When I got home, I found them both in bed feeling rather exhausted. Emily was incredibly HOT! You could have fried an egg on her, she was that warm.
We drip fed her Calpol and a few bits of food - blueberries, crisps ... the things she loves so we know she'd eat.
Around 2am I got awoken by Sue asking to help with Em. She wouldn't take her next dose of Calpol and wasn't cooling down. Her hands were hot, her feet were hot. It wasn't good.
We were on the phone on and and off with NHS Direct, those guardian angels of healthcare, until about 3am ruling out meningitis and going through the procedures we needed to follow - make sure she DOES take her medicine, keep the room cool for her, etc.
People get sick. People of all ages get sick. It's a fact of life. However, while we were on the phone trying to get to the bottom of Em's illness and find out what to do next, my entire brain was screaming "swine flu" for a number of reasons not least being an acquaintance of Sue's recently lost her 5 year old child to the virus on Christmas Day. I was trying to hold off my paranoia and let the nurse on the phone do her thing.
I still don't think Em's out of the woods, but at least she's taking fluids now (something she refused at 8 am this morning). She's lying in bed not moving, and occasionally singing lines from her songs. She's not in bad spirits, I just wish the same could be said for her body.
