I couldn't ask for a better companion when I'm sick than Hunter, who is so undemanding and adapts well to shattered routine more than any other dog I've had. Possibly this only means that I've given him so little structure to count on in the sort of tenuous life I provide for both of us that he's come to expect very little from me. He is still recovering too so did not get too stir crazy about being shut inside. But I did nothing except sleep and stumble downstairs a couple of times to let him out and throw some kibble in the bowl at bizarre times, finally it was too much to go up and down the stairs and when I collapsed on the couch, every time I woke up he was curled up at the other end by my feet. I've lost all track of time, with that protracted fever I would lie down 'for a minute' and find that hours had gone by as the snow kept falling.
Last night I thought I could stay awake long enough to watch a movie, and a few minutes before it started, I heard a noise on my front steps. My neighbor Gregory was clearing my steps and driveway - I wrapped a quilt around me and peeked out the front door into the single-digit night. He said he knew something must be wrong because we'd had three significant snowfalls and I was the only person not out shoveling, though he'd seen that Hunter had come and gone outdoors so he knew I was home and semi-functional. I thanked him and lay back down on the couch, and after that much effort I didn't even see the opening credits; woke up three hours later in time to go to bed.
Early this morning the fever broke, I had heavy pajamas on (hand-me-downs that my mom bought and didn't like, so altered them for me before she left... thank goodness, because in my adult life I would never own a pair of flannel pj's otherwise, and I really needed them) and was under a double comforter and was still cold. And my very non-bed-snuggling dog obliged me by staying in bed close enough to keep my legs warm until the worst of that was over. I was just so grateful that he stayed put - he really hates that generally but I was so cold I wanted to cry.
So it's been a rough 48 hours. By this afternoon the aching had lessened and my eyes felt normal again, and I felt well enough to sit up more and sleep less. We stayed on the couch all afternoon and eve and are both headed to bed now. I suppose it's a measure of how sick I still am that I actually don't care all that much that there was no Thanksgiving and no wintry cabin weekend. I don't have the energy of interest to feel bad about it yet. Hunter is feeling better also and burned off some steam in the backyard today for a few minutes. I don't know what he looks for when he buries his head in the snow - my other dogs would push down and maybe sniff hard or root around and come back up - instead Hunter stands very still and stays down there long enough to alarm me a bit.
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