My girlfriend broke up with me a week before we were scheduled to go on a cruise to Hawaii, so I found myself going solo on the trip. Fortunately, I had taken the "cancel for any reason" option on the travel insurance, so I was able to recover some of the expense. In some ways it was a blessing. She'd been turning into a pain in the ass lately, and by that point I was not entirely looking forward to the trip. The up side was that I found there was quite a bit of pussy available, a lot of it married, on the cruise. That's a story for another day.
The trip went as planned, and I was able to see four of the islands in Hawaii, and some beautiful and interesting places. The last day, on Kauai, I was feeling quite run down, even a little feverish. I'm not normally one to get sick-I get two colds a year, and rarely anything more serious-but I was really feeling rotten. After boarding the ship for the four days at sea to Los Angeles, I decided to head down to sick bay-they call it medical now-and get checked out.
The staff there was helpful and professional, and mostly Brits, except for the dark haired nurse who took my information and vitals; she was from Spain. The doctor got to me in less than 20 minutes. I wish my own doctor's office in the States was this efficient.
It turned out I had fever of 103 degrees, pretty high for an old guy. They tested me for flu, which came back negative, and for a few other things common in that part of the world. In the end, the doctor came back and said she would treat me for flu, as well as give me an antibiotic, just as a precaution. Then she dropped the bomb. "Oh, and, by the way, you're quarantined."
"What does that mean??" I asked, wondering if I was going to have a sign on my door alerting the rest of the ship to my condition.
"You're confined to your state room. You'll get free room service, and one of the nurses will be up twice a day to take your temperature."
Hmmm...aside from not being able to participate in anything on the ship, the thought of having one of the nurses come up to see me twice a day wasn't such a bad thing. Of course, they might not think it was so great, having to go up to check on a 60 year old sick guy. With my luck, though, I wouldn't get one of the cute ones; they'd probably find the cruise ship equivalent of Nurse Diesel to monitor my progress.
"How long am I stuck for??"
"Til we get three good temperatures. Then you'll be released. Oh, and don't try to sneak out. We alert all the restaurants and bars on the ship to your status, so if you try to use your room card anywhere, they'll send you back to your room."
Crap. They don't fool around on this ship. I can't say I blame them, though. Almost 4000 people on the boat could make for a health crisis in a big hurry. Oh well. Fortunately, I brought lots to read.
I was at medical late in the afternoon, so my first check would be the next morning. I was pleasantly surprised when my nurse came up around 9:30. I was already up and dressed in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt when she arrived.
"Don't you look tropical," she said, fixing her blue eyes on me. I had lucked out. She was quite appealing.
"Well, if I can't play, at least I can look the part. Besides, it's pretty comfortable out on the balcony. It's going to be 80, or, um, 26 for you Brits, today." I looked at her name tag. Hannah, it read. The cruise line puts the employee's home country on the tags, but I could tell she was one of the Brits by her accent.
Hannah laughed at my reference to the Celsius temperature. "That's pretty good. Most Americans don't have a clue about our temperature readings. Let's see how yours looks this morning." She pulled out one of those thermometers they stick in your ears, moving close to me as she inserted it. I could feel the warmth of her body as she stood next to me, a hint of perfumed shampoo wafting to my nostrils from her short blonde hair. It was starting to get to me. I'd probably have had a full hard on if I hadn't been so sick.
"Still a little warm, I'm afraid. Thirty nine." A quick calculation made that 102.2 F. "How are you feeling," she asked, looking into my eyes, first unaided, then with the device that lights up the inner part.
"OK, well, actually, a little warm yet. I slept a lot last night."
Hannah looked in my ears. "That's good. Are you staying hydrated?? You'll lose a lot of water with a temperature this high."
"Yes. I'm driving my steward crazy filling my ice jug."
Hannah laughed. "That's good. It will keep you from getting dehydrated. Don't forget, keep taking your meds til they're done. Anything else I can do this morning??"
I immediately thought of a dozen acts of debauchery that I'd have been glad to have her participate in with me if I had only felt a little better. "No, thanks. I'm fine, at least as well as can be expected."
"That's good," said Hannah, smiling as our eyes met. "I'll be back around 6:30 this evening to see how you're doing. Don't forget, keep up the water." I saw her to the door. "Have a good day, Mr. Barrett."
"Please, call me Tom."