Chapter Text
Saturday, 10:00
Days Since Discharge: 1
Mid-morning sunlight shined brightly through the Kelpie brothers’ window.
The unmistakable aroma of bacon gently roused Rusty from his restful night’s sleep.
The pup turned to his side and stretched.
It was good to home.
After nearly two weeks in a hospital bed, he had almost forgotten what his own bed felt like; it felt good.
He could hear his brother quietly snoring on the bottom bunk.
They were both sleeping in today.
He quickly buried his muzzle in the pillow to stifle a cough.
Rusty definitely still felt sick, but nowhere near as sick as he had been.
The kelpie pulled his blankets close and shut his eyes for a little while longer.
He imagined a plate of thick-cut bacon, fried eggs, buttered toast, fresh fruit, and a tall glass of orange juice.
His stomach growled.
The pup hadn’t eaten much during his stay in hospital; his stomach was reminding him of this.
He was starving.
It smelled so real... Like the food was right in front of him.
“Psst!” Dusty whispered, “Digger! Rusty!”
Did he hear something?
The older kelpie cracked his eyes and yawned.
His sister and mum stood before him, each with a tray of food.
“We made brekkie!” Dusty’s tail wagged.
She sat her tray on the nightstand and climbed up to the top bunk, poking the younger kelpie, “Wake up, sleepyhead!”
“I’m up...,” he lightly batted her paw away.
“We brought you two brekkie in bed!” Mum said.
It took the brothers a few moments to register what she said; both still half-asleep.
Rusty stared hypnotized at the mouthwatering plate of food; it was exactly what he imagined.
He sat up and shook his head, “Mum...?”
“Yes, honey”
“May I eat brekkie at the table, please...? I’ve been eating brekkie in bed like all week...”
“Oh!” She smiled warmly at him, “Sure, sweetie! I’ll take yours back out to the kitchen.”
“Do you want to eat here or at the table too, Digger?” Dusty asked, picking up her tray from the nightstand.
“Table’s fine...,” Digger replied groggily.
“Okay!”
They weren’t offended at all.
“We’ll take these out and I’ll be back to help you up,” she looked at her older son.
“I’ll help him!” Rusty volunteered, now mostly awake.
Mum chuckled at his enthusiasm, “Alright. Just don’t take too long... It’s getting cold.”
The brothers nodded as they left their room.
Rusty climbed off his bed onto the floor.
Digger sat up and draped his legs off the side of his bed, carefully flexing his splinted ankle.
“Ouch!” He yelped in pain.
“Are you okay?” Rusty turned to him with concern.
“I’m fine...,” he assured, “I just moved it weird... It’s still swollen and sore.”
The younger kelpie sat on the bed next to him, “I can bring your food back if you don’t want to get up? You don’t have to eat at the table just because of me.”
“I’m not going to eat in here alone.”
“I could eat with you?” Rusty offered, “I’m just tired of being in bed all day... That’s why I wanted to eat at the table, but I’d stay here if you want?”
“It’s fine...”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Rusty coughed again and cleared his throat.
“How about you?” Digger asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine...,” he assured, just like his brother, “Well... Fine-er than I was, anyways.”
“You still don’t sound great...,” His older brother looked at him with the same concern, “I know you don’t want to be in bed anymore but remember not to overdo it.”
Rusty grabbed the crutches leaned against the near wall and handed them over, “Says the dog that can barely walk...”
“Yeah, yeah...,” Digger rolled his eyes, “Don’t rub it in.”
Rusty laughed.
“Do you need any more help?”
Digger shook his head as he stood up, supporting himself with his crutches, “No... It took a few days but I’m starting to get the hang of these things.”
The two made their way to the kitchen; both devoured their meal.
“That was amazing...,” Rusty burped loudly before quickly covering his muzzle in embarrassment, “Excuse me!”
“Sounds like it was really amazing!” Dad teased.
They all laughed.
Mum took his empty plate and handed him his medicine.
“Thanks.”
Rusty swallowed the two tablets and finished his juice.
He hopped off the chair and offered to take everyone else’s plate to the sink.
Digger, Dusty, and Dad all gratefully obliged.
The elder kelpie caught a whiff of him as he reached for his plate.
He recoiled overdramatically, “How long has it been since you’ve had a bath, kid?!”
Rusty immediately sat the plates down and sniffed himself.
“I don’t smell anything!” He protested.
“Being sick must have really messed up your nose” Dad replied.
“It is still a little stuffy...”
“Maybe you’re just used to how you smell?” Dusty suggested.
“You think I smell too?!” He looked at his sister.
She nodded.
“You do kind of smell like hospital, mate...,” Digger agreed, “And not in the usual way...”
He was speechless.
“I think it’ll have been two weeks tomorrow night,” Mum thought, “He took one the Sunday before he got sick.”
He instantly felt disgusting.
“Can I-,”
Mum interrupted him before he could ask, “Since you’re not supposed to take a bath, I’ll warm the shower up for you.”
She came back into the kitchen a few minutes later, “Let’s go!”
He correctly got the sense she wanted to help him somehow.
"Thanks for turning on the water but...,” he hesitated awkwardly, “I can take a shower by myself...”
"Of course! I’ll just be there in case you need me.”
This whole ordeal made her extremely overprotective.
“I’ll be fine..."
“You just took that antibiotic for the first time. You don’t know how it’ll make you feel in few minutes... It could make you really sick like the one in hospital!”
“Honey...,” Dad attempted to calm her.
Digger leaned over and whispered in Rusty’s ear, “She did this to me a few days ago after I hurt my ankle too... You getting sick really scared her.”
“Mum...,” he implored, "I promise I’ll yell really loud if anything is wrong...”
“Well...”
“Let him shower, mum,” Digger chimed in, “He’ll be fine... If I can shower just fine on one leg, he can shower just fine on two.”
“Okay...,” she reluctantly agreed, “Just remember to take those bandages off and call if you need us.”
“I will,” the pup promised again.
He walked to the bathroom and shut the door.
The kelpie jumped up on a stool and looked at himself in the mirror.
He was a disheveled mess.
Parts of his fur were matted and tear stains trailed from his eyes.
Bruised skin was exposed from a patch of shaven fur on his right paw where his first IV was placed.
A camo bandage was still wound tightly around his left paw from the second IV.
White bandages wrapped around his chest to protect the incision made for his chest tube.
The pup carefully removed the bandages and tossed them in the bin.
A patch of skin showed on his left paw like the right but was unbruised.
The shaven fur on his side revealed a partially-healed incision.
Rusty stepped into the shower and cleaned himself off.
The hot water relaxed his muscles and the radiating steam soothed his sinuses and lungs.
He stopped the water after a nice, long soak and shook most of it from his fur.
The pup toweled off any remaining wetness before heading out to the living room.
Digger sat on the couch with his ankle propped up on a stack of pillows sat on the ottoman.
He was looking at the instruction manual for their new tablets.
“How was it?” He put the booklet down.
“It felt great,” Rusty took a seat next his brother, “How do I smell?”
“I couldn’t smell you as soon as you walked into the room,” The older kelpie grinned, “So, I’m going to go with ‘better’.”
“How about now?!” Rusty playfully held his arm directly against his brother’s muzzle.
“Smells like shampoo... C’mere, squirt!” Digger suddenly grabbed his brother and wrestled him into the couch, being careful to not be too rough with him or himself.
He tried to wriggle free but it was no use, his older brother was much stronger.
“Say you’re sorry!”
“I’m sorry!” Rusty squealed.
“Now say: ‘Digger, you’re the best cricket player I know’.”
“No!”
The younger kelpie struggled harder but Digger just tightened his hold.
“You said it a few days ago!”
“Okay! Okay!” Rusty giggled, “Digger, you’re the best cricket player I know!”
“Aww... Thank you!” The older kelpie laughed as he released him.
The two calmed after a few moments.
“So, what are you doing?” Rusty asked, eyeing the tablet boxes beside him.
“Mum and dad asked me to set up our new tablets while they finished cleaning up brekkie. Dusty bothered me the whole time you were in the shower; she just went back to her room before you came out...,” he sighed, “This might take a while... I didn’t get anything done.”
“Can I help?”
“Uhm... Yeah!” He handed Rusty the boxes.
One box was different from the others.
“Can you carefully take them out of the boxes and plug them in while I finishing reading the directions? It says the first thing is to plug them in.”
“Yeah...,” he looked at the boxes again, “Digger, why is this one not the same?”
“Because mum and dad bought you and Dusty a kids edition, and me a regular black one.”
“What’s the difference between the kids one and regular one?”
“I think the only main difference is the case... The kids edition has a thick case around it like all of your mates'. That way it’s harder to break if it gets dropped or something.”
“That’s good! I wouldn’t want to break it... What about yours?”
“Since I’m older, I just have to be more careful.”
“Oh...”
Satisfied, the pup unboxed all three tablets. One had a thick blue case, one had a thick pink case, and one was just a regular black tablet.
He plugged them in, “Now what?”
“Press the top button to turn them on.”
He did, “Now what?”
“Now we follow the prompts on the screen...,” he picked his tablet up, “I’ll do mine and you can do yours and Dusty’s.”
Rusty sat the coloured tablets on his lap.
“Just press what I tell you to on the screen.”
“Okay.”
The setup, surprisingly, only took a few minutes.
“And, done!” Digger put the manual back in his box.
“Sweet!” Rusty’s tail wagged, “Can you help me put that building game on here, please?”
“We’ll download it later...,” Digger promised, “We should let them charge for now, though.”
Rusty nodded without a fuss and put them off to the side, “Can you help me make a Faceytalk so I can talk to my mates too, please?”
“If it’s okay with mum and dad,” he nodded.
Mum, Dad, and Dusty walked into the living room.
“We got the tablets set up!” Rusty said excitedly, “They’re charging right now but we can play games later!”
“Good job!” Dad praised his sons.
“Woah...,” Dusty’s eye caught the pink tablet, “Is this one mine?”
“Yep!” Digger said.
“Wow!” She marveled at it.
“I can show you how it works later.”
“Thank you!” She hugged him tightly.
“I’m thinking about hitting the market early before the afternoon crowd shows up...,” Mum began, “Dad wants to come with because he’s convinced we need so much food that I won’t be able to carry it all! myself”
“We haven’t had two boys in the house for a while,” Dad added, “And if brekkie was any indication, we’re going to need to stock up!”
“I’d much rather your dad stay here and watch you kids but he’s insisting...,” She continued, “It’s your sister’s turn to pick out snacks, so she wants to come too.”
Dusty’s tail wagged.
“I don’t like this but... Would you boys be alright here alone for an hour or two?”
“We’ll be fine – Yeah,” they answered together.
“You two just take it easy,” she kissed them on the foreheads, “Call us if you need anything...”
Digger nodded.
“And, Rusty...?” She turned to her younger son.
“Yeah?”
“Mind your brother...”
“I will.”
They walked out the door.
The pair sat in silence as the car pulled away.
“What do we do now?” Rusty asked.
“Cartoons?” The older kelpie picked up the remote.
The younger nodded vigorously.
Digger smiled as he flipped on the telly and changed the channel.
He wasn’t too interested but was willing to watch for his little brother.
As the show progressed, the pup’s intermittent coughing became more frequent.
“Mum said hot tea could help with your coughing... Do you want some?”
“Yes, please...,” Rusty stood up from the couch.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Digger stopped him.
“To make tea?”
“You’re not old enough mess with the cooktop.”
“Yes, I am!” Rusty said indignantly, “I know how to use it.”
Digger put his paw down and grabbed his crutches, “Well, I’m in charge and I say you’re not old enough to use the cooktop... You stay here.”
Rusty huffed as he sat back down.
“I’ll put the kettle on and call you when it’s ready.”
The kelpie made his way to the kitchen and brewed the tea.
It was a bit of a struggle with his ankle but he got it done.
He let the mug cool for a couple of minutes before calling his brother, “It’s ready!”
The pup walked into the kitchen still coughing.
“It's on the bench, there,” Digger motioned to it, “Sorry I couldn’t bring it out to you... I didn’t think hopping around on one leg with it would have been a good idea.”
“That’s okay... Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I let it cool for a while but it’s still hot... Don’t burn yourself.”
“I’ll be careful,” he promised.
The pair went back to the couch.
Rusty sipped on the tea; it really helped his cough.
Sometime later, Rusty could tell his brother was in pain.
He kept shifting around on the couch and moving his paw on the stack of pillows.
“Does your ankle hurt more because you made me tea?”
“No...,” Digger lied.
It was an obvious lie and Rusty felt bad...
He had an idea.
“Wait here!” He ran off before Digger could say anything and returned with an ice pack.
“I remember mum said ice would help it feel better...,” he handed it to him.
“Thanks...,” he took the pack and applied it to his paw with a shiver, “It does make it feel better but I just don't like it being so cold... It’s already cold enough outside.”
“Wait here, again!” Rusty ran back off and returned a few moments later, dragging a pile of blankets from their beds.
His older brother laughed as the pup pulled them over him, “You didn’t have to do that...”
“It’s okay,” he crawled back under the covers and cuddled up beside him, “I’m kind of cold too...”
Digger draped his arm around the pup’s shoulders and pulled him close.
It didn’t take long before he was asleep in the cozy embrace.
The older kelpie yawned.
A nap didn’t sound half bad...
He rested his muzzle against his little brother’s head and closed his eyes.