When Pam peeled her red eyes open, the first thing she noticed was the smell. Jim had brought her favorite Chinese food. Phillip was still asleep next to her, a sheen of fever sweat across his face. Pam could hear Laura crying in the kitchen, and chuckled to herself at the frantic clashing of plates. Jim couldn’t even reheat food on his own.
It was growing dark outside, and Pam heaved herself up. The kids had to go to bed soon.
Pam walked into a kitchen full of chaos. Laura’s face, red with sickness, let out shrill wails. Phillip slept at the table, drool spilling from his red lips. Jim was cleaning up half a carton of milk that had spilled over the tile floor. When Pam entered he looked up sheepishly.
“Thought I’d let you sleep awhile.” Pam sighed at Jim’s sacrifice, and moved forward to hug him. Jim’s face quickly contorted to worry though. “Pam, you look miserable. You must have gotten the bug too. Go to bed, I’ll take care of the kids.”
Pam nodded to herself, sighing, and trudged out of the kitchen.
Jim felt slightly disappointed that Pam didn’t mind leaving him with three kids for the evening. Why couldn’t he have gotten sick instead? Presently, he was squatting next to the bathtub, watching wearily as Ceci splashed in the water. The two younger kids had fallen asleep at dinner, but Ceci had remained stubbornly energetic, forcing Jim through three rounds of Candyland and a game of princess dress up. Now it was eight on the nose, and Jim submerged his hand in the soapy bath water long enough to pull the drain open.
“I don’t wanna get out!” Ceci yelled. Jim shushed her frantically. He wasn’t sure which would be worse, waking Pam or waking Phillip and Laura.
Jim bundled Ceci in a fuzzy green towel, and the two traipsed down the hall to Ceci’s bedroom. Ceci, blessfully, remained silent as Jim helped her slip on a nightgown and tucked her into bed, eyeing Laura the whole time. Before turning off the lights, Jim reached over and brushed his fingers across Laura’s forehead, frowning at her distinct fever.
Across the hall, Pam pried her eyes open. What time was it? Did Jim need help with the kids? She noticed Jim loitering near the door to the room, and managed an attempt at a smile. He gave her a strange look, and Pam realized her smile had come out more like puke face. He walked over to her side of the bed, placed his large hand across her forehead. His face registered with confusion.
“You don’t have a fever.”
“I don’t?” she replied, her heart almost sinking. Given what had happened in the past few days, Pam would have given anything for this to just be the stomach flu.”
“Well, Beesly, this has got to be a new record,” Jim sighed with a half grin, sinking down onto the bed.
“A record for what?” Jim asked, closing her eyes from drowsiness.
“I don’t know, how about record time for an entire family to come down with the flu? Or maybe a record for the most stressful evening of my life.”
“I’m sorry, Jim, I just…” Pam trailed off, giving Jim a chance to interrupt, to tell her that she was sick, and needed to rest. Instead he just rubbed his forehead for a moment, and then crossed the room and disappeared into the bathroom. Pam tried to stay awake, but fell into a fitful sleep.
Chapter End Notes:
Pam has a secret!
