Sword and Snow

It had been a long time since I had gotten sick. I think it was actually the first time since Mom had taken me in, actually. Not accounting for the lingering illnesses from the demonic sect, anyway.

And it just so happened to coincide with both Moms being away for a short trip, which was truly lovely timing on my part.

When I had woken up that morning and called for Talya she was pretty quick to check on me. Demi and Rylie had tumbled into my room right behind her, mildly afraid that they had done something wrong and it was their fault I had gotten sick.

Talya looked me over and decided it was almost certainly just a cold, though it was a particularly nasty one, leaving me entirely stuffy and my head clouded. It was like being in a constant haze and everything was a little muted. While I was laying there trying not to sleep until after Talya told me to, I heard Talya telling her sisters to be quiet.

She was also yelling at them to make sure that next time they sent us to bed we were completely dry. Apparently being sent to bed with still damp hair could have - maybe - caused me to get sick. Especially with my longer hair. I couldn’t tell if she was serious or just trying to scare her sisters, but either way they were quiet after that and skulked out the door.

Talya sat on the edge of my bed while I laid there, and laid her hand on my head. “You’ll be alright, Cici. It’s just a cold. So get some sleep and rest up well. If you wake up later and get hungry, I’ll make you something.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Oh - before you go to sleep, let me get you something for your fever at least.”

I smiled weakly at her as she stood and retreated from the room. I definitely fell asleep between the time when she left and returned, but stirred when she came back into my room. She quickly moved over to me, stopping me from trying to sit up - which I wasn’t about to do anyway.

“Here, take this.” She said, and handed me a small packet of rice paper. “There’s some herbs in there that should help cool you down, okay? I’ll check back in a little while to see if your fever broke, and maybe we’ll get you some fresh sheets and clothing. For now, just rest.”

Talya placed a hand on my forehead again, checking my temperature, then put a little bit of pressure there, trying to reassure me that I’d be fine. I knew I would be, but the slight pressure on my sinuses hurt badly enough that I winced.

Talya immediately removed her hand, looking genuinely sorry. “Oh dear. I’ll get you something for pain, too. You must be really stuffed up if that hurt.”

After that, time became meaningless for a while. I woke up here and there a few times. Talya did exactly like she said she would and made me some congee for both lunch and dinner. She also brought me another packet or two of herbs to combat the fever, which was stubbornly not going away.

By the time night rolled around again, I was still stuck in bed. With both Demi and Rylie taking turns fawning over me all day and my lack of any real improvement, Talya had amended her earlier diagnosis, and declared I had the flu. She was sure that a cold would have improved at least a little after a day of sleep with some medicine.

I slept fitfully that night, unable to really stay asleep. Either a sudden cough, a runny nose, or just general discomfort would wake me up. Somewhere in the middle of the night, my fever broke and I woke up in a sweaty mess.

Still somewhat fuzzy, I pulled my sheets and clothing off the bed and retrieved three towels from the linen closet in the hall quietly. I laid out two of them on the bed, covered myself with one, and went back to sleep.

Talya found me that way the next morning and got upset with me that I didn’t bother her to help. Talya forced me into a chair in my room for a while so she could change my bedding properly, then helped wipe me down and get fresh clothes on. Then it was another dose of medicinal herbs - because my fever returned - and back to bed.

The next time I woke up I found Mom sitting next to my bed in a chair, reading. She looked like she was struggling to really concentrate on the book, but was trying anyway. But as soon as she noticed I was awake, she leaned forward to check on me - one hand going for my forehead to check my temperature, and the other lightly stroking my hair comfortingly.

“Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling?” She asked. There was a brief moment before I responded where she seemed to concentrate on something else.

I tried to speak, but my voice was scratchy from disuse, but also crackled with phlegm from my throat. “Bad. I’m sick, Mom. Talya said the flu, I think.” Once I started, the words came out okay.

She nodded, then laid her forehead against mine. “Yeah, I think the flu is probably right. It looks like your fever broke again. Did you need to change your clothes?”

Before I could respond, Momri flew through the door. Despite the speed with which it opened, she managed to not slam it against the wall.

“How is she?” She asked, moving into the room quickly, a bowl in her hands.

“I already told you, she’s fine.” Mom said, a bit of laughter in her voice. “I thought you would listen when I talk to you.”

“I won’t lie,” Momri said, setting the bowl down on the bedside table, “I heard ‘She’s up,’ and nothing else.”

Mom sighed. “I said that she’s up and looking good. Still sick, but her fever broke.”

“That’s good.” Momri nodded, as she slipped onto the edge of the bed next to me. “I brought in some chicken soup for you, Cici, if you think you can eat it.”

I cleared my throat a bit before I tried to speak again. “I think I can.” I said. “Thanks, Momri.”

“Mhm.” She said, her hands moving around her robes, clearly searching for something. “Aunt Talya also gave me another dose of the herbs for your fever and pain to keep them away…”

“Your storage ring, love.” Mom said, shaking her head.

“Oh. Right.” And out popped the little rice paper packet of herbs. I tried to sit up so Momri could hand them over to me, and she smiled. “Talya was saying that they’ve been helping but you’re still woozy.”

I nodded. “I think they helped some.”

“I think Talya is right with the flu.” Momri said, lightly ruffling my bedhead. “You’ll be okay though, I promise. It’ll take another day or two, but it’ll pass.”

Mom nodded. “Ri is right. You’ll get better, especially with Talya’s medicine.” She turned toward Momri and asked, “Ri, do you have any healing techniques that are good at fighting off illness?”

She shook her head, and my mood dropped. “No. It’s difficult to use techniques like that, because a body’s ability to fight an illness is so complicated. And trying to remove most illnesses forcefully with Qi just leads to attacking the person’s body. And we really don’t want that.”

“No, we don’t.” Mom agreed. “We’ll have to wait it out with medicine.”

I sniffled as I swallowed the little pouch with some water. “I really don’t feel good.” I sniffed, and rubbed below my nose with a forearm. My nose was sore from all of my constant rubbing. “My head feels fuzzy, my nose is runny and hurts, it’s hard to breathe, and I’m all sweaty and gross.”

I leaned against Momri as I felt tears well up. It had only been a day, but I felt so terrible and was so done with it, that I couldn’t help it.

“Oh, Cici.” Momri said quietly, and threw her arms around me for a hug. “I know, the flu is rough.”

Mom slipped from her chair onto the bed, on the side of me opposite Momri, and hugged me too. She leaned her cheek on my hair and rubbed my back. “It’ll be okay, we promise.” She placed a light kiss on my head. “You’ve never been this sick before, have you?”

I sniffled and shook my head. “No.”

“Well,” Momri said, sounding a little more chipper in an attempt to cheer me up. “If you keep to your training, you’ll eventually stop getting sick like this. So you have that to look forward to.”

I tried to smile and let out a hollow chuckle. I wasn’t really sad, afterall. Just emotional. So I didn’t really need cheering up. I did want to get better fast though.

“That’s true.” Mom agreed. “There’s also something else good about that.”

When I turned to face her, she grinned wide. “Ri and I can’t get sick from you. So we can stay with you all you want while you’re sick.”

“Really?” I asked. That did make me feel a little better.

“Mhm!” Momri matched Mom’s grin. “I know you probably don’t want to do anything that involves leaving bed. So while we can’t both stay with you all day, at least one of us will. And maybe we can read you stories?”

I smiled and cuddled into her side. “Okay.”

“You said you felt okay to eat, right?” Mom prodded. “Do you still feel up to it?”

I took in a big sniff through my nose. It was magnificently clogged and I struggled against it. “I think so.”

“I think it’s one of the best pots of chicken soup I’ve made.” Momri said.

“I’m actually inclined to agree.” Mom whispered in my ear. “She made it a little chunky with veggies and some bits of chicken, but the broth is really good. Not too rich, so it should go down easily for you.”

“Okay.”

They both moved so I could shuffle back to the pillows on my bed, but as soon as I started to, I felt the way my clothes were clinging to me after the fever sweat. I immediately wanted them off.

“Can I get clean clothes first? I feel icky.” I said, finally getting a little control over the errant tears.

“Of course.” Momri said. “Do you feel well enough to stand for just a bit? We can do clean sheets, too.”

“Yeah, okay.” I said and shuffled toward the edge of the bed. Before I made it there, I tore off my top, unable to stand the way the damp cloth was clinging to my body. My mothers both chuckled, watching me struggling in vain to get the damp shirt over my head. They snorted when I made a frustrated noise and flailed.

“Okay, okay, hang on.” Mom said, her laughter still present in her voice. She scooted closer to help me untangle myself from the shirt. Once it was successfully pulled over my head, she helped me slide out of bed and get changed, while Momri stripped the sheets in favor of clean ones.

I was always surprised by how in sync and fluid they were when working together, but to see them work like that even while just moving some linens around was still impressive. The way they handed things off to one another without communicating was mesmerizing. Once my clothes were changed, I just stood in my flu-induced daze watching them as they flowed through the room.

Before I knew it, Mom had me in her arms to put me back in a freshly made bed while Momri gathered the bowl of chicken soup and slipped in on my other side.

As I settled in between them, Momri handed over my bowl of soup so I could try to eat my meal. While I couldn’t really taste it very well with my nose as stuffed as it was, the warmth of it was comforting. As was the presence of my family beside me.