Meningitis Day 20 ~ The Birthday Present

He didn't get any better. In fact he got a bit hotter and I had to wake him up overnight and make him take paracetamol and get out from under the duvet. He cooled down a lot straightaway and that's the only thing that stopped me from getting dressed and taking him to A&E.

He was clearly ill and it was a horribly reminiscent time. I can't begin to count the number of times I checked his temperature. I think I'm obsessed.

At 9am we were in with the Doctor and he'd ruled out any recurrence of Meningitis and confirmed Tonsilitis and throat infection. He also confirmed that my partner is likely to catch anything going and really suffer with it. He was a lovely Doctor actually. He referred to my partner's 4-5 hour afternoon naps as 'dedication' and he waited an extra few seconds to raise his eyebrows when my partner said he only wanted another week's sick note for work.

We went home via the Chemist for a 4th course of antibiotics, some Athlete's foot cream, another bottle of Full Marks headlice treatment and cold sore cream. It's an eclectic mix, but that's life with 7 children.

When we got home the 3 girls were all still in bed. This is significant because it was Girl no.2's 14th birthday. She wasn't even aware we'd ever been out, and we had time to put together her present before she got up.

When my partner was seriously ill and delirious his daughter's birthday present never left his mind. He was seriously ill on IV antibiotics and yet he was demanding to be allowed out of bed cos he had an eBay finishing! He couldn't even stand up or see properly, there was no way he could have worked out numbers. It made me smile, and it made me cry a little bit. I had to go outside the hospital to get a phone signal and then bid on the present. I then had to go back out half an hour later and see how it ended. He really calmed down after I told him we'd won the auction.

The next day when I went back to the hospital he'd been dwelling on it overnight and was panicking about how we'd pick it up. It was too big to post and only a 20 minute drive away. So close, yet so far. When he was allowed out early he was only home on condition he acted as he would in hospital, and the pain in his head, back and neck meant a 40 minute drive was out of the question anyway.

When he got home he put his computer on straightaway and got the email address of the seller, asked for her number and gave it to me. At the time I thought, 'typical, straight on the laptop'. Now I look back, he switched it off and didn't use it for another 4 or 5 days. He didn't even read his Kindle much those first few days. It must have really hurt to get that phone number.

We went out early in the morning 7 days later and picked up the most fabulous present any 14 year old could ever have. It was hard driving because I could see him wincing with every pothole, but adrenaline really is an amazing thing. He dismantled it and passed it to me and I carried it out to our van. Van loaded we went home content and he slept until teatime.

And so this morning despite his all-over pain and swollen hands, and while his daughter slept, he reassembled her present in our living room. With maybe a bit of help and hindrance from the ones who were awake. And I'm pleased to say she's delighted with it.

Maybe she'll never appreciate the effort it took, or maybe she will, but this image is one that seemed massively unimportant to me on several occasions when I had far more to worry about, but it was what my partner was using for focus. This picture has a real story, and that's why I'm linking it with Charlie Dove's brand new linky over on the PODcast blog "What's the Story".....

All of my posts relating to my partners Meningitis, from before we knew what was actually wrong, can be found here.