”
“Blood sugar did that.”
“And the fever had nothing to do with it?”
Ethan coughed harshly. “Maybe a little.”
“How high’s your fever?”
Ethan shrugged. “102-something.” He admitted hoarsely.
“Damn.” Tim whistled.
“They gave me Tylenol.” He pointed to the bottle in his IV. “It’s down now.” He said as Dustin came back in.
“Doc wants another temp and blood sugar…and and influenza swab.”
Ethan nodded, holding out his hand for Dustin to check. He grimaced at the high reading. Dustin sighed. “You know glucose shots always do that to you. It’ll come down.”
Ethan nodded, giving a weak smile, pressing a tissue to his nose. “Hachoo!”
“Bless you. Now that that’s out of the way,” He scanned the thermometer across Ethan’s forehead. “101.6. I need you to sit up for this, and I’ll remind you, it isn’t pleasant. Got a tissue ready?” Ethan nodded, sitting up, and Tim watched as Dustin deftly swabbed the inside of Ethan’s nose. “Almost done.” He said, gently, as Ethan’s face started to scrunch. He pulled the swab out just in time for Ethan to clap the tissue to his nose.
“HahAtchoo!”
“Bless you.” Tim gently whispered.
Dustin crossed over to the cupboard, pulled out a washcloth, soaked it with cool water and placed it on Ethan’s forehead. “Rest. She’ll be in soon on the x-ray and the influenza results, ok.”
“Thanks.” Tim told him as Ethan blew his nose.
Dustin smiled again. “Been taking care of him for a long time.”
“Just lucky I got you today, right?” Ethan joked, hoarsely.
“Always. Just give her about 20 minutes, ok.”
“Yeah.” Ethan nodded. “Can I get dressed yet?”
“Not til we know if you’re going home.” Dustin’s face softened. “Sorry. I know the gown’s not your favorite look, but…”
“I know.” Ethan sighed as Dustin left the room.
Tim took his hand again. “I know. This wasn’t how you planned for me to see you half naked for the first time.” He grinned.
That got a laugh…and a series of coughs from Ethan. Tim gently rubbed his back until the coughing subsided.
“This is ok, right?” He asked.
Ethan nodded. “You’re not Matt. I need to trust you.”
Tim squeezed his hand as there was a knock at the door and another person entered, introducing herself as Staci from respiratory.
“Just want to listen to your lungs again. See how they’re doing since that last nebulizer.”
Ethan sighed, but sat up again and breathed deeply so she could listen, coughing with each breath. Tim, on the other side of the bed frowning, concerned. With his asthma, this part he was more than familiar with.
Staci was also frowning when she finished listening. “I think we’ll try one more nebulizer.” She said, checking the oximeter she had slipped on his finger. “Your oxygen’s a lot better, but, your lungs are still pretty tight.” She took the mask from where it was hanging, filled it with solution and handed it to Ethan to strap over his face. “I’ll be back in 10 minutes.”
Tim gave a sympathetic smile to Ethan’s stormy glare when she had left the room. “Hate these.” Ethan grumbled.
“I don’t think anyone likes them. When I was a little kid, my parents had to hold me down for them. Otherwise I kept ripping the mask off.” He admitted.
Ethan gave Tim a small smile before pulling the mask down.
“You’re supposed to ke-“ Tim began chiding him.
“Hatchoo!” Ethan interrupted, wiping his nose, then slipping the mask back in place. “The mist makes my nose itch.” He explained, voice muffled by the mask.
Tim nodded. He’d run into that when his nose was particularly irritated. “10 minutes, babe, that’s all.” He said, encouragingly. “So, what happened?” He asked again.
Ethan shrugged. “Pretty much what Dustin said. I’m crap at taking care of myself. Every so often, I get a cold that gets bad like this this. Combine the two, and I end up here. I’m better at taking care of everybody else.” He pulled the mask down again. “Atchoo!” He sneezed, and if a sneeze could sound irritable, this one did. Sniffling, he replaced the mask.
“Bless you. Like 7 more minutes, ok.”
Ethan nodded wearily, closing his eyes. “Jus’ wanna go home.” He mumbled.
“Soon, ok.” Tim assured him. “Home, pajamas, nice warm bed, chicken soup.” He said as his phone dinged with a text from Alex asking how things were going.
“You have to go back to work though, probably.” Ethan sighed.
Tim finished texting Alex the situation. “I asked for the rest of the day off.” He grinned at Alex’s text back.
- You must really like this guy. See you Monday.
“I’m yours til Monday.” He reassured Ethan. “And I know you’ve got a spare bedroom.”
Ethan pulled the mask down again. “Hahshoo! What if I don’t want you to stay?” He replaced the mask.
“Then I won’t stay. Your call.”
“I’m all sick and disgusting. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do.”
“Well, my plans were dinner with you. Alex has his kid this weekend. It’s Freddie and Jamie’s anniversary. I suppose I could go see if my neighbors want a night out and offer to babysit their kid. Otherwise, it’s TV and reading on the couch with the cat, laundry and cleaning. I warned you already, I’m pretty boring. And you’re sick. Not disgusting.”
Ethan pulled the mask down to blow his nose. “I’d like you there.” He paused. “At least during the day.” He admitted.
Tim squeezed his hand. “Whatever you’re comfortable with.” He told him as the respiratory therapist came back in.
She slipped the mask off and listened to his lungs again. “Much better. Air is moving through there a lot easier.”
“It doesn’t hurt so much to cough.” Ethan admitted.
“Good. That’s a good sign.” She checked his oxygen. “96%. That’s good too. I think I’ll be leaving you alone now.” She exited as Dustin entered, carrying Ethan’s coat and bag. “Endo sent these over. We all kinda figure you’re not going back today,” he teased. Ethan glared. “Doc’s reviewing everything right now. She’ll be in in a couple minutes.”
“Okay,” Ethan sniffled. “I just wanna go home.”
“I know.” Dustin gave him a smile. “I need your temp again. That’s kinda the deciding factor.” He scanned the thermometer across Ethan’s forehead again. “101.2. Getting better.” He cleared his throat, looking directly at Ethan. “You know you shouldn’t be alone right now, with your blood sugar out of whack.”
“Hatchoo!” Ethan muffled a powerful sneeze into his arm and sniffed. “Yeah. Tim said he’d stay, at least during the day.” He hesitated. “I’m just not sure about having him stay at night.”
Dustin looked at Tim, then back at Ethan and nodded. “Let me know what you decide. I can always spend the night.”
“Thanks.” Ethan whispered, as the doctor came in and Dustin slipped out.
She looked firmly at Ethan. “Well, sir, influenza was negative. You’ve managed a pretty decent case of pneumonia on top of that ear infection, though.”
Ethan’s face fell. “Are you keeping me?” He asked.
She hesitated. “Your temperature’s down. Your blood sugar’s back up. The concern is the blood sugar. Is there someone who can check in with you for meals for the next couple days until you feel like eating again? And, I’d like you to not be alone for the next 24 hours, at least.”
Tim cleared his throat. “I can.” He assured the doctor as Ethan concurred, eagerly.
She nodded. “Then I’ll send you home on antibiotics, steroids and inhalers. Temp spikes above 102.5 and doesn’t come down with Tylenol, or blood sugars below 70, you need to come back in and will probably be admitted. Same for worsening cough, shortness of breath or any trouble breathing. She fixed her glance on Ethan.
“Hatshoo!” He blew his nose on his crumpled tissue, pulled a fresh one from the box and blew again. “I understand.” He rasped.
She looked at Tim. “I’ve got it.”
“I’ll get your discharge papers ready and send the nurse in to discharge you.” She smiled. “You can get dressed now.”
When she was out of the room, Tim handed Ethan his clothes. “I’ll step out, ok.”
Ethan shook his head. “Just pull the curtain. Just in case…..I need a hand.”
Tim nodded, pulling the curtain shut. Ethan slipped his shirt on effortlessly, but struggled a bit with his scrub pants and socks. “You can open the curtain.” He called to Tim, mostly dressed.
Tim found Ethan in his scrubs, one sock on and no shoes.
“Can you help me with my sock and shoes? I get dizzy when I bend down.”
Tim nodded, slipping on Ethan’s sock, then his shoes, tying them. “Should we let the doctor know?”
“She knows. It’s from the ear infection. It’s in both ears.” Ethan explained as Dustin came in with a stack of papers.
“So, you get to go home. I know you’ll sleep better there.” He smiled. “Let’s go over the paperwork and get you to bed.”
“Pneumonia and a double ear infection is the diagnosis.” He looked over at Tim. “This boy never does anything halfway. If he’s gonna get really sick, he does so in spectacular fashion.” He covered the medications with Ethan and when to return to the ER.
“HahAshoo!” Ethan verbalized his understanding.
Dustin laughed and handed him the papers to sign. “Meds were sent to the clinic pharmacy. Do you remember how to use inhalers? Otherwise, I’ll go over that with you tonight.”
“I do.” He nodded at Tim. “He can help if I run into trouble.”
Tim nodded. “Sure.” He said easily.
“Work note faxed to your department already. Off until Wednesday. Call your doctor tomorrow and make an appointment for Monday or Tuesday.”
Ethan frowned. He despised missing work.
Dustin ignored him and looked at Tim. “Are you able to take him home?
“Yeah. I’ll take him home and stay with him as long as he wants.”
“But my-“ Ethan protested.
“Beth and I will bring your car when I finish work and come to check on you.”
“K. Atchoo!” This time, his sneeze sounded grumpy.
“Bless you. You’re free to go. Think you can walk out?”
“Yes.” Ethan glared. He was embarrassed enough he’d been brought over in a wheelchair; he wasn’t leaving in one. He stood up slowly and took the coat Tim handed him. Tim kept his bag.
Tim brought the car around while Ethan stopped at the pharmacy. After a quick stop at Walmart for groceries, cold medicine and other things Ethan needed or wanted, they were back at Ethan’s apartment.
Aggedy Ann 