30 October 2009

Fever!

On Wednesday of this week, I had a fever for the first time in twenty years.

After leaving work after a *very* disagreeable lunch, I came home and I sat on the sofa with my neon green thermometer. Cross-eyed, I watched as my temperature reading crept up from 97.9 to 99.8 100.2. I was uncomfortable. I was warm. Then I was cold. My muscles hurt and was tired.

Did I have the swine? I wasn't sure.

What I did know was that I needed to take analgesics to alleviate my symptoms and to help me sleep.

I took the requisite drugs and went to bed at 7pm.

At 9:15pm, I woke up to the sound of banging in the hallway. It sounded as though a battering ram was hitting the walls. I was disoriented and annoyed.

I let the noise continue for ten or fifteen minutes hoping that the noise would just stop. I asked it to stop. Out loud, even.

And then, I forced myself out of my bed and opened the door.

There she was.

My neighbor--the one with the drinking problem whose apartment emits fumes that smell like high octane rubbing alcohol.

She was hammering nails into her door.

For no reason.

In a haze of NyQuil and discomfort, I asked, "What exactly are you doing?"

The response?

"Don't YOU ask ME what I'M doing. I'VE lived here for TWELVE YEARS. I can do WHATEVER I want. And there's SOMETHING ELSE I WANT TO TELL YOU."

My response to that?

"I don't care. I might have the flu. You don't want this."

And I shut the door.

I'm getting better at responding to her unpredictable behavior. And yes, I believe she was drunk. Again.

4 comments:

Benjamin said...

Aye carumba. Hope you're feeling immensely better at this point.

alot, alot said...

Sounds like what I'm dealing with, sans crazy neighbor. Hope you are feeling better.

Jenni said...

First of all, I'm sorry about your sickness.

Secondly, I'm sorry you have to live next to a drunken idiot.

So sorry. :(

cs said...

I hope you're feeling better by now and I think your neighbor is running a meth lab.