Ray and I were sitting here playing a second game of Scrabble tonight when my cell phone rang. It was Ian, who is our friend and also our priest. It was already 7:45 and he is a notorious early-to-bedder. I was surprised to be getting a call.
“Hello,” I said.
“Len?”
“Hey. What’s happening?”
“I’m sick. I have the flu.”
I could tell by his voice that he definitely did not feel well. “Oh, no,” I said.
“Would you mind popping over to Ralph’s and getting me some Theraflu and some ibuprofen?”
I knew he’d never ask unless he really couldn’t go himself. “Of course not,” I said. “We’ll be right over.”
We headed for Rite Aid and picked up the medicine. It was noteworthy that whole sections of flu remedies were empty. It was as if there had been a run on the store. We bought what we needed plus some orange juice and headed on over to Ian’s. He answered the door and, if there had been a question about his being sick, it was immediately dispelled. He looked as if he felt awful and he felt warm when he hugged me. He definitely had a fever.
“Want some tea?” he asked and we both nodded. After all, we were already exposed since we’d seen him just yesterday only a few hours before his illness had come on.
We followed him to the kitchen. He was in his bathrobe. He said he hadn’t even felt well enough to watch television. “It just made me feel too ill.”
I kept glancing over at Ray, who, God bless him, has a tendency to get even sicker than anybody about ten minutes after they announce their illness. (He admits this freely so I’m not talking behind his back.) Anyway, he gave me a look that read: “I know I’m next.”
We chatted long enough to see Ian getting sleepy – less than 20 minutes – and we said good-bye. As soon as we got in the car Ray said, “Did you feel as if we were seeing our near-future?”
“I hope not,” I said, “but he really is sick.”
Ray mentioned that Ian had taken a sip of his glass of tea yesterday.
So, we are back home now and Ray has headed up to bed. I don’t tend to get sick too often. Ray isn’t exactly sickly, he just limps around a bit from time to time. He rarely gets a full-blown illness. Of course, sharing a tea glass with a flu victim may be a little too close for comfort.
We told Ian to call us if he needed anything else. After all, when you’re sick you really do need people you can rely on.
Hopefully, we will be available to help and not be laid up in bed ourselves. We have the homeless breakfast tomorrow morning where we will work, so this is not the time to get under the weather.
Alas, I’m glad we were able to help our friend. We weren’t in Texas or Mexico or out to dinner and a movie. Instead, we were right by the phone and on our way within minutes. I’m happy about that.
I think, however, I now need to close so I can head to bed. A good night sleep might help combat any pesky flu germs. That and a strong constitution.
Have you had the flu? I hear a lot of people have. If you’re one of them, then tell me what you had and how long it lasted. Hopefully, this will be information for my friend, not me or Ray, but either way, I wouldn’t mind knowing. Please share in the Comments section.
To everyone else: happy good health. Probably a good idea to load up on Vitamin C.
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