Stinky Bath

Mom finally had some peaceful working time. I know that because I had slept the entire afternoon, and when I woke up, we were already outside the village. Mom and Alice didn't chat much. The reason was because of either what had happened earlier or simply they were too tired, or maybe both. In addition, Alice had a piece of cloth in her hand with different embroidery patterns. She seemed more interested in that than in a chat with Mom.

We passed by Mrs. Hubson's house, but we didn't stay too long. We met her on the house's outer fence. I could see the house was different, cleaner, and more organized. Mom exchanged greetings with the woman and updated her on my status. She also mentioned that she saw Dad and Jonathan earlier, but they didn't have time to talk. They simply waved back. Then, Dad and Jonathan were a bit ahead of us. We could still catch them up. Mom and Alice said bye to Mrs. Hubson and hurried up to meet them.

In fact, Dad and Jonathan were too far from us. Dad was limping and holding a walking stick. Alice shouted and ran to meet them first. Dad was tired, but still in pain. His face was all sweaty. It wasn't a hot summer day and there were plenty of trees to give us shade. He must have had intense pain. When we met them, Dad could barely speak and his face was pale. Mom took the cloth that she used to cover me to clean his face. She also offered him some water from a bag.

"Have you used more Mana, Richard?", asked Mom with a worried voice.

"Yeah…", he responded while gulping the water. Dad's hands were trembling. Mom put her arm over his wrist and helped him walk home.

Alice and Jonathan stayed ahead of us, talking and kicking some stones. Mom and Dad didn't chat or spoke. Dad was breathing heavily. I also had a worried face. He looked at me and smiled as if he was trying to say he was fine. We had to stop, so Dad could take a break. Mom asked Alice and Jonathan to go ahead of us to get the bathtub ready. The two ran and Mom helped Dad to sit on a wood stump near the road.

"I can give you some of my Mana, Richard"

"It's alright, Clarice. I just need to rest and eat something"

"Don't be so stubborn. You can't even hide how bad you are to Henry". Mom put her hand on Dad's forehead. "You are also feverish, Richard. Your body cannot stay healthy. it is always too low in Mana…"

"I just overdid it today". He explained, but Mom knew he had been overdoing it since winter. He took a moment to breathe and continued, "Maybe I should take the stinky bath. Would you wanna join Dad, Henry?"

"Richard, You don't look well… We should consider using it…", Mom said with a worried voice.

"It's not an emergency, Clarice. I only have one left. We should save it for a real emergency". Dad stood up with me in his arms to show Mom he was fine. Mom knew he was using his Mana to do that and warned him. In the end, she helped him and we walked back home.

When we arrived home, it was already dark. Alice and Jonathan were worried and waiting for us at the front door. Mom helped Dad to remove his jacket and seated him on the chair in the kitchen.

"Dad is really tired today. Would you two help me to prepare his bath?". Mom was trying to help Dad as much as she could.

Dad was too weak to move around by himself, and Mom needed to take a look at his wound. Dad was wearing his second pair of pants today since the older one Mom still had to fix. However, the thigh where he got hit was wet, probably with blood.

Alice and Jonathan were not allowed to boil the water or use the stove, so they left the pots with water to make the process easier for Mom. Mom made sure the stove had enough wood and turned it on with the help of some herbs. After that, Mom went to the shack in the backyard. She said she was going to prepare a proper herbal medicine for Dad this time and not try to save his pants. My siblings and I stayed with Dad.

"Dad, how are you?", said Alice, standing in front of him.

"I'm just tired. I'm glad you two and Mom are getting the bathtub ready. Thank you so much". Dad gave a weak smile and petted Alice's head.

"Dad, did we work fine today? I could work tomorrow, and you rest…" said Jonathan with a shy voice.

"One day you will be able to do that, Johnny, but for now, it's fine. Dad only needs to rest and tomorrow we can go back to work". Dad moved his hand to Jonathan's head and did the same as he did to Alice.

Mom came back with a large basket of dried herbs, as if she was trying to hide something from Dad. She also asked my siblings to help. She explained how they were going to prepare a special herbal bath for Dad. They helped Mom with the buckets with hot water and went to the bathroom.

I was on Dad's lap. Since Mom and my siblings were not there, he left the signs of his suffering and tiredness to come out. I could feel his body shivering in pain and in lack of Mana. For a moment, I thought he was going to throw up too. His lips turned white and he was cold. He was trying to keep his eyes open by shaking his head. I had never seen Dad like that. He was going to pass out at any moment. He was holding it as much as he could, maybe even using his last reserves of Mana to keep him awake and strong. Likewise, he noticed I looked concerned. Then, he used his free hand to clean his face and looked at me with a fake smile.

"Just a well-rested night, I will do fine, buddy. You don't need to worry" said with a trembling voice.

A brief moment later, Mom came and picked me up from Dad's lap and put me in the sling. I stayed with my legs hanging, but Mom had free hands now. She wiped Dad's forehead, and she turned to Alice and Jonathan. She asked them to help take Dad to the bathroom. Alice offered to hold me while Mom was busy, but Mom ignored her. Mom took Dad's arm and put it on her shoulders.

"Richard, you put your arm around my neck. Don't put too much weight on your wounded leg. Alice and Jonathan will help by placing a chair near us. If you need to stop, please let us know, and you will be able to sit at any time"

Mom helped Dad to stand up. He was weaker than before. His legs were shaking with his own weight. Then, he had to put more weight on Mom. For a moment, I thought we were going to fall, but Mom stood Dad's weight. Mom slowly helped Dad walk through the hallway to the bathroom. Alice and Jonathan carried a heavy chair behind us if Dad needed to sit down.

It was a short distance, but it felt like an eternity. He sat down to take a breath twice. Every single time he stood up weaker. He was also not able to hold a proper conversation. I think Dad was delirious. He kept saying he loved Mom and how he was grateful for our family in a drunk voice. Jonathan was scared. I think he was sobbing behind us. Alice stayed quiet the whole time. We were all afraid of anything happening to Dad.

Once we reached the bathroom, Mom asked Alice and Jonathan to place the chair next to the bathtub, and she seated Dad in the chair. She was sweaty and tired, but she needed to help Dad take out his clothes. I noticed Mom was going to say something, but when she looked at Jonathan, she changed her mind. Mom was going to ask Jonathan to help her undress Dad. However, Jonathan was crying and Mom asked Alice to look after him in the kitchen. It would be too much for him. Once the two left, Mom closed the door, and Dad had his eyes closed with the back of his head on the wall as if he was trying to breathe.

"Richard? Don't sleep now... I need your help to get you undressed". Dad nodded slowly.

However, Dad passed out a few times while seated on the chair. He didn't respond when Mom called him. She had to slap him to wake him up. Because of that, Mom did the most job to undress him, and now he was only wearing his undershorts and barefoot. He was thin, and I could see through his skin and see his bones. Based on how deplorable his body was, Dad had not been doing well for a long time or had not yet recovered from last winter. His beard was covering his cheekbones to hide his malnourished state from Mom.

"Richard… that's why you didn't want me to see you undressed?", Mom had a crying voice, but Dad was not listening. His fever took over. He was awake, but his mind was not with us. I couldn't see her face, but her eyes would probably be full of tears from seeing Dad like that.

Also, I could see the bandages covered in blood and yellowish liquid with an awful smell. Mom pointed out he had an infection as If Dad was listening, and since Dad was not focusing his Mana on his body, he could lose his leg. In the end, Mom removed the bandages but did not clean the wound. Instead, she tried to get Dad to stand up again, but he didn't respond. She tried again, and again, and no response. Dad was still breathing, but heavily. He had passed out. Mom checked his pulse and said it was weak.

Then, she placed the palm of her hand on his chest in urgency. Mom prayed, asking the gods to let her Mana flow to Dad's weak body and refill him even a bit to save his life. Her hand's veins stood out. She gave an inner scream in pain.

"Richard, please, let my Mana in… I won't let you go…", Mom's tears fell over me.

I started crying too. She hugged me with her free arm to distract herself from the pain and to calm me down. Mom's arms were shaking, and her face turned pale. She took her hand off his chest before giving Dad too much Mana. Otherwise, she would have passed out too. Mom checked Dad's pulse again. She looked a bit relieved and thanked the gods that Dad's pulse was stronger than before.

Mom used all of her strength to drag the chair closer to the end of the bathtub. She put me on fabric on the floor, and she stepped inside the bathtub, which was a third full of water. She held Dad from behind and dragged him slowly. Mom didn't take a moment of her eyes from me. She tried to show me that they were playing or something. Once Dad was placed inside the bathtub, Mom stepped out and searched her basket from earlier.

Mom grabbed a big glass bottle, which was almost as tall as me. It had a greenish color with some brown spots. Mom poured the liquid inside. It smelled awful like sewage. She tried not to throw up while pouring all the liquid inside the bathtub. My eyes started burning because of the smell, but Mom finished pouring. She used her hands to mix the liquid with the water and poured some over Dad's face and chest. She kissed him on his forehead in tears. A few moments later, she grabbed me with her arms covered by the liquid. Dad had the greenish liquid at his chest level, with both arms in the liquid. His head facing the ceiling gave the impression of him sleeping.

Mom prayed to the gods asking for Dad to get better, and turned around to the door and went out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. When we were outside, she left her weight to take over and fell over her legs. Mom sat there on the floor and cried, holding me in her arms.