Viral Fever

By now my thin list of readers must be familiar with my pre-dawn time in the balcony. Watching the day unfold injects some refreshing energy into my veins. I love that tenderness in the sky—the soft, soothing canopy over us. Also, the play of colours when the sun comes up.
It is heartening to notice that both at the beginning and the end of the day, there are identical ambience—the light, the colours, the breeze.
If dawns refresh me, dusks turn me romantic. I feel like singing a lovelorn song—singing, I dare not.
Watching the sun turns ruddy and reddish, with some brilliant brush strokes across the Western horizon, I long for my love. Nothing compares to the moments of togetherness; just sitting side by side and watching the play of colours.
But this morning I was too sick to get up early. My whole body was hurting yesterday. When I said I might be running temperature, she scolded me, saying only children get fever. And, suggested that I must have some pints of rasam with a generous helping of pepper. Hmm, I didn’t take rasam, but had a sumptuous lunch, despite a sprained neck.
In the night as I was watching Jab We Met—oh I loved it—the body pain became a bother. I felt pin-pricks all over my back. I couldn’t sit or lie down.
The thermometer said I was running temperature. Eyes became heavy and hurting. Head was splitting with an ache.
Sometime in the middle of the night, I woke up with a chill. I was shivering under the sheet. I curled into an “S”. Every inch of the body was hurting. I wanted someone to hold me, to calm down the shivers. There was none.
By the time the kids came to kiss and say bye before they went to school, I managed to sit up with a stoop. Stomach ache bordered onto cramps.
I texted my niece, who is a doctor, all my symptoms, and she sent back a list of medicines, and said it is viral fever! And, recommended two days of rest.
Years ago, one of my friends had rheumatic fever. But I normally get romantic fever!