Meghan woke up to a knock on her door. “Hey, Meghan, can I come in?” Mitch asked.

Meghan sleepily motioned him in. She pulled the covers closer around her and shivered.

Mitch crossed to the bed and lay a hand on her forehead. “You’re burning up! We need to get that fever down.” He thought for a moment. “I want to get you back into the exam suite and see what we can do here. Feel up to walking?”

Meghan groaned but nodded. All she wanted to do was go to the bathroom and back to sleep, but she knew that a high fever could be dangerous. “Can I at least stop by the bathroom?”

Mitch nodded. “I’ll go grab Kelsey and have her meet you here. I’ll be in the exam room when you’re finished.”

Meghan got up, wrapped a blanket around herself and headed for the ensuite bathroom. Mitch left her room and went to find Kelsey. Kelsey was in their bedroom, folding laundry. “Hi hon! How was your shift?”

Mitch sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Not bad. We were pretty slow today, for once. Saw several more cases of the stomach bug like what Meghan’s got.” He perched on the edge of the bed.

Kelsey wrinkled her nose. “Not good. The news is reporting that it’s sweeping through the schools. Speaking of Meghan, I probably should go check on her. She went out like a light right after we got home.”

“I looked in on her a couple minutes ago, and her fever’s raging. I want her in the exam room. I’ll probably give her an enema, see if that’ll help lower her fever and also take care of some constipation issues she reluctantly told me she had when she was in the ER. I’ll also give her some more Tylenol. She could probably use another bag of fluids, as well.” He looked at his wife. “Care to assist? I told her you’d be waiting when she got out of the bathroom to walk with her to the exam room.”

Kelsey smiled at her husband. “Of course I’ll help. You go and start setting up, and I’ll walk her to you.”

Meghan wasn’t surprised to find Kelsey outside the bathroom when she exited. “Here to make sure I go to the exam room instead of back to bed?”

Kelsey chuckled. “I was thinking more moral support, but I guess you could look at it that way.”

Meghan started shuffling towards the exam room, blanket held tight around her. It only took a couple minutes before she walked into the room where Mitch was busy rummaging through cabinets. She saw the enema bag already hanging from an IV pole and sighed. “Want me on the exam chair, Mitch?”

He looked over to see her standing next to the chair. “Yes, please. You’ll need to remove your PJ bottoms and underwear. Do you want a gown?”

Meghan shook her head. “No, I’ve got the blanket to cover up with.” Mitch turned back to the cabinets, and Meghan shimmied down her panties and PJ pants, placing them on a nearby clothes hook. She sat down on the exam table, bare butt to the paper, and wrapped the blanket around her as best she could. She shivered again, but was thankful that she had socks on her feet.

Kelsey brought over supplies on a tray. “Let’s get some vitals while Mitch finishes setting up.” Meghan reluctantly pulled an arm free of the blanket, and Kelsey wrapped a BP cuff around it, settling a pulse ox on her finger.

“Blood pressure is 106/82, pulse 88, oxygen 98% on room air.” Kelsey read off the vitals as she took them, then removed the pressure cuff. “Over on your tummy, sis. Let’s see how high that fever is.”

Meghan sighed but rolled over. Kelsey pushed up the blanket from the bottom, exposing Meghan’s buttocks. She lubricated the thermometer and inserted it into her rectum. Meghan felt the slender intruder as it slid deep into her bottom and waited for the beep indicating it had registered.

Kelsey finally removed the thermometer. “She’s at 103.3 F, Mitch.” She brought the blanket back down over Meghan’s legs, and Meghan turned back over and sat up.

“Do me a favor and hang a liter of fluids, hon,” Mitch directed. “The fluids will help keep you hydrated and hopefully bring your fever down a notch.”

Meghan watched as Kelsey spiked a bag of fluids with tubing, ran the air out of the tube, and hooked it up to her heplock. She shivered as the fluid started running into her body, its temp obviously several degrees cooler than her own.

Mitch had filled the enema bag by this time, and hung the full bag and tubing from the same pole as her IV. “I want to do a quick little exam, and then give you an enema. It’ll help relieve the constipation I noted in the ER, and will also help to bring your temp down some.”

Meghan nodded, and reluctantly dropped the blanket from her shoulders and into her lap. Mitch put his stethoscope in his ears and listened to her breathe. “Sounds like you’ve got a few wheezes, Meghan. Relax and let me listen to your heart.” He listened for a moment, then pulled the stethoscope from his ears and handed it to Kelsey. “Any trouble breathing?”

“No, but I’ve had a cough for about a week. And my allergies are acting up with all of the falling leaves and weather changes we’ve been having.”

Mitch helped her to lay back, and brought the blanket down to rest just above her mons pubis. He palpated her abdomen gently, noticing her grimaces. “Any area hurt, or just generally uncomfortable?”

“It’s pretty diffuse,” Meghan replied. “Just nauseous and queasy and uncomfortable.”

“Zofran?” Kelsey asked. Mitch nodded, and she drew some up in a syringe. She walked over to Meghan’s side and injected the meds into her IV.

Mitch helped Meghan get her feet into the stirrups and scoot down. He then readjusted the blanket for her so she was covered up again over her stomach and chest before pushing up the blanket so that her bottom half was exposed. He snapped on a pair of gloves and sat down on the rolling stool, adjusting the lighting and getting close enough to do what he needed to do.

“Meghan, you’ll feel me touching you. I’m going to do a digital exam of your rectum first, and then we’ll get this enema going.” He lubricated his finger, brought it to her anus, and instructed her to relax. He slipped his finger inside and carefully felt the walls of her rectum. He withdrew his finger, removed the glove, and put on a clean one. “Good news – you’re full, but not impacted. So this enema should clear everything up for you nicely.”

He picked up the rectal tube, lubricated the end, and brought it to her anus. “Relax for me as I insert the enema tube.” He slipped it into her bottom, inserting a good few inches until he met some resistance. “I’m going to start the water now. Let me know if you feel cramping. The water will definitely feel cool to you, with the fever you have.”

He opened the flow, adjusting it to moderately run in. Meghan’s body quickly started cramping with the temperature. “Do you want me to help you through the cramps?”

Meghan nodded through gritted, chattering teeth. “Please.”

Mitch began gently massaging her abdomen, working the water in higher into her colon. He could see Meghan was relaxing and the cramps wearing off. He continued the flow, feeding more of the tube into her bottom as he could.

Meghan was feeling absolutely miserable. Between the IV running into her arm and the enema running into her bottom, she felt like her body was being assaulted with cold. And the enema cramps that came and went weren’t helping. All she wanted to do was go back to bed.

The bag finally gurgled and ran empty. Mitch closed the clamps but kept the tube in place. “Let’s try to hold this for 15 minutes, Meghan. How are you feeling?”

“Freezing cold, want to sleep, and want to expel,” she replied.

Mitch nodded sympathetically. “I’m sure you are, but as you know we need to get your temperature down. I figured you’d prefer the enema to a tepid bed bath.”

“Not sure about that,” she countered quietly. Another wave of cramps hit, and she sucked in a breath.

Mitch resumed his abdominal massage while listening to the ticking of the timer Kelsey had set. Soon the 15 minutes had gone by, and Meghan got up and made a beeline for the bathroom.

Kelsey removed the bag from the pole and took it over to the sink to clean it up. “Were you planning on another, or just the one enema?”

“Just the one tonight,” Mitch said, yawning. “It’ll depend on how persistent the fever is as to whether or not she’ll need another in the near future.”

Meghan took her time in returning from the restroom, but finally emerged, wrapped again in her blanket and carrying her IV bag. She hung the bag from the IV pole and settled back on the exam table. Mitch came over to her side, gloved and holding a couple of small foil-wrapped packages. “How are you feeling?”

Meghan looked at what he had in his hand. “Okay, I guess. Not so bloated anymore. Let me guess – Tylenol?” Mitch nodded, and Meghan lay down on her side, knowing what he was going to ask her to do.

Mitch chuckled. “Now I know you’re not feeling good. You’re anticipating my directions and not complaining about them.” He raised the blanket away from her bottom and unwrapped one of the two suppositories he held. He brought it to her anus and gently pushed the medication inside. He unwrapped the second one and also pushed it inside with his finger. He held his finger in for a minute, making sure the medication was well inside her body and having a chance to start melting. He removed his finger and covered her back up.

“We’ll let those kick in, and hopefully get your fever knocked down overnight.” Mitch glanced up at the IV bag that was almost empty. “Those fluids should be done in a little bit. I’ll raise the back of the table up, and you relax while they finish. Then you’re free to head back to bed. Oh, and you can get redressed.”

Meghan stood up and headed for her clothes while Mitch adjusted the exam table to support her while sitting. Meghan pulled on her panties and her PJ bottoms then sat back down on the exam table, leaning in to the now-elevated back. Mitch pulled out the extension for her feet, sat down on the rolling stool, and wheeled to be by her side. She tucked the blanket around herself again.

“When did you start noticing symptoms of this bug, Meghan?”

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “The fatigue hit mid-morning, and I guess I passed out at my desk because Fred woke me up when he dismissed the class for lunch. Everything else was pretty much showing up at that time, because I felt really crappy when I woke up. Wasn’t too surprised that my BP and cortisol was low. I’m just worried that it’s going to delay going back to the ambulance more now – I was so hoping to get cleared to return to work at my next visit!”

Mitch nodded empathetically. “Well, Dr. Woodruff didn’t seem surprised at your levels, given that you’ve come down with the stomach bug that’s hitting hard everywhere. And your numbers weren’t that low. So don’t be too worried yet.” He patted her knee encouragingly.

“Thanks, Mitch.” Just then, the doorbell rang. Kelsey got up from where she’d been sitting and went to answer it.

She returned momentarily, Rick following her. He was shocked to see Meghan with an IV. “Oh, no! Are you all right?”

Meghan held up a hand. “Don’t come too close unless you want to get sick. I got the stomach flu that’s going around.”

Rick stopped a little back but shook his head. “Ugh. I’m sorry, Meghan. Is Mitch working to get you feeling better?”

Meghan nodded. “Yeah. Keeping me hydrated and trying to get my temp down. And keeping the nausea at bay,” she said wryly. “I threw up on him in the ER,” she recounted with a smile.

Rick laughed. “Well, we apparently won’t be going out for a late bite, then.”

Mitch grimaced. “I’m sorry, friend. I forgot all about it. Did you try to call me?”

“I think I left about 3 messages,” Rick confirmed. “So I thought I’d swing by.”

“Sorry again. Taking care of Meghan became priority when I got home. Care to take a rain check, perhaps this weekend?”

Rick nodded. “That’ll work. Hopefully Meghan will be feeling better and can join us. I happen to like our double dates,” he chuckled, drawing a wan smile out of her.

“I’m just looking forward to feeling human again,” she replied.

He nodded sympathetically. “Well, I’d best go so you can rest. Text me and let me know how you’re doing?”

Meghan nodded. “I’ll do that.”

Mitch walked Rick back to the door and saw him out. Meanwhile, Kelsey unhooked the IV and finished cleaning up the exam room.

When Mitch stepped back in, Kelsey spoke up. “I’m going to go heat up some soup for all of us. What do you think, Meghan? Soup and crackers?”

“I’m not sure about the soup, but I could probably manage a few crackers, at least.” Meghan got off of the exam table and wrapped her blanket around herself. She and Mitch followed Kelsey down the hall towards the kitchen. They settled in the living room while Kelsey set about preparing a late dinner.