Doctor's Advice (part 1)

Sandra was ill, which wasn’t a surprise at all to her roommate Myriam. So many times she had told Sandra to dress sensibly for the weather. But Sandra always ignored her well-meant advice. Now she lay in bed with a high fever. Maybe now she would wisen up, Myriam thought. Then at least some good would come of it. “I feel so bad, Myriam,” Sandra moaned. “Could you call the doctor for me?”

Of course Myriam did. But when she picked up the phone, she had an idea. She stood thinking for a few moments, while a plan formed in her mind. Instead of a doctor, she called her friend Ann.

Five minutes later, she was back with Sandra. “The doctor will come in an hour or so. Meanwhile, you should rest, and I think with the fever it’s best if we keep you warm.” She placed a thick down sleeping bag on the sofa. Soon Sandra was zipped into it. She protested weakly when Myriam tied the hood tightly, leaving only a small gap around her nose. To make sure Sandra didn’t open the bag or the hood, Myriam tied the hood drawstring to the zipper, then tied the cords behind her neck where she couldn’t reach them. “There now, just sleep a bit until the doctor comes. I’ll come and give you some water every now and then.”

When the bell rang, Myriam quickly answered the door. “Hi Ann. Ready for your role?” “Of course,” Ann grinned.

Ann entered the room where Sandra lay, still in her sleeping bag with little more than her nose showing. She tried to move her head so she could see the ‘doctor’, but the tight hood prevented that. “Myriam? Can you help me out?” came out of the bag.

Myriam untied the hood and opened the zip so Ann could pretend to examine the patient. She did a really good job, Myriam thought. She acted like a genuine doctor.

When Ann was finished, she sat down and looked at Sandra gravely. “I have good news and bad news. You aren’t terribly ill now, but it could get worse. It seems that your body has had a bad reaction to cold, and it could happen again. It’s very important that you keep yourself as warm as possible. This way the illness will be over soon. But afterwards, even when you feel healthy, you should take care not to expose yourself to cold again. If your body reacts badly to cold again, it’s likely to be much worse than now. You could be ill for weeks, even months.”

Sandra was frightened. “So I have to avoid the cold?”

“Yes. I suggest you wrap yourself up very well whenever you go outside. Even when it’s not that cold, a breeze at the wrong time could be enough to trigger your body’s reaction. So it’s better to overdress than to be exposed. Sometimes you may feel uncomfortable because you’re too hot, but you’ll just have to live with that. Unless you want to spend a month in bed with high fever.”

Sandra was intimidated, Myriam could tell. Ann made a very convincing doctor. “In two days you should feel better, if you stay warm. I’ll come back to check on you then.” After she left, Myriam went to her bedroom cupboard and selected some clothes. “I think you should heed the doctor’s advice. I’ve taken some of my clothes, since you hardly have anything warm. We’ll need to get things for you when you’re healthy. For now, you can borrow mine.”

Sandra looked at the pile of clothes. “Do I have to wear all of those? There are three sweatshirts here.” “You heard what the doctor said, you need to be kept warm.”

Myriam helped Sandra with the clothes. Two pairs of leggings, a jogging hose, two pairs of wool socks. Then she put two pairs of thick woolen mittens on her hands, and finally the three hooded sweatshirts.

“Hey! You have put this one on the wrong way!” Sandra exclaimed when the hood of the third sweatshirt appeared in front of her. “Yes, Sandra. When you sleep, you don’t need to see. So you can as well wear the backwards hood then.”

Myriam tied all the hoods in place, so Sandra was blind. She then helped her into the sleeping bag and tied it securely again.

Half an hour later, she went to check on Sandra. “Sandra? Are you awake?” “Yes,” came the muffled voice from under the hoods, “I’m so hot in here.” “It has to be like that,” Myriam reassured her, “I’ll let you out for a moment so you can drink.”

She opened the sleeping bag partly and then untied the backwards hood. Sandra blinked at the light. “Look Sandra, I designed something for you. Open your mouth wide.” Sandra didn’t understand but she did as told. Myriam put something big in her mouth, and Sandra felt straps being tightened over the two sweatshirt hoods. She tried to say something but couldn’t.

“See, it has a tube through it, so you can drink. Try it.” Sandra sucked and felt water stream into her mouth. “Good, isn’t it? Oh yes, I forgot you can’t talk with that in your mouth. But now you can drink without me removing the hood. See, I’ll put the hood up again, and I can lead the water tube through the opening at the back.

Sandra was left alone for some time - she had no idea how long. Suddenly she felt the sleeping bag being opened again. Not sure what was happening, she squirmed in the backwards hood. "Calm down, Sandra, it's me. I'll take off your leggings for a moment. It won't take long." Still blind, Sandra had no idea what Myriam was doing, but she couldn't ask of course. So she just lay back and waited.

Myriam explained while she worked: "I have bought adult-sized diapers for you. Since you can't speak, you can't tell me when you need to go to the toilet. Also I'm not going to be in the same room at all times. This way you don't need to the toilet anymore." Sandra was not happy to be put in diapers, but what could she do? What Myriam said was true; if she wasn't there, Sandra couldn't get to the toilet herself.

When she was finished, Myriam said: "I brought something else as well. I will have to take your hoods off now." She took the backwards hood down, then took the gag holding the water tube out of Sandra's mouth so she could take the two other hoods down as well. They were both soaked with sweat. When the hoods were down she quickly put the gag back in Sandra's mouth. "I'll do this under the hoods, so I can secure it tighter to make sure it doesn't slip out. I also brought ear plugs, so you can sleep quietly and you won't be disturbed when I watch television."

After the ear plugs were in Sandra's ears, Myriam put her back in the hoods and then in the sleeping bag again. Then, with some effort, she managed to get her in a second thick down-filled sleeping bag. Finally she used straps to secure the sleeping bag to the sofa, so she couldn't fall off.

Although Sandra couldn't hear her anymore, Myriam spoke to her: "You won't need food today, you are too ill. So you can stay like that and rest for a good long while. I think I'll leave you in for the next twenty-four hours. Good night, Sandra."



-- on to part 2 --







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