" ILLNESS "
By:
Lynne G.
The school day seemed to last forever that day for seven year old Little Joe Cartwright. He couldn't wait to get home, not that he was looking forward to doing his after school chores, but he was on restriction and was told to come straight home after school.
Finally the school day ended and Little Joe ran out to saddle Tony, his horse. Once he had Tony saddled he leaped up onto the saddle, but as he urged Tony into a trot, he suddenly had an idea. " Since I'm in town already, I think I'll go over to the mail office and get the mail. That should make Papa happy, and maybe he won't yell at me then After all it would save him a trip into town ta get the mail. Whata good idea," Little Joe thought to himself. So off to the mail office he rode.
After he picked up the mail and safely tucked into his saddle bags, he noticed Bessie Jeffersen walking very slowly on the sidewalk. The very elderly woman seemed to be having trouble walking, so Little Joe ran over to her to see if she needed some help.
" Hi Mrs. Jeffersen, can I help ya ?" asked Little Joe as he put his arm around Bessie. " Bless you Little Joe, darling. I feel awful and I'm trying to walk over to Dr. Martin's office, but I'm having trouble," she explained breathlessly as she started to cough again. " I'll help ya over ta Dr. Martin's," the boy told Bessie. They slowly walked over to Dr. Martin's. Bessie continued to cough all the way, and they had to stop several times so Bessie could catch her breath. Little Joe was very worried about his dear old friend, who was like a grandmother to him.
Once in Dr. Paul Martin's office, Little Joe helped Bessie over to a chair and helped her sit down, then he went over to talk to Emily Martin, Dr. Martin's wife. Little Joe told Emily what Bessie had told him about how she was feeling. " Thank you Little Joe for helping Bessie. She does sound awful," Emily told Little Joe as she went to get Paul. Little Joe went back over to Bessie and he held her hand.
" Thank you for bring Bessie in here son," Paul told the boy. " Dr. Martin, will she be OK ?" a worried Little Joe asked. " I hope so Little Joe. You had better head for home before your Pa starts to worry about where you are. Thank You again Little Joe," Paul said. " Bye Mrs. Jeffersen. I sure hope ya feel better real fast," Little Joe told Bessie as he gave her a kiss. " Thank you sweetheart for helping me here. I hope so too," Bessie said as she too gave Little Joe a kiss. Then she started to cough again. Little Joe walked back to where he had left Tony tied up, and he headed for home.
" Where is that boy? Can't he ever do as he is told?" Ben angrily said. " You know how Little Joe is Pa," Adam softly said. " Yes Adam, I sure do. Just wait until he gets home, he won't be able to sit down tonight, that's for sure !" Ben yelled.
When Little Joe finally got home, he headed straight for the barn to take care of Tony. He was so involved in taking care of Tony, he didn't hear Ben come into the barn.
" JOSEPH, YOU ARE LATE !" Ben shouted. Little Joe jumped at the sound of Ben's very loud voice. " Hi Papa. I know I'm late, and I'm sorry, but I can explain," Little Joe softly said as he looked up at his very angry father.
" I DON"T WANT TO HEAR ANY OF YOUR EXCUSES THIS TIME. YOU HAVE JUST EARNED YOURSELF ANOTHER WEEK OF RESTRICTION YOUNG MAN !" Ben yelled. " But Papa, I..." the boy tried to say before Ben started to yell again. " JUST SHUT UP JOSEPH. YOU WERE TOLD TO GET STRAIGHT HOME AFTER SCHOOL, BUT YOU CHOSE TO IGNOR ME AGAIN ! GET OVER HERE NOW !!" Ben shouted as he sat down on a bale of hay and waited as his young son slowly walked over to him with his small hands protecting his little bottom. Ben laid him across his lap and he spanked the boy.
" NOW, as soon as you take care of Tony, you are to do YOUR chores. Do you UNDERSTAND me?" Ben yelled. " Yes sir," Little Joe said quietly as tears ran down his face. " Then when you are FINISHED with your chores, you ARE to GO STRAIGHT to YOUR room, and STAY there till morning !" Ben shouted. " Yes sir. Sorry sir," the boy very softly said. " YOU ARE ALWAYS SORRY AREN'T YOU, BUT YOU YOU NEVER SEEM TO LEARN DO YOU ?" Ben shouted as he left the barn.
After Little Joe had finished in the barn, he went straight up to his room. Once there, he remembered the mail which was still in his saddle bags, so he headed back towards the stairs with the mail in his hands. He was scared now as to what Ben would say to him or do to him.
" Papa, I got the mail for ya. I thought it would save ya a trip ta town," Little Joe said. " JOSEPH, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GO INTO TOWN BY YOURSELF, OR DID YOU FORGET THAT TOO ?" Ben shouted as he was really mad now. He got up from his chair, grabbed the mail from Little Joe, and he handed it to Hoss. Then he grabbed Little Joe's arm and led him back up to his room where he was spanked again.
" YOU HAVE NOW ADDED ANOTHER WEEK TO YOUR RESTRICTION !" Ben angrily shouted at his son. He left the crying boy, and he slammed the door shut and went back down stairs. Little Joe fell on his bed and cried.
Over the next couple of weeks, Little Joe came straight home after school. He had done more chores during his restriction than he had ever done before. He wondered everyday how Bessie was doing, but he had no way to find out. Ben made sure his youngest son was kept busy even on the weekends. Little Joe felt that he didn't deserve all the extra chores that he had been given. He even had to do his two older brothers chores as well. The boy was very tired and he also felt unloved.
One day while Ben was in town on business, he ran into Dr. Paul Martin. " Hi Paul," greeted Ben. " Hi Ben. Ben, I'm glad I found you, Bessie Jeffersen died late last night. The poor woman had been very ill for the past two weeks when Little Joe helped her over to my office," Paul told Ben. " When did Little Joe do that? He didn't say anything to me about it," said a very surprised Ben. " It was after school a couple of weeks ago. He said he had stopped at the mail office to get the mail. After he had put the mail in his saddle bags, he saw Bessie was having trouble walking, so he went over to her. He brought her over to my office. Bessie had a very severe case of bronchitis, so I kept her here so I could take care of her," Paul told Ben.
" She seemed to be recovering just fine, but she suddenly took a turn for the worse, and I tried everything I knew to try to save her, but she was just too weak and run down," Paul said. " That poor woman. She sure lived a long life. What was she, 90 years old ?" Ben asked. " Yes, she was 90. She's now with the love of her life, Zack. They were married for 60 years before he died ten years ago. Ben, please could you let Little Joe know about Bessie. She thought the world of that boy, and I know that Little Joe felt the same way about her too," Paul sadly said. " Yes Paul, I'll tell him. Thanks Paul," Ben told Paul. Ben felt awful for not letting Little Joe explain why he was late that day in getting home. He knew he needed to apologize to his young son.
That day at school, Little Joe felt tired and he kept getting a bad headache off and on all day long. Thankfully just before school let out for the day, his headache went away for which he was very grateful for.
As he rode home on Tony, his headache came back. Tony's trotting seemed to make his head hurt even more, so he just had Tony walk the rest of the way home. He knew that would make him late in getting home, which would make his father angry with him.
Back at the Ponderosa, Ben had told Adam and Hoss about Bessie Jeffersen. They all knew that her death would hit Little Joe hard.
" I can't believe that boy is late again," Ben loudly said. " Looks like restriction time again," Hoss sadly said. He hated to see his little brother in trouble again, but there was nothing he could do about it. Ben was so furious with his youngest son, that he completely forgot about Bessie Jeffersen.
When Little Joe finally got home he took Tony into the barn to get him unsaddled, rubbed down, fed and watered. He still had his headache, so he sat down on a chair that was in the barn, and he slowly rubbed his head.
Ben walked into the barn and saw his son just sitting there on the chair. " WHAT IS THE MEANING OF YOU GETTING HOME LATE AGAIN ? ON SECOND THOUGHT, I DON"T WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY ! WILL YOU LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU !!" Ben shouted.
Little Joe looked up at Ben with tears in his eyes because of his headache. Ben pulled his son up and spanked him. " GET UP TO YOUR ROOM AND STAY THERE !!!!!" Ben yelled at him. Little Joe ran into the house and up to his room, where he laid down on his bed and he cried.
The next morning Ben warned him that if he was late getting home after school that day, then he would get another spanking. Again, Little Joe was bothered with bad headaches all day. He was late getting home as he just let Tony walk because of his headache. True to his word, Ben spanked his son again that night.
The next morning, Hoss went up stairs to wake up his little brother. " Hey Punkin, it's time ta get up for school," Hoss said as he shook his little brother. When Little Joe woke up, he felt awful. His head hurt, he ached all over, his throat was sore, he had a fever, he felt exhausted, and he had a cough. He also had the chills.
" Hoss, I dun't feel so good," the youngster softly said. Concerned, Hoss asked, " What's wrong Punkin?" Little Joe told Hoss what was wrong. Hoss felt his forehead for fever and he could feel the heat on the boys forehead. " Oh Punkin, ya gots a fever. You stay in bed and I'll get Pa," Hoss said as he was very worried about his little brother. " Thanks Hoss," Little Joe whispered, as he started to cough again.
When Hoss got back down stairs he said, " Pa, Little Joe's sick and he has a fever too. " Thanks Hoss," Ben said as he got up from his chair and he went straight up to his son's room to check on him. He could hear the child coughing as soon as he started up the stairs.
" Little Joe, Hoss said that you don't feel good," Ben said as he felt the boy's forehead. " Yes sir. I feel awful ! I dun't think I'm up ta goin' ta school taday, Little Joe softly said as he closed his eyes. Even they hurt, but it was more like they burned. " You stay in bed. You have a fever. Are you hungry? Ben asked as he looked at his son. He was getting worried as he suddenly remembered Bessie Jeffersen, and he hoped that his son didn't have bronchitis . " No Papa, I ain't hungry. Can I just sleep please?" asked the child. " Sure son. You get some rest now. Hopefully you'll feel better when you wake up," Ben said.
Little Joe went right to sleep, but not for long, because he kept on coughing. He just dozed off and on all day and night.
By the next morning, he felt even worse. He still had the chills, body aches, fever and he felt exhausted. Now his chest felt like it was on fire when he coughed. He was coughing up little bits of phlegm, which was brown and it had a little bit of blood in it too.
Ben was
very worried about his young son, especially when he noticed the color of the
phlegm the boy was coughing up. His cough sounded horrible, and the boy's
skin looked gray in color. When he was coughing, he was having trouble
catching his breath as well. Little Joe didn't want to cough because it
hurt so bad. Ben sent Adam to
Ben and Hop Sing gave Little Joe some of Hop Sing's remedies for coughs, fever and body aches, but none of them helped this time. When Little Joe tried to get out bed, all he could do was to sit on the edge of his bed, as he was just too exhausted to even get up.
" Pa !" Adam yelled as he walked into the house. Ben came down the stairs and saw Adam standing there by himself. " Where's Paul?" Ben asked. " Pa, he's out of town till tomorrow afternoon. I left him a note saying that Little Joe was very ill, and to please come straight out here. I also mentioned all of Little Joe symptoms as well," Adam sadly said. " OH NO ! He can't be out of town. Little Joe needs him now !" explained a very worried Ben. " Pa, I'm sorry," Adam said. " It's not your fault son. I'm sorry. That little boy is very ill and he' s pain everytime he coughs," Ben told Adam.
They did the best they could for Little Joe, but nothing seemed to help. The child couldn't sleep because he was coughing almost non-stop, which was exhausting him even more.
Late the
next afternoon, Paul arrived at the Ponderosa. " Paul, thank God
you're here. Little Joe is so ill !" Ben told Paul. "
Ben, I'm so sorry I wasn't here yesterday. I was needed in
While Ben, Adam and Hoss stayed down stairs, Paul examined Little Joe with Hop Sing helping. When Paul finished his exam, he handed some very strong medicine and cough syrup to Hop Sing with instructions on when to give it to Little Joe. Paul then gave Little Joe some medicine and cough syrup. " Good boy. Now, stay in bed, rest and make sure to take your medicine. It will help you feel better, and you need to eat too," Paul told Little Joe. " Hop Sing make sure little boy eat and take all his medicine," Hop Sing said. " Thank you Hop Sing," Paul said smiling.
When Paul got down stairs, he was met by three very worried Cartwrights. " Paul, how is Little Joe? Will he be alright ? asked a very concerned Ben. " Why don't we all sit down and I'll tell you," Paul suggested. After they were all sitting down, Paul told them what they wanted to hear.
" Ben, Adam Hoss, Little Joe is a very sick little boy. He has a very severe case of bronchitis, plus he is on the verge of going into pneumonia. I have left with Hop Sing some very strong medicine and cough syrup along with the instructions when and how much to give him. Hop Sing can fill you in on those. I just gave Little Joe some medicine and cough syrup. He will need more before he goes to sleep for the night. I'm very sure that this medicine will stop him from getting pneumonia on top of the bronchitis. I normally don't like to give children medicines this strong, but Little Joe needs it," Paul told them.
" Try to get him to cough up as much phlegm as possible. I'll show you how to get him to do that. Now if you will come back to up to his room with me, I'll show you how.
When they got up to Little Joe's room, Paul showed the Cartwrights and Hop Sing what to do to get the child to cough up more phlegm. " First, get him to lay on his side. Keep his head and chest lower than the rest of his body. Once you get him in that position, use one hand and slap him hard on his back, near his side. The slapping will help loosen up the phlegm, and he will be able to cough that up. Do this several times a day. I'll do this now, that way you will know how hard tp slap him," Paul said. He felt bad that he had to slap the ill boy, but it had to be done.
Paul told Little Joe that this was painful, and the child softly told Paul to go ahead. Paul smiled at Little Joe, seeing at how brave he tried to act. Paul began to slap Little Joe, and it wasn't long before the child began to cough hard and he was able to bring up some phlegm.
" Good boy, Little Joe. I know this hurts, but it needs to be done to help clear out your bronchical tubes and lungs. Now just make sure to spit out what you cough up. Ben, also by doing this we can check on the color of the phlegm. As you can see, it's brown with a little blood in it. As the medicine begins to work, you should notice the change in color. It should be a clear to a white color. It takes a while to clear up a very severe case of bronchitis and he does have a rattle sound in his lungs as well. His cough will last longer, possibly up to six to eights weeks," Paul told them. " Don't worry Paul, we'll keep doing what you have told us," Ben told Paul. " I know this little boy will have the best care, Paul said as he smiled.
When Ben and Paul were back down satirs, and Paul was getting ready to leave, Ben asked about how exhausted Little Joe was. " Don't worry about that Ben. It's from the bronchitis, coughing, fever, and not sleeping well. Thank goodness his fever isn't very high. I think Little Joe also had a slight touch of flu to start with, from all his symptoms. How did he take the news about Bessie Jeffersen's death?" asked Paul. " Oh Paul, I forgot to tell him. I think I'll wait until he's better. I know her death will hit him hard," Ben sadly said. " Ben, would you like me to be here when you tell him? I could explain to him what happened to her," Paul suggested. " Yes Paul, that sounds likea good idea. Thank you," Ben said. " Great, see you tomorrow Ben," Paul said. " Bye Paul, and thak you for coming right out here. I really appreciate it," Ben told Paul.
Over the next several days, Little Joe slept most of the time thanks to the medicine and cough syrup. His family did the back slapping to make the child cough. It was hard for them to do this to the young boy, because they knew it hurt him, but it had to be done, which was very tiring for Little Joe.
Little Joe was hardly eating anything, because his stomach was so upset from the medicine, but he needed to continue to take all the medicine until it was gone. Hop Sing gave the child special tea that would help settle his stomach, which did help a little bit.
Paul was pleased at how Little Joe was doing, and he gave the OK for Little Joe to be brought downstairs as long as he laid on the sattee. Even in the sitting position, Little Joe was very dizzy from the medicine. It had been eight days since Little Joe had come down with bronchitis. His fever seemed to be gone and his coloring was better than it had been, but he was still very pale.
Another reason Little Joe wasn't eating much, was that he couldn't taste anything, as his head was stuffy also, plus his stomach was still upset, which didn't help his appetite at all.
It was now two weeks later and Little Joe felt a little better, but he was far from well. He was still coughing a lot, and his stomach was still upset. Also by now, he was tired of being in bed most of the time. Even when he was downstairs laying on the sattee, he was tired of laying down. That was a long time for this very active little boy not to be able to play, but then he really didn't feel up too playing yet.
Finally after three weeks, Little Joe's stomach was finally settling down. There were still times when it was upset for a while, but thankfully that didn't last long. Little Joe was able to be up more and he was allowed to go and see Tony in the barn, even though the walk to the barn made him very tired. He was beginning to get upset with being so tired when he did anything, and he was tired of coughing which made his throat sore.
Eight weeks later, Little Joe was still coughing from time to time, but even that was getting better. He still felt tired, but not as tired as he had felt before.
The day had finally come for Little Joe to be told the news about Bessie Jeffersen. Little Joe was shocked by the news, and he started to cry. " Why did she die?" he asked as he was crying. Paul explained that her illness made her so weak that she wasn't able to fight off the illness. The boy was taking the news about Bessie very hard. He went up to his room and cried. He felt so bad for Bessie. He really loved her and he knew that he would really miss her very much.
It took Little Joe several days to come to terms with Bessie's death. One day he asked Ben if he could visit Bessie's grave. Ben wasn't sure if his son was up to the trip yet, but he knew how important it was to the little boy.
As they stood next to Bessie's grave, Little Joe laid some flowers on the grave. He stood there and cried. Ben put his arm around his little son, and Little Joe leaned against Ben. Ben could feel his son trembling, and he knew his child was very tired, so he picked him up and carried him over to their horses. He put Little Joe on his horse, while he tied Tony's reins to his saddle, then he climbed on his horse behind Little Joe. On the way home Little Joe was leaning against Ben and he fell alseep.
As they rode into the yard, Adam and Hoss came out to meet them. Adam reached up to take his little brother down from Ben's horse, while Ben got down. Hoss took care of the horses. Adam handed Little Joe back to Ben and Ben carried the sleeping child in the house and up to his room. He laid the child on the bed, while Adam took the boy's boots off. Ben then covered up Little Joe with a quilt, then they left the room.
Within the next two weeks, Little Joe was fully recovered from his severe bronchitis, and he was soon back into mischief, which seemed to please his family. " Looks like Little Joe is back to normal again," Ben said as he smiled. " That's for sure. I thought I'd never say this, but it's good to have him back into mischief again," Adam said as he laughed. " I totally agree with you big brother," Hoss laughed. It's nice to have family back to normal again," Hop Sing.
THE END