The Convalescent
By Donna and Ev

            A soft, insistent knock on the door roused Dima from a deep sleep. Grabbing a robe, she went down to answer the door, wondering who it could be. It wasn't even light outside yet!

            Erica shivered as she waited for Dima to open the door, as much from fear as from the cold.  She woke up in the middle of the night and thought she heard a noise from her father's room.  When she looked in there, he was tossing and turning and was out of the covers.  She went in to put them back over him and noticed he was really hot and he didn't wake up when she called him.  She had put the covers over him and threw her coat on over her jammies and put her shoes on and ran all the way up the hill to Dima.

            "Erica?" Dima gasped, pulling her inside. The child was obviously frightened.

            "My daddy's sick," she whimpered. "His head is awful hot! I tried to wake him up, but he just keeps moaning in his sleep."

            "Let me get dressed and pick up a couple of things and I'll come back with you.  You sit right here and warm up a little while you wait. I'll only take a couple of minutes."  Dima wrapped the child in a blanket and rushed off to her bedroom, dressing in some warm clothes, then ran into her kitchen
picking up some herbs and other odds and ends, putting them in a bag.  "All right, let's go.  You keep that blanket around you, young lady.  It wouldn't do for you to be sick, too!" 

            "Yes Dima," Erica said with just a trace of a smile. "Are you going to make him better? I tried to get him to go to the doctor when his cold came back, but he wouldn't listen to me. He doesn't like doctors."

            "I'll do what I can, honey.  Don't worry.  And if he needs a doctor, I'll see that he gets to one."  She grumbled under her breath about silly men and pigheadedness.  "You should have dressed warmer to come up to see me.  I hope you don't get sick, too.  I'll build up the fire when we get there and I want you to warm up in front of it."

            Erica nodded and raced ahead to open the door. The fire was almost out. Peter had not made sure it would last all night before turning in. Dima tossed a log onto it, and then checked on Peter. She didn't like what she found. The cold that he had made worse by standing out in the cold rain had
returned full force, and from the sounds of his breathing, could possibly even have turned to pneumonia. Looking out the window, she saw some of the fishermen heading out to the docks to set out for their day's work. Pulling open the pane, she yelled at them. "Matt! Go get one of the doctors! Peter is really sick. And then go get Blossom. Tell her I need a bushel of onions!"

            Erica sighed with relief as Dima took over.  She watched as Dima prepared some special tea for her father and got him settled on the couch close to the fire to keep him warm.  She would have watched longer, but Dima gave her something warm to drink and ushered her back to bed.

            By the time the doctor arrived, Erica was sound asleep. He checked Peter over thoroughly, who was much too sick to do more than cough and to complain fitfully. The doctor gave him what he could, and then agreed with Dima's idea of using onion poultices to help break up the thick congestion in his lungs.

            Dima worked the rest of the night and well into the day, making the first poultice for Peter and dealing with his protests while she applied it. Once Erica had gotten up, Dima made arrangements for her to go stay with Kai until her father got better. She was worried, and didn't want to leave him, but the prospect of helping Kai take care of all the farm animals won her over. Besides, the onions that Dima was cooking were making her eyes water!

            Erica and Kai had become good friends and Kai loved to watch the child's delight with the animals.  It made her think about what it might be like to have a child of her own.  And that brought her thoughts to Franck, especially when she was delivering eggs, milk, and cheese to his restaurant.

            She lived alone on the farm, which was a cause of concern to the men of Newport. What if a raider made it through their defenses? There was only one sure way to ensure that the women did not get taken, and that was to have them carrying a baby inside of them!

            Actually, that was something Franck was thinking about when Kai came in later that day with her daily delivery for him.  Erica was helping and couldn't help noticing the look Franck was giving her friend Kai.  It made her giggle.

            "He likes you," she snickered behind her hand when she went back out to the cart with Kai. "I can tell."

            Kai smiled.  "I like him too!  He's a very nice man."  She smiled and looked back, expecting to see Franck just sorting through her delivery and putting things away as usual, but he was watching her with a wistful little smile on his face.  That smile made her breath catch in her throat and a
little blush crept over her face.

            A thoughtful look crossed Kai's face. In her head, some of her sisters were nagging her to go for it. "Hush," she said out loud, drawing a curious look from Erica.

            "Not you," chuckled Kai. "Some of my sisters are sticking their noses into my business. They think I should invite Franck over to my house for dinner." She left out that they thought he should stay until breakfast!

            "I'm glad I don't have anyone talking inside of my head," Erica giggled. "But they are right. You should invite him to dinner. If you like, I can go over to the Johnson's so you two can be alone. I like to play with their kids anyway!"

            Kai smiled and looked back at Franck, who was now looking curious about the reason they were still sitting there.  "You really wouldn't mind?"  Kai's thoughts, on seeing Erica's grin, started going through a possible dinner menu and what might happen after.  "I think that would be a good idea.  Can you wait right here for a minute?"  She gave Erica a wink and went back inside.

            Erica climbed up onto the cart, wrapping herself up in the blanket that was on the seat. A few minutes later, Kai bounced out of the cafe, grinning from ear to ear. "He is going to close early and come over for dinner!" she said excitedly. Erica giggled again. Grownups were the funniest things
sometimes!

           
**

            Dima sighed as she took Peter's temperature again.  His fever had risen again and she decided that he needed a bath in tepid water to cool down.  He, of course whined and complained like a small child while she undressed him and tried to get him into the slightly cool water.

            He struggled, but he found that Dima was surprisingly strong despite her small stature. "Behave," she ordered as she got him into the tub and started to sponge him off. He complained as loudly as he could with what voice he had left, but only succeeded in bringing on another coughing fit.

            She sighed and just watched him as he coughed.  Each time he protested and started to cough, he brought up more of the goo from his lungs.  So, in some ways maybe it was good he was protesting.  She patiently waited for him to finish fussing and got on with things.

            "You enjoy torturing me," he finally got out.

            Dima's mouth curved up in a smile. "You deserve it most of the time," she told him. She was glad to see that he was responding enough to complain.

            He looked up at her, his eyes still a little watery from the coughing fit.  "Am I that bad?"  He looked into her face, almost afraid of what he might see there.  Actually, he wasn't entirely sure what he hoped to see.

            "Sometimes," she told him. "But sometimes you do show some redeemable features."

            "Sometimes?"  He started coughing again, this time just from talking so much.  When he could speak again, he grumbled, "Damn!  I hate feeling helpless."

            Dima put her hand on his forehead, pleased to find that his fever was finally going down. "I'm sure this is not easy for you. But let me help you get better." She turned and got the bath towel, and then helped him to stand up. His legs were trembling, and he had to hold on the nearby cabinet while she dried him off. After he was dry, she helped him into his robe and then led him back to his bed. "Be good and I'll give you a hot oil massage," she told him. "The herbs I will put in it will help you breathe better."

            Peter was so miserable, the main part of the massage that sounded good was the breathing better part.  "How sick am I?"  He began to really worry now.  "I don't remember what the doctor said."  He clutched the blankets around him, shivering again. 

            "You were very sick. But you are getting better," Dima assured him, herding Peter deftly to his bed. Once he was under the covers once more, she took some of the fragrant oils she had heating over a candle and started rubbing it onto his chest.

            Peter sighed happily as the warm oil slid over his skin.  The scent was relaxing and he sighed, lying back and looking up into her face again as she bent over him.  "Why are you doing all this for me?"  He whispered, in hopes that he wouldn't set off another coughing fit.

            "Because I'm a glutton for punishment," Dima said with a smile. "And I didn't want Erica to lose a father too. You men can be such idiots at times. You should have gone to the doctor a long time ago!"

            "I didn't realize..."  he began and started to cough again. "Where is Erica?"  He suddenly tried to sit up, forgetting he was sick and worried only about his daughter.

            "She is staying with Kai," Dima said. Her eyes unfocused for a moment. "Actually, she is at the Johnsons' right now, sleeping with their children."

            Peter calmed and laid back down.  "I'm sorry.  I'm a terrible father and a terrible person.  I don't deserve you taking care of me."  He covered his eyes with one hand and started to sob.

            Dima frowned, wondering if he was trying to get her sympathy. But Peter's remorse was genuine, so she did what most women would do. She held him in her arms, comforting him until he fell asleep.