Downed with Fever

Just as Michelle and Karina arrived inside my room, the former's legs began to wobble. She then stumbled and fell into my arms unconscious.

Moments later, Karina also fainted to the floor. We carried both of them to Charissa's bed and applied wet towels to their foreheads.

"They must have had a really terrible night yesterday," Charissa commented. "It's never pleasant to deal with a flash flood."

I gently touched Michelle and Karina's skin and both felt extremely warm. I then prepared a thermometer and upon checking their respective body temperatures, we received some grim news: Michelle and Karina each suffer from a 39-degree fever.

Meanwhile, Charissa hauled the bags containing Michelle and Karina's personal belongings. She subsequently carried these upstairs.

As Charissa arrived, I went down for an urgent talk.

"Mother, Michelle and Karina are not feeling well," I promptly informed Charissa. "They are terribly sick right now."

"Don't worry," Charissa assured me. "I'll go prepare some soup immediately. In the meantime, you buy medicine at a nearby drugstore."

Charissa handed me some money, and I went outside to purchase a few medicines. Looking at the surroundings, it almost felt like a ghost town with no one but rescue teams and policemen roaming the area and cleaning up the mess.

To make matters worse, some corpses were scattered all over the street. It was a disgusting feeling to see them rot in the balmy sky.

Upon reaching the drugstore, I was greeted by a long line of people waiting to buy medicine. It was as if a stampede took place while I clawed my way to the shelf.

The prescription for fever was tablets of paracetamol. I carefully purchased two packs with a few bucks to spare, then left the drugstore amid a packed house of desperate citizens.

Returning home, I quickly washed the wet towels and placed them on Michelle and Karina's foreheads. Just then, however, the two woke up from their slumber.

"Oh my, I have a serious headache," Michelle commented while grasping her head. "My brain must be spinning all over me."

"Where is Charissa?" Karina inquired me.

"She is cooking some soup right now for both of you," I answered humbly. "Don't worry, the delicious soup will come to you soon. Just wait for her."

Moments later, Charissa made her way upstairs with two bowls of warm soup on the tray. She adequately prepared chicken macaroni soup for both Michelle and Karina.

"Amazing," Michelle remarked. "Your soup tastes good."

"Umm," Karina nodded in approval. "You're such a wonderful cook. How did you learn this?"

"It was a recipe from my mother," Charissa responded favorably. "She used to prepare this soup whenever I felt ill. My dear sister Cathy learned this homemade recipe too."

After finishing the soup, I graciously gave the medicine to Michelle and Karina who gently took one pill each.

"So how are you both feeling?" Charissa asked them.

"We're still a little shaken up, but other than that we're fine," Michelle replied.

It seemed as if they would be safe and okay. But then Michelle began to cry, her body shaking from the cold sensation she was experiencing.

"You see, my mother and I couldn't sleep that night," Michelle began her story. "Never before in our lives has we experienced this serious deluge and we were not used to dealing with such a calamity."

"What made it worse was that the power went off. We couldn't function properly. I wasn't able to communicate with the other groupmates because of the blackout. It was chaos."

Continuing with the story, Michelle's sobbing became a little more intense.

"Christine, for the first time since my father was killed I became scared and lost in the dark. The first thing I thought about was Karina and me getting swept by the current. It felt like the end of the world. We were about to join our father up in the great beyond."

"And then what happened?" I asked Michelle.

"As luck would have it, we were at the second floor and the flood only reached around calf-high in height. But the damage had been inflicted. Our grand house was a terrible mess. We unwittingly became refugees as a result. It's as if cruel fate had performed its trick on us. Karina and I should have been dead by now."

"Michelle, listen," I answered back while staring at her face to face. "You're a very strong and positive woman. We have been best friends for a long time, and you have protected me from very devious people along the way. You even told me to bravely face the thunder, right?"

"Yeah I remember that," Michelle responded.

"Well, you should feel brave and fearless too," I vehemently said. "Michelle, this is not the end of the world. We still a lot more to live for. Now please, stop crying and get some rest. I don't want to see an emotionally wrecked version of my dearest friend. It's the old you that must show up."

Having finished talking, I bowed down to Michelle's lap crying. She subsequently raised my head and began to speak.

"Christine, I understand now," Michelle heartily agreed. "Thank you for stoking the fire out of my belly."

Michelle and I embraced as Charissa and Karina tearfully looked on. The joyful tears in our mothers' eyes reflect how much their enduring friendship mirrored that of the two of us.

Shortly after, Michelle and Karina laid down, gently closed their eyes and fell asleep with their blankets on. Charissa and I then headed downstairs for some delicious lunch.

Later that afternoon, Charissa and I returned to the bedroom to find Michelle and Karina awake and eager for a temperature check. Moments later, we looked keenly at the thermometer and noticed their body temperature dropped by a few tenths of a degree.

However, Michelle and Karina were not well enough to resume normal activities. But they were undoubtedly on the right track to full health.

After giving both Michelle and Karina some medicine, Charissa and I went down to follow the local news. It was announced that classes and work would be suspended until next week to give way to recovery efforts by the local government.

Consider this a bummer not to go to school this week. But for Michelle, it gives her and Karina enough time to get well and return to their ordinary lives.