ILLNESS
By:
Lynne G.
It was summer vacation for Little Joe Cartwright, but this summer wasn't the usual kind of summer. This summer was very cool with a lot of rain.
Little Joe was excited at being able to help do more chores along side with his two older brothers, twenty five year old Adam, and nineteen year old Hoss. Of course there would still be time for the youngster to be able play with his friends, and ride his beloved horse, Cochise, his pride and joy. The pinto had been a birthday gift from his father, Ben Cartwright, on his twelfth birthday.
Little Joe had been very busy helping his brother's repairing fences, when he suddenly felt tired. So he decided to take a short break, under a large tree in the shade. He laid back and closed his eyes for a few minutes.
Adam noticed that Little Joe wasn't working, so he turned around to see where the boy had gone off to. He saw his younger brother leaning against a tree and sleeping. " Hey little brother, get back over here and get to work, " shouted Adam. The boy opened his eyes and said, " I'm taking a short break Adam." " You don't need a break, so get over here," Adam told him. " Adam, let him have a break. He's been working real hard all summer long and he hasn't been with his friends at all," Hoss reminded Adam. " It's OK Hoss, I'll get back to work. Sorry Adam," said the boy softly.
Over the next several days, Little Joe continued to work very hard almost nonstop, but he wasn't feeling very well. He had a sore throat, and his ears hurt a little also. He decided not to tell anyone that he wasn't feeling well, because he wanted to prove to his family that he could do ranch work without being told what to do. He also thought that if he worked hard all summer, then maybe Ben wouldn't make him go back to school the next week. He didn't like school at all, and all he really wanted to do was work at ther ranch with his family.
His family seemed to notice that the boy wasn't into his usual mischief, which was very unusual for Little Joe. The boy loved to get into mischief which kept his family on their toes at all times. Little Joe also wasn't eating very much, which upset Ben. " Joseph, please stop pushing your food around the plate and eat," Ben told the boy. " I'm not hungry Pa," he said softly. " Are you feeling alright son?" asked Ben. " I'm fine Pa, but I'm just not hungry." said the boy.
A couple of mornings later, Little Joe was late coming down for breakfast. His throat and ears were still hurting, but he still didn't say anything about it. " Well, it's about time you showed up sleeping beauty," Adam said. Little Joe just looked at him and glared.
" Joseph eat some breakfast please son, Ben told his son. " I'm not very hungry Pa," the boy said. Ben looked carefully at young son, and said," You feeling alright?" " I'm just tired Pa is all," Little Joe said. " That will be the day," Adam said under his breath. Little Joe had heard what Adam said, but he didn't say anything. Ben and Hoss had also heard him.
Little Joe
got up from the table, looked at Adam, and left the room and headed out to the
barn to start his chores for the day. " Adam,
there was no call for what you said about your little brother. That boy
has been working very hard all summer . He's
hardly been with his friends at all. I think he is trying to prove to us
that he can work hard. I know he wants to quit school and work full time
here, but he's only twelve years old. He still needs to go to school
whether he likes it or not," Ben said. "
You're right
A couple of days later it was time for school to start up again for the year, and Little Joe wasn't one bit happy about that. He had tried so hard to convince his Pa that he didn't need to go to school, but it was not to be.
Little Joe really felt horrible that morning- the first day of school. His throat and ears were hurting very bad, and he was dizzy. He hadn't been eating very much for the last few days because it hurt his throat so much when he tried to swallow. He was also coughing some too, which really made his throat hurt.
When Hoss went to get the boy up for breakfast, Little Joe told Hoss that he didn't feel very good, which was the truth.
Hoss felt the boy's forehead, but he didn't feel any fever.
Hoss went back down stairs to tell Ben what Little Joe had told him about not feeling good. Ben went right up to his son's room. " Little Joe, Hoss said you don't feel very good," said Ben as he felt his son's forehead. " Well, you don't seem to have a fever. You are just nervous about having to go back to school. Now I want you to get up and get dressed so you can have time to eat your breakfast," Ben told his son. Little Joe slowly got out of his nice warm bed and slowly got dressed.
" Joseph, I want you to please eat some of your breakfast before you leave for school. Now come on and eat, and stop playing with your food," Ben told his son. " Pa, I really feel awful. Can I please go back to bed?" asked the boy softly. He was also sounding a little hoarse now. " Son, we have already been through this in your room. You are going to school and that's final !" Ben said angrily. " I'm not hungry," the boy softly said. He got up from the table and headed out the door to the barn to saddle Cochise, and head off to school.
On the way to school he started to come down with a fever, and he was coughing even more. That was really hurting his throat even more. He had tears in his eyes because he hurt so much. He thought about turning around and going back home, but he just figured that Ben would make him go back to school, and he didn't want Ben to be upset with him, so he continued on to school.
As the morning went along, he thought he would pass out from the pain in his throat, and ears. He was was very hot from his fever, but he was also shivering. Just before recess, he laid his head down on his arm, hoping his dizziness would go away.
When Miss.Jones noticed that his head was down, she became upset with him, and she shouted, "Little Joseph, WAKE UP !" Little Joe lifted his head up, while the rest of the class was laughing at him. " STOP THAT LAUGHING RIGHT NOW !" shouted Miss. Jones. " It's time for recess now-except for Little Joe. Everyone, but Little Joe got up from their desks and went out to recess.
" Little Joe, I'm very disappointed in you. You are not suppose to sleep in class. Now please go and stand in the corner," Miss. Jones told him. Little Joe slowly stood up at his desk, but he had to grab onto the desk because he was so dizzy. he closed his eyes for a few seconds in hopes that the dizziness would go away. Then as he neared the corner, he collasped into darkness.
Miss. Jones jumped up from her desk and she rushed over to Little Joe. She kneeled down and slowly turned the unconscious boy over onto his back. " Little Joe, open your eyes," she begged as she felt his forehead. She was shocked to feel him burning up with fever. " Little Joe, please open you eyes dear," she said over and over. She jumped up and ran over to the door, opened it , and she yelled for Mitch Devlin, Little Joe's best friend. " MITCH !"
"
As Mitch ran towards Dr.Paul Martin's office, he saw Paul heading towards the mail office. " DR. MARTIN !" yelled Mitch. Paul looked over to where he heard his name being called, when he noticed Mitch running towards him. " Dr.Martin !" yelled Mitch as he tried to catch his breath. " Settle down Mitch, what's wrong?" asked a concerned Paul . " It's Little Joe, he's really sick. Miss.Jones told me to come and get you fast," said Mitch who was really worried about his best friend. " OK, Mitch. Let me go and get my bag and I'll be right there," said Paul as he turned and ran back over to his office.
Mitch ran
back to the school and into the building. He stopped as soon as he saw
Miss. Jones bent down wiping Little Joe's face with a wet cloth, and the
boy not moving at all. " Miss. Jones, Dr.
Martin is on his way," Mitch said as he was still looking at Little
Joe. No sooner had Mitch said that, then Dr.
Martin rushed into the room and right over to Little Joe. Paul got down
on the floor, and he felt the boy's forehead, and he said," OH MY
GOD. HE'S BURNING UP WITH FEVER ! Miss.
Jones, what happened?" asked a very concerned Paul. Miss. Jones
told him what happened. Paul picked up the unconscious boy in his arms,
while Miss. Jones, who was worried sick, handed Paul his bag. Paul ran
out the door with Little Joe laying limp in his arms,
and headed back to his office. On the way to his office, Sheriff Roy
Coffee had just walked out of the Sheriff's office when he saw
Paul carrying Little Joe is his arms and running towards his office.
"Paul,
what's wrong with Little Joe?" asked a very worried
Paul was able to get Little Joe to wake up long enough to find out what the problem was. Paul looked down the boy's throat and he was shocked to see how badly infected it was. Then he checked the boy's ears, and he felt the glands on the neck for swelling. He knew Little Joe was in a lot of pain. He was able to get the boy to drink some medicine that would help his throat. He also continued to work on the the boy's fever trying to get it down. He was also concerned because Little Joe's chest seemed to be congested as well.
Ben, Adam, Hoss and Roy rushed into Paul's office, calling for Paul. Paul came out of the back room area where he was confronted with a very concerned Ben Cartwright. " Paul, how is Little Joe? What's wrong with him?" asked a very worried Ben. " Ben , boys, Little Joe is a very sick boy. He has a severe throat, ear and chest infection, plus a high fever. I've given him some medicine that should help. He passed out at school this morning," Paul told them. " Paul, can we see him please?" asked ben. " Sure Ben, come this way," Paul said.
Little Joe was still laying on the exam table as Ben went right over to him, and he put his hand on his son's forehead, and he was surprised by his fever when he didn't have on earlier that morning.
" Sweetheart, Pa's here son. Can you open your eyes for me son?" asked Ben. Ben kept talking to his young son trying to get the boy to open his eyes.. Adam and Hoss were also talking to the boy. Finally a very weak," Pa" was heard. " Hi sweetheart. How do you feel son?" asked Ben. " Not so good Pa," Little Joe whispered. Ben sat down and held his son's small hand. " You are going to be fine as soon as the medicine starts to work. It will make you feel much better very soon baby," said Ben. " Paul, can we take him home?" asked Ben.
" Ben, I have a question for you. How long has the boy been ill?" asked Paul. " I don't know Paul. he hasn't said anything to any of us about not feeling well until this morning. He said he didn't feel good and he wanted to stay home from school. I checked him for a fever, but he didn't seem to have one then. He hasn't been hardly eating anything for the past week now, and he's been very quiet for him. He also seems to have been tired quite a lot lately too." Ben told Paul.
" Ben, I'd say from the looks of his throat, ears and chest, he's been ill for just over a week now. I know you want to take him home, but I'd rather he stay here for a few days so I can watch him. I really don't like at how bad his throat, ears, chest and fever are. Sorry Ben, but you can all be here with him as long as you want, just as long as you all get some rest too," Paul told the Cartwrights. " Thank you Paul. I just wish he would have said something when he started to feel ill, but that's the way he is," Ben sadly said.
Over the next few days Little Joe's condition did not improve, and Paul was hoping the boy would not come down with pneumonia. Paul was packing ice around Little Joe's body, trying to bring down his high fever.
A week later, Little Joe finally seemed to be feeling a little better. His fever had finally broke, but he was still extremely weak though. He still did have a fever, but it was no longer life threatening. His throat and ears felt much better, and his chest also sounded better. The boy's cough was just a little better too. Paul told Ben that he could finally take his young son home that day. Little Joe was so happy to be able to finally go home.
Little Joe was still very weak, but he was so glad to be home and in his own bed. Hop Sing had made lots of good chicken and beef broth for the boy. The broth felt good on Little Joe's throat. He did spent most of his time sleeping, and he did not complain at all.
After several more days, he spent less time sleeping and he was now able to eat anything he wanted, since his throat didn't hurt anymore. Even though he was still a little weak, he was getting his strength back now.
Finally the big day came and he was able to get out of bed. At first his legs were a little wobbly, but with help he was able to get the stairs. His family carried him down the stairs, which he was very greatful for as he didn't think he'd be able to walk down the stairs on his own.
Ben sat down to have a long talk with his young son about from now on if he starts to feel ill, he is to let Ben or Hop Sing know right away. Little Joe said he would, but he might wait to see if it's just a one day illness or not. At least that statement was a relief to Ben.
Four weeks later, Little Joe returned to school, and all of his friends and Miss. Jones were very happy to see the boy back with them. Little Joe wasn't happy about being back in school though.
THE END