Whitecough (closed)

Stormpaw felt terrible. It had been a while. His head hurts, and he coughed a lot. At first, he was thinking he would get well very soon, all by himself. But things did not go how he expected. It had been a few days, and he only felt worse. Today, when he was out hunting, he scared a thrush off when he failed to refrain from a sudden fit of coughing. So it looked like he had to address this issue.
"Hello?" He poked his head into the Medicine Cat den, noting his voice had become coarse and somewhat odd to his ears, "I think I need a...little help here."

Rowanpaw diligently pawed through the herb piles, taking inventory of what needed to be gathered soon on a patrol and what was still in a reasonable quality and quantity. Lately it seemed that a bunch of their visitors were due to careless sparring or reckless decisions on patrols so stocks of some of the most commonly used herbs were running a bit low. Definitely needed to try stocking up on those in case of more injuries. Though, it likely wouldn't be as necessary if the warriors and apprentices had more common sense. He flicked his tail irritably but otherwise let off no signs of annoyance, continuing to work.

His ears perked as light pawsteps approached the den. Starclan, don't tell me someone else has picked some mousebrained fight. He looked up at Stormpaw's call, immediately noting the roughness of his voice. Rising to his paws, he pushed away the herbs to approach the apprentice, there was no scent of blood but something... Wasn't right. Though he lacked the experience to recognize exactly what it could be. "What seems to be the problem?" he mewed, hazel eyes already assessing Stormpaw.

"Hmm...I cough a lot, and my head hurts." Stormpaw meowed before bursting out into another fit of coughing. "Oh, sorry, please pardon me. My throat is also feeling bad. I hope this is not a big issue?" He hoped this would not be a big problem. He was still hoping to go on tomorrow's hunting patrol.

Rowanpaw froze, eyes widening at Stormpaw's description and the uncontrollable coughing fit. A chill ran through him as his mind came to the only logical conclusion. Whitecough. Thunderclan had managed to avoid sickness aside from a few cases of minor coughs and aches this leafbare but it seemed that luck had finally ended. Hopefully it had yet to advance to greencough or spread to anyone else... Of all times for Applestem to be out of camp...

He quickly stepped closer to grey tabby, putting his ear by his chest to listen to his breathing. At least that still seemed okay, maybe the beginnings of a rattle but not yet the wheezing to indicate the whitecough had advanced. "How long have you been coughing?" Despite his usual calm demeanor, Rowanpaw's voice took on an even more serious edge. He continued working, not waiting for a response, pressing his pawpad to Stormpaw's nose to check for fever. Warmer than usual but not yet a full on fever. Thank Starclan for that.

Honestly, Stormpaw was a little appalled by Rowanpaw's reaction. Is it really serious? "Umm...for four days, as much as I remember...I will not die from it, will I?" He asked jokingly, although deep down he was somewhat scared.

Four days... By the Stars, that's so much time someone else could have caught it! Why couldn't he have come by sooner?! He'd have to go check on everyone else, make sure Stormpaw hadn't infected anyone else with his cough. Rowanpaw briskly padded the the herb stores, he'd just been taking inventory so he knew exactly where everything was, "You'll likely be fine. It sounds like it's still whitecough and hasn't escalated to anything worse yet though it only would have been a matter of time. You should have come sooner though, it's highly contagious and can be deadly for kits or elders. Who have you been in closest contact to since the coughing began?" He mewed as he pawed through the herbs.

Catmint would have been preferable but at this time of leafbare it was unlikely any would be usable so he'd have to make do. Tansy was likely the way to go, a mix of bright-eye and lovage would probably have been better but since the last snow finding them had been a challenge. Hadn't Applestem said to only give a small dose? He plucked off a small stem of dried tansy, the little cluster of once yellow flowers now a dull golden brown. Fresh would always be better but come leaf-bare one had to use what they had. The brown tabby dropped the stem in front of Stormpaw. "Eat that. You should stay here until the coughing subsides, we can't afford to let this spread throughout the clan. Get some sleep." Rowanpaw gestured towards a nest off to the side of the den, it hadn't been used in quite some time since it was fairly rare anyone needed it, but quarantining Stormpaw was the priority.

"Thank StarClan," Stormpaw sighed with relief, "I was thinking that I could get over it myself so I didn't come earlier...I'm really sorry for that." He did not wish to upset the medicine cat apprentice, "I...have been in close contact with my mother Oakleap, and my brothers Eveningpaw and Nightpaw..."Learning this disease was contagious, he became worried if his family would also catch it. Great StarClan, why didn't I come earlier? I must have messed things up! He quickly ate the herb and nodded as Rowanpaw told him to stay here, before padding towards the nest and lying down in it. I only hope my family to be okay. He had lost his father and sister to a badger, and he could not afford to lose more.

Rowanpaw nodded tersely. "Well now you know. I'll check on them to make sure they aren't coming down with anything, perhaps we'll be lucky." As Stormpaw settled into the nest, he padded out to camp. He'd need to let everyone know. By Starclan's graces no one else had been soldiering on through coughing or other contagious ailments...

(OOC: According to the plague plot he is going to catch greencough 0.o So let's assume this happens after he goes to Feb's gathering and this whitecough is just a progenitor of a greencough? Idk how should I schedule everything >.<)

Stormpaw nodded and watched Rowanpaw leaving for the camp. It seemed that this was a mild problem...at least it seemed so so far. I hope I can recover quickly, so I can join the hunting patrol soon. He thought to himself.