Sick Days (Tad & Dixie)

[Kathy Martin]

Kathy had been staring out the window at the cold and miserable wet fall weather. She’d wanted to go out and play at the park but instead was stuck in doors. Not that there wasn’t anything fun to do inside, especially when she was playing with Nolan, but it wasn’t as fun as going outside to the park or racking leafs and jumping in them.

However at the sound of a sneeze, Kathy turned her attention away from the window and towards the living room where her parents were. Wandering in she looked at the pair of them and then shook her head. They were sick, they had to be, at least they looked it. Going over to the couch, Kathy came to stand between them, her hands on her hips.

“Are you both sick?” she asked, her tone holding a bit of an authority to it. She put a hand gently up to her moms forehead and pulled it back. “You are sick!” Running out of the room she went upstairs and grabbed two blankets and came back down. “I have to look after you, and you cant go outside either.”

[Dix C. Martin]

The other night Dixie officially learned she was too old to go dancing in the rain. Or at least in rain that fell on a chilly fall night. Her spontaneous move to go umbrella-less and be a drowned rat alongside Tad, backfired. She'd woke up this morning coughing with a stuffy nose, an aching head, and was alternating between too chilled or too warm. Taking a steamy shower also didn't do much good. And after drying her hair she put on her comfort terry cloth robe and slippers before going to the front. She wasn't hungry, or thirsty, and couldn't take any pills yet besides the ones she'd taken for her heart, so she decided to just curl up on the sofa with some kleenex. She couldn't get comfy in bed and wanted Tad to sleep in without being disturbed.


No such luck though when he heard her, followed her and joined her on the couch, before flipping on some early morning cartoon.
And so much for his being able to take care of her, he felt the exact same lousy way she did.
Luckily last night, after Opal called and cut her and Tad's date short, by the time they got to Cortlandt Manor the fussy twins were out like lights, and nobody had the heart to wake them up. Kathy was home though and would probably want breakfast soon. Dixie hoped though cereal would suffice.

"Aggh, Tad. No, it's too warm for the blanket.", she whined pushing it off her. Not wanting her feet or anything else covered until she felt chilly again.
"A..aa..ACHOO!", she sneezed. And grabbed for one of the tissues in her bathrobe pocket, right before Kathy came walking in.
"S..sunshine, hi.", Dixie said with a weak smile, but it faded when Kathy stood between her and Tad, hands on her hips.
"I..well.."
Nervous when Kathy felt her forehead, Dixie looked at Tad looking and feeling like she was a kid in trouble.
"Honey..it..it's okay, really.", coughed Dixie as guilt set in. She hated Kathy seeing her sick like this. And was set to get up and tell her not to worry, but didn't have time when she came running up with blankets.

"Kathy, listen..", trying to get a word in, she was cut off by Kathy saying they couldn't go outside. Getting her laughing a bit in spite of things.
"Look your dad and I just have some colds but..it's nothing we..we can't hand--a-ACHOO!"
Knowing now she had no chance to argue here, Dixie leaned back against the couch cushions before glancing at Tad. Wondering what was going through his handsome achy/stuffy head at the moment.

[Kathy Martin]

“It’s not okay when you’re this sick mommy,” Kathy tried to explain, glancing at her dad and hoping to see him understand before looking back at her. She heard her mom sneeze and gave her a worried look in response before quickly heading out of the room. She went to the bathroom and grabbed two boxes of Kleenex before coming back in.

“You’re going to need more of these,” she explained as she placed them on the coffee table. “And medicine, do we have any of that to help with your colds?” She looked to her dad again before back at her mom once more and shaking her head.

“I can get my doctor kit and listen to your heart,” she offered, and put her cool hand against her moms forehead once more. “And we need to bring down your fever, too. Daddy do you have one?” She reached up and touched her dads forehead next before pulling back and giving him a sad look. “You’re both really sick.”

[Dix C. Martin]

"Oh, honey...", sighing and feeling incredibly guilty, Dixie watched Kathy bring them boxes of tissues and then ask them about medicine. And when she said she wanted to listen to her heart, kept feeling her forehead, she felt her heart break in half.
Coughing a bit to clear her throat she sighed before sitting up.

"Kathy I know your dad and I don't look and feel too well. But we just have some dumb colds, that's all! Same as the one you caught a few weeks ago when you walked home in the rain, remember? But we're gonna be alright, babe. Okay, your dad and I are tough.", she smiled, rubbing Tad's shoulder a bit.
"And if you wanna listen to my heart you can, but I promise it's gonna sound strong and steady, just like it should.", she assured. Needing her little girl to put that fear out of her mind.
She could see though Kathy was itching to do something to help, and loved her all the more for it. Just hated that she had to help her when it ought to be the other way around.

"Listen though, you remember what I did for you to bring your fever down? I gave you some of those chewable Tylenol and made you drink a lot of water, then told you to take a nap? Well for your dad and me it's the same thing, 'cept we need to take aspirin 'cause we're older. You know it's in the white bottle in the medicine cabinet?"
Knowing the bottle was childproofed she felt okay asking Kathy to get it.
"If we take that I promise you we'll get some rest and won't feel so warm anymore. Okay?", she asked hoarsely.

[Kathy Martin]

“You may be tough, but a colds a cold, and they don’t sound very good,” Kathy pointed out with a look between them. She knew she’d been sick a few weeks back and it had hit her hard with a sore throat, cough, the whole works, and if both her parents had that, she didn’t want her brother and sister getting sick as well.

“I want to hear it,” she told her mom sincerely with a small nod. “Just to make sure.” She paused as her mom spoke of what she needed to do in order to help her parents. She quickly grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil, making rough notes of what she needed. She tried to spell the medicine word and frowned before deciding to her best and spell the word out.

“I can get all of this, and okay,” she said in agreement and headed in the direction of the medicine cabinet. She pulled it down and then turned going back into the living room. She was only in the room a second before she put the bottle down and went through to the kitchen. She poured two large glasses of water and carefully, managing not to spill, went back into the living room and put them both down on coasters, again leaving the room after doing so, only to return with her doctor bag and stethoscope.

“Okay... I need to hear your heart,” she explained, dropping down to her knees on the floor beside her mom on the couch. “You need to... to take a big breath and then let it out slowly, okay?” She her toy in her ears and held the end up to her moms chest and gave her mom a grin, letting her know she was ready before looking at her dad.

“And then I have to listen to yours next,” she informed him before looking back to her mom.

[Dix C. Martin]

Listening to Kathy, Dixie felt like she was a kid contending with her own mother.
"Okay baby.", she said, trying to hide her scratchy throat. Smiling she watched Kathy run off and later return with the glasses of water and the aspirin. And after she ran again to grab her bag, Dixie opened the bottle and shook out four pills, giving two to Tad.
"Here, two for you..and two for me."
Handing him the water, they clinked glasses and downed the medicine before Kathy came back and knelt beside her, putting the small stethoscope to her chest.
"Alright, Dr. Martin.", she teased.
Obeying Dixie breathed in and out slowly, fighting the urge to smile. Even if Kathy wasn't curing her with her doctor kit she was distracting her in the sweetest way possible, more than enough to help her feel better.
Giggling at the way she addressed Tad, after catching a look from him Dixie shyly smiled, then looked back to her daughter.
"So, hows it sound doc? Am I gonna be okay?"

[Kathy Martin]

Kathy listened carefully to her moms beating heart through the toy stethoscope and then gave her a big thumbs up. Everything sounded good to her despite knowing her mom was sick. She knew if her moms heart was sick as well that cookies had always made her feel better when she was, but she wasn’t sure if they’d help her mom.

“The doctor thinks it all sounds good,” she confirmed with a nod and another thumbs up. She removed the scope from her ears and put it around her neck, glancing at her dad quickly. “It’s your turn daddy.” She moved over to him, getting ready to take a listen to his heart next.

OOC: Maybe we should wait for Tad’s player now?

[teamluv08]

Tad had seen his daughter fly in and out of the room like a tornado, but up until the moment Dixie nudged him he hadn’t really paid too much attention. “Huh?” Tad mumbled, looking down at his hand and nodding slightly when he saw what it was she had given him. “Thank you.”

He was just so miserable! Sore throat, body aches, chills. He was going through.

Sometime later Kathy returned and started checking Dixie’s heart and then right after looked to him. It took him a minute to really understand what she was saying but when he finally got he pulled himself up. “Okay, Dr. Cooney-Martin… What’s the diagnosis?” He asked before taking another deep breath.

[Kathy Martin]

“One minute,” Kathy instructed, holding up one of her small fingers. “I need to hear it first.” She pressed he plastic to his chest and listened carefully to the sound of his heart beating in a steady rhythm, then slowly pulled back and looked up at him.

“You’re going to live, but you have bad clothes,” she informed him then glanced at her mom. “You both do. So lots of rest, medicine, soup and no going outside until you’re both better. Okay?” She stood up and looked between them for a moment before shaking her head. “Is there anything else I can get you?” She was worried despite her moms earlier words that her parents would be okay.

“We cant have Nolan or Tara here because we don’t want them to get sick too,” she explained, worriedly wondering if someone was going to bring them home soon.

[Dix C. Martin]

"Well...that's a relief.", Dixie smiled at Kathy's diagnosis, but went into a coughing fit a few moments later.
Nodding at her instructions, she shook her head when she asked if they needed anything.
"No baby...we have everything we need, right?", she asked, looking at Tad to back her up.

"Well the twins stayed at Opal's last night but..I should give her a call, make sure they're alright.", she said hoarsely.
"Sunshine could you hand me the phone, please?", Dixie asked before coughing again, agitating her already raw throat. And got a disapproving look from Kathy in the process.
"Kathy...it's fine. Can I please have the phone?", she repeated, growing more impatient while her daughter grew more stubborn.

[Kathy Martin]

“Are you sure you have everything?” Kathy asked glancing around at all that she had brought into the room for her parents. “Because if you need anything then you have to let me know so I can go and get it for you.” She heard her mom mentioning calling Opals and she gave her a disapproving look with a shake of her head. She shouldn’t be even talking! Not when she was this sick.

“But mommy!” she protested when her mom asked for the phone. With a small exasperated sigh she reached over and got the phone, holding it out for her mom and taking a seat down in front the couch. She was worried, with every right to be! Her parents shouldn’t both be sick, this was a bad thing.

“Do you want me to put on a movie or tv show for you?” she asked right before her mom got on the phone and looked between both her parents. “Would that help you get better?” She knew when she was sick sometimes watching things helped make her feel a little better.