Mom gaped at him as she wiped her hands on her apron. “Franklin Christopher O’Reilly, what are you thinking?”

He pulled out a chair and harrumphed as he sat. “I was there a full three days, and all they did was take my blood pressure, temp, listen to my heart, and make me drink the water that comes out of that darned thing.” He pointed to the device on the table. It had a chrome spout on its front and a long hose trailing from the rear. “And if that’s all they’re gonna do,” he continued, “I can do that just fine in my own house, with my family.”

He gave Kathy a wink. “Can you get me my crescent wrench? I need to hook this thing up to the water line.”

Kathy just stood there, staring at her father. She was at a loss for words.

He glanced back and forth between the two women. “Well? Do I need to get the damned thing myself?”

Kathy found her voice. “I’ll get it, Dad.”

As she left for the tool shed, she heard her mom shouting behind her, “You’ve just plumb lost your mind, Franklin O’Reilly!”

###

Frank sat in the recliner with Jasper’s big head on his knee. Kathy handed him a large clear glass of water.

“It’s time for your medicine, Dad.”

He grimaced as Kathy stood over him, waiting. Sometimes he swore he could see a swirl of something in the water, but today it looked perfectly clear.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “Bottoms up.” He downed the water and handed her the glass.

“Thanks, Dad.” She returned to the kitchen where she’d been helping Megan with dinner.

The water didn’t taste any different going down, but sometimes after drinking it, he felt as if he’d swallowed a copper penny. And then there was the burning.

Jasper whined and Frank gave him a scratch on the top of his head just as the burning hit.

Frank closed his eyes as the dull aches in his joints transformed into balls of fiery pain. He breathed slowly in and out, but even that was a chore as the burning sensation spread throughout his body.

Jasper whined again, as if he could sense his pain.

It had been two weeks since he’d left the hospital, and though he didn’t feel any better, he reckoned he didn’t feel much worse. Basically, he’d replaced one pain with another. Instead of the aches and shooting pains he used to feel every time he walked or moved, now he felt a dull, non-stop burning sensation everywhere. It was going to get worse, peaking at about two hours after drinking the water.

“Frank, how are you feeling?” Megan called from the kitchen.

“I feel like I’m dying,” he yelled back.

“Dad, you’re too stubborn for that,” Kathy shouted. “Are you hungry?”