Chapter Text
It had been a rough winter. Illness snaked through the team one member at a time. First Bood with a cold, then Troy with Influenza passing it quickly to his boyfriend Harris. Wyatt was next he had both influenza and strep throat. It passed quickly from team member to member.
Shane had been taking extra vitamin C and washing his hands obsessively. He was determined NOT to be next, he had been begging Ilya to be more mindful and after the 6th member of the team fell sick, he also started taking extra vitamin C. Shane hoped it was enough and made sure there was extra hand sanitizer in the locker room and at the bench, he reminded his teammates to sanitize between plays ever few minutes. Ilya rolled his eyes at his reminders but made a show of rubbing hand sanitizer on his hands so Shane would hopefully relax. During practice, they could hear sneezing and coughing all around them, it was constant and grating.
They were due to head out in 4 days to Phoenix, and Shane was excited for the warmth as Ottawa had been in the negatives for over a week straight. Though sickness had lingered around the team, they had still managed to win their last 3 games. They were supposed to have a day off in Phoenix before heading to Indianapolis and he was looking forward to a day in the sun with his husband.
After practice they showered and changed, the locker room usually loud with jokes and chirping was weirdly subdued, which Shane was thankful for as he felt a headache creeping in. He was used to it, he had them on and off for years, ever since that hit from Marlow. After he was dressed, he turned to Ilya and he thought his coloring looked a little off, but Ilya smiled at him, warm and carefree. Shane decided Ilya was fine and his headache was playing with his eyes.
“Ready?” Ilya asked and cleared his throat reaching for Shane’s bag.
“Yes, lets go” Shane said glad Ilya was ready to go. “See ya guys” he called back “Vitamins and wash your hands!” He heard a few chuckles and someone mumble “yea yea” as he walked out of the locker room.
When they got into the car Shane reached immediately for his sunglasses though it was a cloudy dull day. Ilya arched an eyebrow
“Headache,” Shane told him. Earning a frown from Ilya. “I’m ok, it just started and we’re going home, so I can nap,” he said
Ilya nodded once and started the car pulling out of the parking lot. “I think I will nap with you” Ilya said, he cleared his throat again.
“You ok?” Shane asked after he had cleared his throat a third time, “You feeling, ok?” Shane asked, worried Ilya was getting sick.
“I am fine. Just tickle in my throat” he told him. Shane looked at him through his sunglasses Ilya huffed “I am fine” he said again.
“Ok” Shane conceded, the pressure in his head seemed to be getting worse even with the glasses on, he tiled his head back and closed his eyes. Ilya rested his hand on Shane’s thigh; it was warm and heavy. Comforting. Shane rested his hand over it.
They pulled into the garage when they got home and headed into the house. Anya was there waiting for them. Usually, Shane would take her on a long walk, but the pounding in his head was not letting up.
“I’m so sorry sweet girl” he told the happy pup “Headache” he explained like she would understand.
“I will let Anya out and I’ll be up in few minutes. Go lay down” Ilya instructed giving Shane a kiss on the temple.
Shane slowly made his way up the stairs.
It was quiet and dark in their bedroom, he quickly swapped out of the jeans and T-shirt he had on and pulled on a pair of soft pajama pants, he left his chest bare, he slipped in between the cool sheets and curled up on his side. He may have dozed off but then he heard Ilya come into the room, he had a bottle of Excedrin with him and a bottle of water. He came over to Shane’s side of the bed and ran his hand though his hair. Shane’s eyes popped open.
“Here, I brought you pills and water” Ilya explains his throat was achy, but he resisted the urge to clear it again, so Shane wouldn’t worry.
Shane sits up taking both bottles and quickly pops two of the pills into his mouth and gulps down some of the water. He then sets the water on the bedside table and lays back down, closing his eyes. Ilya runs the back of his hand over Shane’s cheek.
“Thank you” Shane whispers.
“I love you” Ilya responds
“Love you too” Shane reply. Sinking farther into the pillows. Quickly surrendering to sleep.
Ilya sighs and follows Shane’s lead stripping down to his briefs and crawling into bed next to Shane. He does not turn to cuddle his husband as he knows that when Shane has a bad headache jostling can make it worse.
He hears Anya walk over to her dog bed in the corner and lay down as well. The house is quiet, the only noise Ilya can hear is the furnace kicking on and Shane’s slow deep breaths. It lulls him to sleep like a lullaby.
Several hours later Ilya wakes with a jolt. His throat feels like he has swallowed glass, his body hurts, and he’s hot and cold he pulls the blanket up to his neck and rolls on his side to check on Shane. Shane’s eyes are closed but he has a peculiar look on his face.
“Shane” Ilya says softly, his voice is scratchy and he coughs, his head pulses with the sensation and he grimaces.
“Ilya?” Shane asks “Fuck, Fuck” he says. “I feel like I got hit by a bus, did I get checked into the boards during practice?” Shane asks, teeth starting to chatter.
“No, sweetheart” Ilya says. “is it your head? Are you ok” he asks in raspy voice.
Shane groans and rolls his head over to look at Ilya. Ilya is pale his nose is starting to look red. “Ugh, my whole body hurts” he explains a shudder rocks though him “I’m fucking freezing, did the furnace not kick on?” Shane asks but he can hear it, he pulls the blanket up farther. He’s regretting not putting on a shirt and the thought of leaving bed to get one is not welcome.
“I..I think we are sick” Ilya says quietly
“We?” Shane asks “What’s wrong?” he asks Ilya immediately forgetting his discomfort.
“I do not feel good. My body hurts, and my throat” Ilya tells him, speaking tickles his throat and he falls into a coughing fit “Fuck” he gasps after.
Shane decides he needs to move. He grinds his teeth and flips the blanket over. Ilya goes to stop him.
“No, Ilya. I have to get up. We need the thermometer and water at least.” Stepping out of the bed the cool air hits his exposed torso and he shivers violently, quickly crossing to the bathroom he snags the hoodie hanging on the closet doorknob and shucks it over his head.
His bare feet hit the cold tile floor and he stifles a groan, he quickly grabs the thermometer from the drawer and the Tylenol. Returning to the bedroom he tosses his wares onto the bed. Ilya is laying in bed, he coughs once and grimaces, he’s pale and flushed at the same time, his eyes are dull and the corners turned down as his eyes track Shane though the dimly lite room.
“I’ll be right back” Shane tells him. Moving at a turtle’s pace he moves down the hall and down the stairs. It’s 630pm and dark outside.
Moving to the kitchen he flips on the light and squints at the sudden brightness as a pain pulls behind his eyes, he has a sudden sneezing fit and can now feel how full his sinuses feel. His nose started to run. He quickly grabs a paper towel and pulls it to his face, dabbing the mess.
Moving to the fridge he pulls 4 bottles of water out and starts his way back upstairs. It hurts and he wheezes when he finally gets to the landing. He returns to the bedroom and hands a bottle of water to Ilya telling him to wait to drink and places the rest on the bedside table.
Shane grabs the thermometer and turns it on. It’s one that flashes different colors depending on your temp. Green for Normal, yellow for elevated, and red for fever.
“Ilya, open up” he instructs.
Ilya would normally make a joke at the order but he feels awful and just opens his mouth and Shane places the device under his tongue and its silent as they wait. Ilya watches Shane’s face. The thermometer flashes red against Ilya’s skin as soon as it finishes beeping. Shane’s hand shakes slightly and pulls it back to see 103.9 on the window.
“Holy shit Ilya, you’re burning up” Shane breaths. “Here you need to take Tylenol now, you’re burning up”. Shane moves to pick up the bottle of Tylenol and pushes the thermometer into his own mouth.
Shane opens the Tylenol and hands two to Ilya who quickly swallows them with small sips of water from the bottle Shane handed him.
The thermometer beeps and Shane pulls it out of his mouth red catching his eye first. 102.3 it reads. He counts back in his head to when he took the Excedrin, it’s only been 4.5 hours so he needs to wait. He wonders if the acetaminophen in the pills he took this afternoon is why his fever isn’t as high as Ilya’s.
“Lay back down” Shane tells Ilya. “I need to call my mom” he explains. “I’m going to ask her to come get Anya and to pick up some soup for us on the way.”
“I am very cold” Ilya reply’s teeth chattering. Shane realizes that Ilya is in nothing but his underwear, he moves over to the dresser and pulls out a pair of pj pants and a long sleeve thermal top.
Shane moves back to Ilya “Here let me help.” Shane ducks his head as he sneezes twice without warning. He wipes his nose on the arm of the hoodies he’s wearing.
“ugh” he says. “Gross.”
Shane is cradling the phone with his chin to call his mother and moves to help Ilya dress. Ilya hears Shane speaking but doesn’t really listen, his head feels muffled and his ears are ringing slightly.
Ilya moves slowly and pulls the pj pants on without getting out of bed and then Shane helps him pull the top over his head. He is now coughing regularly. After he is dressed, he shimmies back onto his pillow and pulls the blanket back up to his neck.
Ilya’s closes his eyes and he can hear Shane move back to his side of the bed.
It’s quiet for a minute and Ilya wonders if Shane is still awake, his head lolls to the side and he sees Shane on his phone.
“What are you doing?” Ilya asks, causing him to cough hard it makes his chest hurt.
“I am placing an order for my mom to pickup on the way here. Soup, crackers, cough syrup, cough drops, good tissue, sprite” he sniffles.
“Sprite?” Ilya asks
“Yes, it’s good for when you’re sick” Shane responds.
“It’s soda, since when is soda good for you?” Ilya continues
“I don’t know, but my mom always gave it to me when I was sick growing up” Shane shrugs.
“Can you add Oreos to order?” Ilya asks sheepishly
Shane would normally try to keep treats like cookies out of the house, but he figured if Ilya was up for cookies, he might be feeling ok even though his high fever scared the shit out of him. Mabe the Tylenol was kicking in.
“Regular or double stuffed?” Shane asks him
“Hollander, what kind of question is that?” Ilya responds, coughing again.
Shane rolls his eyes. He sneezes again three times in a row, he rolls back out of the bed and roams to the bathroom grabbing a roll of toilet paper to tide himself over until his mom got there.
He returns to bed and moves towards the middle of bed to lie near Ilya. Shane can feel him shivering and heat radiating off him. Shane reaches down to hold Ilya’s hand and Ilya threads his fingers through Shane’s.
“I am sorry” Ilya says suddenly. Coughs racking his body.
“You have nothing to apologize for” Shane reply’s
“You are sick. I should have washed my hands more” Ilya says guiltily.
“Ilya, stop. We were probably going to get sick either way.” Shane tells him and squeezes his hand slightly. Sneezing twice more
“I should be taking care of you” Ilya tells Shane.
“That’s not just your job. We take care of each other” Shane emphasizes.
Ilya coughs several times rather than respond.
They are silent for a while lying together in misery, when Shane hears the front door open. Anya runs out of the room barking several times. The sudden noise causes Shane to flinch.
Shane can hear his mother, Yuna Hollander, moving downstairs and talking indistinctly to Anya. He can hear ascending the stairs with bags.
“Boys. It’s me” she calls softly.
“Mom” Shane says sharply “stop, leave the bags by the door and don’t come in. I don’t want you and dad to get this. Please” he tells her
“Don’t be ridiculous” Yuna says. “I just want to check on you both and then Anya and I will be on our way.”
Shane sighs “Mom, seriously we’re ok. Just sick” he argues. He sneezes and groans softly at the pressure in his face and head.
Yuna pushes open the door with her foot and walks into the room ignoring Shane.
“Mooom” Shane whines
Yuna comes to stop next to the bed she places the shopping bags on the floor.
“It’s fine Shane, relax” she tells him.
Shane huffs.
“I just want to check on you both. Is that a crime?” she asks.
“No, of course not. I just don’t want you to get sick” Shane tells her.
She smiles slightly “I’ll be ok” she looks at Shane and Ilya laying next to each other and they both look ill. Pale, but Ilya has a flush to his cheeks she knows is from fever. He doesn’t move.
“Hi Yuna” he rasps and coughs.
“Oh honey, you sound terrible” Yuna say’s clucking her tongue. She feels his forehead. It’s hot, really hot. “You’ve got quite the fever there”
He nods once “yes” Ilya confirms
“I gave him Tylenol like 45 minutes ago” Shane tells her.
“Good. Have you taken anything?” she asks her son.
“I took Excedrin earlier because I had a headache” Shane explains.
“Alright” she says “I brought your order” she tells them. She unloads the cough syrup and cough drops and Oreos and places them on Ilya’s bed-side table. She pulls out a 3 pack of soft lotion tissue and hands them over to Shane, who rips them open immediately.
Yuna hands him one of the empty shopping bags “Here, use this for trash, so you don’t have to keep getting up” Yuna instructs
“Thank you, mom,” Shane says leaning back into the bed.
“I put the soup in the fridge. Chicken noodle and Borscht. I wasn’t sure if you were hungry. I can warm some up for you if you want before I go?” she offers.
Shane did not feel hungry “I’m ok. Ilya? Are you hungry?”
Ilya coughs several times “No, not right now. Later” He finally gets out. Shane hands him the bottle of water on the bed and Ilya take a couple sips.
“We’re ok mom. You should go before you get sick” Shane tells her.
Yuna hesitates “Are you sure? I can stay. In case you need anything.”
“Mom, we’ll be ok. Go home and relax. You don’t need to worry about us” Shane tells her.
“I’ll keep eye on him” Ilya says with a smirk.
Shane rolls his eyes and Yuna chuckles.
“Ok, I’m going. But if you change your mind or if you need anything please call me” Yuna stresses.
“We will. Thank you for taking care of Anya and stopping at the store for us” Shane tells his mother.
“Of course, sweetheart. I love you both. Feel better. Call me if you need anything” Yuna repeats.
“Love you too” Shane and Ilya tell her.
It’s quite after Yuna and Anya leave, except for the periodic coughs and sneezes from the bedroom.
Shane sneezes again, grimacing at the pressure in his face. “Fuck, that hurt.” he mumbles he blows his nose and his head pounds. He has to breath through his mouth as his nose is so stuffed he can’t breathe out of it.
Ilya is laying next to him feeling worse as time goes on, his teeth are chattering, his throat hurts, and his chest is on fire every time he coughs, his nose is running slightly, and he feels weirdly lightheaded. His bladder needs to be relieved, but he doesn’t want to get out of bed, he tried to ignore it for a while until that too becomes uncomfortable. He sighs loudly, which causes him to cough again.
Shane immediately opens his eyes and looks at Ilya “What’s wrong?” he asks.
“I have to pee, but do not want to get out of bed” Ilya grumbles.
“Yea I can’t help you, their babe. You’re SOL” Shane tells him, closing his eyes again.
“You are so mean to me” Ilya teases.
“Yes, yes, so mean making my grown husband go to the bathroom. I know I’m a monster” Shane deadpans. Ilya chuckles slightly which turns into another coughing fit.
Ilya still hasn’t gotten out of bed. He’s hyping himself up to do it. It’s quiet for a moment when Shane turns to Ilya “Do you need help? Like really?” Shane asks after seeing how Ilya is trembling from fever and how pale he looks.
“No no. I am ok. I am just trying to talk myself into getting out of bed” Ilya tells Shane, he closes his eyes for a minute. Coughs twice and then clenches his jaw. “Ok I am going” he pushes the blanket aside and pushes himself into a sitting position. His vision blurs slightly. He closes his eyes and waits for the sensation to leave.
Shane is watching Ilya and sees how he closes his eyes and breaths in and out for a moment. “Babe, are you ok? I can help you get to the bathroom.”
“No, is ok. Dizzy little” Ilya tells him “moved too fast.”
Ilya moves towards the edge of the bed and eventually is able to stand up, he pads slowly over to the bathroom. He’s cold and every movement makes his body hurt. He quickly does his business and goes to return to the bedroom and back to bed.
Shane is laying still in the middle of the bed watching Ilya shuffle back to the bed he’s almost back to his side of the bed when Shane sees what little color Ilya had in his face completely evaporates. He’s as white as sheet and stops walking and is just standing in the middle of bedroom with a faraway look in his eyes.
Shane sits up quickly and calls his name. “Ilya” he says when there is no response, he calls his name again louder “Ilya” still no answer. His heartrate accelerates and he can feel every pulse in his face and head causing his head to swim, as he begins to move towards his husband and watches in horror before he can get out of bed when Ilya crumbles to the floor.
Shane flies out of bed and sees Ilya shaking uncontrollably, it takes his brain a moment to register what is going on. Ilya is having a seizure. Panic floods him.
He is crying and calling Ilya’s name hoping he will pop up and tell him off for yelling so loudly.
Shane moves quickly back to bed ripping the blanket off in search of his cell phone, relief floods him briefly as he finds it and calls 911.
He’s crying in earnest when the line connects.
“Hello this is Ottawa 911 dispatch, this is Amy what is the nature of your emergency?” A calm voice answers.
Shane has to take a deep breath and croaks “I think my husband is having a seizure.”
“what’s your name?” Amy asks
“Shane Hollander” he replies
“Ok, Shane is he breathing?”
Shane crouches next to Ilya who’s still shaking and hears jagged breaths coming from Ilya.
“Yes, yes he’s breathing”
“Good, can you move him safely onto his side? You can put the phone down if you need to.” Amy tells him.
Shane puts the phone done and moves Ilya onto his side, he’s still shaking, and Shane can feel his pulse beating incredibly fast as he holds on to Ilya.
Picking back up the phone “He’s on his side, his pulse is very fast,” Shane tells Amy.
“Ok, that’s ok we have EMS and fire on their way. We have your general location from your cell phone; can you please provide the full address?” Amy asks
Shane rattles off his address quickly. Amy repeats it back to him.
“EMS is 3 minutes out. Where are you located in the house? Is the front door accessible?”
“We are upstairs in our bedroom” Shane tells her trying to stop crying. “I need to unlock the front door.” Shane quickly gets to his feel and runs down the hall and stairs to the front door, he unlocks it and leaves it open as he runs back up the stairs to Ilya, who has mercifully stopped seizing.
“He’s not seizing anymore” Shane tells Amy “Ilya, Ilya can you hear me? Ilya baby??” Shane wails. He can hear the sirens outside and sees the blue and red lights reflecting on the walls.
“Shane, EMS is pulling up now. Can you take a deep breath for me?” Shane is near hyperventilation. He takes two deep breaths, Amy thanks him.
He hears movement downstairs “HERE” he yells “We’re here. Amy, they’re here” he tells her.
“Ok Shane I am going to disconnect, EMS will assist now” and the line goes dead.
There is a flurry of movement as paramedics and firefighters file into their room with their equipment. Shane moves out of the way as they roll Ilya onto his back and cut his shirt off. They are attaching sticky pads to his chest with wires. They ask what Ilya’s name is, his age, if he has any major medical issues. Shane answers without taking his eyes off Ilya.
“Hi, I am Mark” a man probably close to Shane’s age tells Shane, “Can you tell us what happened?”
“We’ve both been sick, Ilya’s fever has been almost 104, I gave him Tylenol a couple hours ago. He went to use the bathroom and, on the way, back he got pale as a sheet and he fell and started shaking.” Shane is shaking, not from cold but fear. “why isn’t he waking up?” Shane asked
“That’s pretty normal after a seizure” Mark explains. It seems like it’s forever and no time at all when they move Ilya onto a stretcher to take him out of the house.
Shane goes to follow and he suddenly is struck by a wave of dizziness and feels like he’s going to pass out. He almost falls over but is studied by Mark.
“Sir, are you ok, let’s sit down a minute here” Mark says taking his pulse.
“No, no I need to go with Ilya” Shane replies quickly “I’m ok, just got dizzy. Please, please, I need to go with my husband” he begs.
Mark thinks for a moment and then helps Shane to his feet and walks with him down the stairs and out into the cold January night. They walk to the ambulance, which is a bright source of light in the dark night. Mark knocks on the side door which opens for them, Mark helps Shane gets into the rig and sits him down in a seat right behind Ilya.
“Ok Shane, we are going to Ottawa General. You need to buckle up, and you cannot move around while we are in motion” Mark explains.
Shane quickly puts on his belt watching the scene in front of him. The EMTs have Ilya wrapped in a blanket put his arms are free and they are giving him an IV and they put a tube under his nose for oxygen.
“This is just fluids” Mark tells Shane. Shane nods.
Shane can hear the driver relaying information over to the hospital, he hears Ilyas’ name and age briefly before focusing his attention on the monitors in the ambulance. He sees Ilya pulse is high. As a professional athlete Shane knows his heart rate usually runs in the low to mid 50’s but it’s over 90. That scares Shane. Is something wrong with Ilya’s heart?
He’s about to ask when they pull away from the curb and start down the road. The hospital is about a 15 min drive. Shane reaches out just to have a point of contact with Ilya and runs a hand through his curls.
“When will he wake up?” Shane asks his voice shaking, he’s petrified that Ilya wont. The fear hits him in gut like a sledgehammer.
“It’s hard to tell, but he’s stable and his vitals are looking ok. The flu this year has been pretty bad, and this is not the first febrile seizure we’ve seen lately. Mark explains.
Soon they were pulling into the hospital and backing into a heated garage, the double doors on the back of the Ambulance open and Mark jumps out to pull the gurney out, he begins relaying information to the medical staff who have come out.
Shane unbuckles but stays seated until he’s beckoned forward. Mark takes him under arm to help him step out of the back. “Thank you” Shane says.
He follows Ilya into the hospital and relays all the information over again to the medical staff. Shane feels like a tape recorder. “Ilya Rozanov, 31, no medical issues, no allergies. We’ve been sick….”
Shane is asked to step out of the room as the staff move him to a bed in the emergency room and hook him up to all their equipment but is told he can wait in the hall. Shane is standing in the hall when he gets dizzy again. He places a hand on the wall to brace himself, but feels his knees start to buckle. A nurse walking by sees him and pulls a wheelchair over and guides Shane into it.
“Sir, are you ok? Are you in pain?” She asks
“No, I’m fine, just dizzy. We’ve been sick” he gestures to the room in front of him. His head rests in his hands.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t move.” She tells him, Shane doesn’t think he could if he wanted to.
A minute later she comes back wheeling a machine to take his blood pressure.
“I’m Samantha” the nurse tells him. “What’s your name”
“Shane, but I’m ok” he insists. “How’s Ilya? How’s my husband?” Shane asks
“Well Shane, I just want to check you blood pressure, is that ok?” she asks “And then I can find out how your husband is doing”
Shane feels embarrassed and exposed in the hall but nods. She takes his arm and pushes his sweater arm up attaching the cuff. Shane sits waiting for it to finish.
“Ok Shane, you’re blood pressure is a little low, how about we get you checked out while you’re here?”
Shane shakes his head “No, I’m fine. I’m not leaving Ilya. Is he awake can you check?” Shane’s voice is high and strained.
“He’s still asleep” Samantha tells him “How about this we get you checked out and, in the room, next door. The doors open and you can see your husband? Will that be ok?”
Shane thinks for a moment and then gives a curt nod. Samantha steps behind him and pushes him into the room next to Ilya’s and moves to open the door so Shane can hear and see into the room. She helps Shane onto the bed and begins asking him the same questions he answered for Ilya. He feels like its never-ending cycle. “Shane Hollander, 31, no medical issues, no allergies. We’ve been sick….”
Samantha pulls out a hospital gown and asks Shane if he needs help changing. He shakes his head no and moves to remove his hoodie. Its cold in the room and his body breaks out in goosebumps and quickly puts the gown on. It does little for warmth.
“C-can I have a blanket?” Shane studders “I’m freezing” he says
“Yes of course. One second” Samantha leaves the room briefly and returns with two blankets, warm like they were pulled from the dryer and quickly covers Shane with the efficiency of someone who does it 1000 times a day. Shane can see Ilya is wrapped similarly through the adjoining door.
Samantha comes to the side of bed and wraps his arm in a blood pressure cuff again and puts a pulse ox on his right index finger. She places a thermometer in his mouth. A second later she pulls it out. “101.5” she says to Shane’s unasked question.
She works efficiently and then moves into the room next door speaking quietly to an older woman in a white coat.
A second later she follows Samantha into Shane’s room.
“How’s Ilya, when will he wake up?” Shane asks immediately.
“Hi Shane, I am Dr. Milton. I will be you and your husband’s doctor this evening. Ilya is ok. He’s sleeping which is very normal after a seizure. We are going to run some tests to see if we can pinpoint exactly why he had a seizure and give him some time to rest.” Dr Milton tells Shane perching on the side of the bed.
“Alright” says Shane, “He will wake up through, right?” Shane feels a burning in his eyes and has to blink to stop from crying again.
Dr. Milton gives him a small smile “I’m not going to tell you not to worry because I would worry about my wife if we were in a similar situation, but I am fairly certain he had a seizure caused by his fever. May I ask what his fever was at home the last time you checked?”
“103.9, I gave him Tylenol at about 630p” Shane told her. It was now 1015p.
“You did everything you could, but his fever continued to climb and was 104.7 when he first got here about an hour ago. We gave him another dose of Tylenol and a dose of ibuprofen and it seems to be helping. His fever has come down to 103.1 still not where we would like it but we’re going to continue to monitor him and give him more fluids to see if we can get it to break. Unfortunately, now it’s just a waiting game” Dr. Milton says while patting Shane’s leg.
Shane felt a bone crushing exhaustion “Thank you” Shane says quietly.
“My pleasure” she replies warmly. “Now, we need to focus on you for minute. Samantha tells me you were dizzy and faint and that your blood pressure is a little low. I am guessing you have a touch of what Ilya has. I would like to get some fluids going to see if that helps with the blood pressure and just to cover all our bases I’d like to run some labs. How does that sound?” Dr. Milton asks.
Shane shrugs “That’s fine” he tells her.
“Did you take Tylenol this evening as well?” She asks.
“No, I took Excedrin this afternoon after we got home from practice at about 2-230 because my head was hurting.” Shane explains.
“Ok, I’d like you to take a dose of Tylenol and ibuprofen like Ilya, to see what we can do about your fever.” Dr. Milton goes to stand. “You just rest now. Please let us know if you need anything” she says as he leaves the room.
“Alright Shane” says Samantha. “I’m going to start your Iv and then we are going to give you intravenous fluids, Tylenol, and ibuprofen”
Shane nods and sticks his arm out. She works quickly setting up the Iv, taking blood, and administering the medication. She hands Shane the remote and tells him that if he needs anything to hit the call light.
Shane is feeling wrung out and tense “Can you dim the lights a little?” Shane asks.
“Absolutely.” Samantha says before leaving the lights dimming on her way out the door. She closes the sliding door to the room and Shane can tell the sliding door to Ilya’s room is also closed thorough the open adjoining door. It’s quiet.
“Ilya, I don’t know if you can hear me” Shane calls “I love you. I’m here.” He says. His eyes get heavy and he drifts off.