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Wayne's Journal - Part 20 02 January 2018, Tuesday 830 PM Daniel's Place
Well, today took a nosedive for poor Daniel. We got up this morning for our regular workout. Daniel looked dead on his feet, but he was a trooper, and dressed for his routine. He struggled, but he managed to get through it.
We finished up and got ourselves into the shower. We were both starting a full workday, back on our regular routine. Daniel had an annoyed look on his face. "I don't understand what's wrong with me." He leaned his head against the wall in the shower. "Felt weak on everything."
I rubbed his back as he stood there and the water cascaded over us both. "We all have off days." I squeezed the muscles in his neck a little and he flinched. I stopped. "Did that hurt?"
Daniel looked perplexed. "Yeah. Feels weird and achy." He moved his shoulders around. "My whole back does." He exhaled and shook his head. "I'll take some ibuprofen. It'll be fine."
We both dressed and I went to work while Daniel prepped for his in person sessions.
Then around 330 I got a text from Martha. "Hey. Daniel just got back from his last session, and he's sick. He's coughing, got a fever, chills, and his temp is 102F."
Shit. Poor Daniel. I texted back. "Sounds like the flu. It's going around." This year's flu shot wasn't very accurate. So even if he got it he could still catch this year's version of the flu. Though, the shot will still help some. "I'll pick up some OJ. What else does he like when he's sick?"
She texted back quickly. "Ginger ale."
"Got it. Thanks for the heads up."
I got off work at 4, then drove to the store on the way home. I get home with my ginger ale and orange juice, and I found Martha in the kitchen. The whole house smelled like soup, ginger, peppers and honey.
Martha looked over her shoulder at me. "Hey." Then she went back to stirring a pot on the stove. There were two pots actually, and she took turns looking into and stirring them with different spoons.
"Hey Martha." I put my stuff on the island. Martha stepped over and took a look.
"Okay, good." She pulled out the ginger ale and the OJ. "I'm going to mix up a little drink for Daniel. He needs to stay hydrated, and he doesn't like to drink water when he's sick." She pointed at one of the pots on the stove. "Chicken soup. See if he'll eat a little bowl if you don't mind. I'll have something done for him to drink soon."
I scooped a small amount of soup into a ceramic bowl and I took the steaming liquid with me down the hall. The bedroom door was closed, and I quietly opened it.
My poor Daniel. :-( He is really sick. He lay in bed on his back and he was completely out. His mouth was slightly open, and he wheezed a little as he breathed. I sat on the edge of the bed. He didn't move when I did.
I put the soup on the nightstand. "Daniel." I put my hand on his chest and gently shook him.
His eyes rolled behind his eyelids, and I saw him struggle to open them. Eventually he blinked slowly at me. "Hey." He smiled, the expression was a little loopy. I also noticed that his speech was drawn out a bit - as if he were running at a slightly slower speed. "What ... what time is it?"
"It's 445." I picked up the bowl. "Here. Martha made you some soup." He frowned at me. "No. No frowning Daniel, you have to eat."
He sighed. "Okay." I handed him the bowl and he began to slurp down the soup a spoonful at a time. Mainly this was a way to get fluid into his body, along with a little nutrition as well. I noticed there were a couple of slices of jalapeno floating on top too, so hopefully that'll open his sinuses a bit.
Martha knocked gently on the mostly closed door. "Come on in Martha."
She entered and held a mug with a bendy straw. "Daniel, here's some orange juice, mixed with ginger ale, and some ginger syrup I made. There's a little jalapeno in the syrup too, just to make it interesting." She smiled at him. He put his soup down, accepted the mug without complaint and began sucking on the straw. After a few swallows he nodded appreciatively. I guess Martha knows what it takes to get him to drink when he's sick.
After a long drink he put the mug down beside the bowl on the bedside table. "What time is it again? I have a session at 630."
"Ah ... no." I shook my head. "You're not going anywhere mister." I looked at him. "What's your client's information? I need to contact them, tell them the session has to be rescheduled."
Daniel swung his legs over the side of the bed. "I'm fine." He stood up and wobbled. He was also stark naked. Martha put her head down and her hand over her eyes. He slowly seemed to realize his error after a few moments. "Uh, sorry Martha."
"I'm gonna go check on my soup." Martha left with a smile and a shake of her head.
I put my hand on his arm, and I frowned. He was warm to the touch. Warmer than he should be. "Daniel, you're sick man. Like, really sick." I willed him to listen to me. "Let me call your client."
"No." My god he's stubborn! He shook his head. "I'm fine." He flinched as he moved, and I could tell his poor body ached.
As Daniel pulled on his underwear and track pants I had an idea pop into my brain. "Okay. At least let me get you some TheraFlu. Will you take that?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Daytime stuff works good. It'll help me feel better for a few hours."
I went to the medicine cabinet and got the box. I looked over my shoulder, and pulled out a packet. It quickly dissolved in a cupful of water, and I brought it to him. "Here you go. Drink up."
He tossed it back and grimaced. "Ugh."
"Eat the rest of your soup, drink your juice. Tell me who you're training, and where your session is. You're not leaving here unless you do." I stood there with my arms folded and stared down at him as he sat on the edge of the bed.
He looked exhausted, too tired to fight me. "Okay. Name is Bryce Caldwell. New client. Healthsport in Arcata. Davis manages that one." He picked up the bowl. "He's starting out thanks to his wife. New Year's resolution thing. Wants to lose weight, gain muscle." He slurped down a spoonful. "Just a regular fat loss, bodybuilding routine."
"Okay. Good." I watched as he finished the soup. I also kept an eye on the time. Another ten minutes or so, and I'd know how this was going to go.
He picked up the mug and began to drink the remaining juice Martha had brought to him. He finished with a slurp from the straw. "Mmmm. Good." He mumbled and stood up slowly with another grimace at his sore muscles.
I needed to buy a little time. "Daniel, you don't have to be there for a while. I want you to relax for a half hour. Just hang out with me on the couch. You can lay down on my lap, and I can baby you a little bit before you go."
He hesitated, sensing trickery of some kind. But he felt bad. And I could tell he wanted me to love on him a little.
"Oh. Okay." He frowned. "If I go to sleep you wake me up."
I turned my head and bit my lip so he couldn't see my expression. "Yeah, of course."
We went out to the living room and I sat. I grabbed a throw pillow for him, and Daniel lay down and put his head in my lap.
His eyes almost immediately began to close. He raised back up. "I should just go."
"No. Stay there." I pushed gently and he let himself be pinned to the pillow on my lap. "I'm not gonna let your obligations go unfulfilled. Don't worry. Go ahead and sleep if you can."
His eyes were so heavy. He fought like a toddler against sleep, but his sickness, and the night time packet of TheraFlu I gave him instead of the day time stuff was already at work. He was definitely going down. I suppose I should feel bad about drugging my fiance ... but ... he wasn't really being reasonable ... so ... here we are!
In minutes he was sound asleep. Martha came into the living room and looked at him. She pointed at his tracksuit. "Really? He was going to try and do his session?"
I nodded. "Yeah." I grinned impishly. "The night time TheraFlu I gave him had something to say about that though."
She put her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. "Wayne!" She whispered. "Oh man, he's going to be so pissed!" She couldn't help but smile. Then her face relaxed. "Hey ... thanks for taking care of him. He's bad at doing it himself sometimes."
I smiled at her. "Same to you." I got up carefully so as not to disturb him. I managed to slip out from under his head, and I gently lay him on the throw pillow. "I'm going to go meet his client at the gym. I know the assessments to do, and this is the first session. Not much past the goal setting and assessments, other than maybe some cardio. And if I run into any sort of trouble Davis will be there."
Martha nodded. "Good plan." She looked thoughtful. "You know ... you should probably go in with a tactic of saying you're his intern or something. Or maybe apprentice? I mean, you're studying to be a trainer. So, why not?"
"Huh." I was impressed with the idea. "Yeah. That's not bad. And really not far from the mark. I want to do this in the future." I smiled at her. "Thanks Martha."
She tilted her head at me. "No problem." She turned and headed toward the hall. "I'm gonna get sicky a blanket. I'm not moving him, because if he wakes up he might try to drive to Arcata." She looked over her shoulder and frowned. "And I don't want to have to wrangle a sick, loopy Daniel."
"Yeah, none of that." I bent and kissed Daniel's feverish face. He slept on. I did feel some guilt about tricking him, but he really needs to just rest. Martha disappeared around the doorway, and I drove to Arcata.
I got to the gym a little early, and sure enough Davis was there behind the desk. "Hey Wayne." He got up, shook my hand in his meaty paw and looked a little confused. "Why are you here? Where's Daniel? His client will be here soon."
"Hey Davis. Daniel is really sick. He's down for the count right now." I sighed. "I'm gonna wing it on the goal setting/assessment for his client."
Davis' eyes widened a little. "Really? Daniel agreed to that?" My face told him the answer. "Oh hell. Okay. No. Here, you man the desk."
"What? No, it'll be fine. I can't ask you to ..."
"You didn't ask." Davis pulled me behind the desk. "Here. This is how you scan people in. Here's how you work the overhead page ..." In short I got a crash course in the workings of Healthsport Arcata.
After that was done I gave Davis the information on Daniel's client. He quickly filled out a few pieces of paperwork, assessment forms from the look of them.
A few minutes later a fellow entered and approached the desk - which I was now staffing. He was balding with brown hair, brown eyes, a little over 6' tall. He looked to be pushing 250 lbs, and much of the weight was fat. If I had to guess I'd say he was in his early 40s.
"Hey." He nodded at me. "I'm supposed to meet a trainer here. Daniel Ison?"
Before I could say anything Davis stepped up. "Hi. You're Bryce, right?"
The man looked Davis up and down. "Hi. Yeah. You don't look like the guy on the website. Who are you?"
Davis rolled his head, and muscles rippled all over his upper body. The effect was noticeable across the room. "Nope. I'm Davis Brighton. I work with Mr. Ison as a trainer." He shrugged, and his traps shifted under his shirt. "Mr. Ison can't make it tonight, so he sent me. He apologizes for the last minute change. But if that's not acceptable, then we can reschedule."
Bryce eyed Davis, obviously judging him. "Huh. Well, all right." Then he cracked a grin. "Looks like you know a thing or two about this weight lifting stuff."
I let go of a breath I didn't realize I held. Davis led Bryce into one of the rooms off to the side so he could do the assessments and goal setting in private.
Over the next hour I manned the desk. It was a bit of a slow time, so I only had to scan in about a dozen folks. I watched Davis after they exited the side room as he showed the various machines, benches, and weights to Bryce. Davis was in his element, and it was obvious that Bryce was getting a good experience.
At the end of the hour Davis put Bryce on the treadmill, and let him start a cardio session. He came back to the desk.
"Davis man, thanks." I clapped him on the back as we traded positions behind the desk. "I am pretty sure he wouldn't have went for it if I was doing the assessments."
Davis nodded. "I think you're right. No offense Wayne - some people want a trainer specifically because they look like they live in the gym." He sighed. "Yeah, you could have done what we did today. But this particular client had a very specific sort of person in mind for what an acceptable trainer looks like."
I thought about what he said. "I get it. Hey, seriously, thank you. You made this work when it otherwise wouldn't have."
"You're welcome." Davis rubbed his chin. "So, how long you think Daniel is gonna be sick?"
I blew out a breath. "If this is the flu, which it seems like it may be, he'll be out for at least another 3-4 days."
Davis whistled. "Damn ... during the New Year's resolution rush too. That's harsh." He looked at me, his eyes narrow in thought. "Okay ... we need a gameplan to deal with his clients. We can't just reschedule them all."
"Uh, okay." I scratched my head. "I can get a list of them."
"Good. Here's my card." He handed me a glossy business card from his pocket. "It's got my email and other contact info. Send his scheduled clients to me via email." He frowned. "We're breaking a bit of a privacy pact we make with our clients by doing this ... but I don't see another way."
"Okay. I can do that." I put the card away. "What's your plan?"
"We'll direct all of the clients to come here. I'll issue day passes to anybody who's not a customer with us. And we'll have to do some shuffling of schedules. I'll make sure the desk is covered when they are due here, and I'll do their sessions." He looked at me. "You okay coming to help after you get off work? The evenings are harder for me to have additional folks here."
I nodded. "Yeah! Definitely." I grinned at Davis. "Dude, you're really bailing out Daniel. Thanks ... a lot." I nodded at him. "I appreciate it, and I know he will."
Davis smiled. "No problem. He's my bud. I can help so I will."
I left shortly after and returned home. Daniel was still on the couch sleeping away. I dreaded it, but I had to wake him so he could go to bed. I didn't want him sore from sleeping in a strange position on the couch.
After some pretty vigorous shaking I woke him. I was surprised, but he didn't even ask about his client, or the time. He was loopy, tired, and sick. I helped him to the bedroom. I also made him drink a glass of ginger ale mixed with juice. Then I stripped and put him to bed. He was back to sleep in moments.
I heard the back door open and I stuck my head out into the hallway. "Martha?"
After a few footsteps she appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Hey Wayne." She walked over and looked at Daniel. "Good, you got him in bed." She noticed the additional glass on the nightstand. "He drank more?"
"Yeah. I wanted to load up as much as he would take before letting him sleep."
She nodded in approval, then her eyes widened slightly. "Oh. How'd the session go?"
I told her what Davis did and she nodded again. "Damn. That was really nice of Davis. And it will probably be a lot of work over the next week for him. He's got his own clients I bet."
"Oh, speaking of which. I need to email him Daniel's clients for the week." I frowned at Daniel. "I hate to wake him again, but I need his password for his computer."
Martha rolled her eyes. "Come on." She led me to his media room/office and she fired up his computer. She pulled out the chair. "Sit." Once I did she smiled. "Type your name."
I laughed. "No." She only nodded.
"He changed it shortly after he met you." I typed it in, and sure enough his computer started up.
I shook my head. "Oh Daniel."
Martha's voice was low, and soft. "He really loves you Wayne." She smiled. "I'm glad you guys found each other."
I smiled up at her. "Thanks Martha. Me too." As quick as the emotional Martha appeared she was gone. And now she was all business again.
Together we dug up Daniel's scheduled client list. Soon I had all of the information compiled for Davis. It looks like 3-4 clients a day from Wednesday to Friday. Not terrible. I also couldn't help but notice a fellow named Grayson Ogan was one of the clients he was supposed to train. I bet Davis will like that! :-) I emailed the information to Davis. I also checked Daniel's forum. There wasn't anything too pressing. I copied and pasted a few technical questions one of Daniel's clients about supplementation, and emailed those to Davis too, just in case he had an answer.
Within a few minutes Davis responded. He'd be able to do all of Daniel's sessions. He'd email all the clients and inform them of the change. I suggested he send along a picture of himself so they know what they're getting. He liked that idea. And he confirmed, he would need me to work the desk for him Wed - Fri night. He also had an answer for the supplement questions. I uploaded his responses to the forum, and suddenly Daniel's business was all taken care of - for today at least.
"Whew. Okay ... I think we're in the clear Martha."
She nodded and patted my back. "Nice work. Takes a village to do Daniel's job. Who knew?"
I laughed. "Well, the lion's share is Davis. He's the one doing the work."
Martha sighed. "Whatever." She started to go. "Without you none of it would have happened." She turned to look at me from the doorway of the office. "Don't disregard your contribution Wayne. It belittles you, and that pisses me off." With that she left, and I heard the backdoor as she went to her cottage.
I sat there a moment, processing what she said and how she said it. It pissed her off when I didn't give myself credit for something. I smiled to myself. Yeah ... she is a softie. Though she'd never admit it.
I went back to the bedroom to get ready for bed, and to check on my Daniel. I undressed and slipped under the covers - sitting up so I could journal. He was shivering, even though he radiated heat. I scooted close to him, and he rolled in his sleep and threw his arm over my lap. Now he's clinging to me, and his shivers are slowly decreasing.
I rubbed his back and head. I wish I could make him better. :-(
I'm pretty tired. So I'm going to turn in. I hope Daniel feels better tomorrow.
Till next time.