I picked Mason up from theater rehearsal on Sunday at 6:00. We headed back to the boat and, once we got on board, he sneezed. My paranoid-mommy radar detector went off. Of course, I didn’t say anything to him so as not to alarm him. He usually starts sneezing a day before he gets sick. About an hour later, he sneezed again. I started to sweat. I tucked him in, and went to bed myself. I was just going to scan the headlines before going to sleep…and there is was: Two Coronavirus cases in Florida – and one of those not too far from St. Pete.

I wasn’t surprised. I knew it was coming. And, we’ve spent a month preparing for possibly needing to quarantine ourselves on the boat. I remembered Mason’s sneezes and my stomach didn’t feel so good after that.

The next morning, I heard the dreaded words. “Mom, my throat hurts.” He was also sniffling, and had a mild cough. I hung a thick sheet between the salon and his living area (he has his own bathroom). I brought out the hand sanitizer, the spray bottle of bleach, Clorox wipes, tissues, extra vitamins, boxes of his favorite tea, and everything else he might need to be more comfortable. He was not running a fever.

That changed around 3:00 in the afternoon. His temp quickly spiked to 101.2. I hadn’t been able to get him to eat breakfast but I said he HAD to eat lunch. He needed nutrition. So, he asked for fajitas. Oddly enough, I had everything I needed for those onboard. (I actually over-prepared for the virus.) He ate all of his fajitas and I was relieved.

For dinner, he wanted my famous parmesan pan fried fish. I had everything for that, too! So, I spent an hour whipping up that with some rice and corn. He looked very happy when I handed him the plate…but then he couldn’t eat it. I went from begging to bribing while trying to get some nutrition on him. I even offered him a candy bar and he declined that as well! In the end, I was only successful getting him to ingest his nighttime vitamins and more hot tea.

His fever stayed the same overnight. I got up several times to check on him.

I Googled his symptoms and, while some children in China have presented with those symptoms, it is far more likely he has the flu. And, no, I won’t take him in for a flu test. It will only result in him being exposed to even more viruses in the doctor’s office and he doesn’t need medical care at this time.

I had to notify the other parents in his theater group of his illness because he’s spent most of Saturday and Sunday singing and dancing with those kids (holding hands, etc.). All but one mom said they hoped he felt better. That one woman got snippy, insisting I take my kid in to be tested for Coronavirus. I explained to her that they’d only do a flu test. He fits none of the criteria for the beer virus (I further explained to her that he doesn’t even DRINK beer and she didn’t appreciate me making light of her hysteria). Then, someone on my Facebook list said I was “required to notify the health department.” She really said that. Geez…

Anyway, this morning I made homemade banana bread for Mason and that did the trick. He wolfed it down. I’m not planning on leaving the boat for the next several days. We have too many provisions at this point thanks to our prepping and I’m feeling fine myself at this point. The place WREAKS of the smell of rubbing alcohol. I’m surprised I haven’t gotten drunk from the amount of hand sanitizer that I’ve put on my skin in the past 48 hours.

Mason is in very good spirits. He’s not nervous at all and he’s enjoying having unlimited YouTube time. 😉

THURSDAY UPDATE: Mason’s fever broke. He still has a sore throat but he’s feeling better. However, he was kind enough to share his bug with me. I now have a sore throat and a headache. He’s such a sweet boy…

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Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.

Follow Angela: twitter | facebook | linkedin

Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
Learn more here: https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/

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