“I hate to leave them alone, but it’s the right thing to do,” Amy acknowledged to her husband, Peter.

“Let’s get them set up with what they need, and then we can start staying at your parents’ place. It’s not ideal, but it’s easier with Michael home from college, and it’s just safer for everyone.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” Amy said. “I’ll go talk to the boys. You’ll round up medical supplies for them?,” she continued.

“Yeah, I’ll get stuff ready for them. And I’ll set up a Google Doc for them to keep notes,” Peter said.

Amy and Peter are both healthcare workers. He’s an internal medicine doctor, and she’s a social worker who does a lot of work with hospitalized veterans. He closed his own practice a couple of years ago after his partner retired, and joined a hospital-affiliated practice. Recognizing they would both be coming into contact with people with the virus, they decided they should stay at Amy’s parents’ house. They’re in Florida for the winter and will likely stay there until it’s safer to travel.

They have two boys - Michael, who’s just finishing his freshman year in college, and Eric, who is a sophomore in high school. Michael’s college sent everyone home for the rest of the year, and Eric is out of school for now, and may not be able to go back until the fall either. Both kids have school work to do online, but are already tired of being locked up on the house after only a week or two, and there haven’t been many cases of the virus in their city yet. This is going to be a long spring.

Peter went down to the store room in the basement. He has a lot of medical supplies stored away from his old practice. He gets out an oximeter - one of those things that goes onto your fingertip to detect blood oxygen levels - in case the boys get sick. He starts looking in another box for a digital IVAC thermometer, but can’t find the probe he was looking for, so keeps looking until he finds some older glass mercury-filled thermometers that they had stopped using years ago and takes a couple of them that are stored in red cases. While he and Amy stopped taking the boys’ temperatures rectally when they were three or four, they decided it was the best way to measure their temperatures to monitor for a low-grade fever. So Peter also finds some Vaseline and KY Jelly. He also gets a box of gloves. He puts all of the supplies in a small box and brings them upstairs, stowing away the rest of his old gear.

He walks back upstairs and finds Amy sitting down with the boys, and already explaining what’s going on.

“Look boys, we’re so proud of you for being mature enough that we can trust you to stay home alone. And you know this is all about keeping you healthy, right?,” she says, to the boys, who look concerned.

“We’ll be ok, but I’m worried about you guys,” Michael says, trying to sound confident, even though it was a scary time, and being isolated made it even more unsettling.

“I promise we’ll check in a couple of times a day. We’re going to be extra careful, we promise,” Peter chimed in.

“Now let me give you my credit card so you can get groceries when you need to. Try to do delivery if you can. I stocked up pretty well yesterday, so I don’t think you’ll need to go out for food for a while,” Amy said.

“And boys, we need to make sure you stay healthy. I’ve pulled some supplies together for you. I want to make sure you’re keeping an eye on your temperature so we can spot even a low-grade fever quickly. So you’re going to be doing that three times a day, and I set up a Google Doc to track it. Mom and I will be checking it, ok?,” Peter gently warned.

Amy chimed in. “And you may not like this part so much, but because it’s really accurate and it could make a difference in catching a problem early, your dad and I want you to take your temperatures rectally. I know you haven’t had that done in a long time. Do you know what that means?,” she pauses to ask.

“Um, is that the ‘up the butt’ way?,” Eric asks, with a slightly panicked look. He had only hazy memories of having it done that way when he was much younger, but he remembered not liking it very much.

“Yes… that’s what it means. I promise it’s not as bad as it sounds,” Amy continued, with a reassuring smile.

“So you’re going to need to help each other with that. And we’ll get you started before we go to grammy and grandpa’s,” Peter added.

“I know how to do it, Dad. I had to do it once when I was babysitting,” Michael said. He certainly wasn’t thrilled about it, but didn’t want to have a weird conversation with his parents. And arguing about how to get his temperature taken seemed a little inconsequential in light of what his parents might be exposed to.

“Very well. You can teach Eric, then. And I printed instructions off just in case,” Amy said. Eric’s eyes bugged out. But like his brother, he knew it wasn’t the time to protest. He was proud that his parents were helping people and trusted the boys to be on their own.

“The box over on the table has thermometers and the lubricant you’ll need. And the little electronic thingy is for measuring blood oxygen level. Hopefully you won’t need it, but I’ll explain it over the phone or FaceTime if we need to do that,” Peter explained.

“So you’ll start monitoring your temperatures tonight and I want you to record them in the Google Doc dad set up,” Amy asked.

“Got it, mom. So, question…,” Michael asked.

“What is it, son?,” Peter asked.

“Well, can we have any friends over?,” Michael asked.

“Yeah, can we?,” Eric added, hopefully.

Both boys were stir-crazy, but Michael was especially hoping to have his girlfriend come over.

“We talked about that, and I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Amy said.

“Not even Lizzy?,” Michael asked, referring to his girlfriend.

Amy paused. She and Peter had anticipated this. “Well, if it’s ok with her parents, but then she needs to shelter here with you and not go back and forth. And only if she has been sheltering at home for the past two weeks. And she’s subject to the same health checks as you boys,” Amy offered.

“OK, I’ll talk to her,” Michael said. He smiled for a fleeting second when he thought about telling her about the temperature taking protocol.

“OK, let us know. And we can talk to her parents. So you guys can go outside and exercise and stuff, but stay close to home. And basically the grocery store is it. Got it?,” Peter asked, tilting his head down for effect.

The boys nodded.

“OK, we’re going to head out then. Oh we’re going to miss you boys. But we’ll talk during the day. Text or call us if you need anything or if something is wrong, ok?,” Amy said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Each parent gave the boys a long hug. And there was another round of reassurances that things would be ok, both at home and at the hospital.

The parents backed out of the driveway, waving and forcing smiles, but both of them were broken by the idea of being away from the kids. The boys were a little anxious, but wanted their parents to worry more about their patients than their own house-bound kids.