Mom Comes Home

You spent the rest of the day watching videos and generally trying to clear your head; the cold medicine your mom gave you was extremely effective in rendering you unable to form complete coherent thoughts without a huge amount of effort. It also acted as a numbing agent, with the intent to make puking more bearable for those who had stomach flus. As you lay in bed, with the hours passing, you heard keys jingle outside, followed by the door opening. Laying in bed, still, you heard your mom's voice call out. "Doug?" A flurry of footsteps up the stairs, followed by your door opening, you saw your mom peek her head in through the door. "Oh, sweetie." Her tone had changed a bit from earlier in the morning; it was almost loaded with something else underneath, but with your hazy mind you couldn't think on it too much.

"How're you feeling, sweetheart? Do you need mommy to take care of you?" While your mind was hazy, that was blatantly weird. She hadn't referred to herself like that since you were a kid.

"Hey mom. I'm feeling pretty bad still. Had to spend the whole day in bed, pretty much." Your mother walked over to the side of your bed and sat down at your side. "Here, let's take your temperature." She opened your side drawer and took out the thermometer, but hesitated before placing it in your mouth. "Hmm, sweetie. Let's make this a bit more easy for you. She opened your drawer once more, and pulled out a spray bottle. "This should numb your mouth and throat so that if you need to take more medicine, it'll go down easier." With that, she sprayed the cherry-flavored liquid into your mouth. Immediately, a tingling sensation followed the initial bitter taste, along with a soothing numbness. "Great, now for the thermometer." Although you were still hopped up on your medicine, you swear you saw your mom gasp a bit under her breath. As the thermometer beeped, your mom's phone rang. "Shit, that's my work. Hold on hon, I'll be upstairs, I gotta take this." She dashed out and was up the stairs quick. The machine took its time reading your temperature, but you knew you still had a low fever; the sweat on your brow confirmed that. Feeling a bit too warm, you went to your dresser and changed into a pair of boxers and a tanktop, before going back in bed, with the now suspect thermometer still taking your temp. After a few more minutes, it finally beeped, with a reading of 99.7. Not too bad, but not good either. "Mom?" You called for her, but there was no reply. "I think I might need more cough syrup!" You yelled, but still no reply. You resolved to get out of bed and climb up the stairs to see if she was alright. As you got to her door, you remembered her 'four knock' policy that you saw in her message. Do you talk about this with her now?